U.N. Envoy Meets With Muslims And Buddhists in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

A United Nations human rights envoy to Myanmar met on Wednesday with Muslim and Buddhist residents of the country’s troubled Rakhine state at the airport in the state capital Sittwe, though the state’s dominant local political party turned down her invitation for a discussion.

“I come here as I did on my very first trip as a true friend of Rakhine,” said Yanghee Lee, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

Lee is on a 12-day visit to the country through July 1 to address a range of human rights issues with authorities and various stakeholders and compile information for a report she will submit to the U.N. in September.

“I come here with sincerity, and I am here to facilitate the process here so that everybody benefits from the new changes here,” she said.

This is Lee’s fourth mission to Myanmar since she was appointed as the U.N. envoy to the country in 2014. (Courtesy of rfa.org)