Boycott business with Myanmar’s army: UN

A UN fact-finding mission urged on Tuesday that countries cut off all business with Myanmar’s military as part of efforts to hold the army accountable for human rights abuses.

Investigators working under a mandate from the UN Human Rights Council said there has been no progress toward resolving the crisis over Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, more than a million of whom have fled military operations in Rakhine.

“The situation is at a total standstill,” said Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN mission on Myanmar. Authorities have razed Rohingya villages and members of the minority remaining in the country live in displacement camps.

“Due to the gravity of the past and continuing violations, attention must be given to the political, economic and financial ties of the Myanmar military - to identify who and what should be targeted so we can cut off the money supply as a means of increasing the pressure and reducing the violence,” Christopher Sidoti, a member of the mission, said.