Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to highlight the critical humanitarian disaster that's taking place in Myanmar: the brutal assault on the Rohingya population of Rakhine State which has resulted in more than half a million people fleeing to Bangladesh in recent years, including more than 300,000 in the past two weeks alone. This latest occurrence in the ongoing dispute, which was set off by attacks on some 21 police stations, has led to a highly disproportionate response—indeed, a brutal response—by the Burmese military.

As a long-time friend of Myanmar and a significant aid donor, Australia must use its influence with the Burmese civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi to bring this violence to an end, to immediately allow the distribution of needed food to starving people, to allow access by international humanitarian agencies and to involve the international community in the peaceful resolution of the long-running dispute. There is an egregious breach of human rights occurring in Myanmar as I speak. We need to bring as much pressure as possible to resolve this in a peaceful way.