Nyan Lynn Aung 24 Jan 2019
UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener. Photo - EPA
The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar on Wednesday visited Muslim refugees who were displaced by the 2012 conflict in northern Rakhine State, a state official said.
A Rakhine government official said Christine Schraner Burgener met with refugees at A Nout Ye and Kal Ni Pyin camps in Pauktaw township.
The camps were among those recommended to be closed as part of a long-term solution to the Rakhine conflict by the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.
“We don’t know what her schedule will be because it changes all the time,” the official said.
U Aung Kyaw Htwee, a state parliament MP for Pauktaw, said Burgener was briefed on the initiatives of the government to resettle the refugees and close the camps.
On Tuesday, the government barred Burgener from visiting refugee camps in areas where there have been clashes between security forces and the Arakan Army, particularly Buthidaung township, where some 5000 villagers have fled their homes because of the fighting.
According to the state government, Burgener visited another camp on the outskirts of Sittwe and met with representatives of local civil society groups before she returned to Yangon.
Burgener arrived in Myanmar on Saturday and may spend a week in the country. The last time she came to Myanmar, in October, she visited several refugee camps in Rakhine and relocation sites in Kyauktaw, Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Sittwe. She also met with local civilian and military officials.
The government banned international aid organisations from visiting conflict zones in northern Rakhine following attacks by AA fighters on four border police outposts in Buthidaung that resulted in the deaths of 13 officers and the wounding of nine others on January 4.
The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar on Wednesday visited Muslim refugees who were displaced by the 2012 conflict in northern Rakhine State, a state official said.
A Rakhine government official said Christine Schraner Burgener met with refugees at A Nout Ye and Kal Ni Pyin camps in Pauktaw township.
The camps were among those recommended to be closed as part of a long-term solution to the Rakhine conflict by the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State.
“We don’t know what her schedule will be because it changes all the time,” the official said.
U Aung Kyaw Htwee, a state parliament MP for Pauktaw, said Burgener was briefed on the initiatives of the government to resettle the refugees and close the camps.
On Tuesday, the government barred Burgener from visiting refugee camps in areas where there have been clashes between security forces and the Arakan Army, particularly Buthidaung township, where some 5000 villagers have fled their homes because of the fighting.
According to the state government, Burgener visited another camp on the outskirts of Sittwe and met with representatives of local civil society groups before she returned to Yangon.
Burgener arrived in Myanmar on Saturday and may spend a week in the country. The last time she came to Myanmar, in October, she visited several refugee camps in Rakhine and relocation sites in Kyauktaw, Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Sittwe. She also met with local civilian and military officials.
The government banned international aid organisations from visiting conflict zones in northern Rakhine following attacks by AA fighters on four border police outposts in Buthidaung that resulted in the deaths of 13 officers and the wounding of nine others on January 4.
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