Stronger line on Myanmar

Singapore – Southeast Asian nations will call for those responsible for atrocities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state to be held “fully accountable”, according to a statement prepared for a regional summit, reflecting a stronger line being taken within the group.

The draft of the chair’s statement, which may change before it is delivered by the host, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, at the close of meetings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), said the situation in Rakhine State was a “matter of concern”.

The Singapore government did not immediately comment.

A UN report in August detailed mass killings and gang rapes with genocidal intent in a Myanmar military crackdown that began in 2017 and drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine into neighbouring Bangladesh. – Reuters