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Aung San Suu Kyi makes UN debut with speech

Former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi made her first speech at the UN General Assembly since forming a democratically elected government and called for international understanding as Myanmar grap

Former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi made her first speech at the UN General Assembly since forming a democratically elected government and called for international understanding as Myanmar grapples with sectarian tensions.

Ms Suu Kyi’s appearance on Wednesday at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations is the latest landmark in a personal and national transformation as the country also known as Burma emerges from five decades of military rule.

But she also had to address concerns about the situation in troubled Rakhine state, where longstanding discrimination by majority Buddhists against Muslim Rohingya exploded into bloody violence in 2012.

More than 100,000 people, mostly Rohingyas, are still in displacement camps.

Ms Suu Kyi said the new government was “standing firm against the forces of prejudice and intolerance.” She said that and as a responsible nation, “we do not fear international scrutiny. We are committed to a sustainable solution that will lead to peace, stability and development for all communities.”

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