Wirathu Visits Sittwe, Urges Strong Security Presence

14 March 2014

Nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu visited the Arakan State capital Sittwe on Wednesday and urged authorities to maintain a strong security presence in Muslim-majority parts of the state, Mizzima reports. “The security forces and police stationed in the northern regions should not be removed yet,” he was quoted as saying. U Wirathu reportedly visited three camps of displaced Arakanese Buddhists. About 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, remain displaced by violence between Buddhists and Rohingya communities that occurred in 2012. In October 2013, following a visit by U Wirathu’s 969 movement, which stands accused of spreading hate speech against Muslims, violence erupted in southern Arakan.