Burma beauty queen claims she was stripped of title after accusing Rohingya Muslim militants of 'terror and violence'

Shwe Eain Si posts Facebook video blaming Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army for unrest

Shwe Eain Si posted a video on Facebook accusing insurgent Rohingya group of 'terror and violence' (Facebook/shweedwards)

A Burmese beauty queen claims she has been stripped of her crown after accusing Rohingya Muslim militants of being “harbingers of terror and violence”.

Shwe Eain Si posted a video on Facebook last week where she claimed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) - an insurgent group in Rakhine State - of committing violence “against an innocent civilian population”.

The organiser confirmed it had taken the Miss Grand Myanmar title from the 19-year-old, but denied the video was behind the move.

Hello Madam Media Group said on Sunday it was because she breached her contract by “exhibiting conducts not suitable for a pageant contestant”, including a failure to provide a proof of education and a lack of preparation for a trip to Vietnam.

Ms Shwe denied the accusations in a separate Facebook post.

“Yes, Shwe Eain Si made a video about the reign of terror brought about by the ARSA militants in Rakhine State, but that was hardly qualified as a failure to project a decent image of a pageant contestant,” the statement added.

Shwe Eain Si has been stripped of her title of Miss Grand Myanmar (Facebook/shweedwards)

Soe Yu Wai, Hello Madam’s director, told the BBC the decision did “not concern” her “Rakhine video”, and that she had been stripped of her title before the clip was published.

Ms Shwe said she was using her “fame to speak out the truth for her nation”, and blamed the “jihadist, terrorist” ARSA for the “recent escalation of violence”.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have now fled Burma for Bangladesh, according to the United Nations, in what it has called “the world's fastest developing refugee emergency and a humanitarian and human rights nightmare”.

The Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination by the majority Buddhist population, including being denied citizenship in a country the community has lived in for decades.

The current crisis was triggered after the ARSA launched an attack on police posts in Rakhine state in August, killing at least 11 members of Burma’s security forces – an act also condemned by the UN.