On Thursday, Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an accord agreeing on terms for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh amid concerns that Myanmar's army could prove to be obstructive. Myanmar's military has been accused by rights groups of carrying out mass rape and other atrocities during a counter insurgency operation that began in August. On Wednesday, the U.S. declared the military operation that drove 620,000 Rohingya to seek sanctuary in neighboring Bangladesh amounted to “ethnic cleansing”, echoing an accusation first leveled by top U.N. officials in the early days of the humanitarian crisis.