Yahoo – AFP,
September 4, 2017
Nobel peace
laureate Malala Yousafzai and mainly Muslim countries in Asia led a growing
chorus of criticism on Monday aimed at Myanmar and its civilian leader Aung San
Suu Kyi over the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Nearly
90,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh in the past 10 days following an
uptick in fighting between militants and Myanmar's military in strife-torn
western Rakhine state.
The
impoverished region bordering Bangladesh has been a crucible of communal tensions
between Muslims and Buddhists for years, with the Rohingya forced to live under
apartheid-like restrictions on movement and citizenship.
The recent
violence, which began last October when a small Rohingya militant group
ambushed border posts, is the worst Rakhine has witnessed in years, with the UN
saying Myanmar's army may have committed ethnic cleansing in its response.
Suu Kyi, a
former political prisoner of Myanmar's junta, has come under increasing fire
over her perceived unwillingness to speak out against the treatment of the
Rohingya or chastise the military.
She has
made no public comment since the latest fighting broke out on August 25.
Indonesian
activists protest in Bandung, West Java about the humanitarian
crisis in
western Myanmar's Rakhine state (AFP Photo/TIMUR MATAHARI)
|
"Every
time I see the news, my heart breaks at the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims
in Myanmar," Pakistani activist Yousafzai, who famously survived being
shot in the head by the Taliban, said in a statement on Twitter.
"Over
the last several years I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful
treatment. I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to
do the same," she added.
Malaysian
Foreign Minister Anifah Aman also questioned Suu Kyi's silence.
"Very
frankly, I am dissatisfied with Aung San Suu Kyi," Anifah told AFP.
"(Previously)
she stood up for the principles of human rights. Now it seems she is doing
nothing."
Muslim
neighbours riled
The growing
crisis threatens Myanmar's diplomatic relations, particularly with
Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Indonesia
where there is profound public anger over the treatment of the Rohingya.
The
Maldives announced on Monday that it was severing all trade ties with the
country "until the government of Myanmar takes measures to prevent the
atrocities being committed against Rohingya Muslims", the foreign ministry
said in a statement.
Indonesia's
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met Suu Kyi as well as Myanmar's army chief
General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Monday in a bid to pressure the government
to do more to alleviate the crisis.
"Once
again, violence, this humanitarian crisis has to stop immediately,"
Indonesian President Joko Widodo told reporters on Sunday as he announced
Retno's mission.
Hours
before Widodo spoke, a petrol bomb was thrown at Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta
while police there have previously thwarted two attempts by Islamist militants
to bomb the compound.
Dozens
demonstrated in front of the embassy on Monday, where armed police were
deployed and the mission cordoned off behind barbed wire.
Pakistan's
foreign ministry said it was "deeply concerned over reports of growing
number of deaths and forced displacement of Rohingya Muslims" and urged
Myanmar to investigate reports of atrocities against the community.
Iranian
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif added in a recent tweet: "Global silence on
continuing violence against #Rohingya Muslims. Int’l action crucial to prevent
further ethnic cleansing - UN must rally."
Rohingya
refugees travel on an open-back truck near the Kutupalong refugee
camp in
Ukhiya, Bangladesh (AFP Photo/Jasmin RUMI)
|
Analysts
have long warned that Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya would lead to
homegrown militancy as well as support from international jihadists.
Since the
latest fighting broke out, Al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen has called for
retaliatory attacks against Myanmar while the Afghan Taliban urged Muslims to
"use their abilities to help Myanmar's oppressed Muslims".
Thousands
gathered in Russia's Chechnya region Monday for an officially staged rally over
the plight of the Rohingya.
Defenders
of Suu Kyi say she has limited ability to control Myanmar's notoriously abusive
military, which under the junta-era constitution is effectively independent of
civilian oversight.
The
Rohingya are also widely dismissed in Myanmar as Bangladeshi interlopers
despite many tracing their lineage back generations, making supporting them
hugely unpopular.
But
detractors say Suu Kyi is one of the few people with the mass appeal and moral
authority to swim against the tide on the issue.
Malala Yousafzai rebukes fellow Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi over Rohingya crisis https://t.co/sCYV5H6821 pic.twitter.com/h6ZPZAU5NV— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 4, 2017
Aung San Suu Kyi's global image is in tatters over the Rohingya crisis but she's still the star inside Myanmar https://t.co/G7n8xSFhyb pic.twitter.com/n7UjKyFhmS— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 7, 2017
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