Rohingya crisis: UN warns of ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’
Cox’s Bazar — The situation in Myanmar is a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing", the UN said on Monday, as the number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh was now at 313,000. The UN warning came as it emerged the Dalai Lama had written to Aung San Suu Kyi urging Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in the mainly Buddhist country. South African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has also written to Suu Kyi calling for her intervention on the Rohingya’s behalf. Tutu said: "If the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep." The Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority, have faced decades of persecution in Myanmar where they are regarded as illegal immigrants. There is widespread hostility towards the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship and labelled illegal "Bengali" immigrants. Buddhist nationalists, led by firebrand monks, have operated a Islamophobic campaign callin...
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