The World Bank announced Wednesday that in response to the “violence, destruction and forced displacement of the Rohingya,” it will delay the release of a $200 million loan planned for Myanmar.

Given the scale of the humanitarian crisis there, the culpability of the government, it meets the test, in my mind, of a case where the owners of the World Bank ought to be looking at the World Bank as a potential sanctions tool.

The money was part of a credit deal reached with the fledgling democracy in August and represented the first instance of direct financial support from the World Bank to Myanmar’s government.

The World Bank is still delivering support to Myanmar and has “strengthened” its engagement in “education, health services, electricity, rural roads and inclusion of all ethnic groups and religions, particularly in Rakhine state,” the statement reads. This loan, specifically designed to support the government on issues of financial and public administration, however, will be withheld for an unspecified period of time.

Read the full article by Michael Igoe at Devex International Development