Myanmar not ready for return of Rohingya refugees: UN official

Myanmar is not ready for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, said the seniormost United Nations official to visit the country this year, after Myanmar was accused of instigating ethnic cleansing and driving nearly 700,000 Muslims to Bangladesh.

Ursula Mueller, UN's Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, made a six-day visit to Myanmar and was allowed a visit to Rakhine State, indicating a tentative shift in Myanmar's thus-far tough stance towards the UN. She also met army-controlled ministers of defence and border affairs, as well as de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, where Mueller urged 'them to end the violence'.

Mueller also expressed concerns whether returnees would be allowed to return to 'their places of origin.' Myanmar has bulldozed at least 55 villages that were emptied during the violence, Human Rights Watch has said. A total of 362 villages had been partially or completely destroyed since August, according to the New York-based human rights watchdog.

The exodus of Rohingya Muslims followed the Aug. 25 crackdown by the military in the northwestern Rakhine state. Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete a voluntary repatriation of the refugees in two years. Myanmar set up two reception centres and what it says is a temporary camp near the border in Rakhine to receive the first arrivals.