UN team visits Rakhine state next week

MAUNGDAW (Myanmar), Apr 25 (AFP): A United Nations Security Council delegation which wants to see first-hand the impact of the Rohingya refugee crisis will arrive in Myanmar on Monday and visit Rakhine state, a senior government official said.

It will be the highest-profile UN visit to Rakhine since the start last August of a violent military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority, which the UN and US have described as ethnic cleansing.

Mainly Buddhist Myanmar disputes the charge but has severely curtailed access to the conflict zone, blocking UN fact-finders and a rights envoy from entering the country.

After the Security Council first proposed a visit in February, Myanmar's government said it was "not the right time" but it gave approval earlier this month for the visit by the 15 council ambassadors.

The crackdown has driven some 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh.