Arakan News Agency
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s leader, said on Thursday her government was doing its utmost to protect everyone in the conflict-torn Arakan state, while estimates of the number of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh jumped 18,000 in one day to 164,000.
Suu Kyi did not specifically mention the mass exodus of the Muslim Rohingya minority, but said her administration was doing everything it could to take care of everyone.
Western critics have accused Suu Kyi of not defending the Rohingya, about 1.1 million people who have long complained of persecution in Myanmar, a mainly Buddhist country.
Some critics called for the withdrawal of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded which was awarded to Suu Kyi in 1991 as a champion of democracy.
“We have to take care of our citizens, we have to protect everyone who lives in our country, whether he is a citizen or not,” Suu Kyi told Indian television news agency.
“Of course, our resources are not as complete or adequate as we would like to be but we are doing our best and we want to ensure that everyone is protected by the law,” she said during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Yangon’s visit.
On Tuesday, Suu Kyi blamed “terrorists” for “a huge iceberg of misinformation” about the conflict in the northwestern state of Arakan but did not mention the Rohingyas who fled the state.
It has been under growing pressure from Muslim-majority countries. This week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the dangers of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar that could destabilize the region.
Myanmar has said it is negotiating with China and Russia to ensure that any Security Council resolution on the crisis is blocked.
Suu Kyi said the situation in Arakan has been difficult for decades, so it is not logical to expect that its administration, which took power only 18 months ago, has already dissolved.
