Rohingya crisis: US will possibly pursue targeted sanctions against Myanmar, says Tillerson

Ahead of Pope Francis visit to Myanmar next week, the US sent out a tough message to the Myanmar government calling for "accountability" and a stop to "horrendous atrocities" against Rohingyas.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in a strongly worded statement said: "After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas."

Tillerson who had visited Myanmar a fortnight ago had avoided using the term "ethnic cleansing" even asboth the US and UN had slammed the Myanmar government over reported "ethnic cleansing"in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

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"The United States will also pursue accountability through USlaw, including possible targeted sanctionsagainst those responsible for the alleged abuses, which have driven hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh,"he said.

"Burma's government and security forces must respect the human rights of all persons within its borders, and hold accountable those who fail to do so," the US secretary of state said, adding, "No provocation can justify the horrendous atrocities that have ensued."

According to human rights monitor over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine state from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 25th as the Myanmar Army reportedly began to evict the ethnic Rohingyas from the country.

"These abuses by some among the Burmese military, security forces, and local vigilantes have caused tremendous suffering and forced hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children to flee their homes," Tillerson said.

The Myanmar government has been condemned by several governments in the UN including France and UK.

China had volunteered to solve the Rohingya crisis after foreign minister Wang Yi visited met his counterpart AH Mahmood Ali in Bangladesh on Monday.

Chinese foreign minister said he was also ready to negotiate with Bangladesh to seek a better solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis which has soured relations between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

"Bangladesh and Myanmar are both close neighbours and good friends of China. China is willing to play a role in properly solving this Rohingya issue," China's foreign minister had said.

Bangladesh and Myanmar officials had met last week to begin the process of repatriating Rohingya refugees. De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi had said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya.

Amid the crisis, Pope Francis is set to travel to Myanmar and Bangladesh next week in a bid to help resolve the crisis. Pope Francis will meet the head of Myanmar's army General Min Aung Hlaing and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The Pope will meet Aung San Suu Kyi separately in the capital Naypyitaw.