UN official to visit Myanmar to solution for displaced crisis

The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will make an urgent five-day visit to Myanmar on Friday to address the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, the UN announced on Wednesday.

“Following the Secretary-General’s repeated calls for an end to the military operations and violence in northern Rakhine state; unfettered access for humanitarian support; and the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of refugees to their areas of origin, Mr. Feltman will be undertaking consultations with a view to addressing these urgent issues in close cooperation with Myanmar,” said the announcement.

A UN spokesperson told The Irrawaddy that details of his visit and meetings were yet to be announced but it is understood discussions will focus on the cooperation of the Myanmar government. His visit coincides with the recall of UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien to the UN in New York. It was announced on Wednesday that she would end her duties in Myanmar by the end of October.

“The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator will use her remaining time until the end of the month to further the UN system’s efforts to promote peace and security, human rights, as well as humanitarian and development assistance for all people in Myanmar,” said the announcement.

The news of Lok-Dessallien’s possible removal from her role first surfaced in June. According to a BBC news report, she was being criticized internally and being accused of the suppressing internal discussion on the self-identifying Rohingya issue. However, the spokesperson of the UN office in Myanmar refused to give comment on her recall.

The Canadian citizen began the job in January 2014 and was the first woman to take up the role. She previously worked as resident and humanitarian coordinator in Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China.

On the military side, Myanmar security forces have brutally driven out half a million Muslim Rohingya from northern Rakhine state, torching their homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning, the UN human rights office said on Wednesday.

Jyoti Sanghera, head of the Asia and Pacific region of the UN human rights office, called on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to "stop the violence" and voiced fear that if the stateless Rohingya refugees return from Bangladesh they may be interned.

"If villages have been completely destroyed and livelihood possibilities have been destroyed, what we fear is that they may be incarcerated or detained in camps," she told a news briefing.

UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman is due to visit Myanmar on Friday, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

In a report based on 65 interviews with Rohingya who have arrived in Bangladesh in the past month, the UN human rights office said that "clearance operations" had begun before insurgent attacks on police posts on Aug. 25 and included killings, torture and rape of children.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein – who has described the government operations as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" – said in a statement that the actions appeared to be "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return."

"Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, scorched their dwellings and entire villages in northern Rakhine State, not only to drive the population out in droves but also to prevent the fleeing Rohingya victims from returning to their homes," the report said.