Aung San Suu Kyi on Rohingya exodus: Myanmar govt making every effort to restore peace

Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said her country does not fear "international scrutiny" of the Rohingya crisis, and invited members of the international community to visit Rakhine province.

IndiaToday.in  | Written by Ganesh Kumar Radha Udayakumar
New Delhi, September 19, 2017 | UPDATED 09:35 IST

Highlights

  • 1
    Myanmar feels deeply for the suffering of all groups in Rakhine: Suu Kyi
  • 2
    Most Rohingya Muslim villages haven't been affected by the violence: Suu Kyi
  • 3
    Invite members of int'l community to visit Rohingya villages: Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader, today told her compatriots in a State of the Union Address that their government was making every effort to restore peace and stability in Rakhine province, home to the Rohingyas.

As the world watched, Suu Kyi said her country felt "deeply for the "suffering of all groups in Rakhine," and concerned by news of an exodus of Muslims to Bangladesh. However, she claimed that most Rohingya Muslim villages hadn't been affected by the violence.   

There have been allegations and counter allegations, and Myanmar's government will listen to them all, and punish the culprits irrespective of their race or religion, Suu Kyi said.

She invited members of the international community to visit Rohingya villages, and said a central committee had been constituted to enforce the rule of law and spur development in Rakhine.

"We have invited (former UN Secretary General) Dr Kofi Annan to lead a commission that would help us rfesolve long-standing problems," she said.

(More details to follow)