MYANMAR on Friday criticized Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte for what he called the “genocide” of the Rohingyas in the country’s Rakhine State.
Mr. Duterte made the remarks in the context of his expressed willingness to accept Rohingya refugees during a speech on Thursday, April 5, where he also criticized anew United Nations High Commissioner of the Human Rights Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein.
“I’m willing to accept refugees. Rohingyas, yes,” Mr. Duterte said.
He reiterated that the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is looking into extra-judicial killings in the course of his campaign against illegal drugs, has no jurisdiction over him. Mr. Duterte has withdrawn the Philippines’ membership from the Rome Statute which created the ICC.
In his speech he said, “So huwag kayong maniwala nitong….Hindi nga nila ma-solve-solve ‘yung [Rohingya].’Yun ang genocide talaga, if I may so. Kaibigan ko pa naman ‘yung babae.” (So don’t believe this….They can’t even solve that [Rohingya]. That’s really genocide, if I may say so. And to think that woman is a friend of mine.)
Myanmar’s leader is Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who has since faced international criticism of the plight of the Rohingya people.
A spokesman for the Myanmar government, Zaw Htay, told Reuters in an interview, responding to Mr. Duterte’s remarks: “He doesn’t know anything about Myanmar.”
He added: “The usual behavior of that person [Mr. Duterte] is to speak without restraint. That’s why he said that.” — Minde Nyl R. Dela Cruz

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