Myanmar is yet to recover from the ill effects of decades of military rule. The army still casts its menacing shadow over the civilian government of which Aung San Suu Kyi is the de-facto leader. The 2008 constitution gives senior military officers control over three key security ministries: defense, border affairs and home affairs. What is more, a quarter of all seats in Parliament are reserved for the military, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the government to amend the army-drafted constitution.
These are among the reasons advanced by Suu Kyi’s supporters at home and in the West as a justification for the lackluster performance of the civilian government that came to power in 2016 after the 2015 elections in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won an overwhelming majority of seats. There is an element of truth in all of these arguments. But nobody has come up with a convincing explanation for the Nobel Laureate’s silence with regard to the systematic persecution of Myanmar’s minority Rohingya.
Rohingya Muslims comprise nearly two percent of Myanmar’s predominantly Buddhist population but are excluded from the official list of ethnic minorities and remain without citizenship. They are denied freedom of movement, access to education and the ownership of property.
Conflict over land and resources in the western state of Rakhine, where most Rohingya live in squalid camps, often leads to unrest. More than 100,000 people had to flee their homes in Rakhine state in 2012, following deadly violence driven largely by Buddhist mobs. Thousands have fled to other Southeast Asian countries on rickety boats in search of better lives. Things took a turn bfor the worse last October, when dozens of Rohingya were killed in an army crackdown after a Rohingya attack led to the death of nine police officers. According to UN estimates, 30,000 people have fled in the recent violence, and some refugees have accused the security forces of committing rights abuses, including torture, rape and murder.
The leading UN rights body has agreed to send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate alleged abuses by security forces against the Rohingya. In a major blow to Suu Kyi’s reputation as the legendary defender of human rights, the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on March 24 adopted a resolution to this effect. Myanmar has rejected allegations that security officers have murdered, raped and tortured Rohingya Muslims, saying the probe would only “inflame” the conflict. This is in line with a policy Suu Kyi, the world’s most famous prisoner of conscience, has followed with regard to Rohingya Muslims.
There was a case, before the elections, for avoiding any impression that Suu Kyi was siding with the Rohingya lest she alienated the Buddhist majority who was implacably hostile to them. It is also true that she has no means of reining in the security forces. But nothing prevents her from condemning the abuses against a helpless minority or visiting the areas in Rakhine where the atrocities have been committed.
She refused to speak out forcefully even when a UN report said Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya could be tantamount to crimes against humanity. Not only has Suu Kyi declined to call them “Rohingya” but has been urging diplomats not to use the term. This means she agrees with those in Myanmar who want the group labeled “Bengalis” who are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. Suu Kyi is fond of quoting a Burmese saying: “You have to make big problems small and small problems disappear.” She should realize that a section of the Buddhist majority in her country is trying to solve the problem by making the Rohingya disappear altogether, either by killing them or forcing them to flee.
