Three Nobel laureates blame Aung San Suu Kyi for Rohingya crisis

Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

Three Nobel Peace laureates have accused Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the nation’s military of genocide for their role in violence that has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. The laureates, who are in Bangladesh to visit sprawling refugee camps, said at a news conference in Dhaka on Wednesday that their fellow Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi cannot avoid responsibility.

One of the laureates, Yemen’s Tawakkol Karman, urged Suu Kyi to “wake up” or “face prosecution.” Her two colleagues Northern Ireland’s Mairead Maguire and Iran’s Shirin Ebadi promised to work to bring those responsible to justice.

Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August, when Myanmar’s military retaliated following attacks on security posts by an insurgent group.