The United States is set to declare that the military junta regime in Myanmar perpetrated genocide against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Media has reported fficial sources from within the Biden administration saying that the repression unfolding against the country’s Muslim population since at least 2016 by the Burmese military that ousted the Aung Suu Kyi-led National Unity Government in February 2021.
The announcement will be made by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during an event at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. The designation does not necessarily mean that the U.S. will take further measures against the military regime which already faces multiple sanctions by the country. The military regime which prevented the government elected in November 2020 from assuming power in February 2021 is also facing a crimes against humanity case in the International Court of Justice.
US Senator (Democrat) Jeff Merkley said: “While this determination is long overdue, it is nevertheless a powerful and critically important step in holding this brutal regime to account”, adding: “Such processes must always be carried out objectively, consistently, and in a way that transcends geopolitical considerations.”
Merkley also called for additional sanctions on Myanmar’s oil and gas industry.
The military leader of the junta, Sr. General Min Aung Hlaing, was not invited to a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held on October 2021, in what was seen as the result of international pressure upon the bloc. Since 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar, escaping to countries like Bangladesh and India, among others.
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