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Media advisories Special Procedures

Myanmar: UN human rights expert to visit Thailand and Bangladesh

11 January 2019

GENEVA (11 January 2019) - The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, will visit Myanmar’s neighbours Thailand and Bangladesh from 14 to 24 January 2019.

The Government of Myanmar has maintained its decision to cease cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, and refused her entry to Myanmar.

“I still seek to engage with the Myanmar Government and I remain committed to my mandate to monitor the situation of human rights in Myanmar. I will continue to meet with people from Myanmar and speak out about human rights issues that occur around the country,” said Lee.

The Special Rapporteur will visit Thailand from 14 January and then travel to Bangladesh on 19 January where she will visit Dhaka and the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. She also plans to visit the island of Bhashan Char.

Lee will hold a news conference on 24 January at 5 pm at the Ascott Residence Hotel in Dhaka. Access to the press conference is strictly limited to journalists.

The Special Rapporteur will present her finding and recommendations to the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2019.

ENDS

Yanghee Lee (Republic of Korea) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014 as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. She is independent from any government or organization and serves in her individual capacity. Ms. Lee served as member and chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2003-2011). She is currently a professor at Sungkyunwan University, Seoul, and serves on the Advisory Committee of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Ms. Lee is the founding President of International Child Rights Center.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

UN Human Rights, country page: Myanmar

For more information and media requests please contact: Georgia Drake (+41-22928 9780 or +41-79444 3993 / gdrake@ohchr.org).

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts: Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org