Reflecting on the Rohingya crisis: should Aung San Suu Kyi be held accountable?
Aung San Suu Kyi, the current president of Burma (a prevailing Buddhist country), led the opposition movement against the ruling military junta till the establishment of democracy in the country, and was a preeminent founder of the democratic party (NLD). She was known as the new Gandhi; advocating for peace as well as standing up for people’s rights across Myanmar, and was therefore awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Ironically, her sole motivation was the establishment of democracy in which “the country’s ethnic groups could cooperate in harmony”. Aung San suu Kyi is now being accused of genocide against the Rohingyas, a muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar.
The Rohingyas are a muslim ethnic minority living mainly in the Rakhine state, on the West coast of Myanmar. The government has been denying them citizenship for decades, viewing them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, denying their existence as a people, which resulted in their exclusion from the 2014 census.
Despite the historical schism between the Buddhists and the Rohingyas, an undeniable cause for this ethnic cleansing across the country revolves once again around oil interests and the related economic aspects of the region. Indeed, a significant gas field was discovered near the coast of Rakhine and is being exploited by the Chinese, who signed an agreement with Myanmar to establish pipelines going from the Rakhine state, directly to southwest China. However, this resulted in complaints and discontent from the Rohingyas as the Rakhine state remains the poorest in the country due to strong military control of these economic activities in the region, and yet its people suffer from the pollution originating from these pipelines.
Moreover, this pipeline allows for a link between Middle Eastern oil exports and Asian countries, which explains the enduring and appalling silence of Arab countries regarding the massacres. The Rakhine region is also becoming the link between the country and India via its strategically located ports, allowing for huge imports and exports with one of the greatest Asian powers. Therefore, although preposterous, these economic interests are a significant reason for the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas, under false pretext of avenging violent Rohingyas uprising against the government and other ethnic groups in the region.
Since the latest exodus in August 2017 over 700,000 Rohingyas have been forced to flee the the state of Rakhine, resulting in 10,000 deaths, according to a United Nations estimate. Indeed, the Human Rights Watch stated that the Burmese security forces committed abominations during the large-scale ethnic cleansing which “amount to crimes against humanity”, including mass killings, widespread arsons, and rape. Yet, Aung San Suu Kyi refuses to criticise and go against these atrocities, referring to them as “the military aspect”, denouncing the Rohingyas violence against other ethnic groups instead.
While the UN Security Council urged the Burmese government to stop the violence and oppression of the Rohingyas, no sanctions have been imposed. Apart from Bangladesh’s responsible and empathetic response in welcoming Rohingya refugees over the course of the crisis, the international community hasn’t been proactive about the crisis either, mainly due to the large economic interests seen previously; China and Russia now “protect” the Burmese government, Middle Eastern countries have been peculiarly detached from the matter, and many countries demand Myanmar to be condemned but take no further action.
However, the US has imposed targeted economic sanctions in August 2018, after imploring the government to stop these inhumane ethnic cleansing. UN experts stated that Burmese army generals should be tried for genocide and crimes against humanity in an international court, as well as called for accountability assessments within the UN for failing to respond proactively to the genocide of the Rohingyas, opting for the country’s development and establishment of democracy.
Since January 2019, the UN has been increasingly assessing its own involvement in Myanmar over the past decade after being accused of failing to respond to warning signs preceding the crisis. Moreover, the Bangladesh foreign secretary announced a month ago to the UN security Council that “Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar”, possibly leading to a forced return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s accountability in the crisis remains controversial as, despite her Nobel Peace Prize being irrevocable, many believe she should’ve been stripped of it. Nonetheless, it is crucial to understand that she is in a complex position, stuck in a military-drafted constitution in which the well-established military not only owns the majority of seats on the National Defense and Security Council, giving them the authority to dissolve the democratic government, but also controls the police through various ministries. Suu Kyi could contribute to solving the matter by staying true to her convictions and cooperating with the UN to repatriate the Rohingya refugees, and standing up for her people.