Myanmar's Suu Kyi under pressure as almost 125,000 Rohingya flee violence

CONSCIENCE AWAKENED?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a visit to Myanmar later on Tuesday, during which he is due to meet top officials, including Suu Kyi.

"PM Modi is going there and our foreign secretary has already briefed the foreign secretary of India on this. If international conscience is awakened then that would put pressure on Myanmar," said H.T. Imam.

The latest estimate of the number of people who have crossed the border into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, based on calculations by U.N. workers on the Bangladeshi side, is 123,600.

That takes to about 210,000 the number of Rohingya who have sought refuge in Bangladesh since October, when Rohingya insurgents staged much smaller attacks on security posts, triggering a major Myanmar army counteroffensive and sending about 87,000 people fleeing into Bangladesh.

The new arrivals - many sick or wounded with burns or bullet wounds - have strained aid agencies and communities already helping hundreds of thousands of refugees from previous spasms of violence in Myanmar.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif expressed "deep anguish at the ongoing violence against the Rohingya Muslims" and urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take "immediate and effective action to bring an end to all human-rights violations against innocent and unarmed Rohingya Muslim population".

Pakistan is home to a large Rohingya community.

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, on Monday called on Suu Kyi to condemn the "shameful" treatment of the Rohingya, saying "the world is waiting" for her to speak out.