Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has encouraged Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi to resettle displaced Rohingya, but Amnesty International has criticized Canberra for adopting a “softly softly” approach on the humanitarian crisis during the Burmese leader’s visit.
Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday met Turnbull in Canberra for a bilateral meeting after the ASEAN summit in Sydney.
She then unexpectedly pulled out of a planned appearance at the Lowy Institute scheduled today, citing illness.
Aid groups have welcomed the fact Aung San Suu Kyi privately addressed the Rohingya crisis at a closed-door meeting of Southeast Asian leaders, but her visit has prompted backlash, including an attempted private prosecution for crimes against humanity.
Turnbull had a detailed, constructive meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, in which the pair discussed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Rakhine state.
Turnbull encouraged the state counsellor to reach a resolution for the resettlement of the displaced people of the region.
Australia has provided aid to Myanmar and Bangladesh, and offered ongoing support to end the crisis and ensure displaced people can return to their homes as quickly as possible.
Amnesty International Australia national director Claire Mallinson said the Australian government should “show more leadership,” particularly by cutting military ties and funding, as the US, UK, EU, France and Canada have done.
“We’re still giving assistance to the Myanmar military despite all the evidence of ethnic cleansing,” she told Guardian Australia.
“It would be far better to shift that support and resources to working with the government there to dismantle the apartheid regime, which is why the Rohingya had to flee in the first place,” she said.
Asked about Turnbull’s meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, Mallinson said that it was “very difficult” to reach a settlement until the UN had full access to investigate.
“Australia needs to be much stronger in condemning what’s been happening — this softly softly approach they’ve been adopting clearly isn’t working,” she said.
Amnesty has released satellite imaging showing that since January “the Myanmar military — the very people who burned villages, shot, raped and starved Rohingya — have in a matter of weeks done a dramatic land grab,” she said.
“They’ve started bulldozing down what is left of their homes and places of worship, building military bases on those homes and mosques,” she said.
“There’s nowhere to return to in a safe and dignified way,” she said.
Mallinson added that it was “deeply disappointing” that Aung San Suu Kyi had canceled her appearance at the Lowy Institute, where there would have been an opportunity to confront her about “dismantling the apartheid regime” and the need to condemn the military.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was