A member of the Rohingya community who campaigns for the rights of the Burmese ethnic group in Europe has rejected de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech, saying she tried to ‘deceive’ the international community.
She presented ‘factually and verifiably wrong information’, Ibrahim Mohamed, founder of the European Rohingya Council or ERC, told bdnews24.com after her speech.
Suu Kyi made her first speech since attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents on Aug 25 sparked a military response that drove over 410,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh on Tuesday and condemned any human rights violations in Rakhine State.
The Nobel peace laureate also said her country is ready to welcome back refugees who have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh after verification.
The Bangladesh government has yet to make any official comments on her address, but a senior official at the foreign ministry told bdnews24.com that Dhaka had long been pressing Myanmar on the ‘joint verification’ of the Rohingyas who have lived in Cox’s Bazar for decades.
Myanmar took back 236,599 Rohingyas to their homeland through a bilateral agreement in 1992 when they recognised them as ‘members of Myanmar society’. About 2,500 verified refugees remained behind in the camps, but Myanmar has yet to take them back.
European Rohingya Council founder Ibrahim Mohamed.
European Rohingya Council founder Ibrahim Mohamed.
Ibrahim Mohamed said: “As we expected, Aung San Su Kyi tried to deceive the international community with factually and verifiably wrong information.”
“First of all she covers for the military and other security forces who have been committing genocide. She acts as a shield. She did not condemn the security forces. Instead she blamed Rohingyas,” he explained.
