Myanmar has set up a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in the Rakhine state, Reuters reported on Monday. Filipino diplomat Rosario Manalo will head the four-member panel.

“The independent commission will investigate the allegations of human rights violations and related issues, following the terrorist attacks by ARSA [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army],” the office of President Win Myint said on Monday.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army is an armed Rohingya group, whose alleged attacks led to a military crackdown in Rakhine state in August 2017. Lakhs of Rohingya Muslim residents fled the country to neighbouring Bangladesh amid the crackdown. The United Nations and the United States have called it “ethnic cleansing”, and de factor leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced widespread criticism for not doing enough to stop the persecution.

The panel will have two local members – lawyer Mya Thein and economist Aung Tun Thet. Aung Tun Thet is a former United Nations official, and was last year appointed by Suu Kyi to a key role in Myanmar’s response to the Rakhine crisis. The commission also has Japan’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Kenzo Oshima.

The panel is “part of [Myanmar’s] national initiative to address reconciliation, peace, stability and development in Rakhine”, the government said.