by the Government, delivery of humanitarian assistance has been increasingly restricted through onerous bureaucratic requirements resulting in limited access by international and local humanitarian organizations. (9) In 2015, the nongovernmental campaign Global Witness found that, in 2014, the estimated value of official production of jade equated to up to 48 percent of the official gross domestic product of Burma. Because of corruption and a lack of transparency, much of the proceeds of the Burmese jade trade enrich notorious leaders from the military junta, including former dictator Than Shwe and United States-sanctioned drug lord Hsueh Kang Wei, and vested interests in jade are undermining prospects for resolving the most intractable armed conflict in Burma. (10) On August 31, 2016, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the Government of Burma initiated the Union Peace Conference 21st Century Panglong in Naypyitaw, which more than 1,400 representatives of various concerned parties attended in an effort to begin the process of ending Burma’s civil war and to discuss options in forming a democratic state of Burma. On May 24, 2017, the Government of Burma held a second Panglong Peace Conference, with mixed results. (11) On January 4, 2018, the Department of State determined that Burma remains designated as a country of particular concern for religious freedom under section 402(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act ( 22 U.S.C. 6442(b) ), and that members of the Rohingya community in particular face abuses by the Government of Burma, including those involving torture, unlawful arrest and detention, restricted movement, restrictions on religious practices, discrimination in employment, and access to social services . (12) The February 2017 panels set up by the Burmese army and the Home Affairs Ministry are widely perceived by the international community to lack independence and impartiality. The December 2016 commission established by Burma’s President Htin Kyaw to investigate the October 2016 attacks