Serious human rights abuses are continuing in Burma despite progress towards democracy under the reform-minded government, the UN says.

Following a five-day visit to the country, senior UN official Tomas Ojea Quintana said the Burmese military was still using arbitrary arrests and torture in its conflict with Kachin rebels.

He also highlighted the continuing ethnic violence in Rakhine state, where tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims are still in refugee camps eight months after fighting with Buddhist rivals ended.

Jonathan Head reports from Bangkok.