International Desk: The UN's rights envoy for Myanmar reached in troubled Rakhine state on Friday for a trip north to investigate the allegations of horrific abuse of Rohingya Muslims by security forces.
Special rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee touched down in the state capital Sittwe as part of a 12-day visit to probe escalating violence in Myanmar's restive ethnic border areas.
Lee has faced some threats and been branded a "whore" by Buddhist hardliners on previous visits for her criticism of how Myanmar treats the Rohingya, a stateless group that has suffered years of poverty and repression.
Over the past three months they have been targeted by a military crackdown in northern Rakhine that the UN said has forced at least 65,000 to flee across the border to Bangladesh.
Shortly after arriving in Sittwe Lee met with senior local officials from Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy party and the military, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.