The crisis in Myanmar and reported massacres of Rohingya Muslims are the consequence of a society encouraged to hate and a lack of global leadership on human rights, Amnesty International said on Thursday. The human rights group said in its annual report covering 159 countries that “hate-filled rhetoric” by leaders was normalizing discrimination against minorities. “We saw the ultimate consequence of a society encouraged to hate, scapegoat and fear minorities laid bare in the horrific military campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people in Myanmar,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty. Nearly 690,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine and taken refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh since the Myanmar military launched a crackdown on insurgents at the end of August, according to the UN. Free speech will be a key issue for those concerned about human rights this year, the report said.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 22, 2018 05:03 UTC