Mrauk-U’s final UNESCO heritage proposal to be submitted in early 2022

By DMG 07 May 2021

DMG Newsroom
7 May 2021, Mrauk-U

A final proposal intended to put Mrauk-U on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites is set to be submitted in January of next year, according to the junta-led Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture. 

The director-general of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum, U Than Zaw Oo, told DMG that the department would finalise its review of the bid between May and December.  

Myanmar submitted a draft nomination to the United Nations cultural agency in September 2019 and was set to submit a final proposal in January 2020, but it was delayed at the time by instability in the region, as well as the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We submitted the draft in 2019. And we will have to make our preparations more comprehensive so that we can submit the final proposal in January of next year. Experts are expected to make field visits in June,” said U Than Zaw Oo. 

Director U Soe Soe Lin of the Mrauk-U branch of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum has called for the cooperation of other departments and locals in the process.  

“First, there must be regional stability. If authorities, locals and concerned organisations cooperate, we will feel more encouraged. Only when the nomination succeeds, the tourism industry and economy of Mrauk-U will thrive, and the town will be known better by the international community,” said U Soe Soe Lin. 

The draft proposal to put Mrauk-U on UNESCO’s World Heritage list was initially submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Center in Paris on September 25, 2019. 

But regional instability and the construction of roads and buildings without consultation with the Department of Archaeology and National Museum has had serious impacts on the town’s heritage buildings, said U Than Myint of the Mrauk-U Heritage Trust. 

“First of all, there must be regional stability, with a stable administrative mechanism in place. And the Archaeology Department must be heeded. However, even other departments are not listening to the Archaeology Department now,” said U Than Myint, who is vice chairman of the Trust. 

“It is not that Mrauk-U is managed by the Archaeology Department alone. There are some 30 departments, and they propose projects in the town. Those projects include road and building construction. When there are residential wards in a heritage zone, every project must be done in consultation with the Archaeology Department, otherwise it will negatively affect heritage buildings,” he added. 

Some ancient pagodas and temples were damaged in fighting between Myanmar’s military and the AA in Mrauk-U Township over the previous two-plus years.