YANGON (AFP) – The new UN human rights envoy for Myanmar on Tuesday toured remote parts of the Irrawaddy Delta still reeling from a killer cyclone that struck the country three months ago, a senior official said.

UN special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana, who took up his post in May, travelled to the town of Labutta, which was among the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Nargis, a senior Myanmar official told AFP.

The United Nations says 2.4 million people are struggling to rebuild their lives and are in need of aid after the storm, which left more than 138,000 dead or missing.

Quintana visited Labutta, where many aid agencies have set up their relief operations, and toured surrounding villages, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

After returning to Yangon, Quintana went to the notorious Insein Prison north of the city, where many of Myanmar’s estimated 2,000 political prisoners are believed to be held.

Witnesses reported seeing Quintana inside the prison, where he was expected to meet with some of the detainees.

The envoy, who arrived Sunday in Yangon, held talks on Monday with government officials, disaster relief experts and senior Buddhist monks, UN spokesman Aye Win said.

During his five-day mission, he plans to meet with senior officials, ethnic groups and political parties, and will try to open talks with the generals on improving their human rights record.

Quintana’s predecessor, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, was harshly critical of the ruling junta’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests led by monks last September.

Pinheiro said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in November that at least 31 people were killed and 74 remained missing after the crackdown.

He also said about 1,850 political prisoners were behind bars, and the government had “accelerated” unlawful arrests.

Quintana is expected to push the regime to address international concerns that the junta employs forced labour, suppresses the democracy movement, persecutes ethnic minorities and imprisons dissidents.