Alwaght- A UN commission is set to visit Myanmar’s western states over human rights violations against the country’s Muslim minority.
The commission, led by the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has decided to fly to Myanmar's western-most state, Rakhine, to probe human rights violations.
Human Right groups say local officials have been distorting the weight of the allegations, with Rohingya groups announcing four times as many deaths as the government.
Rohingya advocacy groups say around 400 Rohingya have been killed in military operations in the north of the state since the Oct. 9 when nine Myanmar border police officials were killed in clashes. Myanmar, however, claims just 86 people -- 17 soldiers and 69 alleged "attackers" -- have been killed.
Humanitarian outfits have subsequently called for independent investigations into the initial attacks, the ongoing operations and reported rapes and rights abuses, as rights groups and international reporters have been unable to enter the area as it is under military lockdown.
Myanmar's violence against Rohingya minority is faced with widespread international criticism.
Malaysia portrayed Myanmar's violence against Muslim Rohingya minority as "ethnic cleansing".
"The fact that only one particular ethnicity is being driven out is by definition ethnic cleansing," Malaysia's foreign ministry said in a statement released on Saturday.
"This practice must stop, and must be stopped immediately in order to bring back security and stability to the Southeast Asian region."
Tensions have been high in Rakhine since 2012 when extremist Buddhists attacked Rohingya Muslims. More than 100,000 Rohingya are still in squalid camps for the internally displaced after being driven from their homes at that time. Muslims have lived in Myanmar for generations the government denies citizenship to most of them, saying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
