Japan envoy denounced for comments on Rohingya

Tokyo-based human rights activists yesterday decried recent remarks by Japan's ambassador to Yangon, who told local media he did not think the Myanmar military committed genocide on the Rohingya Muslim minority in the country. Zaw Min Htut, vice president of an advocacy group, Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan, said the ambassador's remarks were "disturbing". Ichiro Maruyama, the Japanese ambassador to Myanmar, told local news website the Irrawaddy in December that he did not think the Myanmar military "committed genocide or (had the) intent of genocide". He was previously quoted by the same outlet as saying that potential trade sanctions on Myanmar over the Rohingya crisis would be "utter nonsense".