DHAKA: The de facto leader of Myanmar and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday (Sep 6) issued a statement on the current violence and Rohingya crisis of Rakhine state that has sparked worldwide criticism.  

Suu Kyi blamed the “terrorists” for spreading “misinformation” on the violence in Rakhine state. More importantly, she ignored to mention of the nearly 126,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled over the border to Bangladesh since August 25.

This is the first time the leader of Buddhist-majority Myanmar has spoken on this issue after coming under worldwide criticism and pressure.

On Tuesday (Sep 5), U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern and warned of the risk of ethnic cleansing and regional destabilization in Myanmar.

Giving warning of a “humanitarian catastrophe”, Guterres urged the U.N. Security Council, in a letter, to press for restraint. 

Suu Kyi spoke by telephone on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has pressed world leaders to do more to help.

In a statement issued by her office on Facebook, Suu Kyi said the government had “already started defending all the people in Rakhine in the best way possible” and warned against misinformation that could mar relations with other countries.

She referred to images on Twitter of killings posted by Turkey’s deputy prime minister that he later deleted because they were not from Myanmar.

“She said that kind of fake information which was inflicted on the deputy prime minister was simply the tip of a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create a lot of problems between different countries and with the aim of promoting the interests of the terrorists,” her office said in the statement.

The most recent violence in Rakhine state began 12 days ago when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base. 

The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive have killed at least 400 people and triggered the exodus of villagers to Bangladesh. Many of them are stranded in the no-mans-land between the two countries.  

BDST: 1510 HRS, SEP 6, 2017
AP