Alwaght- Top UN envoy condemns decades of systematic discrimination against Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.
Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, visited Maungdaw area of western Rakhine state, which has seen the death of upto 400 Rohingya Muslims during military crackdowns on the Muslim minority since October 2016.
"I must remind again that these attacks took place within the context of decades of systematic and institutionalized discrimination against the Rohingya population,” Lee told reporters at a press conference in Myanmar’s former capital Yangon on Friday.
"Desperate individuals take desperate actions,” she said.
On 9 October, last year, nine police officers were killed during a crackdown on the Muslim population in rural area. Authorities blamed the incident on villagers and initiated a massive operation burning down houses and killing villages, backed by the Buddhist majority, to remove the Muslim population from the country.
Lee has called on the government for an end to such discrimination against the Rohingya Muslims in the country’s west, who were described by the UN as one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world.
"I do believe if the affected population had felt that the new government would start addressing their situation and grievances, then extreme elements would not have easily been able to hijack their cause,” said Yanghee Lee.
Lee has concluded her 12-day information-gathering visit to Myanmar on Friday as part of her mission to compile a report to submit to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2017.
