With a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims sparking accusations of ethnic cleansing from the UN and others, Burmese State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday said her nation does not fear international scrutiny and invited diplomats to see some areas for themselves.
Although an estimated 421,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in less than a month as their villages burned and hundreds were killed, Aung San Suu Kyi said the “great majority” of Muslims within the conflict zone stayed and that “more than 50 percent of their villages were intact.”
The Nobel Peace laureate’s global image has been damaged by violence since Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar security forces on Aug. 25. Rohingya fled their villages in the military crackdown that followed, and many of their villages have been burned.
Photo: AP
The government has blamed the Rohingya themselves, but members of the persecuted minority have said soldiers and Buddhist mobs attacked them.
Aung San Suui Kyi’s first address to the nation since the violence erupted came days after she canceled plans to attend the UN General Assembly.
She 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.
The attacks on Rohingya villages in the past 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.
Aung San Suu Kyi sought to assure foreign diplomats gathered for her speech in Naypyidaw 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 numbers of 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.”
Some observers who attended the speech said it was progress for Aung San Suu Kyi to invite diplomats to at least some Rohingya villages.
“Today’s welcoming of the international community to travel to Rakhine and see for ourselves what the situation is, I think that is a positive statement,” said Andrew Kirkwood of the UN Office for Project Services.
Rights groups were far more critical. Amnesty International regional director James Gomez accused Aung San Suu Kyi of “a mix of untruths and victim-blaming.”
“There is overwhelming evidence that security forces are engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing,” Gomez said. “While it was positive to hear Aung San Aung San Suu Kyi condemn human rights violations in Rakhine state, she is still silent about the role of the security forces in this.”
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