YANGON: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres
expressed "shock" at comments by Myanmar's military chief in which he
said the Rohingya minority shared nothing in common with the rest of the
population and that their demand for citizenship had stoked recent violence.
Nearly 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fled to Bangladesh since
the military launched a crackdown in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in
response to insurgent attacks on security forces in August, according to UN
estimates. The United States and UN have described the operation as ethnic
cleansing of the Rohingya, which Myanmar denies.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech to
military personnel and their families last week in northern Kachin State that
Rohingya "do not have any characteristics or culture in common with the
ethnicities of Myanmar", according to his website.
The military chief also said the tensions in Rakhine were
"fuelled because the Bengalis demanded citizenship", using a term
that Rohingya activists reject as implying they are illegal migrants from
Bangladesh.
UN chief Guterres said in a statement on Monday he was
"shocked" at the comments, and urged "all leaders in Myanmar to
take a unified stance against incitement to hatred and to promote communal
harmony".
"The Secretary-General reiterates the importance of
addressing the root causes of the violence and the responsibility of the
Government of Myanmar to provide security and assistance to those in
need," the statement said.
Though many Rohingya say their families have lived in
Myanmar for generations, they are not among the 135 officially recognised
ethnic groups and so are denied citizenship.
Several calls to a military spokesman seeking comment
went unanswered.
The army chief is an influential figure under Myanmar's
constitution, which obliges Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government to share
power with the military.
Source: Reuters