As tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar sought shelter in Bangladesh, fleeing death and destruction from their native Rakhine state, condemnations poured in of the Myanmar military’s brutal operations to crush the Muslim minority population.

Global media outlets particularly focused their attention on Myanmar’s de facto leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. “In her 2012 Nobel lecture, Aung San Suu Kyi made an impassioned appeal to the world not to forget those who are suffering ‘hunger, disease, displacement, joblessness, poverty, injustice, discrimination, prejudice, bigotry’ and war … Today in Myanmar, the truth of her words is becoming ever more apparent in the spiral of violence and suffering of the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority,” said the Washington Post.

“This is a moment for her to fulfil her promise as a champion of human rights and democracy, for which she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Is it too much to ask her to summon the inspiration to lead [Myanmar] away from the increasingly bitter and violent conflict with the Rohingya? Now would be a good time for action, including measures toward long-term reconciliation that embrace the Rohingya,” the paper said.

Observing that Suu Kyi was forcibly confined for decades by the same military that is murdering, raping and brutalising civilians on behalf of a government she now leads in Myanmar, The Globe and Mail in Canada said: “What is happening now is being widely described as ethnic cleansing. Given [Suu Kyi’s] past eloquence on matters of injustice and human suffering, it would be an understatement to describe her current stance as disappointing … This looks suspiciously like another triumph of realpolitik, and a trade of moral authority for political power. Fellow Nobel winners are clearly dismayed; several have called her out publicly.”

The Toronto Star was more blunt. “The hypocrisy of Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is astounding. Her complicity in the face of horrific state violence against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority is surely redefining her place in history. The Nobel Peace laureate, who for decades fought against the junta that kept her under house arrest and terrorised her country, who spoke so eloquently of the power of non-violence and of the importance of multi-ethnic unity to Myanmar’s future, apparently does not stand by the words that built her reputation as a great humanitarian — or perhaps does so only insofar as they pertain to the Buddhist majority … Suu Kyi’s complicity in the ongoing atrocities in her country has left her once-totemic reputation in ruins. We should be using every tool at our disposal, including our close ties with Suu Kyi, to aid the embattled Rohingyas and push Myanmar’s military to end its brutal campaign,” the paper said.

With tens of thousands of Rohingya fleeing atrocities in Rakhine state, Suu Kyi’s “aura of moral sanctity lies in tatters,” said the Guardian. “Since 2012 the Rohingya have endured not just immiseration and the denial of basic rights and services, but three major waves of violence by government forces and Buddhist Burman nationalists. Myanmar’s de facto leader has turned a blind eye. Aung San Suu Kyi’s long silence over the desperate plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar has been shameful. Whether she shares the widespread prejudice towards the Rohingya is a moot question: she does not challenge it,” the paper said. “A leader who embraced and exploited the support of the international community cannot dismiss its concerns so casually. She is able to press foreign backers to exert more pressure on the armed forces. Her cloak of virtue has helped to shield them from scrutiny and accountability. The danger is that now her shortcomings will divert attention,” it said.