Aung San Suu Kyi and her government are "burying their heads in the sand" over the violence tearing through Rakhine state, Amnesty International said Tuesday, criticising Myanmar's leader for failing to use a televised address to condemn the army for alleged abuses.

"Refugees who have fled to Bangladesh cannot return to this appalling status quo," the rights group said, adding "at times her speech amounted to little more than a mix of untruths and victim blaming."