WEB DESK
The European Union has extended a ban on selling arms to Myanmar and prolonged sanctions against high-ranking officials till 30th April 2020, over their role in the Rohingya crisis.
The EU said in a statement that the sanctions include an embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, and export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications that might be used for internal repression.
About 14 top military and border officials are under individual EU sanctions – barring them from travelling to or through the European bloc and freezing any assets they hold in Europe – over alleged human rights violations, including killings and sexual violence.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world’s most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
In August 2017, almost 750,000 Rohingya refugees fled a military crackdown in northern Myanmar to cross into Bangladesh, where 300,000 members of the persecuted Muslim minority were already in camps.