The United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Yanghee Lee, and Arakan State Chief Minister Nyi Pu struck a conciliatory tone on a meeting in the state capital Sittwe on Wednesday, in which the contentious terms “Rohingya” and “Bengali” were avoided.
Yanghee Lee expressed confidence in the leadership of Nyi Pu, a National League for Democracy (NLD) member who was appointed as Chief Minister by the NLD leadership in the face of opposition from the Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the Arakanese Buddhist majority and holds the largest plurality of seats in the state parliament.
Despite a reported request from Yanghee Lee, the ANP issued a statement on Wednesday saying they would not meet with her because she was “coming to write a biased report” for the UN.
Yanghee Lee and the UN have been the subject of fierce criticism, and abuse, from nationalists in Burma for highlighting discrimination against the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority in Arakan State, whom the general public in Burma refers to as “Bengali,” to imply they migrated illegally from Bangladesh. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
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