MANILA: Southeast Asian leaders kept silent over accusations of ethnic cleansing carried out by Myanmar’s army in a statement Thursday, instead expressing support for the country’s efforts to bring peace and harmony to northern Rakhine state. More than 600,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled mainly Buddhist Myanmar since a military crackdown was launched in Rakhine in August, which the United Nations and watchdogs have said amounts to ethnic cleansing. Rights groups had urged the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to take a strong stand on the crisis in its summit in Manila this week.But a statement released by the bloc after the meeting failed to condemn the atrocities and merely said an unspecified number of leaders backed Myanmar’s humanitarian relief programme in Rakhine. “They expressed support to the Myanmar Government in its efforts to bring peace, stability, rule of law and to promote harmony and reconciliation between the various communities,” it said. Rohingya can return only if Myanmar’s ‘real citizens’ accept: Rohingya refugees cannot return to Rakhine state until “real Myanmar citizens” are ready to accept them, the country’s army chief said Thursday, casting doubt over government pledges to begin repatriating the persecuted Muslim minority. More than 600,000 Rohingya are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign launched in late August.The UN says the scorched-earth operation, which has left hundreds of villages burned to ash in northern Rakhine state, amounts to ethnic cleansing of the stateless minority. But Myanmar’s hardline army chief Min Aung Hlaing has steadfastly denied all allegations of abuse, insisting troops only targeted Rohingya insurgents.He has also taken to Facebook throughout the crisis to fan anti-Rohingya sentiment among the Buddhist public, branding the Muslims as foreign interlopers from Bangladesh despite many having lived in Rakhine for generations. On Thursday he signalled repatriation of the Rohingya was a long way off, saying their return must first be accepted by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists — many of whom loathe the Muslim minority and are accused of aiding soldiers in torching their homes. “Emphasis must be placed on wish of local Rakhine ethnic people who are real Myanmar citizens. Only when local Rakhine ethnic people accept it, will all the people satisfy it (sic),” the statement, written in English, said on his Facebook page.
