Rakhine advisory commission gets to work with IDP camp visits
Torrential rain did not deter a crowd of well over 100 people turning out to witness Kofi Annan’s arrival in the Muslim ghetto of Aung Mingalar on September 7. In contrast to the protests that had greeted Mr Annan’s arrival in the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe the day before, residents of Aung Minglar welcomed the chair of the newly formed Rakhine advisory commission. Residents of the ghetto said they hope the body will help foster peace between Buddhists and Muslims in the state. The former UN secretary general and the eight other commission members were on a two-day visit to Sittwe to meet with community members and discuss local concerns, as well as to share the commission’s aims. They also visited an ethnic Rakhine IDP village on September 7, before going on to speak to IDPs in one of the state’s notorious camps where Muslim Rohingya have been interred in grim conditions since communal violence broke out between the two communities in 2012. More than 120,000 remain displaced.
