Plainclothes police and soldiers thwarted a planned press conference of Rohingya activists in Thailand as Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi flew into the country Thursday.
The persecuted Muslim minority, tens of thousands of who are confined to squalid camps in western Myanmar, is an explosive issue for the new government.
Suu Kyi’s plane was somewhere en route to Bangkok when the military stopped the news conference from going ahead at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club.
A pair of activists asking for better treatment for the minority were allowed to read an open leader to the democracy leader, according to the Voice of America, but were stopped from answering press questions.
“I cannot speak now,” said Hajee Ismail, secretary general of the Rohingya Thailand Group, putting his fingers over his lips. “This is a big problem.”
Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, said the police had cited “national security” as a concern.
“This event doesn’t rise to that level,” she said. “This is a violation of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
Maung Kyaw Nu, president of the Burmese Rohingya Association, walked through the crowd with a napkin taped over his mouth.
“We cannot get anything from her [Suu Kyi] because she is also violating the human rights [of the Rohingya],” he said.
Junta boss Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he has agreed not to discuss the Rohingya issue with Suu Kyi.
“It’s a sad day when it’s easier to have a discussion about the Rohingya in Yangon than in Bangkok,” Sam Zarifi, the regional director of the International Commission of Jurists, told VOA.
