Around 200 Burmese police officers were trained by European Union (EU) police officers in effective crowd control in Rangoon on Thursday.

The project was part of an EU initiative to help improve the standards of the Burmese Police Force and focused on human rights.

The training included an introduction to human rights in policing, an understanding of crowd dynamics and techniques to prevent the escalation of violence.

European ambassador to Burma, Roland Kobia said that human rights should be the focus of police.

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“We have tried to work in very good collaboration to give the overall rational of their work which should be the protection of human rights, the protection of fundamental freedoms of the citizens of this country,” said Mr Kobia.

The programme is aimed to train at least 4,000 police officers nationwide and is scheduled to continue until March 2015.

“If we continue this course, we could soon create a modern and more reliable Burmese police force,” said Police Brig-Gen. Thura Bo No.

With continued outbreaks of violence across the country and allegations police have failed to intervene in, and potentially exacerbated several incidents, many consider a well-mentored Burmese police force to be urgently needed.