@Source: www.thedailystar.net
Shunsun Nahar, a 20-year-old Rohingya refugee, sits outside her makeshift tent at a refugee camp near Cox's Bazar on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
The Myanmar army has now accused the world media of “exaggerating” the number of Rohingya refugees fleeing its brutal crackdown for the last one and a half months.
The army commander-in-chief yesterday also denied accusations of ethnic cleansing by his force in the name of security operation since August 25 that forced more than 500,000 to flee to Bangladesh and many are still trying to escape the violence in Myanmar.
In a Facebook post on his official page, General Min Aung Hlaing, also the army chief, came up with the accusation against the media. He refuted the allegation of ethnic cleansing a day after the UN accused Myanmar of trying to purge its entire Rohingya population.
A new report released Wednesday by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) described the crackdown as well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of driving the population out of Myanmar and also preventing them from returning to their homes.
Such counter-accusation and denial by the Myanmar army generals are nothing new. It has been their old strategy to refute allegations and to tell the world lies in efforts to cover up atrocities.