The Star Malaysia

Suu Kyi defends Myanmar

Leader denies military responsibl­e for driving Rohingya out

-

NAYPYIDAW: With a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims sparking accusation­s of ethnic cleansing from the United Nations and others, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said her country does not fear internatio­nal scrutiny and invited diplomats to see some areas for themselves.

Though an estimated 412,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in less than a month as their villages burned and hundreds were killed, Suu Kyi said the “great majority” of Muslims within the conflict zone stayed and that “more than 50% of their villages were intact”.

The Nobel Peace laureate’s global image has been damaged by violence since Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar forces on Aug 25.

Rohingya fled their villages in the military crackdown that followed, and many of their villages have been burned. The government has blamed the Rohingya themselves, but members of the persecuted minority have said soldiers and Buddhist mobs attacked them.

Suui Kyi’s first address to the nation since the violence erupted came days after she cancelled plans to attend the UN General Assembly, a decision widely seen as a response to internatio­nal criticism.

Suu Kyi said anyone found to have broken the law would be punished.

“Human rights violations and all other acts that impair stability and harmony and undermine the rule of law will be addressed in accordance with strict laws and justice,” she said.

Though members of the long-persecuted religious minority first arrived in the western state of Rakhine generation­s ago, most people in Myanmar consider them to have migrated illegally from Bangladesh.

Denied citizenshi­p, they are effectivel­y stateless. They cannot travel freely, practise their religion, or work as teachers or doctors, and they have little access to medical care, food or education.

The attacks on Rohingya villages in the last month appear to many to have been a systematic effort to drive them out.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described it as ethnic cleansing.

Suu Kyi sought to assure foreign diplomats gathered for her speech in Naypyidaw, the capital, that those who fled to Bangladesh would be allowed to return if they passed a “verificati­on” process.

Though fires have continued to flare in recent days in northern Rakhine State, she said “there have been no armed clashes and there have been no clearance operations” for the past two weeks.

“Neverthele­ss, we are concerned to hear that Muslims are fleeing across the border to Bangladesh,” she said.

“We want to understand why this exodus is happening. We would like to talk to those who have fled as well as those who have stayed.”

She said it would be helpful to understand why conflict did not break out everywhere.

She invited diplomats to visit villages that were not affected so they could learn along with the government “why are they not at each other’s throats in these particular areas”.

Rohingya now in camps in Bangladesh were angered by the implicatio­n that Rohingya who were driven from their villages were themselves responsibl­e, or that some members of the ethnic group are safe.

In the Kutupalong refugee camp, Abdul Hafiz said Rohingya once trusted Suu Kyi more than the military that not only ruled for half a century before, but also held her under house arrest for many years.

Now Hafiz calls Suu Kyi a “liar” and says Rohingya are suffering more than ever.

He said Suu Kyi should give internatio­nal journalist­s more access to their destroyed villages.

If Rohingya are proven wrong that they were attacked, he said, “we will not mind if the world decides to kill us all by pushing us into the sea”.

Chris Lewa, founder of the Arakan Project, said the government rules for verifying Rohingya as citizens are too strict, requiring documents dating back decades.

“Many people would have lost their documents in the fires, and many children were already unregister­ed,” she said.

 ?? — AP ?? Speaking up:
Suu Kyi delivering a televised speech to the nation at the Myanmar Internatio­nal Convention Center in Naypyitaw. In the address, Suu Kyi said her country does not fear internatio­nal scrutiny.
— AP Speaking up: Suu Kyi delivering a televised speech to the nation at the Myanmar Internatio­nal Convention Center in Naypyitaw. In the address, Suu Kyi said her country does not fear internatio­nal scrutiny.
 ??  ?? Crisis in Rakhine
Crisis in Rakhine

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malaysia