Representatives of UN agencies will be permitted to visit Rakhine state in Myanmar on Thursday for the first time since the start of a massive exodus of minority Rohingya Muslims.

"There will be a trip organized by the government, probably tomorrow, to Rakhine," United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"We hope above all that it is a first step toward much freer and wider access to the area," he said at his daily news briefing.

source: AFP