Two Kachin pastors who went missing last month and were feared dead are alive and in Burmese Army custody, according to the Office of the Defence Services’ Commander-in-Chief.

According to the Burmese military chief’s office, the base in Mansi had been a major hub for smuggling timber and cattle to “a neighbouring country”.

Human rights organisations have called on the government to investigate the disappearance of two Kachin pastors in northern Shan State.

Yanghee Lee is on a 12-day fact-finding visit to Burma to assess developments within various human rights situations across the country.

A recent offensive by the Burmese military in Kachin State, seizing the Kachin Independence Army’s Gidon mountain outpost, has exacerbated the dire conditions for displaced people living in the area as northern Burma enters its coldest stretch of the year.

“Arakanese people would never join such a demonstration. It is damaging to ethnic unity and we denounce it," said a senior monk.