Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be stripped of her Nobel Peace Prize because of her country’s persecution of its Rohingya Muslim minority.
The leader of Burma’s National League for a Democracy, was given the prestigious award in 1991 for campaigning to make her country a democracy.
But more than 370,000 people have now signed a petition demanding the Nobel Committee withdraw the award, following increased violence against the mostly Muslim minority group in Burma’s Rakhine province.
Since becoming Burma’s leader last year, Ms Suu Kyi has been widely accused of failing to halt violence against the Rohingya. The latest bloodshed has resulted in 146,000 people fleeing the area, mostly into neighbouring Bangladesh.
United Nations agencies believe the figure could rise to 300,000 in the coming days.
The recent outbreak began when
Rohingya insurgents attacked several police posts and an army base .
Observers say up to 1,000 people have been killed in recent days as military forces have destroyed villages. There are widespread reports of women being raped and civilians being murdered.
António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, said the violence could verge on ethnic cleansing.
Despite evidence that the crimes have been committed by the Burmese military, Ms Suu Kyi has blamed the violence on “terrorists” and claimed the controversy has been caused by “a huge iceberg of misinformation”.
Rohingya violence: Calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel Peace Prize to be withdrawn over Burma crisis
