Bo defends Aung San Suu Kyi over Rohingya crackdown

Myanmar’s cardinal has defended his country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi from international critics who say she has failed to speak out against a violent crackdown on Myanmar’s Rohingya minority by the country’s military, writes Ellen Teague.

Cardinal Charles Bo, Arch­bishop of Yangon, told The Tablet at last Saturday’s Flame 2017 youth gathering, where he was a keynote speaker, that when he met Ms Suu Kyi in February, she took the view that the international community was focusing too much on the Rohingya situation when the country faced so many problems.

“Of course, she does not deny there is a problem with the Rohingyas, and she is trying to take steps to resolve that situation, but she is moving in a cautious way,” the cardinal said. He felt there was insufficient international appreciation of the power the military still wields in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. “She cannot just give a command to the military to stop war,” he said.  

It has been reported that a recent army offensive has killed hundreds of Rohingya ethnic Muslims, including children, while 50,000 people have fled to Bangladesh. The UN has accused the security forces of serious human rights abuses including gang rape and serious beatings.