The United Nations has sent a human rights envoy to western Myanmar on Tuesday to investigate the recent bouts of ethnic violence that has claimed the lives of 78 people and left tens of thousands displaced, whilst Myanmar rejected concerns of abuse by security forces.
UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana, went to visit the northwestern Rakhine state, labelling the violence as one of the “challenges” for the country in a pre-trip statement.
The UN will be taking special interest in this case after 6 of their workers were arrested by Burmese authorities in connection with the violence, along with 4 MSF workers, amongst the total 858 detained.
UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan said of the detained workers,
His comments come as Myanmar's Immigration Minister Thein Htay rejected the Rohingya Muslims claim to Myanmar citizenship, saying,
UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana, went to visit the northwestern Rakhine state, labelling the violence as one of the “challenges” for the country in a pre-trip statement.
The UN will be taking special interest in this case after 6 of their workers were arrested by Burmese authorities in connection with the violence, along with 4 MSF workers, amongst the total 858 detained.
UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan said of the detained workers,
“We haven’t had any access to them... We are still unaware of what they’ve been charged with.”Blaming “some external elements” for the violence, Border Affairs Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Htay said at a news conference with Quintana that the aid workers “were involved with violence”, stating,
“They were not concerned with U.N. responsibilities… They themselves were involved in setting fire to villages. We have the evidence and we have witnesses and they are being put on trial.”Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunnna Maung Lwin, also present at the news conference, said that his country “totally rejects the attempts by some quarters to politicize and internationalize this situation as a religious issue”, further commenting,
“The Myanmar government strongly rejects the accusations by some quarters that abuses and excessive use of force were made by the authorities in dealing with the situation… The situation is now returning to normal.”The Minister went on to affirm that security forces had used “maximum restraint” and blamed Muslim clerics for the violence, saying they had “closely monitored and ordered and persuaded people to carry out assaults and burn houses.”
His comments come as Myanmar's Immigration Minister Thein Htay rejected the Rohingya Muslims claim to Myanmar citizenship, saying,
“They are not included among our more than 130 ethnic races".
