US House of Representatives calls for Burma sanctions

The US House of Representatives has passed a resolution (423-3) condemning the ‘ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya’ and calling for an end to attacks against the Muslim minority in Myanmar.

The vote on 6 December paves the way for possible sanctions against Myanmar.

‘This is a moral issue and a national security issue,’ said House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce in the debate. ‘No one is secure when extremism and instability is growing in this part of the world.’
More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine state into Bangladesh in recent months, following aggression from the Myanmar military, which has created a humanitarian crisis.

‘This resolution calls on Burmese authorities to work with the international community to resolve the crisis while also calling on Secretary Tillerson to impose sanctions on those responsible for human rights abuses,’ said Republican Steve Chabot of Ohio, who is co-sponsor of the resolution, together with Democrat Joe Crowley of New York.

A bipartisan sanctions bill, spearheaded by the Republican Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John McCain and Ben Cardin, lead Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, has already been introduced into the Senate, on 2 November.

The proposed sanctions would withdraw US financial assistance from the Myanmar military, impose travel bans on Myanmar military officials and re-impose a ban on jade and rubies from Myanmar.