U.S. promises additional $47 million to Rohingya

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday the United States will provide an additional $47 million in humanitarian aid to Muslim Rohingya refugees from Burma, also known as Myanmar. Tillerson was in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw for a one-day trip and appeared at a joint news conference with leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The additional assistance brings the total U.S. response to more than $87 million since August of this year. Tillerson also called for an independent investigation into the humanitarian crisis that has driven more than 600,000 Rohingya from the Burmese state of Rakhine to Bangladesh. He said the United States would consider individual sanctions against people found responsible for violence, but would not advise “broad-based economic sanctions.” A joint report released this month by the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide and advocacy group Fortify Rights found “mounting evidence” of genocide against the Rohinyga. The Myanmar military has denied the accusations.