Yes, responsibility lies with Myanmar

What we heard from the acting US assistant secretary of state was the restatement of the obvious. The world knows that the responsibility for the unprecedented humanitarian disaster resulting from a well-planned state-conducted ethnic cleansing which meets all the definitions of genocide, is on the shoulders of the government and the military of Myanmar. But the question is, will Myanmar roll back its actions and forgo a strategic objective in Rakhine—to empty it of an ethnic minority community that is an integral part of the country—on mere strictures? 

Admittedly, the US government has done substantively more than the rest of the world to compel Myanmar to desist from perpetrating violence on the Rohingyas. But it should have been clear to the US and the rest of the international community that Naypyidaw is inured to all kinds of criticisms and palliative measures—most of which it can circumvent because of the support it continues to get from three powerful countries. 

That Myanmar is not sincere in its bid for resolution of the problem or about taking back the Rohingyas, despite expressing its intention to do so, is very clear. It had continued to persecute the Rohingyas while seeking dialogue with Bangladesh. Its devious intentions were made even more transparent when it put the 1992 agreement as the benchmark for repatriation. And its slyness was confirmed by Suu Kyi's comment that it was Bangladesh which was deliberately delaying the return of the Rohingyas because it wanted to draw more international aid. 

The matter has gone beyond expression of mere pious hopes. More substantive actions must be taken. We reiterate the prime minister's call to the Commonwealth countries to exert pressure on the Myanmar government to stop persecution on its Rohingya citizens and take them back at the earliest.