Yangon, Nov 2 (AP/UNB) – Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited the conflict-torn area of northern Rakhine state for the first time Thursday, as her government said a repatriation plan for the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who’ve fled violence there is underway.Suu Kyi arrived in the state capital Sittwe and headed to restive northern Rakhine where many Rohingya villages were located. During a 2015 election campaign, she visited southern Rakhine, where there hasn’t been much conflict.
“The state counsellor just arrived but she is heading to Maungdaw, northern Rakhine, with the state officials,” said Tin Maung Swe, a deputy director of the Rakhine government, using Suu Kyi’s official title.
Suu Kyi spokesman Zaw Htay would not release Suu Kyi’s plans for the trip until later because of security concerns.
More than 600,000 Rohingya from northern Rakhine have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Myanmar security forces began what they called a “clearance operations” in response to deadly attacks on police outposts by insurgents. The U.N. has said the response has been disproportionate and amounts to ethnic cleansing.
