Myanmar: Will Myanmar’s ‘Genocide Gems’ Become the New Blood Diamonds?

Oct 17, 2018 | Sheridan Prasso, Bloomberg
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A little more than a year ago, Myanmar’s military carried out what the United Nations has called a campaign of genocide and war crimes against the Rohingya minority, driving almost 1 million people from their homes. The Trump administration announced limited sanctions against some top generals and their units in August, but the abuses have drawn few other punitive actions. Now human-rights activists are revving up a global campaign seeking to pressure status-conscious jewelry retailers to stop buying precious gemstones that are mined primarily by military-linked businesses of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. The goal: to make these so-called genocide gems as reviled by jewelry customers as the blood diamonds sourced from warlord-controlled conflict areas in Africa.