U.S. Denounces Violence Against Rohingya As 'Ethnic Cleansing'

The wave of government-backed violence against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar amounts to "ethnic cleansing," the U.S. State Department says, in a statement that raised the possibility of targeted U.S. sanctions to put pressure on Myanmar's government.

For decades, the Muslim minority group has faced persecution in majority-Buddhist Myanmar, which does not even recognize them as citizens. In recent months, the level of violence against them has risen sharply. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, bringing with them horrific stories of executions, widespread arson and systematic