Myanmar persecutes Rohingyas, but not committing genocide: US
The United States has acknowledged that Myanmar is persecuting Rohingya Muslims, but failed to call it genocide.
"While it's without question that they continue to face persecution, we did not determine that it was on the level of genocide," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
In a report to Congress on whether Buddhist extremists in Myanmar have committed atrocities against Rohingyas, the State Department said that Washington is “gravely concerned” about the abuses against the minority population.
According to the report, in 2012 alone, nearly 200 Rohingyas were killed and some 140,000 displaced, with the violence continuing today.
The report also shows little public support in the Southeast Asian country for the rights of the Rohingya people, and recognizes that some Buddhist leaders have been inflaming Islamophobia.
The State Department report called on Myanmar "to pursue comprehensive and just solutions," including addressing human rights violations, upholding rule of law, allowing access by humanitarian assistance groups and finding a path to citizenship or restoring citizenship to stateless people, including Rohingya.
Rohingya and other Muslims have faced torture, neglect, and repression in Myanmar for many years. A large number of Rohingyas are believed to have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in attacks by extremists who call themselves Buddhists.
SS
