MYANMAR FORCES OUT TOP GENERAL IN ROHINGYA CLAMPDOWN
▶ Maj Gen Maung Maung Soe was ‘purged’ for poor performance in the Rakhine State crisis, military says
Myanmar’s military said it had it sacked a senior general who was named in new European Union sanctions against security officials accused of killings, sexual violence and other offences in the Rohingya crisis.
The country is accused of a clampdown in Rakhine State that forced 700,000 to flee. The United Nations and major western powers have said the military’s action amounted to “ethnic cleansing”.
Myanmar’s leaders have been criticised for taking few punitive measures against the military, which has claimed that its troops were responding to attacks by Rohingya militants.
These breaches include unlawful killings, sexual violence and the burning of Rohingya houses and buildings EUROPEAN UNION Statement from trade bloc
But the military said on Monday in a Facebook post that Maj Gen Maung Maung Soe, the former head of the western command in Rakhine, had been “purged” for poor performance.
The announcement came after the EU said he was one of seven security officials who had been banned from travelling and have had their assets frozen. But Myanmar did not link his sacking to the sanctions.
The Facebook post said Maung Maung Soe was reassigned last November, and that his removal from his position in the western command was to “inspect his responsibility over his weakness while working for Rakhine state stability”.
Maung Maung Soe was also the target of United States sanctions last year over the Rohingya crisis.
The statement said that Lt Gen Aung Kyaw Zaw – commander of the bureau of special operations and also on the EU list – was permitted to resign in May for health reasons and “weakness in serving duty”.
On Monday, Canada said it would also impose sanctions against the same seven named by the EU.
The trade bloc said the seven were targeted because of their “involvement in, or association with, atrocities and serious human rights violations committed against the Rohingya population in Rakhine state in the second half of 2017”.
“These breaches include unlawful killings, sexual violence and the systematic burning of Rohingya houses and buildings.”
Most Rohingya refugees have settled in squalid camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, and have said they are too afraid to return to Myanmar, although both countries have signed a repatriation deal. Many refugees have said they would not return without a basic guarantee of protection.
The UN this month signed a deal with Myanmar to allow its agencies to assess conditions in Rakhine, which the UN said was not yet ready for a safe and voluntary return.
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced global criticism for not standing up more for the Rohingya, although her supporters have said she has little control over army actions.