Tutu condemns Suu Kyi’s silence over attacks on Muslim minority
Burmese leader comes under pressure from a second Nobel laureate to speak out on Rohingya
DESMOND TUTU has become the second Nobel laureate to criticise fellow appointee Aung San Suu Kyi over her failure to condemn the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
An unprecedented surge of 270,000 Rohingya has sought refuge in Bangladesh over the past two weeks, the UN refugee agency said yesterday.
Refugees have reported a concerted effort to expel members of the 1.1million strong Muslim minority, with witnesses saying security forces have been burning villages and killing Rohingya residents.
Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, said yesterday that more than 1,000 people – more than twice the government’s total – may already have been killed in the latest outbreak of violence.
Ms Suu Kyi, who became the country’s de facto leader after Burma held its first free election in 2012, has consistently refused to speak out against the violence, blaming “terrorists” and a campaign of “misinformation”.
In an open letter to Ms Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 as a champion of democracy after spending 15 years under house arrest, Mr Tutu said: “I am now elderly, decrepit and formally retired, but breaking my vow to remain silent on public affairs out of profound sadness about the plight of the Muslim minority in your country, the Rohingya.
“My dear sister: If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Burma is your silence, the price is surely too steep. We pray for you to speak out for justice, human rights and
‘If the political price of your ascension to the highest office… is your silence, the price is surely too steep’
the unity of your people. We pray for you to intervene.”
Mr Tutu, 85, has been living with prostate cancer for nearly two decades and has largely withdrawn from public life.
Earlier this week Malala Yousafzai, who became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 2014, called for Ms Suu Kyi to speak out against the violence.
The violence has been met with international condemnation. Protests were held in Indonesia and Pakistan, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised more help for Rohingya, including the construction of refugee camps.
Yanghee Lee, the United Nations representative, also urged Ms Suu Kyi to speak out. “What we forget is that she is a politician through and through. People expect her to have that big high moral voice but she’s a politician, and what’s the most important objective if you are a politician? Getting elected,” she said. “I think we need to delete our memories of the imprisoned democratic icon.”