US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Mynmar’s army chief Thursday to help end the violence in Rakhine state that has forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee. AdvertisementsIn a phone call with Min Aung Hlaing, Tillerson expressed “concern about the continuing humanitarian crisis and reported atrocities in Rakhine”, according to a statement by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Militant attacks on Myanmar security forces in Rakhine sparked a major army crackdown on the group, who are labelled illegal Bengali immigrants by most Burmese. The move came after Tillerson had said the US holds Myanmar’s military leadership “accountable” for the refugee crisis, drawing a distinction with Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government. In the latest crackdown, Myanmar’s security forces have fired indiscriminately on unarmed civilians, including children, and committed widespread sexual violence, according to UN investigators.

Source: Manila Times October 27, 2017 03:33 UTC