Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday threatened Myanmar’s officials with sanctions regarding their crackdown on the Rohingya minority, for the first time referring to their actions as “ethnic cleansing,” Foreign Policy reports.
Tillerson slammed Myanmar’s military and local vigilantes for carrying out “horrendous atrocities” and causing “tremendous suffering” in its campaign in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state where the Rohingya population is concentrated, FP adds.
“After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. Those responsible for these atrocities must be held accountable,” Tillerson stated, calling for an independent investigation into the violence.
Tillerson’s declaration, which comes months after similar qualifications were made from the United Nations, puts fresh attention on the growing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and the region. Nearly 1 million Rohingya have been forced to leave their homes, many fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.
During a visit to Myanmar earlier this month, Tillerson said the violence have “characteristics of crimes against humanity” but stopped short of adding further labels, FP notes. Human rights groups have for months documented horrendous atrocities Myanmar forces carried out against the ethnic minority Rohingya Muslim groups, including gang rape, torture, and murder.
Myanmar had been under broad Western sanctions for nearly thirty years until 2016, when then-President Barack Obama rolled back U.S. economic sanctions after the country formed its first democratically elected civilian government — though the military still retains significant residual power after decades of rule, FP writes.
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