On the occasion of Genocide Remembrance Day, the Rohingyas called on the governments across the globe, including the UK and US, to declare the crimes against the Rohingya community as genocide.
4th anniversary of Rohingya influx: Rohingyas called on foreign countries including US, UK to make a clear genocide determination thedailystar.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thedailystar.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Aung San Suu Kyi (Photo by Ye Aung THU / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Around 740,000 Rohingya made the journey from Myanmar’s Rakhine state into the neighbouring country after operations in August 2017 that the United Nations has said could be genocide.
Suu Kyi was the country’s de facto leader at the time and defended the Myanmar military at an International Criminal Court hearing in 2019 into atrocities against the Rohingya, including rape and murder.
The news of Suu Kyi’s arrest spread quickly in the crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh where about one million Rohingya refugees now live.
“She is the reason behind all of our suffering. Why shouldn’t we celebrate?”, community leader Farid Ullah told AFP from Kutupalong the world’s largest refugee settlement.
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US President Joe Biden led international calls to reverse a military coup in Myanmar on Monday which saw democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi detained and a one-year state of emergency imposed.
Ms Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the capital Naypyidaw before dawn. The ruling junta removed 24 ministers and deputies and named 11 replacements on the same day.
In the wake of the coup, the military moved quickly to stifle dissent, severely restricting the internet and mobile phone communications across the country. The international community should come together in one voice to press the Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials they have detained, lift all telecommunications restrictions, and refrain from violence against civilians, Mr Biden said in a statement.