Biden Administration Calls Myanmar Rohingya Oppression a Genocide

Secretary of State Blinken to Make Official Announcement on the 21st

Secretary of State Tony Blinken [Photo by AP]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The U.S. Biden administration has officially designated the atrocities committed by the Myanmar military against the ethnic minority Rohingya as 'genocide.'

Major foreign media outlets reported on the 20th (local time), citing U.S. government officials, that "Secretary of State Tony Blinken is scheduled to announce this decision on the 21st at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C." A special exhibition on the suffering of the Rohingya is currently being held at this museum.

This decision comes 14 months after Secretary Blinken promised upon taking office to conduct a new review of the violent incidents committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya. An official who requested anonymity explained, "Secretary Blinken ordered a legal and factual analysis of the persecution of the Rohingya."

Secretary Blinken is also expected to announce an additional $1 million in funding to the United Nations-backed Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), which is collecting evidence of the Rohingya genocide.

In 2017, in Rakhine State, Myanmar, some Rohingya attacked police posts in response to religious persecution, prompting the government forces to launch a large-scale crackdown. As a result, at least 730,000 Rohingya fled their homes and sought refuge in Bangladesh. At that time, the Myanmar military committed murder, rape, arson, and other atrocities against the Rohingya.

The United Nations fact-finding mission concluded in 2018 that the military actions included acts amounting to genocide, but the United States, despite two reviews in 2018 and 2020 during the Donald Trump administration, failed to reach a conclusion. Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the Myanmar military's atrocities as 'ethnic cleansing,' a euphemism that lacks a legal definition under international criminal law.

This genocide designation does not immediately lead to punitive measures by the United States. However, it is expected to increase international pressure on the Myanmar military. A senior State Department official stated, "It will become more difficult for the Myanmar military to continue abuses against the Rohingya."

The Rohingya massacre case is currently being tried at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the International Criminal Court (ICC) is also investigating the expulsion of the Rohingya.

So far, the U.S. State Department has designated genocides in Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq, Sudan's Darfur, and the Islamic State (IS) massacres. Recently, it designated China's oppression of the Xinjiang Uighurs as the sixth genocide, causing conflicts with China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.