UNESCO experts yet to make anticipated Mrauk-U field visit

By Admin 04 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
4 August 2023, Mrauk-U
 
Experts from UNESCO have yet to travel to Mrauk-U though they were expected to make a field visit to the ancient Arakanese city last month, according to the Department of Archaeology and National Museum.
 
A final proposal seeking to designate Mrauk-U as a UNESCO World Heritage Site was submitted by the junta government in December 2021, following a series of delays.
 
Experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) were expected to arrive for a Mrauk-U field visit last month.
 
“Experts are yet to make the field visit. I don’t know the reason,” said U Nyo Myint Tun, deputy director of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum. “It is not clear if it is because of the current political situation.”
 
The ICOMOS, which is one of the formal advisory bodies to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, will compare the proposal with the situation on the ground. The ICOMOS will thereafter provide the World Heritage Committee with input to determine whether the ancient city should be inscribed on the World Heritage List.
 
The Mrauk-U branch of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum has readied the site for inspection by UNESCO experts, said department official U Maung Hsan Win.
 
“When the World Heritage Centre proposes to make a field survey, we must be ready. So, we are doing our [conservation] task as normal,” said U Maung Hsan Win.
 
Efforts were initiated in 2017 to nominate Mrauk-U for eventual recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 
“We will face challenges to conserve Mrauk-U if the bid fails,” said a local woman involved in heritage preservation efforts in Mrauk-U.
 
Mrauk-U was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Arakan State and the western part of central Myanmar.
 
Some of Mrauk-U’s temples were damaged in fighting in 2019 between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA).