Irrawaddy
Nyein Nyein
27 January 2021
27 January 2021
Then US Vice President Joe Biden and Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi meet in Washington in September 2016. / State Counselor’s
Office
US foreign policy under new President Joseph Biden will be centered on promoting democracy and human rights around the world, Antony Blinken, the administration’s nominee for secretary of state, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan. 19. Unlike Republican President Donald Trump, the new Democratic administration is likely to make human rights its top priority in dealing with Myanmar.
The UN Human Rights Commission said in September that ongoing and severe human rights violations continue to occur in armed conflict areas of Myanmar, including in the ethnic states of Kachin, Shan, Rakhine and Chin, despite the country’s ongoing democratic reform and peace-building processes.
It urged Myanmar to take concrete steps toward accountability for rights violations and said the current government’s initiatives to address the situation have been “inadequate and fallen short of international standards”.
It urged Myanmar to take concrete steps toward accountability for rights violations and said the current government’s initiatives to address the situation have been “inadequate and fallen short of international standards”.