WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. House of
Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favour of legislation to
pressure Myanmar, also known as Burma, to improve its record on human rights.
Lawmakers voted 382-30 to approve the measure as an
amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, a massive defence
policy bill that is one of the few pieces of legislation passed by the U.S.
Congress every year.
Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh
from Myanmar since August to escape a military crackdown, launched in response
to Rohingya insurgent attacks. Refugees have reported murder, rape and arson by
Myanmar troops.
Washington has called the army response “ethnic cleansing,”
which Myanmar has denied, saying its security forces were conducting a
legitimate counter-insurgency operation against “Bengali terrorists.”
If included in a final version of the NDAA, typically
passed by the House and Senate later in the year, the measure would, among
other things, bar U.S. security assistance or cooperation with Myanmar’s
military or security forces until they have made progress on human rights.
It also would impose sanctions on current or former
senior Myanmar military officials who perpetrated or were responsible for
serious human rights abuses.
The amendment was introduced by Representative Eliot
Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Earlier this month the United Nations Security Council urged
Myanmar’s government to carry out transparent investigations into accusations
of violence against the Rohingya Muslims and allow immediate aid access to the
region.