Six female Nobel Peace Prize laureates sent an open letter to US President Barack Obama and his Burmese counterpart Thein Sein on Sunday urging the the two leaders to make a “firm commitment to bring an end to the escalating and systematic violence in [Arakan] State.” The letter, sent on the eve of a historic visit to Burma by Obama, also mentions the ongoing conflict in Kachin State. Regarding the communal violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Arakan State, the letter refers to recent comments by fellow Nobel laureate, who called the situation “a huge international tragedy.”