Oct. 24 (UPI) — The Trump administration is considering sanctions against Myanmar as a response to the continuing Rohingya crisis, the U.S. State Department said.
The department said it was considering “economic options” to target those responsible for the atrocities against the Muslim Rohingya. Just last year, the United States government lifted unrelated decades-long sanctions against Myanmar.
State Department officials also said they are exploring “accountability mechanisms available under U.S. law” related to human rights penalties — including those available under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the United States to freeze assets and impose visa bans on Myanmar authorities or security officials.
The department’s statement said it has already “rescinded invitations for senior Burmese security forces to attend U.S.-sponsored events.”
“We express our gravest concern with recent events in Rakhine State and the violent, traumatic abuses Rohingya and other communities have endured,” the statement said.
“It is imperative that any individuals or entities responsible for atrocities, including non-state actors and vigilantes, be held accountable.”
Rohingya Muslims, based in Myanmar’s Rakhine province, have suffered widespread violence in recent months, prompting nearly 500,000 to flee into neighboring Bangladesh. The United Nations has said the atrocities amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Myanmar, a former-pariah state that only recently has been reintegrated into the global economy, could suffer enormously under new U.S. sanctions.
“We will continue to support Burma’s transition to democracy, as well as efforts to resolve the current crisis in Rakhine State,” the State Department said, “We are ready to support these efforts.”
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