Sydney - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi
arrived in Canberra on Monday to be met by a military honour
guard and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has
said he will raise human rights issues during her visit.
Suu Kyi has been in Australia since Friday, attending a
special summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
leaders in Sydney, where her presence drew street protests and a
lawsuit accusing her of crimes against humanity.
Australia's Attorney General has said he would not allow the
lawsuit, lodged by activist lawyers in Melbourne on behalf of
Australia's Rohingya community, to proceed because Suu Kyi had
diplomatic immunity.
Since coming to power in 2016, Suu Kyi, who won the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, has
faced growing criticism for failing to condemn or stop military
attacks on her country's minority Rohingya Muslims.
UN officials say nearly 700 000 Muslim Rohingya have fled
Buddhist-majority Myanmar to Bangladesh after militant attacks
on Aug. 25 last year sparked a crackdown, led by security
forces, in Rakhine state that the United Nations and United
States have said constitutes ethnic cleansing.
The UN independent investigator on human rights in
Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said in Geneva this month she saw growing
evidence to suspect genocide had been committed.
Myanmar denies the charges and has asked for "clear
evidence" of abuses by security forces.
Neither Suu Kyi nor Turnbull made public remarks before
their meeting, but the Australian leader said on Sunday that Suu
Kyi spoke "at considerable length" during the ASEAN meeting
about Rakhine State, appealing to her Southeast Asian neighbours
for humanitarian help.