MYANMAR leader Aung San Suu Kyi was welcomed to Australia today with a military honour guard and 19-gun salute as part of a state visit that has provoked protests over her response to her army’s violent campaign against Rohingya Muslims.

Ms Suu Kyi arrived in Sydney at the weekend for a summit of south-east Asian leaders and her state visit officially began today when she was welcomed to Parliament House in Canberra. It coincides with her facing international criticism over what has become Asia’s worst refugee crisis in decades.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since August when the military kicked off a campaign of ethnic cleansing justified by citing insurgent attacks on police.