WASHINGTON | The Washington Holocaust Museum on Wednesday withdrew Burma’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi a prize for her fight against dictatorship and freedoms because of her inaction in the Rohingya crisis.
Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims living in western Burma have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since the end of August 2017 to flee an army operation, described as an “ethnic cleansing” campaign by the United Nations.
“We had hoped that you – as a person praised for your commitment to human dignity and universal human rights – do something to condemn and stop the brutal military campaign, and express your solidarity with the Rohingya people “The Museum said in a statement.
But “the National League for Democracy, under your leadership, has instead refused to cooperate with the UN investigators (and) propagated a rhetoric of hatred against the Rohingya community,” the Museum added in reference to political party of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi. He also calls on the leader to use her “moral authority to respond to this situation”.
Dated to dissent for nearly 30 years, including 15 under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the first “Elie Wiesel” Award in 2012 by the Holocaust Museum for her “brave action and great personal sacrifice.” Against the Burmese junta and its struggle for “the freedom and dignity of the Burmese people”.
But the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, which has been at the head of the civilian government since 2016, has been singled out for its lack of compassion for the Rohingyas and for its silence on the role of the army, with which it must to compose on the political level.
The museum “has been misled by people who do not see the reality as it is,” responded the Burmese government in a statement Thursday.
Influenced by strong Buddhist nationalism, a majority of Burmese view Rohingyas as foreigners and see them as a threat to the country’s predominance of Buddhism.