Australia and the Rohingya: we should be leading

"In addition to the 800,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, there are also more than 400,000 across Southeast Asia. Clearly, this is a major regional problem that demands a regional solution.

The Australian government has stated that it’s ‘deeply disturbed by what’s going on in Rakhine state’. It has called on the Myanmar government to resolve the crisis and has provided humanitarian aid to Bangladesh to help with the refugees. But there have also been efforts to absolve Aung San Suu Kyi of responsibility on the basis that it’s the military that’s really in control of the country."