Govt Invites International Aid Delegation to Maungdaw

By Htet Naing Zaw 28 October 2016

NAYPYIDAW — Burma’s President’s Office spokesperson told the media on Friday that the government will allow UN agencies and the World Food Programme (WFP) upcoming visits to Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township.

“We have officially invited the UN representative here on Monday and as well as the WFP to provide humanitarian assistance there,” U Zaw Htay said, admitting that the government had previously banned them from entering the area due to security issues.

He added that the government would provide necessary security during the aid groups’ tours of the region.

“When they see what is happening there with their own eyes, they will know the true story,” he said, before adding that diplomats from some Western countries had been invited as well.

On Thursday, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma Yanghee Lee called for an investigation into reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and rape in conflict areas of Arakan State.

U Zaw Htay said that the statement made by Yanghee Lee was not complete as she had failed to mention the nine security personnel killed by the militants on a series of attacks on border guard outposts in Maungdaw on earlier this month.

“She failed to say that we didn’t ban the UN from going there,” he said.