Hundreds of people protested the arrival of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Ms. Yanghee Lee, at Sittwe Airport, Arakan State at 6pm on 8th January.
They object to a UN resolution, which urges the Burmese government to give the Rohingya people Burmese citizenship and have them referred to as Rohingya rather than Bengali, a term which the Burmese government prefers.
Up to 1,000 protestors gathered at the airport to wave placards and shout slogans.
Daw Kyawt Sein, a leader of the protest and vice chairwoman of the Arakan Women’s Network, said to Narinjara News: “We are Arakan people. Even the president said there are no Rohingya in Burma. Despite this, the term [Rohingya] is frequently used by Ms. Yaunghee Lee so we decided to protest. We do not recognise the Rohingya at all and we cannot accept the UN’s decision last week to urge the government to recognise the Bengalis [Rohingyas] as citizens.”
Protesters held placards saying things like: “Yanghee Lee, Go Go!”, “OIC follower Go Go!”. “Bengalis Lobby Yaunghee Lee, Get out Get Out.”
The protesters who had received official government permission to protest were led by a group of monks and community based organisations. The protest ended at about 7pm.
An Arakanese protester said: “I would like to say that those who want Bengalis to be recognised as Rohingyas and want them to live together with Arakan people should learn a lesson from the riots that happened in the past. That is why we are protesting against her [Ms. Yanghee Lee].”
Ms. Yaunghee Lee was due to meet with the state government on 9th January and was then going to visit both Arakan and Rohingya refugee camps.
The 69th UN Assembly on 24th December 2014 called for the Burmese Government to recognise the Rohingya as citizens, allow them to self-identify as Rohingya and have freedom of movement within Burma.
This is Ms Yaunghee Lee’s second visit to Arakan state, her first was on 18th July 2014.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
