Narinjara News


Belgian Ambassador pays a visit to Rakhine State in Burma

Maungdaw, 27 February:  The Belgian Ambassador to Thailand led a team of 25 high-level diplomats to Rakhine State in Burma, according to our correspondent in Maungdaw Town, close to Bangladesh.

H.E. Pierre Vasseur accompanied by invited diplomats visited various ongoing projects in and around Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, inquiring about the success and likelihood of future funding made to UNHCR.  The villages that they visited on 12 February under Maungdaw Township included Maung-nahma, Fah-watt-chaung, Ngaing-chaung, Sapay-gung, Kring-chaung, Aung-hseik-prung, Waik-kying, and Ngakhura besides the toll gates at the two entrance to the town.

At Buthidaung Township the diplomats called at the villages of Lak-way-dak and Pyin-shay. From there they went to Buthidaung Town where they visited the UNHCR office.  Then the high level team went to Dah-baing-sara village, Min-gyaung bazaar, Kyi-hnouk-thee village on a speed boat.  A large number of repatriated refugees and poor women have been given handicrafts training and small loans for rearing domestic animals as support for livelihood by some NGOs and the UNHCR in the area.

On February 13^th, they visited the refugees’ repatriation camp at Kanyein-chaung at Maungdaw Township.  Later they took a river cruise to the ancient city of Mrauk-u in the northern Rakhine State.

The State Military Intelligence has been directed to ensure free passage of the diplomatic team, not to conduct any checks or impede the trips of the visiting dignitaries, our correspondent quoted sources in the security forces.  The Nasaka security forces have also been strongly directed not to answer any queries made in regards of any of the policy matters set down by the higher Burmese junta authority.  They have been directed only to answer that they do not know anything about the matters and only the higher junta authorities can give the correct answers. 

The team stopped for the night at Mrauk-u, the ancient capital of Rakhine, dotted with hundreds of massive Buddhist monuments besides countless vandalised temples and pagodas.  #