Tillerson says Myanmar violence must stop, supports Suu Kyi

LONDON» U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has delivered the toughest condemnation yet from a Trump administration official of the persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, likening the violence against them to ethnic cleansing and demanding it stop.

On Thursday, Tillerson directed the blame toward Myanmar’s powerful military, which is responsible for security operations that have seen nearly 400,000 people flee to neighboring Bangladesh in the past three weeks after Rohingya insurgents launched coordinated attacks on government forces. He reiterated support for civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is facing growing pressure to speak out over the military’s conduct.

Tillerson said the U.S. appreciated the “difficult and complex situation” Suu Kyi finds herself in, sharing political power with the military, but he also described the “horrors” occurring in the Southeast Asian nation as a “defining moment” for its new democracy.

“This violence must stop, this persecution must stop. It has been characterized by many as ethnic cleansing. That must stop,” Tillerson told a news conference in London after talks with Britain and France. “We need to support Aung San Suu Kyi and her leadership but also be very clear to the military that are powersharing in that government that this is unacceptable.”

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was more strident in criticizing Suu Kyi. He said the suffering of the Rohingya people was an “abomination,” and that Suu Kyi must use her authority to halt the violence against them. Johnson said “it is now vital for her to use that moral capital, that moral authority to make the point about the suffering” of the Rohingya.

Britain was the former colonial ruler of the country also known as Burma. It came under military rule little more than a decade after independence in 1948. The United States under President Barack Obama was instrumental in coaxing the generals to give up direct rule five decades later and allow a civilian government. After 2015 elections won by her party, Suu Kyi became its de facto leader.