United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, will be visiting Myanmar next Monday “at the invitation of the Government,” according tothe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This will be her fifth visit to the country.
Staying until January 20, Lee will investigate and meet with officials in Naypyidaw, Yangon, and parts of violence-ridden Kachin and Rakhine States, including Myitkyina, Hpakant, Sittwe, and Maungdaw.
Lee explained the purpose of the visit: “The events of the last few months have shown that the international community must remain vigilant in monitoring the human rights situation there… Apart from what is happening in Rakhine, the escalation in fighting in Kachin and Shan, with its inevitable negative impact on the situation of civilians, is causing some disquiet regarding the direction that the new Government is taking in its first year of administration.”
The findings of the visit will be submitted in a report to the UN Human Rights Council later this year.
News of the visit come just after a report released by the Maungtaw Region Investigation Commission — which is chaired by Myanmar Vice President Myint Swe — denied any claims of genocide, religious persecution and rape in the area.
However, international human rights groups quickly condemned the review, saying that it “would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic, and if the current situation weren’t so grim.”
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the report “methodologically flawed” and “a classic example of pre-baked political conclusions”.
Yesterday, Foreign Policy placed Myanmar on their list of conflicts to watch in 2017. In particular, FP highlighted the current persecution of Rohingya Muslims — especially in Rakhine State — warning, “Grievances could be exploited by transnational jihadis attempting to pursue their own agendas, which would inflame religious tensions across the majority Buddhist country.”
