UN rights investigator barred as mass grave found in Rakhine

The UN’s investigator into human rights in Myanmar has been barred from entering the country. Yanghee Lee had been due to visit in January to review Myanmar’s human rights, including alleged attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. The government said it had banned her because she was “not impartial and objective while conducting her […]

The UN’s investigator into human rights in Myanmar has been barred from entering the country.

Yanghee Lee had been due to visit in January to review Myanmar’s human rights, including alleged attacks on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

The government said it had banned her because she was “not impartial and objective while conducting her work”.

Ms Lee said the decision to block her suggested “something terribly awful” was happening in Rakhine.

On Tuesday, Myanmar’s authorities said they found 10 bodies in a mass grave in a village there.

Ms Lee last visited Myanmar in July, where she raised concerns over the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.

Violence erupted in the state in August, after Rohingya Arsa militants attacked police posts and the army responded with a military crackdown.

Since then, more than 650,000 Rohingya – about two thirds of the entire population – have fled to Bangladesh.