Tom Kean Jr. Questions Expert on Sanctions and Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar

Addressing the Rohingya Crisis

• 💡 The United Nations reported that the military in Burma is repressing the entry of aid, physically blocking humanitarian workers at checkpoints.
• 🎯 Effective means to ensure aid reaches those in need include working through cross-border organizations, ethnic health and educational systems, and cooperating with India to facilitate aid across the India-Burma border.
• ⚠️ The regime instrumentalizes humanitarian assistance, so aid should not be provided through regime-controlled channels as it only benefits them.

Strategic Sanctions and Economic Pressure

• 🔑 The US has used an incremental approach to sanctions for nearly five years, with a greater focus on imposition than enforcement or coordination.
• 💰 Further sanctions could target actors benefiting from the drugs trade, scam centers, and arms supply to the military.
• 🤝 There is significant potential for further enforcement and coordination of sanctions, both inter-agency and with international allies.

Geopolitical Alliances and Regional Stability

• 🌍 Myanmar's increasing military alignment with China and Russia through armaments and training impacts regional stability.
• 📈 Arms flows from China and Russia contribute to internal conflict and have spillover effects such as refugee outflow and disease spread.

International Community's Role and Future Actions

• 📉 The international community's attention and support for the Rohingya crisis have diminished over the past two and a half years due to competing global priorities.
• 💰 The United States can increase its impact by providing funding for programs on the ground and working with host governments like Bangladesh to allow refugees to move within camps.
• 🏠 For the long term, efforts should focus on facilitating the sustainable, dignified, and safe return of Rohingya refugees to their homeland in Burma.