UN Special Rapporteur faces protests on tour to Myanmar

 

Lee will continue touring the country until January 16. She will mainly focus on the human rights situations in Rakhine State and northern Shan State.

During her tour to Rakhine State, she will assess the conditions in the IDP camps and hold talks with the Rakhine State chief minister on the Rakhine State Action Plan, which was adopted by the Myanmar government to to ensure the peace, stability, the rule of law and regional development in the state. 

The action plan has been denounced by human rights groups for expanding and solidifying the marginalisation of the Rohingya Muslim population of Rakhine State. 

During her tour of Shan State, Lee plans to hold talks with local organisations to assess the human rights situation for local ethnic minorities and gender-based terrorism in conflict-affected regions. 

She will also use her visit as an opportunity to evaluate the freedom of association, media, land disputes and protests against infrastructure projects.

According to the UN's press release, the UN will hold talks with civil society organisations (CSOs) to ensure a transparent, free and fair general election in 2015. 

Yanghee Lee’s first tour to the country, extended for 10 days, was in July 2014. After completing the tour, she voiced concerns over the pace of reforms ahead of the national election in 2015, press freedom, and sectarian violence. 

Lee acknowledged the suffering endured by both Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state, but claimed the health situation in Muslim IDP camps was of particular concern, especially following the mass departure of international NGOs in March. She expressed her worries over the situation of refugees in the Kachin State and highlighted the importance of reducing tensions and hostility and promoting reconciliation between the two communities in the Rakhine State. She warned of a "growing polarisation between Muslim and Buddhist communities" in the country. 

Months after her visit, a UN report showed that over 100,000 people from Indian Ocean, mainly those in Myanmar and Bangladesh, fled the countries for safety. Its concern is many people, including women and children, are pushed into exploitative and vulnerable situations. About 50 people, including Rohingya, were intercepted in Thailand this month.

Late last year, the UN passed a resolution calling for citizenship status to be granted to the Rohingya, described as Bengalis by the Myanmar government, in Rakhine State at the 69th General Assembly on December 29. Lee is expected to put further pressure on the Myanmar government to grant citizenship to the Rohingya. 

The Arakan National Party (ANP) issued an announcement on January 4 condemning the UN resolution as a direct threat to Rakhine State. Other Rakhine nationalist activists plan to stage protests against Lee during her tour of Rakhine State, according to some sources. 

President Thein Sein recently proposed to allow all white card holders, many of whom are Rohingya, to vote in the referendum on constitutional amendment expected to take place in May. Members of the ANP and the National League for Democracy oppose the president's proposition. 

The tension between the Rohingya and Rakhine Buddhists erupted in communal violence in June 2012 and resulted in property damage and death on both sides. Over 100,000 thousand Rohingya have been displaced by the violence and confined to designated camps in Rakhine State.