January 7, 2017

US official: In Myanmar crackdown, abuses appear 'normal'

buses appear "normal and allowed" in Myanmar's response to an armed uprising by Rohingya Muslims, a senior U.S. official said in an interview, casting a pall over one of President Barack Obama's legacy foreign policy achievements.

Obama and his advisers have long held up the former pariah nation's U.S.-backed shift from military rule as a breakthrough for American interests and democratic values in Southeast Asia. But the situation in strife-hit Rakhine State makes the transition no straightforward success story.

Rakhine has been largely closed off to foreigners, including aid workers, since a deadly insurgent attack against police in October. Subsequent "clearance operations," led by the military and reminiscent of its decades of junta rule, have left at least dozens dead. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have escaped to neighboring Bangladesh. (Courtesy of chicagotribune.com)

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