Open Access to Arakan

Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma has called for “complete access” to areas undergoing conflict in northern Arakan State.

Referring to the growing reports of human rights violations in the area by members of the security forces on Muslim communities who self-identify as Rohingya, the Special Rapporteur on Thursday called for “an impartial investigation” and said the UN was currently “in the dark.”

Lee said that they had heard reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, many cases of rape, and the killing of civilians.

“These are unverified as of yet but we do have some credible sources that [add] support to these ongoing human rights violations,” she said.