Tillerson in Myanmar on Mission to Resolve Rohingya Crisis

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Myanmar to discuss the Rohingya Muslims refugee crisis with de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's military chief.

Shortly after arriving in the capital of Naypyidaw Wednesday, Tillerson met with army chief Min Aung Hlaing, whose forces have been accused of launching a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages in northwestern Rakhine state in response to attacks on Myanmar police outposts by Rohingya militant forces in August.The campaign led to a mass exodus of 600,000 Rohingyas into neighboring Bangladesh, who told human rights groups of serious atrocities committed by government security forces, including random shootings, rapes and setting fires to villages.

The United Nations has described the reported actions carried out by Myanmar forces as "a textbook case of ethnic cleansing."

But the Myanmar military officials said an internal investigation found no evidence its soldiers committed any such atrocities against the Rohingyas, and that troops only killed 376 Rohingya "terrorists" during battles with the insurgents. The report was denounced by the New York-based Human Rights Watch as an attempt by the military to "whitewash" its actions.

Tillerson will later meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, whose reputation as a Nobel peace laureate and pro-democracy icon has been tarnished by criticism over a perceived slow response to the crisis. Because she shares power with the military, many Western governments have been reluctant to ostracize Aung San Suu Kyi during a fragile transition to democracy.

The top U.S. diplomat was expected to deliver a strong message to the Burmese generals as U.S. lawmakers push for economic sanctions and travel restrictions to the country.

The Rohingya minority have long been denied citizenship and other rights in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which views them as immigrants from Bangladesh despite the fact that many families have lived in Myanmar for generations.

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