Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi broke her silence in a televised speech on Tuesday over the Rohingya crisis which has rattled the Rakhine state, stating that her country does not fear international scrutiny.
Suu Kyi has been slammed by many human rights advocates for maintaining a silence on the plight of the Rohingya community in Myanmar. The United Nations (UN) has also accused the country's army of committing violence and ethnic cleansing of the community. Nearly 40,000 of the refugees over the years have fled and settles in India, while around 16,000 are registered with the UN's refugee agency.
The Rohingyas are a stateless Indo-Aryan people from Rakhine state, Myanmar, who are categorised as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Ever since the latest flare-up of violence against the community in Myanmar on August 23, more than 3 lakh Rohingyas have fled the state, pouring into nearby countries like Bangladesh seeking refuge.
Suu Kyi initiated her speech by saying that the international community wants the situation to be controlled in a very short span of time.
"Eighteen months is a very short period of time to solve the crisis. We will rise to the challenge over time," Suu Kyi said in her speech on Tuesday.
She also added that she is not afraid of international scrutiny, according to AFP reports.
Considering the recent flare-up of the Rohingya crisis, more than four lakh people have signed a petition on Change.org, demanding the Nobel Committee to withdraw the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Suu Kyi. The Myanmar leader has been accused of failing to protect the Rohingya community in her country.
The leader of Burma's National League for Democracy party was given the prestigious award in 1991 for campaigning for her country to hold full and free elections.
"We are committed to the restoration of peace, stability and the rule of law," Suu Kyi said, while adding that her country "feels deeply for suffering'" of all groups in Rakhine.
"We will take all measures mentioned to ensure that there is peace in Rakhine and Myanmar as a whole. We will also investigate why so many young Muslims are crossing the border and going to Bangladesh. We will ask them why they are doing this?" Suu Kyi said.
The Myanmar leader said that the authorities had begun development work in Rakhine for everyone's prosperity even before the crisis had started.
"We want peace and progress, we work for peace, stability and rule of law of the land," Suu Kyi said.
She also said that Myanmar stood ready "at any time" to verify the status of the 410,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in the last month to aid the return of those eligible for resettlement.
