US weighs new Myanmar curbs as Rohingya crisis aggravates

Bloomberg

The US is considering new sanctions on Myanmar after nearly a million Rohingya Muslims fled the Southeast Asian nation’s Rakhine state to neighbouring Bangladesh.
In a statement, US State Department spokeswoman Heat-her Nauert said that since August 25, the US had ceased cons-ideration of JADE Act travel waivers for current and former Myanmar 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 entit-
ies responsible for atrocities, including non-state actors and vigilantes, be held accountable.”
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 current Myanmar leader 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 Myanmar 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Furthermore, all invitations for senior Myanmar security forces to attend US-sponsored events had been rescinded, she said.
CONSULTING ALLIES
The US was currently consulting with allies and partners on accountability options at the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council, and other appropriate venues, and was also exploring “accountability mech-anisms available under US law, including Global Magnitsky tar-geted sanctions,” Nauert said.
Last week, the European Union suspended invitations to senior military officers from Myanmar and said it will review all practical defense cooperation, adding that more steps may be considered if the situation in Rakhine fails to improve. Imposing new sanctions on Myanmar would be unfair, U Nyan Win, a spokesman for the ruling National League for Democracy party, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “Our chairman, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has already promised to find out why people fled to Banglad-
esh and invited international communities to find out why people fled,” U Nyan Win said.
The US government began a program of s anctions against Myanmar in May 1997 when the country was run by a military junta. Following a transition toward democracy, President Barack Obama ended the program in 2016.
The European Union lifted sanctions against Myanmar in 2013, with the exception of an arms embargo.