[The Security Council did condemn the violence last week, its first such unified statement on Myanmar in nine years. But China blocked an effort by Egypt to add language calling for Rohingya refugees to be guaranteed the right to return to Myanmar from Bangladesh, Agence France-Presse reported. The government of Myanmar, a majority-Buddhist country, does not recognize the Rohingya, most of whom are Muslim, as citizens.]
By Austin Ramzy
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Bangladeshi boatmen
ferrying Rohingya refugees this month across the Naf River,
which separates Myanmar
and Bangladesh. Credit Adam Dean
for The New York Times
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HONG KONG — Despite international condemnation of Myanmar’s campaign of
violence against the Rohingya people, there have been few calls for a return to
the sort of sanctions that were long a feature of the country’s relationship
with the West.
After a Rohingya militant
group attacked police outposts last month, Myanmar’s military, along with
vigilante groups, launched a crackdown in the western state of Rakhine,
triggering a refugee crisis that has sent more than 400,000 Rohingya fleeing to
neighboring Bangladesh.
On Monday, Boris Johnson,
Britain’s foreign secretary, is scheduled to lead a discussion of the Rohingya
crisis among foreign ministers attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto head of Myanmar’s government, last week
decided not to attend the General Assembly, where she would likely face a flood
of criticism.
But despite the expected
criticism, analysts say the United Nations is unlikely to act against Myanmar.
Myanmar’s government has said it was working with Russia and China to block any
efforts to punish it over the crackdown in Rakhine State.
The Security Council did
condemn the violence last week, its first such unified statement on Myanmar in
nine years. But China blocked an effort by Egypt to add language calling for
Rohingya refugees to be guaranteed the right to return to Myanmar from
Bangladesh, Agence France-Presse reported. The government of Myanmar, a
majority-Buddhist country, does not recognize the Rohingya, most of whom are
Muslim, as citizens.
With regional powers
vying to gain influence in Myanmar, China’s government sees potential benefit
in backing Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for
Democracy, while she faces international criticism, said Yun Sun, a scholar at
the Stimson Center in Washington.
“This is basically an
opportunity for China and a vulnerability of Aung San Suu Kyi,” she said. “The
Chinese government says the Rohingya issue doesn’t affect us and by supporting
Aung San Suu Kyi we don’t lose anything.”
“Instead we gain the
potential friendship” of the government, Ms. Sun said.
The state-run Myanmar
News Agency quoted China’s ambassador to Myanmar last week as saying his
country supported the crackdown in Rakhine State.
“The stance of China
regarding the terrorist attacks in Rakhine is clear, it is just an internal
affair,” said the ambassador, Hong Liang. “The counterattacks of Myanmar
security forces against extremist terrorists and the government’s undertakings
to provide assistance to the people are strongly welcomed.”
China, like Russia, holds
veto power in the U.N. Security Council as a permanent member, meaning it can
block any efforts to sanction Myanmar.
In another sign that
China is drawing closer to Myanmar, last week it opened an interim liaison
office in Naypyidaw, the remote city that was inaugurated as Myanmar’s capital
in 2005. Most foreign missions have stayed in Yangon, the country’s former
capital.
One factor that may
increase China’s support for the military crackdown is the recent opening of a
Chinese-operated oil terminal at Kyaukpyu port in southern Rakhine State. While
the military’s campaign is being carried out in the north of Rakhine, China
would be concerned if the violence expanded and imperiled the terminal, Ms. Sun
said.
On Monday, Human Rights
Watch called for targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s military. It also called
for new restrictions on the sale of arms to the country.
“Burmese security forces
are committing ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya and disregarding the
condemnation of world leaders,” John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human
Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The time has come to impose tougher
measures that Burma’s generals cannot ignore.”
For decades, Myanmar — or
Burma, as it was formerly known — was one of the world’s most isolated
countries, with the United States and other Western countries enforcing
sanctions against its military-led government. But as the military has
gradually released some of its political control, the country’s interaction
with the rest of the world has grown dramatically.
The European Union and
the United States pulled back broad sanctions after elections in 2012. Then
last year, President Obama dropped sanctions on aid from Washington to the
government of Myanmar, as well as restrictions on several dozen people with
ties to the former military government.
That move was made in
recognition of the advancement of democracy in Myanmar. But human rights groups
worried it would also reduce the leverage the United States had to try to curb
abuses against the Rohingya.
Last week, Senator John
McCain of Arizona said he would remove language from a defense spending bill
that would fund cooperation between the militaries of the United States and
Myanmar. Mr. McCain has called on Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi to do more to help the Rohingya.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, who
was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her long struggle against military
rule, has many fans among lawmakers around the world, and that may insulate
Myanmar from more serious censure from the United States and other governments.
The Senate majority
leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said last week that “publicly condemning
Aung San Suu Kyi, the best hope for democratic reform in Burma, is simply not
constructive.” He noted that under Myanmar’s Constitution, she is barred from
the presidency and her civilian government has no authority over the military.
Her position is “an exceedingly difficult one,” he said.
Sean Turnell, an economic
adviser to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s office, said her civilian government needs international
support, “not uninformed ostracism or irresponsible or calculated incitement.”
“The people who lead this
government are the same people who faced down evil for decades,” he added.
“They remain Myanmar’s best hope.”