A joint statement released Wednesday by opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and lawmakers from ethnic minority parties called for increased troops to quell the conflict in western Burma.
“The issue of ongoing sectarian violence in Rakhine State is an issue belonging to the Union,” it said. “Thus, the government must address and handle it urgently.”
The statement marked the first time that Aung San Suu Kyi directly commented on the sectarian violence in Rakhine (Arakan) State.
According to a report in Burma’s state media outlet the New Light of Myanmar, violence that took place in Rakhine State between October 21 to 28 resulted in 89 people dead, 136 wounded, 32,231 displaced, and 5,351 households burned down.
On November 5, Daw Suu, who chairs the Stability and Peace Committee, held a meeting at the parliamentary residence in Nay Pyi Taw with representatives from the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP), Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, Wa National Unity Party, Inn National Development Party, and the Pyi Daung Su national-level parliament. The group discussed the Rakhine State issue and jointly drafted the statement.
At the meeting, Pyithu Hluttaw Member of Parliament Daw Khin Saw Wai, of the Yatay Taung Township constituency, said, “If a statement concerning Rakhine State’s conflict is issued, it should include encouragement for the suffering Rakhine people.”
Dr. Banyar Aung Moe, an AMDP member and the Amyotha Hlutaw representative of Ye Township, said, “The parliamentarians from ethnic minority parties agree with the statement regarding the conflict in Rakhine State proposed by Daw Suu.”
The issued statement said, “The suffering that ethnic Rakhine people, a nationality of the Union, have faced must be acknowledged.”
