TORONTO: Canada has imposed sanctions against a top military officer of Myanmar army over his role in ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Rohingya Muslims, saying that those responsible for these atrocities must be held accountable. Under the sanctions, Major-General Maung Maung Soe’s assets in Canada will be frozen and his entry into Canada will be banned under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. These decisions were communicated by the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland in a statement issued late on Friday. The sanctions are issued under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, also called Magnitsky law. The general is the 53rd person – and the first from Myanmar – to be targeted by Canada’s Magnitsky law, which allows the government to impose asset freezes and travel bans on human-rights abusers around the world. The FAM statement said Maung Maung Soe ‘is, in the opinion of Canada’s governor-in-council, responsible for, or complicit in, gross violations of internationally recognised human rights committed against individuals in Myanmar who sought to exercise and defend their human rights and freedoms’. “We believe it is extremely important that people understand that there will be personal accountability for ethnic cleansing,” Freeland said, adding that ‘we believe that Maung Maung Soe was directly involved in gross violations of the rights of Rohingya’. “Myanmar’s military and civilian leaders have an obligation to respect the human rights of all people and those responsible for these atrocities must be held to account,” Freeland added. “I think a strong message has been sent. It’s important particularly for the military leadership in Myanmar to understand that the eyes of the world are on them, that they will be held accountable for their actions by the world, and this really must stop.” Maung Maung Soe was already sanctioned by the United States late last year over his role in the Rohingya crisis. The crackdown by Myanmar’s military and security forces, along with Buddhist extremist groups, has been described by the United Nations as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. It has forced about 700,000 Rohingyas to flee Myanmar to seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Sanctions against Maung Maung Soe have come just a day after Bob Rae, Canada’s special envoy to Myanmar, issued a statement warning that conditions in Myanmar are not conducive to the return of Rohingya refugees. “Everything I saw last week has reinforced the deep challenges facing the Rohingya population in Myanmar, the need for accountability for potential crimes against humanity, and the urgency of greater co-operation and action,” Rae said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had appointed veteran liberal politician and former Ontario premier last October to give him advice on the humanitarian crisis. Published in Daily Times, February 18th 2018.