Rohingya crisis: Aung San Suu Kyi to address Myanmar
Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been criticised for inaction
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to address the country on the growing crisis in Rakhine state.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been heavily criticised for her near silence as 400,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh amid violence.
The latest violence was sparked by an armed attack blamed on Rohingya militants on police posts on 25 August.
The security crackdown that followed by the military has been called ethnic cleansing by the United Nations.
The military says its operations in the northern Rakhine state are aimed at rooting out militants, and denies targeting civilians.
But eyewitness accounts from the Rohingya who have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh suggest otherwise.
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Ms Suu Kyi had earlier claimed that the crisis was being distorted by a “huge iceberg of misinformation” and said tensions were being fanned by fake news promoting the interests of terrorists.
She also cancelled a trip to the UN General Assembly in New York, saying she would address Myanmar on Tuesday on “national reconciliation and peace”.
The head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, warned that Ms Suu Kyi has “a last chance” to halt the military offensive, in a recent interview with the BBC.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionAntonio Guterres told the BBC he feared an ‘absolutely horrible’ tragedy
While Ms Suu Kyi is the de facto head of the civilian government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, she has little control over the powerful military which retains control of internal security, correspondents say.
The BBC’s Jonah Fisher says that Ms Suu Kyi is in a tight political spot as if she criticises the military, it could threaten the stability of her still fragile civilian government; but if she does not, what’s left of her international reputation may be lost for good.
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In an interview with the BBC, Shwe Mann, a former general turned Suu Kyi ally, said she was taking steps to address the situation.
“I don’t know to what extent she’s making the phone calls or giving instructions or what. But one thing I’m sure is she is telling them (the military) they should act properly,” he said.
On Monday Myanmar’s top general blamed the Rohingya for the crisis and accused extremists of trying to form a stronghold in Rakhine state.
