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Myanmar has pledged to be more transparent
about the government handling of the serious humanitarian crisis of the
Rohingya. Speaking from Tokyo where she is currently on an official visit,
State Counsellor and Foreign Affairs Minister Aung San Suu Kyi announced that she was ready “to acknowledge that we
have challenges to face particularly with regard to the Rakhine and with the
struggles we have on the peace front”. Myanmar has witnessed violent repression
by the Naypyidaw army and by Buddhist militia against the Muslim minority
group. Since 2017, almost one million Rohingya were forced to flee to
neighbouring Bangladesh.
The United Nations has accused Myanmar”s
military of genocide against the Rohingya, who have already been described as
being amongst the most persecuted ethnic minorities in the world. “We are not
hiding this fact from our friends”, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate said. Having
never condemned the violence carried out by the military, she has been strongly
criticized by the international community for her failure to intervene in
favour of the Rohingya. Suu Kyi”s visit
to Tokyo was met with some protest demonstrations to which she responded by
saying that she was aware that peace and stability in Myanmar are the necessary
conditions to guarantee the country”s economic development. She was expected to
meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later today.
Meanwhile, according to Asia News, the European
Union is preparing to place commercial sanctions on Myanmar over the
persecution of Rohingya. European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström has
announced that she will set up an enquiry commission to evaluate potential
commercial sanctions against Naypyidaw with the accusation of human rights
violations.
