From peace icon to pariah: Aung San Suu Kyi's fall from grace

There are falls from grace, and then there is Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2015 her election to the post of state counsellor – de facto head of government – was hailed as a sea-change moment for Myanmar. Three years on, the feted Nobel peace prize winner has become a global pariah at the head of a regime that has excused a genocide, jailed journalists and locked up critics, leaving the international community wringing its hands as Myanmar remains as repressive as ever.

Last week, Amnesty International became the latest organisation to strip Aung San Suu Kyi of a human rights award, citing its “profound disappointment” in her. Just days later, the 700,000 Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar after a brutal military-led campaign of ethnic cleansing in August last year collectively refused to take part in a repatriation plan, due to Myanmar’s failure to ensure they had freedom, rights and safety. Many believe the Myanmar government, which Aung San Suu Kyi leads, has no intention of taking back the Rohingya at all.

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