NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — A U.N. Security Council delegation on Tuesday was visiting volatile areas of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, from where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled military-led violence, to see firsthand the aftermath of the army’s crackdown as well as Myanmar’s preparations for taking back the refugees.

The 15-member delegation co-led by Security Council President Gustavo Meza-Cuadra was joined by Rakhine state and central government officials and ministers heading to Maungdaw in northern Rakhine where the Myanmar government has built reception camps for the Rohingya refugees now living in camps and other temporary shelters in Bangladesh.

“The delegation will be visiting Taungpyo and Hla Phoe Khaung reception camps in Maungdaw region,” said Myint Khine, a township administrator of Maungdaw.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in December to begin repatriating the refugees in January, but there were concerns among rights groups and Rohingya that they would be forced to return and face unsafe conditions in Myanmar.

The Security Council delegates met Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military commander-in-chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Monday.

The army launched counterinsurgency sweeps in Rakhine state after deadly attacks last August on security personnel. The military has been accused of massive human rights violations — including rape, killing, torture, and the burning of Rohingya homes — that the U.N. and U.S. officials have called ethnic cleansing.

The U.N. last month put the Myanmar military on its blacklist for sexual violence but at Monday’s meeting, the army chief insisted, “No sexual violence happened in the history of the country’s military,” according to the statement released by his office.

Myanmar’s government agreed to allow the delegates’ visit after previously rejecting U.N. requests for a visit by a specially appointed independent fact-finding committee. The team said in March that it found evidence of human rights violations against the Kachin, Shan and Rohingya minorities “in all likelihood amounting to crimes under international law.” </s> SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar’s military has assured the United Nations of “harsh” action against perpetrators of sexual violence, state media reported on Tuesday, as U.N. envoys traveled to Rakhine State where the military conducted a widely criticized crackdown.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Rakhine State to Bangladesh to flee a military crackdown launched in August that the United Nations and others denounced as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Many of the refugees arriving in Bangladesh recounted incidents of killings and rape but Myanmar largely rejected those reports as well as the accusation of ethnic cleansing.

It said its forces were engaged in a legitimate security campaign in response to a string of Rohingya insurgents attacks on the security forces.

The Security Council envoys arrived in Myanmar on Monday after visiting refugee camps on the Bangladesh side of the border, and government leaders in Dhaka.

In Myanmar, they met separately with Myanmar government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.

“Sexual violence (is) considered as despicable acts,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper cited Min Aung Hlaing as telling the envoys.

The military was “taking harsh and stronger actions against such offenders”, he said.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, in her meeting with the envoys, pledged to investigate any credible accusations of abuse, said diplomats who attended.

During the nearly hour-long meeting, Suu Kyi, noted Myanmar’s difficulties in transitioning to rule of law after decades of military dictatorship, said the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Suu Kyi’s civilian government has no control over the military.

Myanmar civilian government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment.

Tuesday is the final day of a four-day visit to the region by the U.N. Security Council team.

The Security Council asked Myanmar in November to ensure no “further excessive use of military force” and to allow “freedom of movement, equal access to basic services, and equal access to full citizenship for all”.

Earlier on Monday, the council envoys met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who asked them to press Myanmar to take back “their citizens”.

Hasina said the refugees should return “under U.N. supervision where security and safety should be ensured”.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete the voluntary repatriation of the refugees within two years but differences between the two sides remain and implementation of the plan has been slow.

Suu Kyi’s office also said in a statement that cooperation was needed from Bangladesh on the repatriation of refugees.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has for years denied Rohingya citizenship, freedom of movement and access to basic services such as healthcare. Many in Myanmar regard Rohingya as illegal immigrants from mostly Muslim Bangladesh. </s> MAUNGDAW - Myanmar’s military has assured the United Nations of “harsh” action against perpetrators of sexual violence, state media reported on Tuesday, as UN envoys travelled to Rakhine State where the military conducted a widely criticized crackdown.

UN and rights groups say nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown launched in Rakhine State in August that the United Nations denounced as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Many of the arriving refugees recounted incidents of killings, arson and rape but Myanmar largely rejected those reports as well as the accusation of ethnic cleansing.

The government said its forces were engaged in a legitimate security campaign in response to a string of Rohingya insurgent attacks on the security forces.

“Sexual violence (is) considered as despicable acts,” the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper cited military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing as telling the envoys.

The military was “taking harsh and stronger actions against such offenders”, he said.

The UN Security Council envoys travelled by Myanmar military helicopters to northern Rakhine on Tuesday, the final day of their four-day visit to the region, flying over burned and bulldozed villages visible from the air.

The envoys arrived in Myanmar on Monday after visiting refugee camps on the Bangladesh side of the border and government leaders in Dhaka.

In Myanmar, they met separately with government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Aung Hlaing.

British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce told Reuters that during Monday’s meeting Min Aung Hlaing was “very forthcoming” on the issue of sexual assaults in Rakhine, adding that the military chief said such offences were “not tolerated”.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, in her nearly hour-long meeting with the envoys, pledged to investigate any credible accusations of abuse, said diplomats who attended.

Suu Kyi noted Myanmar’s difficulties in transitioning to rule of law after decades of military dictatorship, said the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“She said what had happened or what was alleged to have happened to some of the Rohingya villagers was not acceptable and that if evidence were available it should be reported to the Burmese authorities and they would investigate,” said Pierce.

“What we’ve got to do on the council is think how best to turn that into something operational so that the evidence gets collected and given either to the Burmese authorities or to some sort of international mechanism,” she said.

Suu Kyi’s civilian government has no control over the military. Government spokesman Zaw Htay did not respond to requests for comment.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has for years denied the Rohingya citizenship, freedom of movement and access to basic services such as healthcare. Many in Myanmar regard the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from mostly Muslim Bangladesh.

When asked if the council could help ensure evidence of crimes such as rape is collected, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said: “I don’t think this is a council matter, frankly speaking. There are a lot of agencies apart from the Security Council.”

In northern Rakhine, the council envoys were shown a reception centre Myanmar has built for repatriating Rohingya, aiming to accept a total of 150 people a day, and a transit camp that can house 30,000 returnees.

The envoys passed two bulldozed villages near the camp. They were also shown a rebuilt village.

The Security Council asked Myanmar in November to ensure no “further excessive use of military force” and to allow “freedom of movement, equal access to basic services, and equal access to full citizenship for all”.

On Monday, the council envoys met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who asked them to press Myanmar to take back “their citizens”.

Hasina said the refugees should return “under UN supervision where security and safety should be ensured”.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete the voluntary repatriation of the refugees within two years but differences between the two sides remain and implementation of the plan has been slow.

Suu Kyi’s office also said in a statement that cooperation was needed from Bangladesh on the repatriation of refugees. </s> NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) - A U.N. Security Council delegation on Tuesday was visiting volatile areas of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, from where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled military-led violence, to see firsthand the aftermath of the army’s crackdown as well as Myanmar’s preparations for taking back the refugees.

The 15-member delegation co-led by Security Council President Gustavo Meza-Cuadra was joined by Rakhine state and central government officials and ministers heading to Maungdaw in northern Rakhine where the Myanmar government has built reception camps for the Rohingya refugees now living in camps and other temporary shelters in Bangladesh.

“The delegation will be visiting Taungpyo and Hla Phoe Khaung reception camps in Maungdaw region,” said Myint Khine, a township administrator of Maungdaw.

Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in December to begin repatriating the refugees in January, but there were concerns among rights groups and Rohingya that they would be forced to return and face unsafe conditions in Myanmar.

The Security Council delegates met Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military commander-in-chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Monday.

The army launched counterinsurgency sweeps in Rakhine state after deadly attacks last August on security personnel. The military has been accused of massive human rights violations - including rape, killing, torture, and the burning of Rohingya homes - that the U.N. and U.S. officials have called ethnic cleansing.

The U.N. last month put the Myanmar military on its blacklist for sexual violence but at Monday’s meeting, the army chief insisted, “No sexual violence happened in the history of the country’s military,” according to the statement released by his office.

Myanmar’s government agreed to allow the delegates’ visit after previously rejecting U.N. requests for a visit by a specially appointed independent fact-finding committee. The team said in March that it found evidence of human rights violations against the Kachin, Shan and Rohingya minorities “in all likelihood amounting to crimes under international law.”

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting. </s> Myanmar's army chief rejected accusations forces under his command committed sexual abuse against Rohingya Muslim women and children, as UN Security Council envoys on Tuesday continued a mission in the country.

The UN and human rights organizations have accused General Min Aung Hlaing's forces of murder, rape and pillaging as part of an "ethnic cleansing" campaign in Rakhine state.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled their homes in Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh since a military campaign was launched in August 2017 against what Myanmar says is an insurgency.

After months of delays, UN Security Council ambassadors finally arrived in Myanmar on Monday after visiting Rohingya refugee border camps in Bangladesh, where the displaced recounted the horrors of killing and rape.

Read more: Tearful Rohingya plead with visiting UN team in Bangladesh

In Myanmar, the UN envoys met with Myanmar government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.

"The Tatmadaw [army] acts and do their tasks under the international laws, rules and regulations. And, action is exactly taken against discipline breakers under the law. These situations happened in northern Rakhine State due to terror acts of extremist Bengali terrorists," Min Aung Hlaing said on his official Facebook page, using a derogatory term for Rohingya.

The military has control of all security matters in the country without oversight from Suu Kyi and her civilian government.

The military chief called the allegations of sexual violence "abominable on the ground of culture and religion of Myanmar."

"The Tatmadaw severely punishes those offenders in these cases. No sexual violence happened in the history of Myanmar Tatmadaw," he said.

He also said that Myanmar would take back the refugees who could be verified as citizens of Myanmar as part of a months-old deal with Bangladesh that has seen only a handful of the displaced return.

The voice of the Rohingya refugees

Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not consider most Rohingya as citizens, referring to them instead as illegal "Bengalis" from Bangladesh. They have few rights or access to services.

Earlier on Monday, the UN envoys met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who said Myanmar must take back "their citizens."

After the UN envoy meeting with Suu Kyi, her office said that cooperation was needed from Bangladesh to repatriate refugees. Speaking on condition of anonymity, diplomats said the Nobel Peace Prize winner told them that Myanmar was still struggling to establish rule of law after decades of military dictatorship.

Tuesday is the last of the four-day UN envoy trip to the region, which includes a visit to Rakhine state.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> MAUNGDAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Britain’s U.N. envoy on Tuesday suggested the U.N. Security Council could consider helping Myanmar collect evidence of crimes committed during a military crackdown of the Rohingya people, denounced by the world body as ethnic cleansing after most recent bout of persecution of the Muslim minority last year.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of Tatmadaw (Myanmar Armed Forces), addresses members of the United Nations Security Council at Bayint Naung villa in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Fogarty

“What we’ve got to do on the council is to think how best to turn that into something operational, so that the evidence gets collected and given either to the Burmese authorities or to some sort of international mechanism,” Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce told Reuters, as the Security Council wrapped up a four-day visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday.

Britain’s Pierce told reporters that an investigation needs evidentiary standards to achieve accountability.

“There are two ways of doing that basically, one is an International Criminal Court referral, the second would be the Burmese government do that themselves,” Pierce said.

The Myanmar mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pierce’s suggestion.

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi pledged investigations if credible evidence was provided and military chief Min Aung Hlaing vowed “harsh action” over sexual violence during separate meetings with Security Council envoys in the country’s capital Naypyitaw on Monday, diplomats said.

But Suu Kyi’s civilian government has little control over the Myanmar military.

Members of the U.N. Security Council traveled to Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where the United Nations and rights groups say nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since August.

Fleeing refugees have reported killings, rapes and arson. Rohingya insurgent attacks on Rakhine security posts led to the military operation that Myanmar deemed a legitimate response.

In Rakhine, data from the U.N. Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) has shown hundreds of villages once inhabited by the Rohingya have now been burned down. Many such villages could be seen from the Myanmar military helicopters that carried the U.N. envoys to northern Rakhine.

Security Council envoys were shown a reception center Myanmar has built for repatriating Rohingya, aiming to accept a total of 150 people a day, and a transit camp that can house 30,000 returnees. The envoys passed two bulldozed villages near the camp.

INVESTIGATIONS AND OPTIONS

Last November, the Myanmar’s military released a report denying all accusations of rape and killings by security forces.

But the U.S. government is conducting an intensive examination of allegations of atrocities against the Rohingya that could be used to prosecute Myanmar’s military officials for crimes against humanity, U.S. officials have told Reuters.

Meanwhile the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked it to rule on whether it has jurisdiction over the deportations of Rohingyas to Bangladesh, a possible crime against humanity, but Suu Kyi’s government has expressed “serious concern” over the move.

Bangladesh is a member of the ICC but Myanmar is not, so if the the ICC rules that it does not have jurisdiction, the U.N. Security Council could then choose to refer the situation in Myanmar to the court.

In December, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Myanmar must allow an “independent, transparent and credible investigation into what has happened.”

Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

One way the Security Council could help Myanmar could be to mandate a U.N. investigative team to collect, preserve and store evidence, just as it did in Iraq last year when it investigated acts by Islamic State that may be war crimes.

The United Nations General Assembly could alternatively create an international inquiry into the most serious crimes committed against the Rohingya, similar to what the U.N. has done in Syria.

Russia’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy was wary of Security Council involvement though because Myanmar said it was willing to tackle the issue. Any Council resolution would need nine votes in favor and no vetoes by either Russia or China, an ally of Myanmar. </s> GENEVA: Myanmar's security forces have committed mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya Muslims and burned their villages since October in a campaign that probably amounts to crimes against humanity and possibly "ethnic cleansing", the U.N. human rights office said on Friday.

Witnesses testified to "the killing of babies, toddlers, children, women and elderly; opening fire at people fleeing; burning of entire villages; massive detention; massive and systematic rape and sexual violence; deliberate destruction of food and sources of food", the report said.

One woman told U.N. investigators how her eight-month baby boy had had his throat slit. Another was raped by soldiers and saw her five-year-old daughter killed as she tried to stop them.

“The devastating cruelty to which these Rohingya children have been subjected is unbearable," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a statement.

"I did speak to Aung San Suu Kyi about an hour and a half ago. I called upon her to use every means available to exert pressure on the military and the security services to end this operation," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said in an interview with Reuters in Geneva.

"She informed me that an investigation will be launched. She said that they would require further information."

In Yangon, presidential spokesman Zaw Htay said: "These are extremely serious allegations, and we are deeply concerned. We will be immediately investigating these allegations through the investigation commission led by Vice-President U Myint Swe.

"Where there is clear evidence of abuses and violations, we will take all necessary action."

Around 66,000 people have fled from the Muslim-majority northern part of Rakhine State to Bangladesh since Myanmar's military launched a security operation in response to attacks on police border posts on Oct. 9, the U.N. report said. The U.N. humanitarian office has recently put the figure at 69,000.

"The 'area clearance operations' have likely resulted in hundreds of deaths," some of them through helicopters shooting at villages and dropping grenades on them, the report said.

Four U.N. investigators gathered testimony last month from 220 Rohingya victims and witnesses who fled the "lockdown area" in Maungdaw in Rakhine for the Cox's Bazar district in Bangladesh.

Nearly half reported a family member had been killed or disappeared while 101 women reported having been raped or subjected to sexual violence, it said.

Testimonies pointed to "a persecution on ethnic grounds which is similar to what has been, in other contexts, described as 'ethnic cleansing'," U.N. mission leader Linnea Arvidsson told a news briefing.

"The findings and gravity of the situation are really so stark that something needs to be done -- for accountability, but primarily for the violence to stop."

She said the U.N. Human Rights Council could refer the issue to the U.N. Security Council, which in turn had the power to pass it to the International Criminal Court.

The investigators took evidence including photographs of bullet and knife wounds, burns, and injuries resulting from beatings with rifle butts or bamboo sticks.

The plight of the stateless Rohingya, of whom some 1.1 million live in apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine, has long been a source of friction between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Myanmar, a mostly Buddhist country where Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is de facto leader, has denied almost all allegations of human rights abuses in northern Rakhine and says a lawful counterinsurgency campaign is under way.

In Yangon, the spokesman for President Htin Kyaw’s office, said the government had not yet seen the report.

"We will review the report from the U.N. and we will respond, either in an official statement or in an individual response (to questions)," Zaw Htay said.

While denying observers and independent journalists access to the conflict area, officials have accused Rohingya residents and refugees of fabricating stories of killings, beatings, mass rape and arson in collaboration with insurgents who they say are Rohingya terrorists with links to Islamists overseas.

Zeid called for a robust reaction from the international community and said Myanmar must accept responsibility for committing grave human rights violations against its own people.

The report said the attacks on the Rohingya "seem to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity" </s> UNITED NATIONS, Aug 27 (APP):Myanmar’s army commander and other top generals should face trial in an international court for genocide against Rohingya Muslims and for crimes against humanity targeting other ethnic minorities, United Nations experts said Monday after a year-long investigation.

 Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of Myanmar’s army, is one of six generals named as priority subjects for investigation and prosecution by a independent United Nations Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar in a report detailing military campaigns involving atrocities that “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law.”

 The three-member panel leveled the most serious charge, genocide, over the ferocious campaign unleashed by the Buddhist-majority security forces against Rohingya Muslims a year ago. That campaign, in the state of Rakhine, sent more than 700,000 fleeing across the border to Bangladesh.

 The Mission, established by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in March 2017, found patterns of gross human rights violations and abuses committed in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States that “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”, principally by Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, but also by other security forces.

 “Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages. The Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) tactics are consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats, especially in Rakhine State, but also in northern Myanmar,” the report states.

 “They are shocking for the level of denial, normalcy and impunity that is attached to them. The Tatmadaw’s contempt for human life, integrity and freedom, and for international law generally, should be a cause of concern for the entire population.”

 The crimes against humanity committed in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine States include murder; imprisonment; enforced disappearance; torture; rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence; persecution and enslavement. In addition, in Rakhine State, the elements of the crimes against humanity of extermination and deportation are also present.

 The Mission also concluded “there is sufficient information to warrant the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in the Tatmadaw chain of command, so that a competent court can determine their liability for genocide in relation to the situation in Rakhine State.”

 “The crimes in Rakhine State, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts,” the report states. “Factors pointing at such intent include the broader oppressive context and hate rhetoric; specific utterances of commanders and direct perpetrators; exclusionary policies, including to alter the demographic composition of Rakhine State; the level of organization indicating a plan for destruction; and the extreme scale and brutality of the violence.”

 The Mission has drawn up a list of alleged perpetrators as priority subjects for investigation and prosecution, whom it believes had effective control and bear the greatest responsibility. Responsibility starts at the top, with the Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing. Five other military commanders are also named in the report: the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Vice Senior-General Soe Win; the Commander, Bureau of Special Operations-3, Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw; the Commander, Western Regional Military Command, Major-General Maung Maung Soe; the Commander, 33rd Light Infantry Division, Brigadier-General Aung Aung; the Commander, 99th Light Infantry Division, Brigadier-General Than Oo. A longer list of names will be kept in the custody of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and can be shared with any competent and credible body pursuing accountability in line with international norms and standards.

 The report notes that civilian authorities had little scope to control the actions of the Tatmadaw. It also finds that “through their acts and omissions, the civilian authorities have contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes.”

 “The State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has not used her de facto position as Head of Government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events in Rakhine State,” the report states.

 “Impunity is deeply entrenched in Myanmar’s political and legal system, effectively placing the Tatmadaw above the law,” the report states, adding that justice has therefore remained elusive for victims in the country for decades. “The impetus for accountability must come from the international community.”

 The Mission called for the situation in Myanmar to be referred to the International Criminal Court or for an ad hoc international criminal tribunal to be created. In the interim, it called for an independent, impartial mechanism to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of violations. It also recommended targeted individual sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible.

 A fuller report, containing detailed factual information and legal analysis will be published and presented to the Human Rights Council on 18 September. It will include a significant amount of satellite imagery analysis. </s> UNITED NATIONS/YANGON (Reuters) – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday called on countries to suspend providing weapons to Myanmar over violence against Rohingya Muslims until the military puts sufficient accountability measures in place.

It was the first time the United States called for punishment of military leaders behind the repression, but stopped short of threatening to reimpose U.S. sanctions which were suspended under the Obama administration.

“We cannot be afraid to call the actions of the Burmese authorities what they appear to be – a brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority,” Haley told the U.N. Security Council, the first time Washington has echoed the U.N.’s accusation that the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Rakhine State was ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar rejects the accusations and has denounced rights abuses.

“The Burmese military must respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. Those who have been accused of committing abuses should be removed from command responsibilities immediately and prosecuted for wrongdoing,” Haley said.

“And any country that is currently providing weapons to the Burmese military should suspend these activities until sufficient accountability measures are in place,” Haley said.

Myanmar national security adviser Thaung Tun said at the United Nations on Thursday there was no ethnic cleansing or genocide happening in Myanmar. He told the Security Council that Myanmar had invited U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres to visit. A U.N. official said Guterres would consider visiting Myanmar under the right conditions.

China and Russia both expressed support for the Myanmar government. Myanmar said earlier this month it was negotiating with China and Russia, which have veto powers in the Security Council, to protect it from any possible action by the council.

The Trump administration has mostly hewed to former President Barack Obama’s approach of forging warmer relations with Myanmar, partly aimed at countering China’s influence in the resource-rich Southeast Asian country.

Meanwhile, international aid groups in Myanmar have urged the government to allow free access to Rakhine, where an army offensive has sent more than 500,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh, but hundreds of thousands remain cut off from food, shelter and medical care.

Refugees are still leaving Myanmar, more than a month after Rohingya Muslim insurgents attacked security posts near the border, triggering fierce Myanmar military retaliation.

Aid groups said on Thursday the total number of refugees in Bangladesh was now 502,000.

The Myanmar government has stopped international aid groups and U.N. agencies from carrying out most of their work in the north of Rakhine state, citing insecurity since the Aug. 25 insurgent attacks.

Aid groups said in a joint statement they were: “increasingly concerned about severe restrictions on humanitarian access and impediments to the delivery of critically needed humanitarian assistance throughout Rakhine State.”

“We urge the government and authorities of Myanmar to ensure that all people in need in Rakhine State have full, free and unimpeded access to life-saving humanitarian assistance.”

The government has put the Myanmar Red Cross in charge of aid to the state, with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross. But the groups said they feared insufficient aid was getting through.

Relations between the government and aid agencies had been difficult for months, with some officials accusing the groups of helping the insurgents.

Aid groups dismissed the accusations, which they said had inflamed anger toward them among Buddhists in the communally divided state, and called for an end to “misinformation and unfounded accusations”.

Rights groups have accused the army of trying to push Rohingya Muslims out of Myanmar, and of committing crimes against humanity. They have called for sanctions, in particular an arms embargo.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that the violence against Rohingya Muslims in the northern part of Rakhine could spread to central Rakhine, where 250,000 more people were at risk of displacement.

Guterres told the U.N. Security Council during its first public meeting on Myanmar in eight years, that the violence had spiraled into the “world’s fastest developing refugee emergency, a humanitarian and human rights nightmare.”

A group of Republican and Democratic senators urged the Trump administration on Thursday to use the “full weight” of its influence to help resolve the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

A letter seen by Reuters and signed by four Republican and 17 Democratic members of the 100-seat Senate also calls on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Mark Green to provide more humanitarian aid.

The British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, Mark Field, described the situation as “an unacceptable tragedy” after visiting Myanmar and meeting leaders including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has faced scathing criticism and calls for her Nobel prize to be withdrawn.

Police in Bangladesh said they recovered the bodies of 14 refugees, including nine children, who drowned when their boat capsized off the coast in bad weather. A Reuters photographer said he saw several babies among the victims.

The U.N. International Organization for Migration later put the toll at 15.

Police officer Afrajul Hoque Tutu said three boats had capsized in heavy seas.

Myanmar was getting ready to “verify” refugees who want to return, the government minister charged with putting into effect recommendations to solve problems in Rakhine said.

Myanmar would conduct a “national verification process” at two points on its border with Bangladesh under terms agreed during a repatriation effort in 1993, state media quoted Win Myat Aye, the minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, as saying.

Myanmar authorities do not recognize Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group, instead regarding them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

“The government hates us,” said refugee Zafar Alam, 55, sheltering from rain near a refugee settlement in Bangladesh, referring to the Myanmar government.

“I don’t think I’d be safe there. There’s no justice.”
Myanmar's military pledges to a U.N. delegation visiting Rakhine State that they will take "harsh" action against perpetrators of sexual violence in the region. The U.N. previously accused Myanmar's military of committing an ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.