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US urges Myanmar to allow UN inquiry into abuse of Rohingya

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WASHINGTON, DC: US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Monday ramped up pressure on the Myanmar government to accept a UN fact-finding mission tasked with investigating human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims.

Yangon officials said last week that they would deny visas to the three-person team mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate abuses reportedly committed by security forces in Rakhine state.

"It is important that the Burmese government allow this fact-finding mission to do its job," Ms Haley said in a statement.

"The international community cannot overlook what is happening in Burma - we must stand together and call on the government to fully cooperate with this fact-finding mission."

Myanmar's de facto leader and Nobel prize-winning democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected the UN fact-finding mission, arguing that the government is carrying out its own investigation.

The north of Rakhine state has been under lockdown since October, when the military launched a campaign to hunt down Rohingya militants. - AFP

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