Three Nobel laureates blame Suu Kyi for Rohingya crisis

Three Nobel Peace laureates on Wednesday accused Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the nation’s military of genocide for their role in violence that has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

The laureates, who are on a weeklong trip to Bangladesh to visit the sprawling refugee camps where the Rohingya are living, said at a news conference in Dhaka that their fellow Nobel Peace laureate Ms. Suu Kyi cannot avoid responsibility.

It is genocide, period

One of the laureates, Yemen’s Tawakkol Karman, urged Ms. Suu Kyi to “wake up” or “face prosecution.” She and the othet two laureates — Northern Ireland’s Mairead Maguire and Iran’s Shirin Ebadi — were emotionally charged as they unanimously called the violence against Rohingya a “genocide.”

“There is no other definition, it is genocide, genocide against innocent people,” Ms. Karman said. “Millions of people [have] been displaced from their cities, women [have] been raped, all the women, we met like 100 women, all of them [have] been raped.”

She said they were overwhelmed as they talked to the children.

“Most of the children we met … fled to Bangladesh without their families. Their fathers, their mothers [have] been killed, been murdered,” Ms. Karman said.

‘Suu Kyi must stop this’

Ms. Karman said that Ms. Suu Kyi should not be silent.

“She did not tell the truth to the world. She should stop her silence, she should wake up and stop this genocide,” she said.

She urged Ms. Suu Kyi to resign, saying otherwise she will “face prosecution.”

Ms. Maguire said they were looking for legal options to ensure justice. “We plan to take Myanmar’s government to the International Court of Justice,” she said.

Ms. Ebadi blasted her native country, Iran, and other West Asian Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, for not doing enough for the Rohingya.

Meet Hasina, promise to solve the problem

The laureates also met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and promised to work toward solving the crisis.

Some 7,00,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August, when Myanmar’s military retaliated following attacks on security posts by a Rohingya insurgent group.

In November, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement to gradually repatriate Rohingya in “safety, security and dignity,” but the process has been delayed.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar doesn’t recognise the Rohingya as an official ethnic group, and they face intense discrimination and persecution. Myanmar authorities maintain that security operations in Rakhine state have been aimed at clearing out insurgents.

Bangladesh has said it will not repatriate any Rohingya against their will, but has urged the international community to continue to pressure Myanmar to create conditions for a sustainable repatriation.

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