The situation of Rohingya Muslims who have escaped to Myanmar from Bangladesh has become agonizing. Long-standing tensions between them and the local Buddhist majority exploded into violence in 2012.About 1,40,000 Rohingyas live as refugees in filthy camps. Many are excluded from education and healthcare. Many cannot move around the country nor can they get married. Thousands of them tried to flee by sea to Thailand and Malaysia but the authorities in the two countries clamped down on the exodus. Some migrants died in concentration camps run by traffickers. The Dalai Lama, Nobel laureate leader of the Buddhists, has surprisingly criticized Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s democracy leader for doing nothing for her country’s persecuted Rohingya Muslims and remaining silent on the issue. The Dalai Lama has put human rights above religion. Another Nobel laureate who is a Christian, Archbishop Tutu of South Africa also made a speech rebuking Suu Kyi. He said that her remaining silent on the issue was tantamount to choosing the side of the oppressors.
Aung San Suu Kyi has always been a champion of freedom. Her silence on the Rohingya issue would seem an enigma. It is likely that her neutrality is due to the fact that the Rohingyas are not citizens of Myanmar but illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Another reason may be that she does not wish to alienate the sympathies of Buddhists in Myanmar. Seventeen governments from all over Asia have gathered in Bangkok to discuss the plight of the Rohingyas who are called Bengalis in the agenda papers. The outcome of the discussions will have considerable impact on Yangon.
