The EU’s foreign policy chief on Monday hailed “extremely encouraging” talks with Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the Rohingya crisis, welcoming steps towards the repatriation of Muslims driven into Bangladesh.
Federica Mogherini joined a stream of diplomats to meet Suu Kyi in recent days as efforts intensify to resolve a crisis that has pushed 620,000 members of the Muslim minority into Bangladesh.
China has made a “three-phrase” proposal to resolve the crisis — involving a ceasefire, refugee repatriation and poverty alleviation — with a Beijing foreign ministry spokesman saying its plan had won approval of leaders in both Bangladesh and Myanmar. China has pumped billions of dollars into both countries as it widens its regional infrastructure and trade networks.
But the increasing expressions of optimism appeared sharply at odds with the realities on the ground. Deadly attacks by Rohingya militants in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on August 25 sparked a massive backlash from security forces which the UN says may amount to “ethnic cleansing”.