Australia, Britain prod Myanmar on minority rights

Australia and Britain pressed Myanmar on the plight of ethnic minorities and called for an end to deadly sectarian unrest in western Rakhine state, officials said Tuesday. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and British Foreign Secretary William Hague raised the issue separately in meetings with Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of a major Asia-Europe summit in Laos. "At a time of so much progress on human rights we would also look for progress on the treatment of ethnic minorities," Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Vientiane afterwards. It was the first meeting between leaders of Australia and Myanmar in nearly three decades. Myanmar has signed a series of ceasefire deals with armed ethnic minority rebels but the efforts have been overshadowed by deadly clashes between Buddhists and stateless Rohingya Muslims in western Rakhine state. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he voiced "concern" at the violence in Rakhine in his talks with Thein Sein. "The UK is urging all political parties in Burma to do what they can to end the violence and address the issue of Rohingya citizenship," Hague said in a statement afterwards. At the same time he congratulated Thein Sein on his "vital political and economic reforms", and said he hoped the former general would be able to visit Britain early next year. Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya are seen by the government and many in the country as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They are described by the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities.