Raj Abrar: In the first anniversary of the military crackdown that led to the exodus of almost 700,000 Rohingya refugees, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday that US will continue to hold accountable those responsible for what he described as the “abhorrent ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
“A year ago, following deadly militant attacks, security forces responded by launching abhorrent ethnic cleansing of ethnic #Rohingya in Burma,” Pompeo said on Twitter, using an alternative name for Myanmar.
“The US will continue to hold those responsible accountable. The military must respect human rights for #Burma’s democracy to succeed.”
The government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has denied refugees’ allegations of atrocities, saying security forces lawfully suppressed Muslim militants in Rakhine.
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh held demonstrations and prayers on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.
Thousands of refugees marched prayed and chanted slogans in events across the sprawling camps in southern Bangladesh. Many wore black ribbons to commemorate what they said was the start of the “Rohingya genocide”.
Earlier this month, the United States imposed sanctions on four Myanmar military and police commanders and two army units, accusing them of “ethnic cleansing” against Rohingya Muslims and widespread human rights abuses across the Southeast Asian nation.
International pressure on Myanmar has been growing as investigators are set to publish a report on the crisis today and the United Nations Security Council will hold a briefing on Myanmar on Tuesday.
-Source: Reuters