Kofi Annan to head Myanmar’s advisory commission on ethnic violence

Myanmar will create a commission to address sectarian violence in the Rakhine state in western Myanmar, which will be chaired by former SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations Kofi Annan, according to media reports Wednesday.

Burmese State Counsellor, a post held by the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Kofi Annan Foundation will sign a memorandum to set up this ninemember advisory commission.

According to the daily The Global New Light of Myanmar, the commission will, within 12 months, prepare a report containing recommendations for the government to prevent further conflict as well as promote peace and reconciliation in Rakhine.

The report will include recommendations on humanitarian and development issues, assurance of basic rights and security, humanitarian aid, as well as on asylum seekers.

Rakhine is home to the bulk of the Rohingya community, a minority living in Myanmar for centuries but who are considered Bangladeshi immigrants and have no citizenship rights.

Since the outbreak of sectarian violence between the Rohingyas and the Buddhist majority that claimed at least 160 lives, around 120,000 of them live restricted lives, confined in 67 refugee camps.

The issue of Rohingyas is a sensitive matter in Burmese politics, after radical Buddhist groups led the previous government into adopting several discriminatory measures against the community.

Suu Kyi too, had been criticized by several organizations and even the Dalai Lama, who felt the Peace Nobel laureate did not do enough to defend Rohingya rights.

The announcement of the commission came in June, following a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had urged Suu Kyi to promote human rights in the country.