UN chief Antonio Guterres urged Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to return, when they met on Tuesday at a summit in the Philippines, his office said.
The meeting added to global pressure on Suu Kyi to take action to end the crisis for the Muslim minority, with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson due on Tuesday also to hold talks with her in Manila then travel to Myanmar.
“The Secretary-General highlighted that strengthened efforts to ensure humanitarian access, safe, dignified, voluntary and sustained returns, as well as true reconciliation between communities, would be essential,” a UN statement said, summarising comments to Suu Kyi.
More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in two and a half months.
The crisis erupted after Rohingya rebels attacked police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, triggering a military crackdown that saw hundreds of villages reduced to ashes and sparked a massive exodus.
Authorities have blocked independent access to northern Rakhine.
But journalists and UN officials have collected reams of testimony from Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh describing soldiers and Buddhist mobs committing murder, rape and mass arson.
UN chief Antonio Guterres urged Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to return, when they met on Tuesday at a summit in the Philippines, his office said.
The meeting added to global pressure on Suu Kyi to take action to end the crisis for the Muslim minority, with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson due Tuesday also to hold talks with her in Manila then travel to Myanmar.
“The Secretary-General highlighted that strengthened efforts to ensure humanitarian access, safe, dignified, voluntary and sustained returns, as well as true reconciliation between communities, would be essential,” a UN statement said, summarising comments to Suu Kyi.
