Massive exodus

Suu Kyi: Myanmar trying to protect all citizens in strife-torn state

Suu Kyi on the defensive as more Rohingya flee Myanmar.

YANGON: Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said her government was doing its best to protect everyone in the strife-torn state of Rakhine, as the estimated number of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh leapt by 18,000 in one day, to 164,000.

Suu Kyi did not refer specifically to the exodus of the minority Rohingya, which was sparked by insurgent attacks on Aug 25 and an army counter-offensive, but said her administration was trying its best to take care of all citizens.

Western critics have accused Suu Kyi of not speaking out for the Rohingya, some 1.1 million people who have long complained of per- secution and are seen by many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar as Bangladeshis.

Some have called for the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991 as a champion of democracy to be revoked.

“We have to take care of our citizens, we have to take care of every- body who is in our country, whether or not they are our citizens,” Suu Kyi said in comments to Reuters Television’s Indian partner, Asian News International.

“Of course, our resources are not as complete and adequate as we would like them to be but, still, we try our best and we want to make sure that everyone is entitled to the protection of the law,” she said during a visit by Indian Prime Narendra Modi to Yangon.

Suu Kyi on Tuesday blamed “terrorists” for “a huge iceberg of misinformation” on the strife in the northwestern state of Rakhine but made no mention of the Rohingya who have fled.

She has come under increasing pressure from countries with Muslim populations, and this week UN Security Council SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres warned there was a risk of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar that could destabilise the region.

Myanmar has said it is negotiating with China and Russia to ensure they block any Security Council censure over the crisis.

Suu Kyi said the situation in Rakhine has been difficult for many decades and so it was “a little unreasonable” to expect her administration, which has been in power for only 18 months, to have resolved it already. — Reuters