Some 370,000 Rohingya Muslims have crossed to Bangladesh since violence in Rakhine state escalated last month.

Ms Suu Kyi is facing allegations from supporters in the West that she has failed to speak out over the violence.

Myanmar’s military says it is fighting Rohingya militants and denies reports that it is targeting civilians.

A government spokesman for Ms Suu Kyi, Zaw Htay, said “the state councillor will not attend” the General Assembly, where she spoke last year. He did not give further details.

Another spokesman, Aung Shin, told Reuters news agency that “perhaps” Ms Suu Kyi has “more pressing matters to deal with”, adding: “She’s never afraid of facing criticism or confronting problems.”

Ms Suu Kyi was due to participate in discussions at the General Assembly session in New York from 19 to 25 September.

In her first address to the General Assembly as national leader in September last year, Ms Suu Kyi defended her government’s efforts to resolve the crisis over the treatment of the Rohingya.

Myanmar’s envoy to the UN has blamed Rohingya insurgents for the violence in Rakhine state and said that Myanmar would never tolerate such atrocities.

But many of those who have fled say troops responded to attacks by Rohingya militants on 25 August with a brutal campaign of violence and village burnings aimed at driving them out.

On Tuesday, Myanmar denounced the suggestion by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, that its treatment of Rohingya Muslims amounted to “ethnic cleansing”.

The Rohingyas, a stateless mostly Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Rakhine, have long experienced persecution in Myanmar, which says they are illegal immigrants.

The UN Security Council is due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

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Source: BBC

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The 85-year-old South African archbishop, who has formally retired from active work said he was forced to write publicly on the matter due to Madam Suu Kyi’s posture.

In an open letter on Thursday to Suu Kyi, Desmond Tutu said, ‘Your emergence into public life allayed our concerns about violence being perpetrated against members of the Rohingya but what some have called “ethnic cleansing” and others “a slow genocide” has persisted – and recently accelerated …”

“We pray for you to speak out for justice, human rights and the unity of your people. We pray for you to intervene in the escalating crisis and guide your people back towards the path of righteousness,” Desmond Tutu said.

“We know that you know that human beings may look and workshop differently – and some may have greater firepower than others – but none are superior and non-inferior; that when you scratch the surface we are all the same… My dear sister: if the political price of your ascension to the highest office in Myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep. A country that is not at peace with itself, fails to acknowledge and protect the dignity and worth of all its people, is not a free country,” he added

There are about 1 million Rohingya Muslims in Burma and they have for several years complained of being victims of persecution from the state.

But Madam Suu Kyi largely remained silent on the matter despite being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991 for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

Many global icons have condemned Madam Suu Kyi for the stance in the matter including, Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever peace prize winner.

The UN refugee agency announced an estimated 270,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh over the past two weeks due to attacks from the military.

An online petition for the revocation of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel Peace Prize has been launched on Change.org and have so far gathered about 400,000 signatures.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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