While many in Myanmar’s business communities welcomed the news that the U.S. will lift economic sanctions against the country, some journalists and ethnic and civil society groups took a more critical stance, apprehensive about the move’s effect on human rights…

Ethnic civil society organizations (CSOs) were also displeased with Obama’s announcement about lifting the sanctions. Some of them had urged the U.S. to maintain the sanctions in the run-up to Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit.

The CSOs have expressed concern over continued human rights abuses by the country’s national military in areas where troops are fighting armed ethnic groups as well as over the failure of the government to grant citizenship to the stateless Muslim Rohingya—an issue now being addressed by a special advisory commission…

International rights groups continue to chime in on the issue as well, arguing that lifting sanctions on Myanmar puts human rights progress there at risk…