Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed an agreement for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled to the neighbouring country to escape a Myanmar army crackdown.
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Myanmar has signed sign an accord over terms for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh.
Rights groups have accused the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar of carrying out mass rape and other atrocities during a counter-insurgency operation launched in late August in retaliation for attacks by Rohingya militants in Rakhine State.
On Wednesday, the United States said the military operation that drove 620,000 Rohingya to seek sanctuary in neighboring, largely Muslim Bangladesh, amounted to “ethnic cleansing”, echoing an accusation first leveled by top U.N. officials in the early days of the humanitarian crisis.
In a further warning to Myanmar’s military, the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised the threat of targeted sanctions against those responsible for what he called “horrendous atrocities”.
(with Reuters)