Britain halts Burmese military help as leader finally responds

Nobel winner answers her critics over Rohingya crisis

Britain is to withdraw engagement with Burma’s military until the campaign of violence against the Muslim Rohingya minority is ended.

The Ministry of Defence will suspend training work in the south-east Asian country, said Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesman.

The move came after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson joined representatives of other countries to raise the issue with Burma’s national security adviser at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Burma’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has defended the treatment of the Rohingyas, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled their homes, many seeking refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Mrs May’s spokesman told reporters: “As of today, the Ministry of Defence are saying that there will be no more defence cooperation or training with the Burmese army until we are satisfied that this has been resolved.”

Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize winner, used a speech in Burma to respond to the outcry over the situation.

She told foreign diplomats in the Burmese capital Naypyidaw that “more than half” of the Rohingya villages were not affected by the violence.

She invited diplomats to visit the settlements to learn, along with the government, “why are they not at each other’s throats in these particular areas”.

Ms Suu Kyi said: “I understand that many of our friends throughout the world are concerned by reports of villages being burned and of hordes of refugees fleeing.

“There have been no conflicts since September 5 and no clearance operations. We too are concerned, we want to find out what the real problems are.”

In New York, Mr Johnson said: “It is vital that Aung San Suu Kyi and the civilian government make clear these abuses must stop.”

Picture: AP. Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a televised speech to answer back her critics over the Rohingya crisis.