Myanmar lawyer wins $1.1 million Aurora humanitarian prize

YEREVAN, Armenia – A lawyer from Myanmar who has worked to promote the rights of the country’s persecuted Rohingya minority has been awarded the $1.1-million Aurora Prize for humanitarianism.

Kyaw Hia Aung on Sunday received the prize, which was established on behalf of Armenian survivors of a mass killing by Ottoman Turks.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915-23 in what many historians regard as the first genocide of the 20th century, a claim that Turkey vehemently rejects.

Aung, a lawyer, has worked for decades for Myanmar’s Rohingyas. Some 700,000 Rohingyas have fled to makeshift refugee camps in Bangladesh. He has served 12 years in prison for his work, the foundation said.

The prize includes $100,000 for Aung and $1 million for him to donate to organizations of his choice.