The UNrapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said there was a "deplorable" situation in camps for the internally displaced in Rakhine, where deadly clashes two years ago have left about 140,000 people homeless, most of them stateless Rohingya Muslims.

Speaking at the end of her first visit to Myanmar as human rights envoy, Ms Lee warned that the government's plan "for long-term peaceful coexistence may likely result in a permanent segregation of the two communities".

"As an immediate priority, more must be done to reduce tensions and hostility and promote reconciliation between the two communities," she added.

Ms Lee welcomed last week’s move by the authorities to invite Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to resume its work in Rakhine, where it had provided healthcare to more than half a million people.

But she underscored that security for personnel was a priority if the group was to return.

Rakhine is gripped by a severe health crisis nearly five months after the medical aid group was forced to leave Rakhine by the government after it was accused by Buddhist groups of giving preferential treatment to Muslims.

It is as yet unclear in what capacity MSF, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 and has operated in Myanmar for 22 years, would be able to resume its operations the state.

Violence between Buddhists and Muslims erupted in Rakhine in 2012, leaving about 200 people dead and tens of thousands living in IDP camps.
 
The state has since been almost completely divided on religious grounds, with Muslim communities trapped in the camps or isolated communities and subject to restrictions limiting their movement and access to basic services and employment.

Myanmar's government has long considered the Rohingya to be foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and view them with hostility.

Ms Lee said that during her visit to Rakhine she listened to the views of both the Buddhist and Muslim communities to better understand their different perspectives and grievances.

“I recognize that Rakhine State is one of the poorest in Myanmar and for many years has suffered from neglect and underdevelopment,” she said.

Ms Lee said her visit to Ohn Yay Paw village had provided a glimpse of the living conditions in some Rakhine Buddhist communities, “with no toilets, no electricity and with a minimum of basic services”.

The UN envoy also travelled to Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, where religious unrest early this month left two people dead.

She warned of a "growing polarisation between Muslim and Buddhist communities" in the country.

"In this regard, I am concerned by the spread of hate speech and incitement to violence, discrimination and hostility in the media and on the internet, which have fuelled and triggered further violence," she said.

The envoy, who held talks with government ministers and officials in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and also met opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during her visit, called for new measures to combat incitement.