Min Aung Hlaing casts doubt on return of Rohingya

Min Aung Hlaing was asked by Chinese-language Phoenix television whether the Muslims could be allowed back to Rakhine State – from where most fled an army crackdown in 2017 that U.N. investigators said had “genocidal intent”.

“If it doesn’t comply with Myanmar’s laws, what else is there to consider? I don’t believe there is any country in the world that would go beyond their own country’s refugee laws to accept refugees,” Min Aung Hlaing responded, according to a transcript of the interview.

When asked whether that meant vocal international appeals on behalf of the Rohingya were to no avail, he nodded.

Min Aung Hlaing, who headed the army in 2017 when some 700,000 Rohingya fled from advancing troops, reiterated the view of nationalists in Buddhist-majority Myanmar that the Rohingya are not one of its ethnic groups.

Source: Reuters