The Times of India
World
14 September 2017
US Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson on Thursday condemned violence against Rohingya Muslims in
Myanmar as "unacceptable", as thousands of refugees continue to
stream across the border into Bangladesh.
"We need to
support Aung San Suu Kyi and her leadership but also be very clear and
unequivocal to the military power sharing in that government that this is
unacceptable," Tillerson said.
"This violence
must stop. This persecution must stop. It has been characterised by many as
ethnic cleansing. That must stop," he said during a visit to London,
speaking alongside British counterpart Boris Johnson.
"I think it is
a defining moment in many ways for this new emerging democracy," Tillerson
said, acknowledging that Myanmar's leader Suu Kyi found herself in a
"difficult and complex situation".
Johnson also called
on Myanmar's de facto leader to use her "moral capital" to highlight
the plight of the Rohingyas.
"I think nobody
wants to see a return to military rule in Burma, nobody wants to see a return
of the generals," he said.
"It is vital
for her now to make clear that this is an abomination and that those people
will be allowed back" in the country, he added.
Follow my twitter to read Rohingya news updates: https://twitter.com/mir_sidiquee
A crackdown by
Myanmar's army, launched in response to attacks by Rohingya militants on August
25, has pushed vast numbers of refugees from the stateless Muslim minority
across the border.
Horrific pictures of persecuted Rohingyas: https://lnkd.in/evf_ZZz
Some 389,000 are
estimated to have crossed since then.