Suu Kyi meets PM Turnbull amid protests
Rohingya crisis ‘no longer domestic issue’
CANBERRA: Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s was feted in Australia yesterday with a military honour guard and 19-gun salute as part of a state visit that has provoked protests over her response to her country’s violent campaign against Rohingya Muslims.
Ms Suu Kyi arrived in Sydney over the weekend for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders and her state visit officially began yesterday as she was welcomed to Parliament House in Canberra. Her visit comes as she faces international criticism over what has become Asia’s worst refugee crisis in decades.
More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since August, when the military responded to insurgent attacks on police with a clearance operation that the UN has described as ethnic cleansing. The campaign has included the burning of Rohingya villages, systematic rape, shootings and other rights violations.
There was no press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull or any public comment from Ms Suu Kyi during her brief visit to the national capital yesterday. She had meetings with the prime minister and opposition leader.
Mr Turnbull said on Sunday that Ms Suu Kyi had used the weekend summit to seek humanitarian help from her fellow Asean members and Australia to deal with the crisis.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told the summit the refugee crisis was no longer solely a domestic issue for Myanmar, as fleeing Rohingya could be prime targets for terrorist radicalisation.
Myanmar staunchly denies that its security forces have targeted Rohingya civilians and Ms Suu Kyi has bristled at the international criticism.
But Myanmar’s denials have appeared increasingly tenuous as horrific accounts from refugees have accumulated and satellite imagery and other evidence of destroyed Rohingya villages have been assembled.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, was a longtime political prisoner of Myanmar’s former junta and frequently called for international intervention in her country during her almost 15 years under house arrest. She was released in 2010 and last visited Canberra in 2013 on an Australian tour, before she was allowed to stand for an election that her party eventually won in a landslide.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott described her as an “icon of democracy” as he stood by her side at a joint press conference. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Ms Suu Kyi had inspired her to enter politics.
Her global image has since taken a battering. She has seen several international honors she was given in the past revoked. Several fellow peace prize winners have publicly condemned her.
Though Ms Suu Kyi has been the de facto head of Myanmar’s civilian government since her party took power, she is limited in her control of the country by a constitution written by the outgoing junta.
The military has effective veto power over all legislation and controls key ministries including those overseeing security and defence.