SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Terrorism remains a threat in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and could have “grave consequences” for the region, the Southeast Asian country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said on Tuesday.
“The danger of terrorist activities, which was the initial cause of events leading to the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine remains real and present today,” she said in a lecture in Singapore.
“Unless this security challenge is addressed the risk of inter-communal violence will remain. It is a threat that could have grave consequences, not just for Myanmar but also for other countries in our region and beyond.”
The Nobel peace prize laureate, once seen as the face of Myanmar’s struggle for democracy, has been criticized for her failure to speak out against a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine that the United Nations has called “ethnic cleansing”.
Over the last year, more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the Buddhist-majority country to neighboring Bangladesh following a military response to attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents.
A Sri Lankan man was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi airport for attempting to smuggle wildlife out of the country after three ball pythons were found hidden in his underwear, the Bangkok post reported.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
Read these and more on tomorrow’s edition of the Sunday Times
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