The US is considering new sanctions on Myanmar as nearly 1 million Rohingya Muslims have fled the Southeast Asian nation’s Rakhine State to neighboring Bangladesh.
In a statement issued on Monday, US Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that since Aug. 25, the US had ceased consideration of JADE Act travel waivers for current and former Burmese military leaders, and was assessing further economic options available to target individuals associated with any atrocities.
“We express our gravest concern with recent events in Rakhine State and the violent, traumatic abuses Rohingya and other communities have endured,” Nauert said. “It is imperative that any individuals or entities responsible for atrocities, including non-state actors and vigilantes, be held accountable.”
Photo:: Reuters
The statement is one of the first signs that the US would reimpose sanctions on Myanmar that were lifted after it shifted toward democracy.
Former political prisoner and Burmese State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi has described the military operations in Rakhine as a counterterrorism operation, and has said she condemns any unlawful violence.
Nauert said all Burmese military units and officers involved in operations in northern Rakhine State would also be ineligible to receive or participate in any US assistance programs.
Furthermore, all invitations for senior Burmese security forces to attend US-sponsored events had been rescinded, she said.
The US was consulting with allies and partners on accountability options at the UN, the UN Human Rights Council, and other appropriate venues, and was also exploring “accountability mechanisms available under US law, including Global Magnitsky targeted sanctions,” Nauert said.
Last week, the EU suspended invitations to senior Burmese military officers and said it would review all practical defense cooperation, adding that more steps might be considered if the situation in Rakhine fails to improve.
Imposing new sanctions on Myanmar would be unfair, National League for Democracy party spokesman U Nyan Win said in a telephone interview yesterday.
“Our chairman, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has already promised to find out why people fled to Bangladesh and invited international communities to find out why people fled,” U Nyan Win said.
The US government began a program of sanctions against Myanmar in May 1997 when the country was run by a military junta.
Following a transition toward democracy, then-US president Barack Obama ended the program last year.
The EU lifted sanctions against Myanmar in 2013, with the exception of an arms embargo.
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