Aung San Suu Kyi appeals to int'l community to help Myanmar find peace

The State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech on the situation in Rakhine State to diplomats from over 90 countries in Naypyidaw on Sep.19, 2017 [photo: China Plus/Tu Yun]

The State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi is calling for international support to bring peace back to her country as Rakhine state in the north has been besieged by violence. But there also comes a warning that too many cooks may spoil the broth. 

CRI's Myanmar correspondent Tu Yun files this report. 

In her first speech since the outbreak of violence in Rakhine State, the country's de facto leader acknowledged the world's concerns with regard to the situation.

"It is not the intention of the Myanmar government to apportion blame or avoid responsibility. We condemn all human rights violations and unlawful violence. We are committed to the restoration of peace and stability and rule of law throughout the State...Human rights violations and all other acts that impair stability and harmony and undermine the rule of law will be addressed in accordance with strict norms and justice," said Aung San Suu Kyi.

The violence erupted in Rakhine state late last month after terrorists attacked police outposts.

UN figures show the unrest since then has forced about 400,000 local Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

There are also reports of Myanmar government forces committing arson, illegal arrests and torture in local Muslim villages when carrying out clearance operations against the Muslim militant group "Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army," which has been declared a terrorist group by the Myanmar government.

But in Tuesday's speech, Suu Kyi stressed that there had been no armed clashes nor clearance operations since Sep 5.

She also said the government is ready to start verification of refugees in Bangladesh at any time to pave way for a repatriation process.

Addressing diplomats from more than 90 countries in Myanmar's capital city of Naypyidaw, the State Counsellor also invited the international community to help her country restore peace.

"We would like you to join us in a positive, constructive way to find new paths towards peace and stability, towards harmony. We would like you to think of our country as a whole, not just as little afflicted areas; it is as a whole only that we can make progress," said Aung San Suu Kyi.

But Denzel Abel, Senior Advisor of the United Nations' human settlements program UN-Habitat Myanmar, cautions that too much external involvement may not be a good idea.

"People are trying to internalize it, but at the same time it's better, as we spoke before with the Bangladeshi side, we have to get together to try to draw down the tension and see what is actually happening so that we can find the solution because if outsiders—too many people come in, too many cooks spoil the broth," said Abel.

Foreign ministers attending the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York are also scheduled to hold a meeting to discuss the Rakhine issue later.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun reporting from Naypyidaw.