On November 22, 2017, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson released a statement addressing attacks on the Rohingya population in Burma:
[T]he key test of any democracy is how it treats its most vulnerable and marginalized populations, such as the ethnic Rohingya and other minority populations. Burma's government and security forces must respect the human rights of all persons within its borders, and hold accountable those who fail to do so.
… .
These abuses by some among the Burmese military, security forces, and local vigilantes have caused tremendous suffering and forced hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children to flee their homes in Burma to seek refuge in Bangladesh. After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.Footnote 1
Tillerson's statement came after several months of increasing concern within the Trump administration about attacks on Rohingya Muslims and the corresponding influx of Rohingya refugees into neighboring Bangladesh. It also came a little more than a year after President Obama had rolled back long-standing U.S. sanctions on Burma in response to its tilt toward a more democratic government.
The twenty-year history of previous sanctions can be summarized briefly. In 1997, President Clinton issued Executive Order 13,047, which ordered the imposition of sanctions on Burma partly in response to “large-scale repression of the democratic opposition in Burma.”Footnote 2 These sanctions were further developed by the George W. Bush administration in 2003,Footnote 3 2007,Footnote 4 and 2008.Footnote 5 In July 2012, the Obama administration eased, but did not remove, sanctions on Burma in recognition of the fact that the Burmese government had made “progress towards reform in a number of areas.”Footnote 6 Then on October 7, 2016, Obama signed Executive Order 13,742, which ordered the termination of sanctions on Burma upon finding that:
[T]he situation that gave rise to the declaration of a national emergency in Executive Order 13047 of May 20, 1997, with respect to the actions and policies of the Government of Burma, in particular a deepening pattern of severe repression by the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the then-governing regime in Burma … has been significantly altered by Burma's substantial advances to promote democracy, including historic elections in November 2015 that resulted in the former opposition party, the National League for Democracy, winning a majority of seats in the national parliament and the formation of a democratically elected, civilian-led government; the release of many political prisoners; and greater enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of association and peaceful assembly.Footnote 7
On June 16, 2017, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a final rule terminating sanctions.Footnote 8
In August of 2017, Rohingya militants attacked security forces in the Rakhine State, a region in western Burma, resulting in the deaths of at least twelve members of the security forces and fifty-nine militants.Footnote 9 Shortly thereafter, the U.S. State Department issued a statement condemning the attacks, encouraging all in Burma to continue working toward peace, and noting that:
As government and security forces act to prevent further violence and bring those responsible for the attacks to justice, we expect them to do so in a way that is consistent with the rule of law, protects and respects human rights and fundamental freedoms, demonstrates transparency, and avoids inflaming a tense situation.Footnote 10
Instead, the Burmese military and police forces responded with attacks against the Rohingya population, allegedly killing thousands and forcing hundreds of thousands more to flee to Bangladesh.Footnote 11 Commissions established by the civilian Burmese government, which is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, have been slow to attribute the attacks to Burmese security forces, and an internal investigation by the Burmese military disputed the allegations of abuse.Footnote 12 The Burmese government has refused entry to the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar and “is not cooperating with the Human Rights Council independent international fact-finding mission.”Footnote 13
In early September, the U.S. State Department issued a statement expressing concern over the growing number of Rohingya refugees,Footnote 14 and a bipartisan group of senators introduced a joint resolution condemning the violence and urging the Burmese government to address the humanitarian crisis and improve its treatment of the Rohingya.Footnote 15 In October, the State Department announced it was actively exploring targeted sanctions unless the Burmese government and military were to
take immediate action to ensure peace and security; implement commitments to ensure humanitarian access to communities in desperate need; facilitate the safe and voluntary return of those who have fled or been displaced in Rakhine State; and address the root causes of systematic discrimination against the Rohingya by implementing the Rakhine Advisory Commission's recommendations, which includes providing a credible path to citizenship.Footnote 16
In the same press release, the State Department stated that it had already found “all units and officers in operation in northern Rakhine State to be ineligible to receive or participate in any U.S. assistance programs,” and that it had “rescinded invitations for senior Burmese security forces to attend U.S.-sponsored events.”Footnote 17
One month after Tillerson's November 22 designation of the attacks as ethnic cleansing,Footnote 18 the Trump administration placed sanctions on Maung Maung Soe, the former chief of the Burmese Army's Western command who oversaw the military operations in the Rakhine State.Footnote 19 According to the Treasury Department:
The United States Government examined credible evidence of Maung Maung Soe's activities, including allegations against Burmese security forces of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and arbitrary arrest as well as the widespread burning of villages. Security operations have led to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing across Burma's border with Bangladesh. In August 2017, witnesses reportedly described mass killings and arson attacks by the Burmese Army and Burmese Border Guard Police, both then under Maung Maung Soe's command in northern Rakhine State. In August 2017, soldiers described as being from the Western Command allegedly entered a village and reportedly separated the inhabitants by gender. According to witnesses, soldiers opened fire on the men and older boys and committed multiple acts of rape. Many of the women and younger children were reportedly also shot. Other witnesses described soldiers setting huts on fire with villagers inside.Footnote 20
In January 2018, the State Department re-designated Burma as a “Country of Particular Concern”—countries whose governments “have engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom”—under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.Footnote 21
In February of 2018, the United States addressed the attacks on the Rohingya population at a UN Security Council briefing on Burma. Speaking at the briefing, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley noted that “powerful forces in the Burmese government have denied the ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State.”Footnote 22 She called on the “Burmese government to allow a UN fact-finding mission and the Special Rapporteur into the country,” and further for the “immediate and unconditional release” of two Reuters reporters who had documented the massacre of ten Rohingya men and boys.Footnote 23 Haley also called on the secretary-general to “quickly appoint a Special Envoy for Burma” and criticized the Security Council more broadly for thus far “fail[ing] in its responsibility to act in response to the clear threat to international peace and security that has resulted from recent events in northern Rakhine State.”Footnote 24
