Myanmar's Rohingya minority welcomes Kofi Annan mission
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| Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, second left, listens to a Rohingya religious and community leader as he is explained the situation in the Internally Displaced People's camps as the Rakhine Advisory Commission visits a camp in Thetkabyin village, outside Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. Annan is visiting as part of a commission set up last month to help find solutions to "protracted issues" in western Rakhine state, where human rights groups have documented widespread abuses by majority Rakhine Buddhists against minority Rohingya Muslims. (AP Photo/Esther Htusan) |
By Associated Press
September 8, 2016
September 8, 2016
SITTWE, Myanmar – Members of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority have expressed hope that an independent panel led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan will help end the discrimination and violence they face at the hands of the country's Buddhist majority.
Annan is a member of a commission set up last month by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi's government to help find solutions to a communal conflict in the western state of Rakhine that that has seen widespread abuses and violence by Buddhists against Rohingya.
Rohingya residents, including community leaders who met Wednesday with Annan, said they have faith in the nine-member advisory commission headed by the former U.N. chief. Members of the Rakhine community, however, protested Annan's arrival Tuesday, saying they oppose foreign meddling.
