Britain, France urge Myanmar's Suu Kyi to push for end to violence

The military response to insurgent attacks last month in the western region of Myanmar sent more than 410,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. The government says about 400 people have been killed in the fighting.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has faced a barrage of criticism from abroad for not stopping the violence. She is due to speak to the nation on Tuesday about the crisis, which the United States has described as a “defining moment” for Myanmar.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly, urged Myanmar’s security forces to halt violence, ensure the protection of civilians and allow humanitarian access.

“We expect from Mrs Aung Sang Suu Kyi tomorrow a strong statement in this direction,” le Drian told reporters.

Johnson hosted a ministerial meeting on Monday to discuss ways to resolve the Rohingya crisis, which included ministers from Turkey, Australia and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

“What we are trying to get everyone to agree is that, number one, the killings have got to stop, and the violence has got to stop. And we look not just to the military but also to Daw Suu to show a lead on that,” Johnson said.

China, which, like the United States has worked to forge closer ties with Myanmar, a strategically important country in Southeast Asia, will not attend, a Chinese spokesman said, citing “a really packed calendar” for Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters ahead of the British meeting that a lasting political solution needed to be found for the Rohingya in Myanmar.

About a million Rohingya lived in Rakhine State until the recent violence. Most face draconian travel restrictions and are denied citizenship in a country where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Washington has called for the protection of civilians, and a deputy assistant secretary of state, Patrick Murphy, is due in Myanmar this week.

US-Myanmar ties improved after the military began withdrawing from government in 2011, and paved the way for a 2015 election won by Suu Kyi’s party. But the military retains a strong hand in government and remains responsible for security.

A Trump administration official told Reuters last week the violence made it harder to build warmer ties with Myanmar, and there would likely be some “easing” in the short term, but he did not expect a return to sanctions.

For years, the United States and Western allies imposed sanctions on Myanmar in support of Suu Kyi’s campaign for democracy. Myanmar’s response was to forge closer ties with China.