07/18/2019 Myanmar (International Christian Concern) – On July 16, the State Department said that Burmese army chief Min Aung Hlaing, along with three other top officers and their families, would be banned from visiting the United States for their role in orchestrating a crackdown against Rohingya Muslims, driving more than 740,000 members of the minority group into Bangladesh.
Despite being the strongest measure taken so far from a Western power since the army launched its offensive against the stateless minority in August 2017, the United Nations Special Rapporteur to Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said today the US move “does not go far enough, it should go further.”
She proposed that Washington should seize their assets, and those of their families, and extending the sanctions to cover other senior commanders, since these military officials are unlikely to visit the U.S. anyway.
Rohingya activist Wai Wai Nu also told reporters at the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom event, “Many of us in Burma welcome this decision of the State Department. However, we think this is a first step and we are hoping to see more concrete and efficient steps in the future.”
The Burmese military has not only targeted Rohingya Muslims in the past, other religious minorities, including Christian-majority Kachin and Chin ethnic groups, have fallen victims to their brutal oppression and attacks.
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