THURSDAY, April 25, 2024
nationthailand

Suu Kyi picks ex-UN head Annan to lead Rakhine State team

Suu Kyi picks ex-UN head Annan to lead Rakhine State team

YANGON - Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi picked former UN chief Kofi Annan on Wednesday to lead a commission to stop human rights abuses in Rakhine State, where violence between Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims has cast a pall over democratic reforms.

        More than 100 people were killed in violence in the northwestern state in 2012, and some 125,000 Rohingya Muslims, who are stateless, took refuge in camps where their movements are severely restricted.
        Thousands have fled persecution and poverty in an exodus byboat to neighbouring South and Southeast Asian countries.
        "The Myanmar government wants to find a sustainable solution on the complicated issues in Rakhine State, that's why it has formed an advisory commission," the government said in a statement released by Suu Kyi's office.
        Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency by a junta-drafted constitution, but runs Myanmar as state counsellor and foreign minister.
 
- Reuters 
RELATED
nationthailand