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Agence France-Presse

Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson stopped off in Myanmar on Sunday to press Aung San Suu Kyi on the need for an independent investigation into violence in Rakhine state, as the country faces mounting pressure to punish troops accused of atrocities against the Rohingya Muslims.
Johnson met Myanmar’s embattled unofficial leader, whose reputation among the international community has crumbled over her handling of the Rohingya crisis, in the capital Naypyidaw while on a four-day tour in Asia.

The meeting followed Johnson’s visit to a refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, where nearly 700,000 Rohingya have sought sanctuary after fleeing a Myanmar army crackdown launched in northern Rakhine last August.
The UN has accused Myanmar security forces of driving the Muslim minority across the border in an ethnic cleansing campaign. Medecins Sans Frontieres says at least 6,700 Rohingya died in the first month of violence.
Myanmar has denied the charges and blocked UN investigators from the conflict zone, souring relations with a host of western allies.

Fresh reports of mass graves in Rakhine – and the arrest of two Reuters journalists investigating an alleged massacre – have increased pressure on Suu Kyi to condemn the army, who she is in a delicate power-sharing arrangement with. But the Nobel laureate has refused to change tack.
On Sunday Johnson and Suu Kyi “discussed in an open and friendly manner the latest developments in Rakhine State, including planning for the reception of returnees who fled”, Myanmar’s foreign ministry said in a Facebook post alongside photos of the pair meeting.


Johnson, who later flew to Rakhine state, wrote on Twitter that he raised the “importance of [Myanmar] authorities in carrying out full & independent investigation into the violence in Rakhine”.
He said he also stressed the “urgent need to create the right conditions for Rohingya refugees to return to their homes in Rakhine”.

Held talks with Aung San Suu Kyi. Discussed importance of Burmese authorities in carrying out full & independent investigation into the violence in #Rakhine & urgent need to create the right conditions for #Rohingya refugees to return to their homes in Rakhine. pic.twitter.com/aUxwW0EWaZ
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 11, 2018

Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed a deal for the refugees to return home, but repatriation has not begun yet.
Many Rohingya say they do not feel safe returning to a country where they have faced decades of discrimination and have been denied them citizenship.
After months of denying abuses by its troops, Myanmar’s military admitted in January that security officers helped in the killing of 10 Rohingya men in Rakhine’s Inn Din village.
The admission followed the arrests of two Myanmar journalists who were investigating the executions and face 14 years in prison on charges of possessing secret documents.

Johnson was expected to fly to Bangkok later on Sunday for a visit that will include meetings with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the Thai chairman of an advisory board on the Rohingya crisis.


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Rohingya survivors recount harrowing boat capsizing that has left 200 missing

Indonesian activists target Myanmar’s president in genocide case against him

Myanmar paves way for junta chief to be civilian president, ruling with ‘iron fist’

Rohingya Muslims

British foreign minister Johnson meets Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to discuss Rohingya crisis

Britain’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson shakes hands with Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on February 11, 2018. Photo: Reuters

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (C) walks inside a Rohingya refugees camp in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district on February 10, 2018. Johnson visited camps for Rohingya refugees who have fled from Myanmar, on his second day of a two-day visit to Bangladesh. / AFP PHOTO / -

Britain's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson (C) arrives at the airport in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, accompanied by local officials and police on February 11, 2018. Johnson met with Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on February 11 to press for action on the Rohingya crisis, as the country faces mounting pressure to punish troops accused of atrocities against the Muslim minority. / AFP PHOTO / -

epa06514205 A handout photo made available by Myanmar News Agency (MNA) shows Britsh Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson (L) talking with Myanmar State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Aung San Suu Kyi (R) during their meeting at capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar, 11 February 2018. Boris Johnson met with Myanmar State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Aung San Suu Kyi at the morning of 11 February before he visited western Myanmar. Myanmar State Counsellor office says 'the two leaders discussed matters pertaining to bilateral relations and the latest development of the Rakhine State including the arrangements on repatriation process' in the statement about the meeting. EPA-EFE/MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

‘I worry about HIV every day’: Rohingya women prostituted for US$2 in Bangladesh’s overcrowded refugee camps

Rena, 18, sits in a mud hut with doors and windows closed as she tells her story of working as a prostitute in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Rohingya Muslims, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, arrive in a truck after the government moved them to newly allocated refugee camp areas, near Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017. More than 580,000 refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Myanmar security forces began a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages. Myanmar's government has said it was responding to attacks by Muslim insurgents, but the United Nations and others have said the response was disproportionate. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Rohingya Muslim children, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, fly kite on a hillock inside a Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017. More than 580,000 refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Myanmar security forces began a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages. Myanmar's government has said it was responding to attacks by Muslim insurgents, but the United Nations and others have said the response was disproportionate. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)