TEMPO.CO, Washington - Myanmar President Thein Sein’s visit to the White House in Washington, last Monday, was met with by praise and criticisms by United States President Barrack Obama.
Obama praised President Thein Sein for his leadership that encouraged political reform in Myanmar. However, the US president also urged Thein Sein to end sectarian violence against the minority Muslim groups in Myanmar.
"The displacement of people, the violence directed towards them, needs to stop," Obama said to Thein Sein during the discussion in the Oval Office.
Thein Sein promised to release more political prisoners and reform all sectors in his nation. As for the sectarian violence, Thein Sein stated that he would accept all ethnicities in the political process as a conflict solution. However, he admitted that it is still difficult to implement democracy in Myanmar due to the high rate of poverty.
"Our democratic government is just two years old," he said. "We still need a lot of democratic experience and practices to be learned. And we have seen successes. At the same time, we have been encountering obstacles and challenges along our democratization process."
At least 192 people died last year in violence between Buddhists in Rakhine and Rohingya Muslims. As many as 140,000 people were forced to evacuate – most of them were Muslim minorities.
AP | NEW YORK TIMES | BBC | SITA PLANASARI AQUADINI
