Myanmar urged to hold ‘ proper’ probe into alleged atrocities against the Rohingya

◗ Myanmar UN delegates met both civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and general Min Aung Hlaing, who heads an army accused by the UN of ‘ ethnic cleansing’

Naypyidaw, Myanmar, May 1: Myanmar must hold a “proper investigation” into alleged atrocities against the Muslim Rohingya, a UN Security Council envoy said on Tuesday at the end of the highest- level diplomatic visit to the conflict area.

Refugees and rights groups say Myanmar’s army and vigilantes systematically raped and murdered civilians and torched villages during “clearance operations” in Rakhine state ostensibly targeting Rohingya militants. That campaign launched last August in the mainly Buddhist nation drove around 700,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh.

During the trip to Myanmar UN delegates met both civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who heads an army accused by the UN of “ethnic cleansing”.

“In order to have accountability there must be a proper investigation,” Britain’s UN ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters, after envoys visited both the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and Rakhine.

During his meeting late Monday with the UN envoys, the army chief denied his forces had committed rape and other sexual abuses during a crackdown which he ordered.

“The Tatmadaw ( army) is always disciplined... and takes action against anyone who breaks the law,” he told the delegates, according to a posting late Monday on his official Facebook page.