Arakan State is main source of international pressure: Union minister

By Myo Thiri Kyaw 30 Jul 2020

Myo Thiri Kyaw | DMG
30 July, Sittwe 

The international pressure facing Myanmar is primarily related to conflicts in Arakan State, Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin acknowledged at an Amyotha Hluttaw session on July 30.  

U Kyaw Tin was responding to a question from lawmaker Daw Htoot May, who asked how the government was using diplomacy to foster understanding of Myanmar’s situation among the international community. The MP representing Arakan State’s Constituency-11 also asked about efforts to reduce international pressure on Myanmar and to promote the image of the country and its people. 

The current government has inherited the negative consequences of conflict that flared again in recent years after occurring between different communities in Arakan State in 2012, U Kyaw Tin said. He added that Myanmar has made international relations a top priority.  

As examples of that prioritization, he cited formation of the Central Committee for the Implementation of Peace and Development in Rakhine State, headed by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State led by the internationally respected former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. 

Myanmar is also working to develop economic and social opportunities in Arakan State, one of the country’s most underdeveloped regions, he said. 

After 2017 violence in northern Arakan State, about 700,000 Muslims fled to Bangladesh due to the regional “clearance operations” of Myanmar’s security forces. 

International pressure in the months and years since has included allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide leveled against those security forces, and an ongoing trial before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.  

Myanmar has largely rejected the accusations brought against it by international actors including the United Nations and numerous foreign governments. Speaking to lawmakers on Thursday, U Kyaw Tin “warned that international organizations which are putting pressures on Myanmar actually know the real situation of Myanmar, but they targeted

Myanmar for their political agenda,” according to a report in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.