Last chance for Suu Kyi
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de-facto leader, has a "last chance" to halt the army offensive that has so far killed hundreds of Rohingya Muslims and forced 400,000 people to flee their ancestral land to Bangladesh. The Rohingya persecution has gone on unabated, disregarding international public opinion. Thus the natural question is: what if Suu Kyi doesn't deliver?
In that case, will the UN and the world stand by and watch, according to the UN Secretary-General, an absolutely horrible tragedy that will be irreversible? This amounts to presenting the Rohingya a fait accompli—which is unacceptable.
It is unfortunate that instead of taking any substantive steps, the world body relies on a misguided belief that Suu Kyi will eventually respond to her conscience. It is also naive to think that the key to solving the crisis lies in her hands at all. Suu Kyi, despite being the face of Myanmar in the international arena, is not in charge of the country's security and defence affairs.
The military is calling the shots in this conflict, so any effort of the international community to address the issue should centrally focus on the military, over which the civilian government has little control.
It is even more upsetting that the three world powers—namely China, Russia and India—are not only silent about the plight of Rohingyas but through their statements have given the Myanmar's deadly military regime a sense of impunity. We are thus not surprised by the country's head of the army to now openly deny what is a historical fact.
We call on the UN to state unequivocally that it will be considering stringent measures, including reinstating the junta-era sanctions, targeting the military, its leadership and vast business interests, if the Rohingya persecution continues.
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