Rohingya migrant boat crisis: Dalai Lama puts pressure on Aung San Suu Kyi to do more

The Nobel peace laureate has yet to comment on the migrant boat crisis developing in Burma

The Dalai Lama has urged Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to do more to help Burma’s persecuted Muslim Rohingya.

The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has said he has already appealed to her twice in person since 2012 and that she needs to do more on their behalf amid the migration crisis.

Suu Kyi, the country’s opposition leader is yet to comment on the crisis, despite thousands of Rohingya fleeing the country over the sea to escape poverty and discrimination from the Buddhist majority.

"It's very sad. In the Burmese case I hope Aung San Suu Kyi, as a Nobel laureate, can do something," he told Thursday's The Australian newspaper.

"I met her two times, first in London and then the Czech Republic. I mentioned about this problem and she told me she found some difficulties, that things were not simple but very complicated.

"But in spite of that I feel she can do something."

Thousands of Rohingya have been rescued on Southeast Asian shores this month after fleeing by boat, with more than 3,500 migrants arriving in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in recent weeks.

Many more are expected to be still trapped on boats and Thailand has begun a crackdown on smuggling following the discovery of mass graves.

Protesters also marched in Burma's capital of Rangoon earlier this week, angry at the country being blamed for Rohingya crisis and calling for the 'invented ethnicity' to be deported.

“There's something wrong with humanity's way of thinking. Ultimately we are lacking concern for others' lives, others' well-being," the Dalai Lama said.