Suu Kyi visits Myanmar region torn by Rohingya conflict

Aung San Suu Kyi made her first visit as Myanmar’s leader Thursday to the conflicttorn region where more than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled state-led violence that has spiraled into Asia’s worst refugee crisis in decades.

Her visit to Rakhine state comes as Suu Kyi is under intense international scrutiny for her response to the exodus, which the UN has called “ethnic cleansing,” and as her government said it is working on a plan to repatriate those who fled to Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi arrived in the state capital, Sittwe, in the morning and headed to restive northern Rakhine where many Rohingya villages were located. During a 2015 elec- tion campaign, she visited southern Rakhine, where there hasn’t been much conflict.

“The state counselor just arrived but she is heading to Maungdaw, northern Rakhine, with the state officials,” said Tin Maung Swe, a deputy director of the Rakhine government, using Suu Kyi’s official title.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay would not release Suu Kyi’s plans for the trip until later because of security concerns.

More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since Aug 25, when security forces in Buddhist-majority Myanmar began what they called “clearance operations” in response to deadly attacks on police outposts by insurgents. (AP)

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (center), meets with Myo ethnic people in northern Maungdaw, Myanmar’s Rakhine State on Nov 2. Myanmar’s leader Suu Kyi arrived on her first visit to conflict-battered northern Rakhine State on Nov 2, an official said, an unannounced trip to an area that has seen most of its Rohingya Muslim population forced outby an army campaign. (AFP)