Myanmar blocks UN investigator just before visit

An independent UN human rights investigator Wednesday has been told that she has had her access to Myanmar blocked just before her visit.

Yanghee Lee, UN special rapporteur said in a statement she had been due to visit in January to assess human rights across Myanmar, including against Rohingya Muslim in Rakhine State. However Myanmar told her it cannot cooperate with her or grant her access to the country for her.

"This declaration of non-cooperation with my mandate can only be viewed as a strong indication that there must be something terribly awful happening in Rakhine, as well as in the rest of the country," she said.

The military-run newspaper Myawady Tuesday reported the authorities have found 10 bodies buried in a mass grave on the edge of a village in Rakhine State.

Around 650,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Rakhine state to Bangladesh since late August. A UN report pointed to ethnic cleansing of Rohingya which Myanmar denies.

(CGTN)