The US lawmakers who once enthusiastically supported Aung San Suu Kyi’s rise to power in Myanmar have shifted this week to criticism of her silence in the face of a bloody military crackdown on ethnic minorities, the latest sign that the nation’s fragile democratic project is on tenuous footing.
Congressional leaders from both parties are adding their voices to the international condemnation of the violence in western Myanmar that has sent an estimated 270,000 Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh and led to growing doubts about Suu Kyi’s leadership.
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators - Democrats Richard J Durbin, Dianne Feinstein and Cory Booker, and Republican John McCain - issued a joint resolution condemning the “horrific acts of violence” against the Rohingya and imploring Suu Kyi “to play an active role in ending this humanitarian tragedy.”
Suu Kyi, a longtime democratic icon who plays the role of state counsellor to the ruling National League for Democracy, has remained largely silent about the mounting humanitarian crisis. The outcry in Congress reflects the dismay and confusion of the stoic group of Suu Kyi’s supporters in Washington that nurtured her throughout her more than 15 years under house arrest and protected her interests as her country emerged from military dictatorship to hold largely democratic elections in November 2015.
Her unwillingness to speak out against the military crackdown, which came in response to insurgent attacks in Rakhine State, has prompted some former admirers to suggest that Suu Kyi be stripped of the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 1991.
“Part of this is the fault of the international community,” said Erin Murphy, a former State Department adviser who accompanied then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the country in 2011. Murphy said she thinks Suu Kyi is being unfairly maligned because supporters had unrealistic expectations.
“We told her story for 25 years, and we don’t like who she actually is,” Murphy said. “She does not have any idea how to handle this.”
The Senate resolution calls on the Myanmar government to allow the United Nations “unrestricted access” to assess the situation and provide aid, and to end legal restrictions on citizenship and freedom of movement for the Rohingya. It also calls on Suu Kyi to “live up to her inspiring words” and to “address the historic and brutal repression of the Rohingya.”
Other senators, including Benjamin L Cardin and Cory Gardner, have expressed similar concerns this week.
Former US president Barack Obama made Myanmar a centrepiece of his administration’s foreign policy in Asia, viewing the nation of 53 million as a bulwark against neighbouring China’s rising influence. Obama made two trips to the country, and last year his administration lifted the remaining economic sanctions, including on the import of jade and rubies.
President Donald Trump, by contrast, does not appear to have spoken with Suu Kyi, who skipped a roundtable meeting of Southeast Asian leaders with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in May because of scheduling conflicts.
“Part of the problem is that there is not the kind of strong interest in the White House as there used to be,” said Derek Mitchell, who was US ambassador to Myanmar from 2012 to 2016.
Trump administration officials did not respond to requests for comment.
