Nobel Peace Prize Winner: Illegal Immigration Spreads Terrorism
Much of the world’s conflict can be attributed to illegal immigration, which spreads terrorism and instability, Myanmar leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi said in a speech on Monday.
Speaking to European and Asian leaders gathered in Myanmar’s capital, Suu Kyi said the world is in a new period of unrest partly because of “illegal immigration’s spread of terrorism and violent extremism,” according to the Associated Press. She also cited “social disharmony and even the threat of nuclear war.”
Suu Kyi’s remarks at the annual EU-Asian foreign ministers conference come as Myanmar is embroiled in a humanitarian crisis over the forced exodus of Rohingya Muslims from the country’s western Rakhine state. Although she did not mention the Rohingya situation in her speech, Suu Kyi’s reference to illegal immigration echoed the widespread view among Myanmar’s majority Buddhist population that the Rohingya are illegal interlopers and responsible for terrorist attacks.
The Myanmar government has come under worldwide condemnation for a military crackdown against hundreds of thousands of Rohingya that began this summer. More than 500,000 people have fled Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh, according to the United Nations, which has characterized the government’s actions as a deliberate ethnic cleansing campaign.
