Senators Markey, Young, Merkley and Durbin Call for Greater Accountability for Atrocities in Burma

Bipartisan letter pushes Trump administration to consider additional sanctions against senior officials for 2017 violence committed against the Rohingya

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Washington (March 20, 2019) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) this week sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin asking for clarification of the Trump administration’s policy on sanctioning the perpetrators of atrocities committed against the Rohingya people during the 2017 security operations by Burmese military forces.  Acknowledging the decision by the administration to already sanction five officials, the senators point out that additional targeted sanctions against the senior-most ranks of the Burmese military, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, is needed to send a strong message to Burmese officials most responsible for the violence.  

“We believe that it is important for the United States to signal its intolerance for behavior that contravenes fundamental human rights,” write the senators. “In particular, the designation of Min Aung Hlaing under the Global Magnitsky program would carry special significance given his role as the head of the Burmese armed forces. The body of evidence establishing Min Aung Hlaing’s complicity in the human rights abuses against the Rohingya plainly warrants designations under both the Global Magnitsky Act and President Trump’s sanctions order.”

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.