Myanmar's leader won't say 'Rohingya' - Business Insider
print
National   League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives   at the Union Parliament in Naypyitaw Thomson Reuters
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has told the   U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights that the government will   avoid using the term "Rohingya" to describe a persecuted Muslim   minority in the country's northwest, an official told Reuters on   Monday.
Members of the 1.1 million group, who identify themselves by the   term "Rohingya" and live in apartheid-like conditions, are seen   by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.   The term is a divisive issue.
The U.N. human rights investigator, Yanghee Lee, met Suu Kyi in   the capital Naypyitaw on her first trip to Myanmar since the   Nobel Peace Prize winner took power in April.
Feted in the West for her role as champion of Myanmar's   democratic opposition during long years of military rule and   house arrest, Suu Kyi has been criticized overseas, and by some   in Myanmar, for saying little about the abuses faced by the   Rohingya.
"At their meeting here this morning, our Foreign Minister Daw   Aung San Suu Kyi explained our stance on this issue that the   controversial terms should be avoided," said Aung Lin, the   Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Suu Kyi is banned from presidency by the military-drafted   constitution because her children have British citizenship. She   holds offices of the State Counselor and the Minister for Foreign   Affairs, but is the de-facto leader of the administration.
She said during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry   last month that the country needed "space" to deal with the   Rohingya issue and cautioned against the use of "emotive terms",   that she said were making the situation more difficult.
The previous military-linked government of former junta general   Thein Sein referred to the group as "Bengalis", implying they   were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.
On Friday, Myanmar representative to the United Nations Human   Rights Council Thet Thinzar Tun criticized use of "certain   nomenclature" by a U.N. representative as "adding fuel to fire"   and "only making things worse".
"For the sake of harmony and mutual trust between two   communities, it is advisable for everyone to use the term 'the   Muslim community in Rakhine State'," said Thet Thinzar Tun,   according to a video on the U.N. website.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on   Monday called on Myanmar to end discrimination and human rights   violations against minorities in a report that outlined those   violations and focused particularly on the plight of the   Rohingya.
Lee is reviled by radical nationalist Buddhists in Myanmar, whose   leader, Wirathu, called her a "whore" after she urged the   previous government to end the abuses of the Rohingya and   criticized laws seen as discriminating non-Buddhists and women.
Some 125,000 Rohingya remain displaced and face severe travel   restrictions in squalid camps since fighting erupted in Rakhine   State between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. Thousands have fled   persecution and poverty.
Suu Kyi has formed a committee to "bring peace and development"   to the state, but its plans are not clear.
Lee will meet several cabinet members and travel to areas where   ethnic armed groups fight the military and sometimes between   themselves, including Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states.
Aye Win, a U.N. official responsible for contacts with the media   during Lee's visit, declined to comment.
Read the original article on Reuters .  Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter .
More from Reuters: