UN rights envoy in Rakhine to probe Rohingya abuse

This screen grab taken on January 4, 2017 from a YouTube video originally taken by Myanmar Constable Zaw Myo Htike (not pictured) shows policemen standing guard around Rohingya minority villager seated on the ground in the village of Kotankauk during a police area clearance operation on November 5, 2016. (AFP)

SITTWE, Myanmar: The UN鈥檚 rights envoy for Myanmar arrived in troubled Rakhine state on Friday for a trip north to probe allegations of horrific abuse of Rohingya Muslims by security forces.
Special rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee touched down in the state capital Sittwe as part of a 12-day visit to investigate escalating violence in Myanmar鈥檚 restive ethnic border areas.
Lee has faced threats and been branded a 鈥渨hore鈥� by Buddhist hard-liners on previous visits for her criticism of how Myanmar treats the Rohingya, a stateless group that has suffered years of poverty and repression.
Over the past three months they have been targeted by a military crackdown in northern Rakhine that the UN said has forced at least 65,000 to flee across the border to Bangladesh.
Shortly after arriving in Sittwe Lee met with senior local officials from Myanmar鈥檚 ruling National League for Democracy party and the military, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.
Earlier a senior figure from the nationalist Arakan National Party, which controls the state Parliament and aggressively opposes any moves to grant the Rohingya citizenship, said they had refused to meet with Lee.
鈥淭hey offered to meet with us from their side but we have no plans to meet them,鈥� ANP鈥檚 Vice President Khine Pyi Soe told AFP.
Villages in northern Rakhine have been under military control since October as the army stages 鈥渃learance operations鈥� to find Rohingya insurgents allegedly behind deadly raids on police border posts.
The crisis has drawn a storm of international criticism for the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which took power in March.
Lee has slammed the lockdown as 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� and called for an international investigation into claims troops have raped, murdered and tortured civilians from the Muslim minority.
Ahead of her trip, she said violence in Rakhine had contributed to 鈥渄isquiet regarding the direction that the new government is taking in its first year.鈥�
Muslim-majority Malaysia has lashed out at Nobel laureate Suu Kyi for not stopping the violence, and next week will host foreign ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for talks on the crisis.
Bangladesh has urged Myanmar鈥檚 government to take back the thousands of refugees that have entered already overcrowded camps along the border.
鈥淏angladesh has demanded (the) quick restoration of (a) normal situation in Rakhine state so that Myanmar nationals... can quickly go back home,鈥� Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali said after meeting Myanmar鈥檚 special envoy in Dhaka this week.
Myanmar鈥檚 Foreign Ministry said the two sides had 鈥渁greed to commence consultations for verification and repatriation鈥� of those who had fled the lockdown.