Photo: RFA
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed sadness Wednesday that some of Burma's Muslim leaders whom she met recently feel as if they do not belong to the country.
In rare comments on sectarian violence at a news conference during her Japan visit, she said Buddhist-majority Burma must learn to accommodate divergent views and that the minority Muslim community must be made to feel secure.
"I've met some Muslim leaders very recently," she said of her talks last week with representatives from the country’s leading Islamic groups following deadly March violence between Muslims and Buddhists in central Burma.
"It is very sad, because none of them has been to any other country apart from Burma. They did not feel that they belonged anywhere and it was sad for them that they were made to feel that they didn't belong in our country either," Aung San Suu Kyi said.
"This is a very sad state of affairs. We must learn to accommodate those with different views from ours."
Speaking separately Wednesday to students at Tokyo University, Aung San Suu Kyi said she was "not a magician" to make deep-rooted ethnic disputes disappear instantly, in an apparent reference to criticism from rights and other groups against her for being largely silent over the communal clashes and minority rights.
At least 43 people were reported dead and thousands, mostly Muslims, driven from their homes and businesses in the latest violence in central Burma.
"They wanted me to talk about how to make these communal differences disappear ... I'm not a magician. If I were, I'd say 'disappear' and they would all disappear. Differences take a long time to sort out," she said, according to Reuters news agency.
Citizenship
She also said that the government of President Thein Sein should review Burma's citizenship laws, although she again failed to directly answer a question on whether she considered the Muslim Rohingyas, who had lived for generations in the country, to be citizens.
Burma, she said, is entitled to abide by its own laws, such as its citizenship law, but it also has to assess those laws to ensure they comply with international standards.
"This is what the Burmese government should do, to face the issue of citizenship fairly," she was quoted saying by the Associated Press.
"I have said that any violation of human rights and any acts of violence are inimical to a united and peaceful society and I stand by that," said Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who was locked up for 15 years by Burma's former military junta.
Last year, clashes between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines occurred twice in Burma's Rakhine state, leaving at least 180 dead and tens of thousands homeless. Rights groups said Rohingyas bore the brunt of the violence.
Around 800,000 Muslim Rohingyas live in Rakhine state but most of them, according to rights groups, have been denied citizenship as they are considered by most Burmese and the government to be illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
The stateless Rohingyas have been described by the U.N. as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.
Aung San Suu Kyi defended her conciliatory political style, saying her focus is on building a more unified society rather than making headlines, Agence France-Presse reported.
She said she has been addressing the plight of minority groups, albeit in ways that people may consider "boring."
"In fact, I have been speaking all the time about ethnic nationalities. But the point was that my statements were not colorful enough to please everybody," she told the press conference.
The recent violence in central Burma has been linked to radical monks and triggered international concerns. Rights groups accused the security forces of standing by while the attacks, which appeared to be well organized, took place.
Plight of refugees
Weeks after the violence, more than 12,000 mostly-Muslim residents of central Burma's Meikhtila city continue to live in temporary camps.
Many are anxious to return to their homes but have been barred from doing so amid assurances by the government that it will rebuild the houses within two months.
Ba Soe Win, a Muslim refugee staying at the No. 3 High School refugee center in Meikhtila, told RFA's Burmese Service that about half of the 1,300 occupants of the center want to go back to their homes. Some of them insist their houses were not completely destroyed in the violence.
He said the rooms at the center were overcrowded and the food was insufficient.
"The weather is very hot and the rooms are overcrowded," Ba Soe Win said. "A room should have about 25-30 people, but about 80-90 people have been put there to stay. Because of the weather and crowed rooms, we can’t stay in the rooms and we are almost always outside of the rooms."
"It is like we are under house arrest here," he said.
"We can’t contact anyone outside. Some are in a state of depression."
Reported by RFA's Burmese Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
Dear All
Before you write a comments, please make sure first if you are free from bias, too pessimistic, or too optimistic. Daw Su said in the context of problem solving. So we should think in the framework of that way. You should not, not all of you, be anti-mulim or have tendency to impulsion of Muslim. I have to say that when the country is in the course of development and opportunity, will there can have many improvements.Poverty and lack of opportunity are ability to motivate dissatisfaction and can create many problems.
Apr 24, 2013 06:33 AM
"This is a very sad state of affairs. We must learn to accommodate those with different views from ours."Daw Suu said.
She also said the government should review Myanmar's citizenship laws 1982 , although she again failed to directly answer a question on whether she considered the Rohingyas to be citizens. Daw Suu Kyi should Myanmar's Buddhists must be made to feel secure. Leaders should be HONEST.
Apr 19, 2013 08:49 PM
OIC and Aung San Suu Kyi need to work first in Muslim countries, for example: in Indonesia and Pakistan, the majority of citizens are Muslims and they were using bulldozers and destroying many Churches, burning Churches, why OIC didn't stop their own Muslims who were breaking Churches and killing Christians every day. OIC and Aung San Suu Kyi should work for Muslim Countries rather than Buddhist Countries, because OIC has full responsibility to stop discrimination of Christians and their Churches (also Buddhists and Pagodas). Christians(also BUDDHISTS) are living with fear in Muslim Countries.
Apr 19, 2013 08:31 PM
No vote for you Daw Aung San Su Kyi in 2015 .
We disappointed in you .
Apr 19, 2013 10:37 AM
People are crazy. Although She make speech about that case what can happen, nothing. She is not holding power. Power is still in generals's hand. Because of her speech Condemn only increasing. She is not a super power people. Whatever happen She must speech , how crazy. All of you stop to condemn and criticize her anymore about that case. You have to speech yourself. She has her own work alot to he reconciliation and democratization. Understand?
Apr 19, 2013 01:55 AM
