Myanmar Has ‘Clear Goal’ of Eliminating Rohingya People in Country - Activist

Sputnik: Will the deal to return the Rohingya to Myanmar actually work?

Kyaw Win: There must be accountability every time there is genocide; the international community has had a very lazy response. They are very reluctant to do something and that makes me feel very worried that this could be another level of violence which could cause problems for the region.

We don’t have any mechanism to take accountability of the government — or any government who commits genocide, who commits mass killings, who kill all people — and they are getting away with this.

Also on the ground, people have such a hatred of the Rohingya people and plus the Muslim community. Everywhere in Burma right now you can see the hatred is at a very high level. The government has a very clear goal, they are achieving their goal, they are eliminating the Rohingya people from Rakhine state and also they are creating only Buddhist villages and now they are bringing a lot of settlers, from other parts of Burma, not only Buddhists.

This means that the elimination of the Rohingya will not stop and also with the creation of the Buddhist villages, when these people come back, they are not going end up spending their lives in concentration camps forever.

Sputnik: What caused the Rohingya persecution and exodus?

Kyaw Win: The way the government and not only one government, it’s all the previous governments since 1978; they have all been treating the Rohingya as unwanted people and they put them in a situation like a slow genocide.

Everything has been gradually taken away from them.  This is very systematic, this is institutionalized persecution, and they’ve taken away their citizenship, imposed travel restrictions, poor healthcare, malnutrition and targeting them with violence.

These are all the things that pushed them away from Burma. The reason behind this repatriation is just to save Burma from the international criticism and accusations that Burma is committing this. That is the only reason. How about that accountability? There is no accountability for the mass killings and genocide. How could these people return?  How can the international community turn a blind eye to these issues?  They are creating concentration camps. How can this happen in the 21st century in front of our own eyes?

Sputnik: Are western governments such as the EU mistaken in backing Aun Suu Kyi?

Kyaw Win: Aun Suu Kyi has changed herself, which has shocked everyone. She is supposed to be a human rights champion, but as soon as she is free from house arrest, she said she is no longer an activist, she is a politician, and this is a fact we are now realizing.

The thing is what she is doing right now, she is aggressive, totally denying everything. Not only denying, but handling the genocidal military. 

I understand that the Western countries have the intention to support political reforms and think that Aun Suu Kyi is a reliable partner, but unfortunately she is just betraying them and her own people.

The views and opinions expressed by analysts are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.