The chief minister of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, which has been embroiled in sectarian violence, has retired, and the country’s religious affairs minister has been fired.
An announcement signed by Burmese President Thein Sein gave no explanation for Hla Maung Tin’s retirement or for the sacking of Hsan Sint.
Several official sources said Hsan Sint is facing an investigation on corruption charges. His removal coincides with the arrest of five Buddhist monks last week after a well-known Buddhist monastery was raided in a late-night operation. The sources would not give their names as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Thein Sein has pledged to create a clean government since he assumed power in 2011 and has seen a series of Cabinet reshuffles, though no reasons have been given.
The announcement published in local newspapers yesterday said that Hla Maung Tin was permitted to retire, which is a common euphemism for a firing. Saying someone has been fired implies a more serious legal matter.
The Cabinet moves came after the education minister was permitted to retire two days ago.
Rakhine has been caught up in sectarian violence since the middle of 2012, which has challenged the Burmese government and brought international criticism.
Earlier this week, a top UN humanitarian official said she witnessed “appalling conditions” and the worst human suffering she has ever seen in camps for stateless Rohingya Muslims in the state.
Burmese Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung-wha Kang told reporters in New York that because of severe restrictions on their freedom of movement in camps and isolated villages, many Muslims cannot rebuild their lives and have “wholly inadequate access to basic services like health, education, water and sanitation.”
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million, which only recently emerged from a half-century of military rule, considers the Rohingya Muslims to be immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship and related rights, even though many were born to families who arrived in the country generations ago.
Almost all of the 1.3 million Rohingya live in Rakhine, where sectarian violence in the past two years has killed about 280 people and forced another 140,000 to flee their homes. Most of the victims have been Rohingyas chased down by Buddhist mobs. As a result, most Rohingya are now living in hot, dirty camps for internally displaced people.
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