Prince Charles to skip Burma during tour of Asia amid Rohingya violence
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are to visit Singapore, Malaysia and India this autumn - but despite reports, will not travel to Burma.
It had been widely speculated the heir to the throne and his wife would visit the south-east Asian country during their traditional autumn tour, despite turmoil in parts of the nation.
Burma has faced widespread condemnation from the international community after more than half a million Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh to escape a Burmese military operation condemned as ethnic cleansing.
The crackdown was in response to a series of deadly attacks on security posts by Muslim insurgents.
Rohingya refugees flee Burma
Clarence House announced at a press briefing the Prince and Duchess will make an 11-day trip starting in Singapore on October 30 before moving on to Malaysia and ending in India.
Scott Furssedonn-Wood, the Prince's deputy private secretary for foreign and Commonwealth affairs, said the visit was taken at the request of the Government.
He added: "Their royal highnesses are delighted to be returning to India, and to be visiting Singapore and Malaysia for the first time together."
The deputy private secretary said during the tour, Charles and Camilla "will undertake nearly 50 engagements that showcase the breadth and depth of the United Kingdom's relationship with these key Commonwealth partners in advance of a Commonwealth summit in London next April".
Philip Malone, south-east Asia department director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), was asked at the press briefing at what point in the FCO's considerations and why was Burma rejected.
He replied: "For a tour like this you look at a range of options and we decided to go with Singapore and Malaysia."
Pressed about when in the process Burma was rejected he replied: "These visits are planned over a number of months, preparations are made and you get to the point ... where we decide on the ones that we will pursue for the visit."
Charles and Camilla met Burma's de facto leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi at their official London home in May for talks, before violence in Burma flared.
Ms Suu Kyi, whose position as state counsellor does not give her authority over the military, has faced international criticism for her failure to speak out against alleged human rights abuses including mass killings, gang rapes and the burning of villages.
Rights campaigners had argued against a royal visit.
"To have someone of Prince Charles’s stature go to visit the country would be seen as a reward, and giving legitimacy to the government and the military that are currently violating international law," said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK.
The Prince knew the leader's late husband Michael Aris, a Tibetan scholar, who endured years without his wife when she was under house arrest in Burma during her fight to end military rule in her country.
At a glance | Myanmar’s Rohingya people
Mr Aris, 53, died of prostate cancer in 1999 and in that year Charles became patron of the Michael Aris Memorial Trust for Tibetan and Himalayan Studies.
Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary, has called on Ms Suu Kyi to "show the leadership she is capable of to try to heal that terrible situation".
During the visit Charles and Camilla will be flown in the ministerial Voyager jet, a dual purpose refuelling aircraft that has also been refurbished to carry senior government ministers and members of the monarchy on official trips.
The Duchess will arrive in Singapore separately for the start of the tour after spending a few days on a private holiday.
