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Agence France-Presse

Hundreds of Buddhist hardliners booed former UN chief Kofi Annan as he arrived in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state on Tuesday to probe religious conflict that has displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.
Annan has been tasked by the leader of Myanmar’s new government Aung San Suu Kyi with finding ways to heal wounds in the bitterly divided and poor western state.
Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh, has been scarred since 2012 by bouts of communal violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and a minority Muslim population.
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi says Rakhine commission will help heal wounds
More than 100 people have been killed – the majority Muslims – while tens of thousands of the stateless Rohingya group have spent the past four years trapped in bleak displacement camps with limited access to health care and other basic services.

The Rohingya are despised by Myanmar’s hardline Buddhists, who say they have no rights to citizenship and label them “Bengalis”, a shorthand for illegal immigrants.
Suu Kyi has trodden lightly on the explosive issue since coming to power in March, drawing criticism from rights groups who have urged her to use her moral weight to alleviate the Rohingya’s plight.
Last month she asked Annan to lead an advisory commission focused on solving the state’s troubles.
The commission, made up of six Myanmar citizens and three foreigners, is on a initial two-day visit to meet local communities. It will visit camps for stateless Muslims on Wednesday, where people live in cramped and poorly maintained huts. It hopes to present its findings in the next few months.

More than 100 people were killed and some neighbourhoods were razed to the ground as local ethnic Rakhine Buddhists clashed with Rohingya Muslims across the state in 2012.
Thousands of Buddhist monks march in anti-Muslim protests in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State
But in a sign of the enmity that swirls around the issue, hundreds of local Buddhists turned out on Tuesday morning as he landed at Sittwe airport to make clear that the ex-UN chief is not welcome.
Many booed and shouted “No Kofi-led commission”, as his convoy left the state capital airport, holding signs reading “No to foreigners’ biased intervention in our Rakhine State’s affairs”.
“We do not like interference,” protester Ko Thein said, adding that crowds would return on Wednesday to mark Annan’s departure.

The envoy, who has vowed to be impartial in his approach to the conflict, is expected to meet Rakhine leaders as well as visit camps where tens of thousands of Rohingya languish in punishing poverty.
But the region’s largest political group, the Arakan National Party, has already ruled out meeting the former UN secretary general.
Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya may be ‘crime against humanity’, as UN points to forced labour and sexual violence
The near one-million-strong Rohingya are largely denied citizenship and the government does not recognise them as an official ethnic minority.
Their appalling living conditions, including heavy restrictions on movement, have led tens of thousands to flee, many via treacherous sea journey south towards Malaysia.
“We want him to come,” Hla Kyaw, a Rohingya man living in The Chaung IDP camp, said.
“If he comes, we will raise the issue of our citizenship status and our plight of staying in IDP [internally displaced persons]camps for four years,” he added.
Last week, sitting UN chief Ban Ki-moon called on Myanmar to grant citizenship to the group and respect their right to self-identify as Rohingya.
But the issue remains incendiary to Buddhist hardliners.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Myanmar Buddhists boo ex-UN chief Kofi Annan on peace mission in troubled Rakhine state

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan (centre), who chairs the recently created Rakhine State Advisory Commission, is escorted by local authorities as he arrives at the airport in Sittwe, Rakhine state, Myanmar. Photo: AP

Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan (L) and Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi (R) arrive at the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre in Yangon on September 5, 2016 for a meeting with the multi sector advisory body to find lasting solution to Myanmar's stateless Rohingya Muslims. / AFP PHOTO / ROMEO GACAD

Myanmar protestors rally before the arrival of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan (L) in Sittwe on September 6, 2016 for a meeting with local officials and Muslim representatives to find lasting solution to Myanmar's stateless Rohingya Muslims. / AFP PHOTO / ROMEO GACAD

epa05526547 Rakhine nationalists hold a poster as they protest against the visit of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (not in picture) upon his arrival near the airport in Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, 06 September 2016. Kofi Annan, who chairs the advisory commission of Rakhine State, which was formed on 23 August 2016, is on a six day visit to Myanmar to aid in the resolution of religious and ethnic conflict in the state. EPA/NYUNT WIN

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