Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday broke her silence on communal violence scorching through Rakhine state, in a televised speech on a Rohingya refugee crisis, that has shocked the world and prompted the United Nations to accuse the country’s army of ethnic cleansing.
Here are some key points of Suu Kyi’s speech on Rohingyas:
1. Aung San Suu Kyi 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.
2. Even before this crisis started, we had ensure that development work had started in Rakhine for the prosperity of all. We want peace and progress, we work for peace, stability and rule of law of the land.
3. 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?
4. Myanmar 'feels deeply for suffering' of all groups in Rakhine.
5. We are committed to the restoration of peace, stability and the rule of law.
6. People expect us to make things okay in a very short span of time. 18 months is a very short period of time to solve the crisis. We will rise to the challenge over time.