Tillerson to warn Myanmar over Rohingya crisis

In the face of atrocities against Rohingya people in Myanmar, the United States has been slowly stepping up pressure on that country’s army.

As America takes a more active role in the region – several US delegations have visited in recent weeks – secretary of state Rex Tillerson plans to travel to Myanmar tomorrow to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation’s leader, as well as army chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

Mr Tillerson is expected to adopt a firm tone with military leaders, whom he has deemed responsible for the crisis facing the Rohingya, a Muslim minority of which 600,000 have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in two and a half months.

In the name of putting down a Rohingya rebellion, the army has since August waged a campaign in Rakhine state, burning villages and forcing thousands to flee.

The United Nations has denounced the campaign, which has led to allegations of killings and mass rape, as ethnic cleansing.

Recently returned from Myanmar and the overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, Simon Henshaw, the US state department official responsible for refugee and migration issues, said: “The scale of the crisis is immense. People are suffering.”

Several members of the US congress are calling for sanctions that will limit military co-operation with Myanmar and ban its army members from US soil.