Aung San Suu Kyi Says Will ‘Verify’ Refugees Wanting to Return

Suu Kyi said the Myanmar government is making every effort to “restore peace and stability” in Rakhine state.

Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi. 

(Photo: AP)

Leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, addressed the nation in a live television broadcast on 19 September morning. Speaking on the pressing issue of the mass Rohingya exodus, Suu Kyi expressed concern and said the Myanmar government is making every effort to “restore peace and stability” in Rakhine.

“Myanmar is prepared to start a refugee verification process for those who wish to return,” she added.

We don’t want Myanmar to be a nation divided by religious beliefs or ethnicity. We would like you [the world] to think of our country as a whole, not just as little afflicted areas. There have been allegations and counter allegations. We will listen to all – culprits will be punished irrespective of race or religion.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Attacks by Rohingya militants on Myanmar security forces in Rakhine on 25 August sparked harsh military reprisals and an exodus across the border to southeast Bangladesh.

Refugee camps and makeshift settlements in Bangladesh near the border already hosted some 4,00,000 Rohingyas before the latest upsurge in violence, and are now completely overwhelmed.

That has left tens of thousands of new arrivals with nowhere to shelter from the monsoon rains. Those flocking into Bangladesh have made harrowing allegations of murder, rape, and widespread arson by Myanmar’s army.

Most have walked for days and the United Nations says many are sick, exhausted and in desperate need of shelter, food and water.

(With inputs from PTI, Reuters)