ITV News uncovers Myanmar's shameful atrocities extend beyond the Rohingya with charred bodies in oppressed Shan State

  • WARNING: Video report by ITV News Correspondent Dan Rivers contains images some viewers may find upsetting

ITV News has been shown evidence of another ethnic minority being persecuted in Myanmar - as Britain prepares to put pressure on Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi for the murder and destruction of the Rohingya people carried out under her watch.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will raise the devastating plight of the Rohingya with the 72-year-old de facto leader during a visit to Myanmar this weekend.

He has described their suffering as "one of the most shocking humanitarian disasters of our time" after 650,000 fled a violent crackdown by the Burmese Army into neighbouring Bangladesh.

  • Video explains who is affected in Myanmar's shaming atrocities

Yet a long way from the Rohinya's attacked homeland Rakhine State is Shan State, a long-oppressed rebel enclave in the country's north east.

Its people also accuse the Burmese Army of rape, murder and forced relocation.

Our cameras filmed the charred remains of people torched in their villages in 2016.

The Shan state's leader Lt Gen Yawd Serk told ITV News: "The Burmese army used the same tactic they used in Rakhine state. They have let the problem build up for a long time.

"I don't know the real situation there but they used the same method to attack us here."

Shan State has been in an effective state of civil war for years. Credit: ITV News/Dan Rivers

Lt Gen Serk's people have essentially been in a state of civil war for years but, unlike the Rohingya, have their own standing army to defend them.

That fighting force demonstrated its strength in front of the ITV News cameras in a parade held to celebrate the protection of their people's distinct cultural identity.

Children held toy guns while people of all ages posed for selfies against the backdrop of the Shan soldiers.

  • Oppressed Shan people demonstrate pride in their culture

Credit: ITV News/Dan Rivers
Credit: ITV News/Dan Rivers
Credit: ITV News/Dan Rivers
Credit: ITV News/Dan Rivers
Credit: ITV News/Dan Rivers
  • How is Aung San Suu Kyi implicated and what has Boris Johnson said?

State Counsellor Suu Kyi stands accused of not just failing to unify Myanmar's patchwork regions but also being complicit in the ethnic cleansing of the nation's minorities who until recently saw her as the embodiment of hope in a country brutalised by the army for generations.

Mr Johnson will meet her and other regional leaders during his four-day visit to Asia which will also take in trips to Bangladesh and Thailand.

Ahead of the trip he said: "The plight of the Rohingya and the suffering they have had to endure is one of the most shocking humanitarian disasters of our time.

Aung San Suu Kyi, seen visiting the Queen in May 2017, has seen her reputation badly damaged by the atrocities in her nation. Credit: PA

"This is a man-made tragedy that could be resolved with the right political will, tolerance and co-operation from all those involved.

"I want to see and hear for myself the terrible things these people have been through, and I will be talking to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other regional leaders about how we can work together to resolve this appalling crisis."