UN rights expert to visit Malaysia for greater engagement in Myanmar crisis

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights, Tom Andrews, will conduct a mission to Malaysia from June 17-23, in a bid to meet UN officials and other representatives in the region to help resolve the crisis in Myanmar.

"As conditions continue to deteriorate in Myanmar, and the military junta continues its attempts to hide the truth, I remain steadfast in pursuing my mandate to document and report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. I will continue to meet with people from Myanmar including those who have fled the country since the coup," Andrews said in a statement.

The Special Rapporteur will visit Kuala Lumpur, where he will meet representatives of Government, Members of Parliament, UN officials, experts who work on Myanmar and ASEAN foreign policy, as well as representatives of civil society and community-based organisations.

"This visit is the beginning of a project of deeper regional engagement with the ASEAN region in relation to the crisis in Myanmar," said the expert. "Given the central role of ASEAN regarding Myanmar, I hope to visit a number of other ASEAN member states in the coming months."

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference to share his preliminary observations with the media on June 23 at the Westin Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, access to which is strictly limited to journalists.

Still suffering from the devastating consequences of the February 2021 military coup, the UN rights chief said on Tuesday that the people of Myanmar remain "trapped in a cycle of poverty and displacement, human rights violations and abuses".

"What we are witnessing today is the systematic and widespread use of tactics against civilians, in respect of which there are reasonable grounds to believe the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes", High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet told the Human Rights Council.

Since last year's coup, at least 1,900 killings by the military have been reported, the UN has registered one million internally displaced people (IDPs), and some 14 million remain in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

"The humanitarian situation is dire," said Bachelet. The military coup has "crippled Myanmar's economy", millions have lost their incomes, the national currency has plummeted, and prices have surged.