Newly re-elected US President Barack Obama has announced that he will visit Burma later this month, as part of a tour of South East Asia, making him the first American President to visit the country.
Obama is set to visit both opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese President Thein Sein, when he visits the country from the 17 to 20 November as part of a trip that will see him visit Thailand and Cambodia.
The visit has provoked some concern from ethnic communities in Burma, with Goon Tawng, a representative of the Kachin group stating,
"This is good for the new government but I'm not sure it is good for minorities and especially the Kachin people,""We recognise there have been some reforms but these are not deep and if you look at the ethnic areas there are still human rights violations and fighting going on".
The director of Burma Campaign UK, Mark Farmaner, also commented that whilst the USA may be looking to "normalise relations" with Burma,
“Burma isn't a normal country, it is not a democracy and still has one of the worst human rights records in the world."
Hillary Clinton became the first US Secretary of State to visit Burma in more than 50 years, when she made a trip to the country in November 2011.
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