Theresa May has announced that the UK will suspend the training of Burmese military amid concerns about the treatment of the Muslim Rohingya population. Speaking at the UN general assembly in New York, she said the UK would end all engagement with the Burmese military until military action against civilians in Rakhine state had stopped. The prime minister has been under pressure to halt the programme since the country’s army was accused of driving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into Bangladesh. “We are very concerned about what’s happening to the Rohingya people in Burma. The military action against them must stop,” May said. “We have seen too many vulnerable people having to flee for their lives. Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese government need to make it very clear that the military action should stop.

“The British government is announcing today that we are going to stop all defence engagement and training of the Burmese military by the Ministry of Defence until this issue is resolved.” Asked if the action was coordinated with international allies, May said: “There has been very clear international concern about the issue of the Rohingya people and what is happening to them.(theguardian)…[+]