AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MEDIA ADVISORY
13 October 2017
EU: Ethnic cleansing in Myanmar demands action
· Spokespeople available for interviews
Ahead of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday 16 October, Iverna McGowan, Director of the Amnesty International, European Institutions Office, said:
“In the face of the crimes against humanity, ongoing ethnic cleansing and other serious violations in Myanmar, EU member states must not let infighting scupper their response. They must seize this chance and take a united EU stance to end these crimes and violations, prevent the humanitarian crisis from deteriorating further, and help ensure justice for victims. Concretely, this would mean extending the current arms embargo and imposing targeted financial sanctions on senior Myanmar officials responsible for serious violations and crimes.’’
“The EU has historically led the international response on human rights in Myanmar. Silence now, as a scorched-earth campaign rages, would be deafening – and will not go unnoticed worldwide.”
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Amnesty International press office on [email protected] +32 2 548 27 73 or +32 483 680 812
Background
As of 6 October, more than 530,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State to Bangladesh, more information can be found here.
Amnesty International is calling for the EU to pro-actively lead on a UN General Assembly resolution to ensure international scrutiny and increased pressure to stop the violence in northern Rakhine State and address serious human rights concerns countrywide.