EU Delegation to Visit Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township

By Htet Naing Zaw 29 March 2017

SITTWE, Arakan State — Burma’s State Counselor’s Office has allowed a delegation of EU diplomats to visit Arakan State’s conflict-torn Maungdaw Township from Tuesday to Friday this week, according to the Ministry of Information.

The 13-member delegation of diplomats from Spain, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, and the Netherlands led by diplomat Dr. Colin Steinbach of the Office of the EU Delegation to Burma in Rangoon are set to meet the Arakan State chief minister, regional authorities, and political parties. They will also inspect projects being implemented with EU funds, according to the information ministry.

The delegation will visit the locations of alleged human rights violations including the villages of Dar Gyee Zar and Kyee Kan Pyin in Maungdaw Township.

A group of 18 local and international journalists began a three-day trip to Maungdaw Township on Tuesday.

The 34th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 24 adopted a resolution on Burma tabled by the EU to dispatch an independent international fact-finding mission to Burma.

The council also extended the mandate of the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Burma, Yanghee Lee.

The same day, Burma’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, released a statement raising objections to the resolution.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.