BOBBY_M Artistic: 'Fake information' creating problems in Myanmar's Rohingya crisis, says Suu Kyi

The Nobel Peace Prize winner claims misinformation has divided countries and promoted "the interests of terrorists".

11:05, UK,Wednesday 06 September 2017

"Fake information" is being used to stoke tensions in the Rohingya crisis that has seen tens of thousands flee Myanmar in recent weeks, says Aung San Suu Kyi.

The country's de facto leader has said there is a "huge iceberg of misinformation" over the violence which has prompted many from the oppressed Muslim population to leave the country.

In her first comments since the crisis began, she said the "fake information" was "calculated to create a lot of problems between different communities" and to promote "the interest of the terrorists".

The unrest began when Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar police posts in northwestern Rakhine state on 25 August.

In response, Myanmar security forces began days of "clearing operations" they claimed were needed to tackle terrorism.

Burmese officials and Rohingya insurgents have accused each another of committing atrocities.

Almost 126,000 Rohingya Muslims have crossed the border from Buddhist-majority Myanmar into Bangladesh to escape the trouble.

Myanmar denies its Rohingya population citizenship and regards them as illegal immigrants - even though many have lived in the country for generations.

In a Facebook statement, Aung San Suu Kyi said the government had "already started defending all the people in Rakhine in the best way possible".

She also mentioned images of killings posted on Twitter by Turkey's deputy prime minister, Mehmet Simsek, which he later deleted because they were not from Myanmar.

She said "that kind of fake information which was inflicted on the deputy prime minister was simply the tip of a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create a lot of problems between different countries and with the aim of promoting the interests of the terrorists".

Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign, blaming Rohingya militants for the burning of homes and civilian deaths.

But those Rohingya who are fleeing, and human rights monitors, say Myanmar's army is trying to force them out using arson and killings.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the violence could spiral into a "humanitarian catastrophe", with the possibility of ethnic cleansing and regional destabilisation.

Aung San Suu Kyi has also come under under pressure from countries with Muslim populations.

She spoke on Tuesday to Turkey's President Erdogan, who says a Rohingya population of roughly 1.1 million is facing genocide.

The UK has also called on the country to take action to stop the violence.

Some Western critics have suggested the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991 as a champion of democracy be revoked.