Myanmar pardons three imprisoned aid workers

YANGON: Myanmar has granted a presidential pardon to three local aid workers imprisoned for participating in recent sectarian unrest in western Rakhine state, the government announced yesterday.

The trio, employed by the UN Refugee Agency, an affiliated non-governmental organisation and the World Food Programme, were sentenced to between two and six years in jail on Friday on charges including arson and inciting violence.

A statement from the presidential office said the pardon was with “the loving kindness and generosity of the state”.

Five other UN workers detained over their alleged roles in the violence were freed in mid-August without charge, following an appeal from the United Nations for their release.

Fighting between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state has left almost 90 people from both sides dead since June, according to an official estimate, although rights groups fear the real toll is much higher.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on Rohingya Muslims during the violence, prompting concern across the Islamic world over the treatment of the stateless group.

Speaking a dialect similar to one in neighbouring Bangladesh, the Rohingya are seen by the Myanmar government and many Burmese as illegal immigrants.