Myanmar sanctions ‘not advisable’: US

NAYPYIDAW: Washington’s top diplomat yesterday said he would not yet push for sanctions against Myanmar over the Rohingya refugee crisis, but he called for an independent investigation into “credible” allegations that soldiers were committing atrocities against the Muslim minority.

Secretary of state Rex Tillerson was speaking after a one-day stop in Naypyidaw, where he had meetings with the army chief and de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tillerson said that broad economic sanctions is “not something that I’d think would be advisable at this time”.

“We want to see Myanmar succeed,” he said at a joint press briefing with Suu Kyi.

“You can’t just impose sanctions and say therefore the crisis is over.”

But he said Washington was “deeply concerned by credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by Myanmar’s security forces and vigilantes” and urged Myanmar to accept an independent investigation into those allegations.

Myanmar has refused to grant entry to UN investigators probing those allegations.

But the US is careful to draw a distinction between Suu Kyi’s civilian administration and the military, who controls all security policy.

While she lacks power over the army, Suu Kyi has become a punching bag for rights groups disappointed by her failure to publicly criticise the military or defend the Rohingya. She addressed those criticisms yesterday. “I have not been silent ... what people mean is what I say is not interesting enough.

“What I say is not meant to be exciting, it’s meant to be accurate ... not set people against each other.” – AFP