UN official arrives today

UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee. Star file photo.

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights situation in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, on whom the Myanmar authorities have imposed a travel ban, will arrive in Bangladesh today. 

She will depart Bangladesh on January 24 and visit Thailand till January 30.

During her stay in Bangladesh Yanghee will visit refugee camps in Cox's Bazar and meet leaders and Rohigya refugees who have been taking shelter in Bangladesh to flee persecution in their homeland by the Myanmar military.

So far, since the military crackdown was unleashed in Rakhine state of Myanmar on August 25, more than 6,55,000 Rohingyas have taken refuge in Bangladesh.

Yanghee's original plan was to visit parts of Myanmar including the Rakhine state in January to assess the state of human rights across the country.

The Myanmar authorities, however, slapped a restriction on her entry to the country and withdrew their cooperation till the rest of her tenure.  

Against this backdrop, she decided to visit Bangladesh and Thailand instead.

Before departing on her 13-day trip, Yanghee, a human rights expert, in a statement yesterday said, “I am determined to carry on -- to the best of my ability -- this very important task of helping the victims of human rights violations and abuses in Myanmar, as mandated to me by the United Nations system.”

“By not giving me access to Myanmar and by refusing to cooperate with the mandate, my task is made that much more difficult, but I will continue to obtain first-hand accounts from victims and witnesses of human rights violations by all means possible, including by visiting neighbouring countries where some have fled.”

“I have a responsibility to speak on behalf of these victims, and I will not be deterred. This is why I am going ahead to visit neighbouring countries to reach out as far as possible to all victims and witnesses to learn of their experience,” Yanghee said.

Following the visit, she will present a report to the Human Rights Council in March 2018.