The World Bank is rewarding ethnic cleansing in Myanmar

This month, the World Bank published a proposal for a $100 million development project in Rakhine state, the region of western Myanmar that recently saw the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim community. The aim of the project is to fund credit for small businesses in the region and boost economic development.

Aiding local economic development in a conflict-torn region sounds like a good idea on paper. But as many nongovernmental groups involved in the region point out, the World Bank is pushing ahead with its plans even though the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine is not even close to resolution.

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Azeem Ibrahim