The United Nations' independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar has called for international pressure on China and Russia to try to get them to oppose human rights abuses in Myanmar.

U.N. special rapporter Yanghee Lee, who was last week barred by the Myanmar government from visiting the country , singled out China and Russia because they had failed to back some moves in the U.N. aimed at trying to halt the Myanmar military's crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine province.

"I’d like to ask the international community to continue to work with China and Russia to persuade them to stand on the side of human rights," Lee told Reuters in an interview.

Neither has joined the United States, the European Union, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in condemning the crackdown that has led to the exodus of what aid agencies estimate to be 655,000 refugees into Bangladesh.