Asean Summit: Suu Kyi under fire in Sydney

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was pressed about the Rohingya crisis at an Asean summit in Sydney yesterday, but the regional bloc stressed it could not intervene and "force an outcome".

Suu Kyi has been under intense global criticism for her public silence amid a brutal military crackdown that has forced nearly 700,000 of the Muslim-minority Rohingya to flee Myanmar's Rakhine state for Bangladesh.

The humanitarian crisis was one of the key topics at a three-day special summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Australia.

"We discussed the situation in Rakhine state at considerable length today," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said at the closing press conference.

"Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the matter comprehensively, at some considerable length herself.

"It's certainly an issue that has been discussed and it is fair to say... very constructively, in our meeting.

"She seeks support from Asean and other nations to provide help … from a humanitarian and capacity-building point of view.

"So our goal is to support a peaceful and speedy resolution of the humanitarian problems, the humanitarian disaster truthfully that has resulted from the conflict."

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is this year's Asean chair, said Myanmar's neighbours were concerned about the ongoing situation but could not "force an outcome".

"It is of concern for all Asean countries, and yet Asean is not able to intervene and to force an outcome," Lee said.

"We're also concerned as human beings, if there's a humanitarian situation that has developed and people's welfare and lives and safety are at stake," he said.

"And we do our best to help the governments to re-establish stability and tranquillity in the situation," he added.

Both leaders said they would back efforts to reach a long-term solution to end the crisis, and were supporting humanitarian efforts to help those displaced, reported AFP.

The 10-nation Asean prides itself on consensus diplomacy and non-interference in each other's affairs.

But the exodus has sparked rare tension within the association, and Muslim-majority Malaysia has called for an independent Asean-led investigation into allegations of army abuse.

Malaysia's leader Najib Razak increased the pressure on Suu Kyi Saturday, saying the Rohingya issue could threaten regional security as he warned those affected could fall prey to extremist groups like Islamic State.

Lee said Singapore had no "specific intelligence" on whether there were terrorist groups in Rakhine state, but said "these are possibilities that you cannot rule out and which you have to keep on being on the watch out for".

Meanwhile, Australia's attorney general said Suu Kyi has diplomatic immunity, rejecting a bid by activist lawyers to prosecute her for crimes against humanity over the country's treatment of minority Rohingya Muslims.

"Aung San Suu Kyi has complete immunity, including from being served with court documents, because under customary international law, heads of state, heads of government and ministers of foreign affairs are immune from foreign criminal proceedings and are inviolable," Christian Porter told Reuters by email.

The UN refugee chief said on Friday a quick agreement to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar is looking less and less likely, as he launched an almost $1 billion appeal to support the stateless Muslims in camps in Bangladesh for the rest of 2018.

Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said the Rohingya must be allowed to return to their homes in Myanmar, but returns could only take place voluntarily and if their rights were guaranteed.

“The odds are growing against a solution, an early solution anyway, but this is not a reason for me as High Commissioner for Refugees to give up on this issue,” he told a news conference.

"We are very mindful of the fact that this situation may take a long time, and therefore we need to plan for this."

Asked how long the Rohingya might stay in their camps in Bangladesh at the minimum, Grandi said: “I wish I knew.”

Last year he had visited another part of Myanmar where displaced people had been stuck in camps for six or seven years. He said the Rohingya could not be subjected to the same fate on a much larger scale.