Source: BBC News

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to miss a key UN debate next week as criticism grows of her handling of a crisis involving the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Some 379,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since violence began last month. Whole villages have burned down.

The UN has accused the government of ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar’s military says it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies reports that it is targeting civilians.

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Rakhine, have long experienced persecution in Myanmar, which says they are illegal immigrants. They have lived in Myanmar, also known as Burma, for generations but are denied citizenship.