Myanmar’s Suu Kyi, Kerry address ‘incendiary’ Rohingya issue

In the United States’ first high level talks with Myanmar’s new civilian government, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday, May 22, addressed controversy over the use of the word “Rohingya” to describe the persecuted and stateless Muslim minority. Warning that use of the term risked inflaming communal tensions in Myanmar, Suu Kyi said her new government was determined to address deep hatreds in western Rakhine State, where tens of thousands of Rohingya are confined to squalid displacement camps after waves of deadly unrest with local Buddhists in 2012. Buddhist nationalists have staged protests across the country against using the term Rohingya. They label the group “Bengalis”, casting Myanmar’s more than one million Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Suu Kyi, who has faced criticism internationally for not speaking up for the Rohingya, pledged to work towards a situation where the communities “live peacefully and securely outside the camps”.

Read: Myanmar’s Suu Kyi, Kerry walk tightrope over ‘Rohingya’ question