Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was pressed about the Rohingya crisis at an ASEAN summit in Sydney on Sunday, but the regional bloc stressed it could not intervene and “force an outcome”.
Suu Kyi has been under intense global criticism for her public silence amid a brutal military crackdown that has forced nearly 700,000 of the Muslim-minority Rohingya to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine state for Bangladesh.
The humanitarian crisis was one of the key topics at a three-day special summit between the ASEAN and Australia.
“We discussed the situation in Rakhine at considerable length today,” Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull said.
“Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the matter comprehensively, at some considerable length herself.
“It’s certainly an issue that has been discussed and it is fair to say... Very constructively, in our meeting.” Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is this year’s ASEAN chair, said Myanmar’s neighbours were concerned about the ongoing situation but could not “force an outcome”.