Myanmar agrees to UNSC visit

Myanmar has agreed to a visit by the UN Security Council after months of resistance, but it remains unclear whether ambassadors will be allowed to go to Rakhine State, the body's president said Monday.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have been driven out of Rakhine state and are living in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh since a Myanmar army operation in August.

After the council proposed a visit in February, Myanmar's government said it was "not the right time," but it has now given the green light.

Peruvian Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, who holds the council's rotating presidency, said details of the itinerary had yet to be finalised, including whether the government would allow the council to visit Rakhine state.

"Obviously, we're interested in Rakhine state," said Meza-Cuadra. "There's nothing better than a visit on the ground to see how it is."

Britain, Kuwait and Peru are organizing the council's visit, which would include a tour of Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. No date for the trip has been announced.

Myanmar authorities say the operation in Rakhine state is aimed at rooting out extremists, but the Security Council is demanding that the Rohingya be allowed to safely return home.

MALAYSIA INTERCEPTS ROHINGYA BOAT

A boat carrying dozens of Rohingya from Myanmar arrived in Malaysia yesterday and the members of the stateless Muslim minority will be allowed to enter the country, authorities said.

The vessel carrying 56 people was intercepted by Malaysian maritime authorities near the northwestern island of Langkawi, said navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.

Its arrival came as fears grow about conditions in overcrowded camps for the minority fleeing violence in Myanmar.

"All 56 passengers, mostly children and women, are safe but tired and hungry," said the navy chief. "The boat and its passengers will be handed over... to the immigration authorities."

The navy and coastguard had stepped up patrols in the area after the boat briefly stopped on an island off Thailand's western coast Sunday, and the passengers said they were en route to Malaysia.

Rohingya migrants trying to travel south by boat have been rare since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, leaving thousands of migrants abandoned in open waters or jungle camps.

Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh have arrived to find cramped settlements and often squalid conditions in the Cox's Bazar district. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled previous waves of persecution are already living in the district.