Myanmar's Suu Kyi slams 'misinformation' over Rohingya crisis

Published September 6, 2017
This file photo taken on August 30, 2016 shows Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi listening to a journalist's question during a joint press conference with the UN secretary general in Naypyidaw.— AFP
This file photo taken on August 30, 2016 shows Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi listening to a journalist's question during a joint press conference with the UN secretary general in Naypyidaw.— AFP

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday alleged a “huge iceberg of misinformation” was distorting the picture of the Rohingya crisis, which has forced 125,000 of the Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh.

In her first comments since Rohingya militant attacks sparked unrest on August 25, Suu Kyi said fake news was “calculated to create a lot of problems between different communities” and to promote “the interest of the terrorists”.

Her intervention, quoted on the Facebook page of her State Counsellor's office, followed a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has led the global chorus of condemnation of a Myanmar army crackdown on the Rohingya.

Suu Kyi decried the “fake information” spread on Twitter last week by the Turkish deputy prime minister who shared photos purporting to be dead Rohingya that were later proven not to relate to the current crisis.

“Terrorism is new (for Myanmar) but the Government will do its best to make sure that this does not expand and spread all over Rakhine,” she was quoted as saying.

Hundreds have died since Rohingya militants raided police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Over 60,000 homes have been torched and there has been an exodus of Rohingya — who are reviled in Myanmar and denied citizenship — across the border into Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has come under intense pressure over her refusal to speak out against the treatment of the Rohingya or chastise the military.

Analysts say her obduracy despite the years of pressure from rights groups is a sop to the still powerful army and surging Buddhist nationalism in the Southeast Asian country.

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...