Rohingya crisis

Suu Kyi should have done more

Says Norwegian foreign minister

State Councillor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, the de-facto leader of the country, should have done more to stop the attacks by her security forces against Rohingyas in the Rakhine state, visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said yesterday. “I think Aung San Suu Kyi should have done more in controlling the situation in the Rakhine state,” he told a questioner at a dialogue with youth leaders at a local hotel.
The Norwegian foreign minister called upon the international community to exert pressure on the Myanmar government for its unacceptable treatment of the Rohingyas. Praising Bangladesh for providing shelter to those who had to cross the border following the crackdown, he said that more than hundred Rohingyas were killed and thousands more lost their homes. About the Nobel peace prize for Suu Kyi, the Norwegian minister said, “Nobel prize is awarded through an independent and neutral committee. There is no role of the Norwegian government here. Not as a foreign minister, but as a citizen I was glad when Suu Kyi got the Nobel prize.”
“The politics of Myanmar is very complicated and twenty five per cent of the parliament members still belong to the military. Myanmar does not have full-fledged democracy and Suu Kyi has many limitations regarding power,” he said. Earlier, Brende arrived in the morning to be the first ever Foreign Minister from any Nordic Country to Bangladesh. In the evening, the visiting minister held meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali to discuss the bilateral issues between the Dhaka and Oslo. The minister was scheduled to place floral wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in the first hour of February 21 to pay homage to the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement. He will be leaving the country later. Meanwhile, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee went to Cox’s Bazar to have firsthand information about the crisis there.

Rohingya crisis

Suu Kyi should have done more

Says Norwegian foreign minister

State Councillor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, the de-facto leader of the country, should have done more to stop the attacks by her security forces against Rohingyas in the Rakhine state, visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said yesterday. I think Aung San Suu Kyi should have done more in controlling the situation in the Rakhine state, he told a questioner at a dialogue with youth leaders at a local hotel. The Norwegian foreign minister called upon the international community to exert pressure on the Myanmar government for its unacceptable treatment of the Rohingyas. Praising Bangladesh for providing shelter to those who had to cross the border following the crackdown, he said that more than hundred Rohingyas were killed and thousands more lost their homes. About the Nobel peace prize for Suu Kyi, the Norwegian minister said, Nobel prize is awarded through an independent and neutral committee. There is no role of the Norwegian government here. Not as a foreign minister, but as a citizen I was glad when Suu Kyi got the Nobel prize. The politics of Myanmar is very complicated and twenty five per cent of the parliament members still belong to the military. Myanmar does not have full-fledged democracy and Suu Kyi has many limitations regarding power, he said. Earlier, Brende arrived in the morning to be the first ever Foreign Minister from any Nordic Country to Bangladesh. In the evening, the visiting minister held meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali to discuss the bilateral issues between the Dhaka and Oslo. The minister was scheduled to place floral wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in the first hour of February 21 to pay homage to the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement. He will be leaving the country later. Meanwhile, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee went to Coxs Bazar to have firsthand information about the crisis there.