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More than 27,000 Rohingyas have fled military
operation in
Rakhine [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]
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Global leaders warn Aung Sun Suu Kyi over Rohingya
Group of 23 Nobel laureates and global leaders write to UNSC
about "crimes against humanity" taking place in Myanmar.
More than a dozen Nobel laureates have criticised Myanmar
leader Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to uphold the human rights of Rohingya
Muslims in the country's Rakhine State, urging for immediate action to avoid
"ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity".
In an open letter to the
United Nations Security Council late Thursday, 23 global icons, including 13
laureates and 10 global leaders, expressed their disappointment at what they
see as State Counselor Suu Kyi's failure to ensure Rohingya rights.
“OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY
COUNCIL AND MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE COUNCIL TO END THE HUMAN CRISIS OF
ROHINGYAS IN MYANMAR”
"Despite repeated appeals to Aung San Suu Kyi, we are
frustrated that she has not taken any initiative to ensure full and equal
citizenship rights of the Rohingya," the letter with signatories including
Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, said.
"Ms. Suu Kyi is the leader and is the one with the
primary responsibility to lead, and lead with courage, humanity and
compassion," it said.
In recent weeks, more than 27,000 people belonging to the
persecuted Muslim minority - a group loathed by many of Myanmar's Buddhist
majority - have fled a Burmese military operation in Rakhine state launched in
response to the attack of border posts by armed groups.
At least 86 people have been killed in the crackdown
launched after attacks on police posts near the border with Bangladesh on
October 9.
Rohingya survivors say they suffered
rape, murder and arson at the hands of soldiers - accounts that have raised
global alarm and galvanized protests around Southeast Asia.
Suffere: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/myanmar-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya-161203104609449.html
"The Rohingyas are among the world's most persecuted
minorities, who, for decades, have been subjected to a campaign of
marginalization and dehumanization," said the authors.
"If we fail to take action, people may starve to death
if they are not killed with bullets, and we may end up being the passive
observers of crimes against humanity which will lead us once again to wring our
hands belatedly and say 'never again' all over again."
READ MORE: Rohingya abuse may be crimes
against humanity, says Amnesty http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/rohingya-crimes-humanity-amnesty-161219045655733.html
The violence had the hallmarks of Rwanda's 1994 genocide as
well as ethnic cleansing in Sudan's western Darfur region, Bosnia and Kosovo,
said the letter.
The group asked the 15-member Security Council to add the
"crisis" to its agenda "as a matter of urgency, and to call upon
the secretary-general to visit Myanmar in the coming weeks" - either
current UN chief Ban Ki-moon or his successor Antonio Guterres, who will take
over the post next month.
The Rohingya have languished under years of dire poverty and
discrimination from a government that denies them citizenship.
The UN and other rights groups have repeatedly called on
Myanmar to grant them full rights.
Bangladesh's government has been under pressure to open its
border to the fleeing refugees, but it has reinforced its border posts and
deployed coastguard ships to prevent fresh arrivals.