All eyes on Aung San Suu Kyi as the world awaits condemnation over mistreatment of Rohingya Muslims

(Web Desk) – Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel peace prize winner, has called on Aung San Suu Kyi to condemn the “tragic and shameful” atrocities against Rohingya Muslims following violence that has left hundreds dead.

According to The Guardian, Yousafzai told her fellow laureate Suu Kyi the “world is waiting” for her to act over the unrest that has resulted in thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Yousafzai’s statement came after Britain’s foreign secretary Boris Johnson advised Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the de facto leader of Myanmar, that the treatment of the Myanmar’s government over Muslim minority was “besmirching” the country’s status.

Myanmar security officials and insurgents from Rohinya have been accusing each other of burning down villages resulting in deaths of hundreds and thousands of people fleeing from the state of Rakhine in the north-west of the country. The Myanmar government has blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army ( ARSA) for the violence, but the Rohingya civilians accuse the security officials for the unrest which has forced many to flee the country.

In her statement, Yousafzai has called for an end to the violence and said that she had been left heartbroken by the news reported from the country that many young children have been killed by Myanmar’s security forces and urged the Burmese government to grant the group citizenship.

She wrote: “Over the last several years, I have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment.”

My statement on the #Rohingya crisis in Myanmar: pic.twitter.com/1Pj5U3VdDK

— Malala (@Malala) September 3, 2017

“I am still waiting for my fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do the same. The world is waiting and the Rohingya Muslims are waiting.”

The recent unrest has resulted in 400 deaths by the Burmese military. Campaigners and human rights activists have called this crime against humanity. 

Yousafzai wrote: “Stop the violence. Today we have seen pictures of small children killed by Myanmar’s security forces. These children attacked no one, but still their homes were burned to the ground.

“If their home is not Myanmar, where they have lived for generations, then where is it? Rohingya people should be given citizenship in Myanmar, the country where they were born.”

Johnson gave his statement on Saturday urging Aung San Suu Kyi, who won Nobel peace prize for her pro-democracy activism spending years at house arrest, to end the violence by using “all her remarkable qualities”.

Suu Kyi is not the president of the country but is seen as Myanmar’s head of government.

He said: “Aung San Suu Kyi is rightly regarded as one of the most inspiring figures of our age but the treatment of the Rohingya is alas besmirching the reputation of Burma.

“She faces huge challenges in modernising her country. I hope she can now use all her remarkable qualities to unite her country, to stop the violence and to end the prejudice that afflicts both Muslims and other communities in Rakhine.

“It is vital that she receives the support of the Burmese military, and that her attempts at peacemaking are not frustrated. She and all in Burma will have our full support in this.”

UN’s refugee agency has estimated 73,000 people majority of them are Muslims have crossed the border into Bangladesh since the onset of the violence on August 25, leaving relief camps near full capacity. Dozens have been reported to have died while crossing the Naf river which forms part of the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

 Rohingya refugees travel on an open-back truck near the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh. Photo: AFP

According to BBC, there has been a huge backlash from many Muslim countries over the treatment of Rohinya Muslims. Small protests have been reported in some countries where Myanmar’s embassy was targeted.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry in a press release stated that, “Pakistan is deeply concerned over reports of growing number of deaths and forced displacement of Rohingya Muslims. Such reports, if confirmed, are a source of serious concern and anguish.

Pakistan urges authorities in Myanmar to investigate reports of massacre, hold those involved accountable and take necessary measures to protect the rights of Rohingya Muslims.

In line with its consistent position on protecting the rights of Muslim minorities worldwide, Pakistan will work with the international community in particular the OIC to express solidarity with the Rohingya Muslims and to work towards safeguarding their rights.”

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated on Twitter, that he s concerned by the reports of violence and asked for an urgent need of humanitarian aid.

Concerned by reports of violence during security ops in Myanmar s Rakhine State. Urgent need for restraint, protection, humanitarian aid.

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 1, 2017

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak urged for calm and restraint and to hit out at the “dire situation” facing the Rohingya. Malaysia has hosted thousands of Rohingya refugees.

We urge for calm and restraint. The dire situation facing our Rohingya brothers and sisters must be alleviated for good of Myanmar & region https://t.co/WGWFXWR2IB

— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) September 3, 2017

 Indonesian activists protest in Bandung, West Java about the humanitarian crisis in western Myanmar s Rakhine state. Photo: AFP

Maldives officials stated that it is severing all economic ties with Myanmar until the country halts violating the Rohingyas’ human rights.

In Chechnya, thousands of people took part in an official rally at which strongman ruler Ramzan Kadyrov called for the "guilty to be punished". In Russia, 17 people were detained near the Myanmar embassy for "violating public order", a Russian report said.

In Central Asia s Kyrgyzstan, a football international with Myanmar has been cancelled, apparently because of a plan by some social media users to protest ahead of the Asian Cup qualifier.

As the onset of violence began in late August thousands of people have been fleeing the country.

A border guard told AFP news agency that more people were arriving than last time. "If it continues then we will face serious problems. But it s impossible to stop the flow, these people are everywhere," he said.

Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for UN refugee body UNHCR, who is on the Bangladesh border, said people arriving at refugee camps were "in very bad shape".

"They say they have not eaten for days, not since they fled their homes. They ve been surviving on either groundwater or rainwater. They ve been walking for days, they re physically exhausted, they re probably traumatised.

"We re seeing a lot of women and very young children, some newborn, and these babies have been exposed to the elements for days so they re very very weak and they need medical attention.

"The numbers are really alarming and they are growing," she said.