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King Charles III

Controversial plans for Prince Charles to visit Myanmar are shelved

Plans for the Prince of Wales to visit Myanmar have apparently been shelved as the country is not included on the Prince’s itinerary for his upcoming tour of Asia.

It was reported in September that the Foreign Office was considering sending the heir to the throne to Myanmar as part of his Asia tour. However, it is understood that this will no longer be the case.

It was speculated that the British government wanted Prince Charles to visit the country, formerly known as Burma, which is currently engulfed in an international uproar over allegations that ethnic cleansing of Muslims is taking place.

It was hoped by some that the Prince of Wales would have been able to influence the de facto leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, to take action after facing allegations from western countries that she has failed to combat violence towards Rohingya Muslims.

In September, the United Nations estimated that around 300,000 men, women and children from Myanmar’s Muslim minority have been forced to flee their homes for neighbouring Bangladesh since this time last year.

Most of those have sought refuge in Bangladesh in the past few weeks after attacks by Rohingya militants led to army reprisals.

Ms Suu Kyi is a holder of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for her work with human rights. However, critics are now suggesting her commitment to human rights are watered down following her refusal to publicly condemn violence towards the Muslim minority in Myanmar.

The Prince of Wales and Aung San Suu Kyi already have a good diplomatic relationship, and have on previous occasions.

Instead of visiting Myanmar, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will undertake a ten-day tour of Asia, travelling to Singapore, Malaysia and India.

The visit will begin on Tuesday 31st October, and further details will be reported closer to the time.