EU News Digest Latest News & Updates
TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images
Rohingya Muslim refugees await relief aid at Nayapara refugee camp in Teknaf on October 21, 2017. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims stranded near Bangladesh’s border after fleeing violence in Myanmar were finally permitted to enter refugee camps after ‘strict screening’, officials said.
The world’s largest economy is also consulting with allies on accountability options, the statement continued.
The notice comes a week after more than 40 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives called for action against Myanmar’s military leaders. Despite the nation’s return to civilian rule in 2015 and the installation of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as defacto leader, the army still commands great control over governmental affairs.
Rohingya Muslims, based in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine province, have suffered horrific violence in recent months in the Buddhist-majority country. The assailants, reports say, have included security forces and non-state actors. The ongoing brutality has been deemed ethnic cleansing by the United Nations and has sent nearly one million Rohingya Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh in what has become one of Asia’s most serious refugee plights.
A re-imposition of U.S. sanctions could drastically hurt the country’s economic transformation. The former pariah state marked a milestone last year when it was officially declared sanction-free, a move that facilitated integration into the global economy as well as fresh investment.
Washington first began easing sanctions on the former military dictatorship in 2012 and removed tight rules against several state-owned enterprises early in 2016 before lifting every penalty in Oct. 2016. As a result, Myanmar has become one of the world’s hottest frontier markets, and is now home to several multinationals including Nestle, Coca Cola, and Visa.
