Halt mly campaign against Rohingyas: UN

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged Myanmar to halt its military campaign against Rohingya Muslims, just hours after Aung San Suu Kyi failed to quell an international outcry in a much-anticipated address.

Addressing the opening of the UN General Assembly, Guterres said he "took note" of Suu Kyi’s pledge to abide by the recommendations of a report by former UN chief Kofi Annan that has advocated citizenship for the Rohingyas.

"But let me be clear," Guterres said. "The authorities in Myanmar must end the military operations, and allow unhindered humanitarian access." More than 420,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee violence in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state in what the United Nations has described as "ethnic cleansing."

"We are all shocked by the dramatic escalation of sectarian tensions in Myanmar’s Rakhine state," Guterres told world leaders. In an interview earlier this week, Guterres described the address by Suu Kyi as "a last chance" to speak out and put in motion an end to the mass exodus.

The 1.1-million strong Rohingya have suffered years of discrimination in Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship even though many have longstanding roots in the country.

Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi pledged on Tuesday to hold rights violators to account over the Rohingya crisis but refused to blame Myanmar’s army, as the UN chief demanded an end to the military campaign and a better deal for the Muslim minority.

In an address timed to pre-empt censure at the UN General Assembly in New York -- delivered entirely in English and aimed squarely at an international audience -- she called for patience and understanding of the crisis.

The Nobel peace laureate vowed to resettle some refugees but offered no solutions to halt what the UN calls army-led "ethnic cleansing" in Rakhine state, where soldiers are accused of burning Rohingya out of their their homes.

Amnesty International said Suu Kyi was "burying her head in the sand" over documented army abuses and claims of rape, murder and the systematic clearing of scores of villages.

Supporters and observers say the 72-year-old Suu Kyi lacks the authority to rein in the military, which ran the country for 50 years and only recently ceded limited powers to her civilian government.

"She is trying to claw back some degree of credibility with the international community, without saying too much that will get her in trouble with the military and Burmese people who don’t like the Rohingya in the first place," said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch.

Communal violence has torn through Rakhine state since Rohingya militants staged deadly attacks on police posts on August 25. An army-led fightback has left scores dead and sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing into Bangladesh.

In her 30-minute speech Suu Kyi reached out to critics who have condemned her failure to speak up for the stateless Rohingya. Myanmar stood ready, she said, to repatriate refugees in accordance with a "verification" process agreed with Bangladesh in the early 1990s.

"Those who have been verified as refugees from this country will be accepted without any problems," she added. In less than a month just under half of Rakhine’s one-million-strong Rohingya minority has poured into Bangladesh, where they languish in overcrowded refugee camps.

It was not immediately clear how many would qualify to return. But their claims to live in Myanmar are at the heart of a toxic debate about the group, who are denied citizenship by the state and considered to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi’s repatriation pledge "is new and significant", said Richard Horsey, an independent analyst based in Myanmar, explaining it would in principle allow for the return of those who can prove residence in Myanmar -- rather than citizenship.

But in the monsoon-soaked shanties in Bangladesh, there was anguish among refugees over how they would meet any requirements. "We don’t have any papers," said 55-year-old Abdur Razzak.

"If the government is honestly speaking to resolve our crisis then we are ready to go back now," he added. "Nobody wants to live in such squalid conditions as a refugee." Suu Kyi insisted army "clearance operations" finished on September 5.

But AFP reporters have seen homes on fire in the days since then, while multiple testimonies from refugees arriving in Bangladesh suggests those operations have continued. Without blaming any single group, Suu Kyi promised to punish anyone found guilty of abuses "regardless of their religion, race or political position".

Myanmar’s army acts without civilian oversight and makes all security decisions, including its notorious scorched earth counter-insurgency operations. Suu Kyi insisted Rakhine was not a state in flames. "More than 50 percent of the villages of Muslims are intact," she said.

Around 170 Rohingya villages have been razed, the government admits. Rights groups say satellite evidence shows the damage is more widespread. Following her speech, the UN repeated calls for "full and unfettered" access.

"It is important for us to see with our own eyes the sites of these alleged violations", said fact-finding mission head Marzuki Darusman. While stories of weary and hungry Rohingya have dominated global headlines, there is little sympathy for them among Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.

Suu Kyi’s speech was warmly welcomed in Myanmar even though no Burmese subtitles were provided. "She told the real situation to the world on behalf of Myanmar people," Yu Chan Myae said.