Ethnic cleansing indeed!

There is a general consensus among human rights experts that the Rohingyas are the most persecuted community in the world. Many countries have expressed their concerns about what the UN called “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” in Myanmar.

However, the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recently said that he needed more information to determine whether the Rohingya persecution constituted “ethnic cleansing.” This is disturbing, given that there is already mounting evidence showing that ethnic cleansing has indeed been committed against the Rohingya minority. 

There are endless satellite images and video clips that can prove the case, as well as testimonies of thousands of refugees who described the horrors—killings, rapes and arson attacks—that the Myanmar army and Buddhist mobs inflicted on them.

I wonder what stopped the US from calling it what it is: ethnic cleansing. What more proof do they need before they take any action?

Akib Sumon, By email