Suu Kyi scraps UN trip amid Rohingya crisis

Dire straits: Rohingya refugees lining up to collect food distributed by local organisations near the Balukhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. — Reuters

YANGON: Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not attend the United Nations General Assembly later this month, her spokesman said, as the Nobel laureate faces a barrage of criticism over her failure to speak up for Rohingya Muslims fleeing Rakhine state.

A crackdown by Myanmar’s army, launched in response to Rohingya militant attacks on Aug 25, has sent some 370,000 Rohingya refugees scrambling across the border to Bangladesh in less than three weeks.