Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi and the Rohingyas crisis

Aung San Suu Kyi has been accused of failing to defend the rights of one of the most vulnerable communities in the world

On November 12, it was announced that Amnesty International would withdraw the greatest decoration received by the leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. The highest distinction, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, was given to her in 2009 and now the organization said that she "no longer represents a symbol of hope".

Leer en español: Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi y el problema con los rohingyas

She was also accused of failing to defend human rights considering that "she has betrayed the Rohingya by not denouncing the atrocities of the Burmese armed forces against this Muslim minority."

Since Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in April 2016, her administration has actively participated in the perpetuation of several human rights violations. Thus, in a letter addressed to the president, the Amnesty International's Secretary-General, Kumi Naidoo, said that "we have repeatedly criticized the fact that Aung San Suu Kyi and her government have not spoken about the military atrocities against the Rohingya population in the state of Rakhine, who have lived for years under a system of segregation and discrimination equivalent to apartheid."

"Aung San Suu Kyi and her office have shielded the security forces from accountability by dismissing, downplaying or denying allegations of human rights violations and by obstructing international investigations IGNORE INTO abuses," he concluded.

The situation of the Rohingya

The Rohingya community is a Muslim minority, and they are called by the United Nations as a "stateless" people. For years, the community has been persecuted in Myanmar because they do not possess an ethnic recognition. This causes that more than 700.000 fled because of the negligence and persecution on the part of the army.

According to the BBC, "they claim that they are indigenous to the Rakhine state, descendants of Arab merchants, but the State of Myanmar claims that they are Muslim migrants who originated in Bangladesh and emigrated to Myanmar during the British occupation." In addition to the above, the Rohingyas cannot have access to the purchase of land, another reason for which their rights are violated.

This is why thousands of Rohingya migrants decide to seek refuge in Bangladesh. However, this country has decided to create a strategy to return refugees to the country from which they came. Thus, on Thursday 15 it was expected that the Rohingyas would voluntarily come forward to begin the exodus. "We will not leave," chanted around a thousand Rohingya refugees in the Unchiprang camp, one of the largest refugee settlements near the Bengali city of Cox's Bazar," as reported by the portal 20 minutes.

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The United States increases the pressure

US Vice President Mike Pence, assured the leader of Myanmar at the summit of ASEAN Member States in Singapore, that he is "anxious to hear about the progress that you're making, holding those accountable who are responsible" for the Rohingyas crisis. Pence also reiterated that the persecution of that specific population is unforgivable.

As expected, one of the topics at the summit was the situation of the Rohingyas. The comments made by Pence did not convince Aung San Suu Kyi, who commented that "of course, people have different points of view." We should exchange opinions and learn to better understand each other. help in everything we do to make our country a safer and more prosperous place for all," according to Euro News.

There is no doubt that the situation of the Rohingyas has put Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the eye of the hurricane, so much so that the possibility of withdrawing the Nobel Prize awarded in 1991 has also been deducted.

LatinAmerican Post | Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz
Translated from "Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi y el problema con los Rohingyas"

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