Politics
16:36, 12-Sep-2017
UN Security Council to meet Wednesday on Myanmar violence
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The United Nations Security Council will meet Wednesday to discuss the violence in Myanmar that has sent more than 300,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, the council president said.
Britain and Sweden requested the urgent meeting amid growing international concern over the ongoing violence in Rakhine State.
"It's a sign of the significant worry that Security Council members have about the situation that is continuing to deteriorate for the many Rohingyas who are seeking to flee Rakhine State," British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters.
Displaced Rohingya refugees from Rakhine state in Myanmar rest near Ukhia, at the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar, as they flee violence on September 4, 2017. /AFP Photo
Displaced Rohingya refugees from Rakhine state in Myanmar rest near Ukhia, at the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar, as they flee violence on September 4, 2017. /AFP Photo
On Monday, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein accused Myanmar of waging a "systematic attack" on the Rohingya and warned that "ethnic cleansing" seemed to be under way.
Myanmar's de facto leader, Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has faced strong international criticism over the military crackdown on the Muslim minority, which began when Rohingya militants ambushed security forces in Rakhine State on August 25.
The council met behind closed doors in late August to discuss the violence, but there was no formal statement from the council. Rycroft said he hoped for agreement on a "public outcome" of the meeting on Wednesday.
The UN refugee agency says at least 313,000 Rohingya have now arrived in Bangladesh from Rakhine State since August 25, about a third of the total population of 1.1 million.
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Source(s): AFP