United Nations human rights envoy for Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana arrived in Yangon Sunday to assess whether the new government has made progress over the previous pariah regime. Quintana arrived at Yangon International Airport and proceeded by car to Naypyitaw, the capital since 2004, UN officials confirmed.
The UN envoy was recently granted a visa after being denied entry to the country since March, 2010, when he angered the then-ruling junta by urging a UN inquiry into Myanmar's human rights record.
Myanmar is now under the rule of a pro-military government that came to power after the November 7 elections, led by President Thein Sein, a former army general.
Quintana's visit comes at a time of raised expectations that the government is seeking to reconcile with the main opposition movement, led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and other opponents to military dominance over Myanmar's politics.
In an unprecedented move, Suu Kyi was invited to Naypyitaw on Friday when she held private talks with Thein Sein. On Saturday, she attended a government workshop on economic development and met with senior ministers before returning to Yangon.
The opposition leader said she was "very satisfied" with the meetings, which her National League for Democracy described as "a good sign."
In Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton described the Suu Kyi-Thein Sein meeting as "a positive step" towards reconciliation.
Myanmar has been the target of economic sanctions by Western democracies since 1988, when an army crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that left an estimated 3,000 dead.
Although the current government is an elected one, it is packed with former military men.
The UN and Western nations have demanded clear signs that the new regime is committed to change, such as opening a dialogue with the opposition and ethnic minority groups that have been the target of military offensives.
Human rights groups have also demanded the government should release some 2,100 political prisoners from Myanmar jails.
Earlier this year, Quintana accused the government of continuing to commit human rights abuses including land confiscation, forced labour, internal displacement, extrajudicial killings and sexual violence.
After his meetings in Naypyitaw, Quintana will return to Yangon on Tuesday or Wednesday, when he is scheduled to meet with Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest. She was last released for detention on November 13.
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