Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de factor leader, said in a national speech Tuesday that the government needed time to find out the problems in the Rakhine state where more than 400,000 of minority Muslims are in exodus.
Suu Kyi, who canceled a scheduled trip the United Nations, said in her speech that her party had little time in office, while failing to address the reported crisis that has forced thousands Rohingya Muslims to flee Rakhine, CNN reported. United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has called a military crackdown there a "textbook case of ethnic cleansing."
"After half a century or more of authoritarian rule, now we are in the process of nurturing our nation," Suu Kyi said, per CNN. "We are a young and fragile country facing many problems, but we have to cope with them all. We cannot just concentrate on the few."
Suu Kyi's only reference to the Muslim Rohingya community by name was a reference to the burgeoning Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militant group, which she charged was "responsible for acts of terrorism."
Amnesty International slammed Suu Kyi's speech Tuesday in a statement.
"Aung San Suu Kyi today demonstrated that she and her government are still burying their heads in the sand over the horrors unfolding in Rakhine State," James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific said in the statement. "At times, her speech amounted to little more than a mix of untruths and victim blaming.
"There is overwhelming evidence that security forces are engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. While it was positive to hear Aung San Suu Kyi condemn human rights violations in Rakhine state, she is still silent about the role of the security forces in this," Gomez's statement continued.
According to CNN, the Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar's Rakhine state numbering about 1 million, but the Myanmar government does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups in the country.
Suu Kyi's government sees the Rohingya as illegal immigrants, a view rooted in their heritage in East Bengal, which is now Bangladesh, CNN reported. Human Rights Watch charges that Myanmar's laws discriminate against the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education, and employment, the network said.
"The military's campaign of violence and human rights violations in Rakhine State must end immediately," Gomez said in the Amnesty statement. "But the government should also address the entrenched discrimination that has left Rohingya trapped in a cycle of abuse and deprivation for decades.
"Contrary to Aung San Suu Kyi's claims, Rohingya are essentially segregated in Rakhine State, effectively denied citizenship and face severe barriers in accessing health care and other basic services," he continued.
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