AMN
Myanmar’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has claimed that the crisis in Rakhine state is being distorted by a huge iceberg of misinformation. In her first comments on the latest Rohingya crisis, she said tensions were being fanned by fake news promoting the interests of terrorists.
Ms Suu Kyi made the comments in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. More than 123,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in two weeks.
The latest government statement, carried by local media, said Ms Suu Kyi told Mr Erdogan that her government had already started defending all the people in Rakhine in the best way possible.
—
UN chief calls on Myanmar to end violence in country’s Rakhine state
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Myanmar authorities to end violence in the country’s Rakhine state. He yesterday warned that violence was creating a situation that can destabilize the region.
Mr Guterres told reporters that he had written to the UN Security Council to express his concern and propose steps to end the violence.
The latest violence in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine state began on 25th of last month, 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.
—
Meanwhile Bangladesh government has said that it is not possible for it to cope with the influx of Myanmar’s Rohingya refuges. Bangladesh Minister for Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader today said it was not possible for Bangladesh to cope with the influx of Myanmar’s Rohingya refuges.
“A crisis situation has already been prevailing in the bordering areas of Myanmar,” he told newsmen while visiting ailing Bangabir Kader Siddique, Bir Uttam, at the BSMMU.
Quader said Bangladesh government has been considering the Rohingya crisis in humanitarian ground.
“Now the government’s policy will be protesting strongly against the ‘Rohingya pushing’. Diplomatic steps are underway at different international forums including United Nations and Human Rights Watch,” the minister added.
123,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh: UN
At least 123,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border into Bangladesh fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, a UN official said here on Tuesday.
Joseph Surjamoni Tripura, the UNHCR spokesperson in Bangladesh, told a news agency that the recently arrived refugees — more than 30,000 arrived in a 24 hour period — are staying in makeshift camps.
According to UN sources, only 6,000, out of the 123,000, are staying with family members in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district.
The influx of Rohingyas, who are denied citizenship by Myanmar and sparingly given refugee status by Bangladesh, had accelerated earlier on Tuesday.
In the Teknaf area, boats continue to arrive with Rohingya refugees reaching the coast through the Bay of Bengal, reports Efe news.
Unlike in land border crossings like Ghum Dhum, local authorities in Teknaf did not try to stop the influx, despite border guards on Monday sending back more than 2,000 Rohingyas from the Saint Martin island.
The latest exodus began on August 25, after Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts in Rakhine leading to a violent offensive by the Myanmar Army.
Meanwhile international pressure is mounting on Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to stop human rights violations against the Rohingyas.
Suu Kyi has been urged to condemn the incidents by many international activists, including Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai who has made a public appeal to stop the violence.