UN official denounces Myanmar's violence against Rohingya

NEW YORK - 1 February 2018: UN special envoy on human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee condemned Myanmar military's violent operations against Rohingya Muslims saying that violence against the Muslim minority bears "the hallmarks of a genocide."

Lee pointed out that the Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar in the aftermath attacks against them, have expressed fears that violence and displacement operations against the Muslim minority would not end, the BBC reported on Thursday.

She stressed the necessity that refugees who fled Myanmar into refugee camps in Bangladesh and Thailand should return to homes where they belong.

She urged the international community to put pressure on Myanmar to provide suitable conditions for Rohingya Muslims to enable them to go back home.

Lee affirmed that Myanmar's actions were "amounting to crimes against humanity."

The government of Myanmar has refused the UN rapporteur's entrance to the country in December, but she managed to meet with a number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Thailand.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled their villages into Bangladesh since the Myanmar military's crackdown following Aug. 25 attacks by Rohingya insurgents.

Earlier in the day, a petrol bomb has been thrown at the lakeside villa of Myanmar State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, the government spokesman Zaw Htay said.

"It was a petrol bomb," spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed , without giving further details on a possible motive for the attack.

He added that the petrol bomb caused minor damage.

Suu Kyi has lost much of her luster in the eyes of the international community over her perceived failure to prevent violations against the Rohingya Muslims.