In March 2022, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken officially declared the violent persecution of the largely Muslim Rohingya population in Myanmar as genocide.
This is only the 8th instance since the Holocaust that the U.S. has declared the crime of genocide. In a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Blinken stated that this determination was due to Myanmar’s military brutal and systematic persecution of the ethnic minority, including confirmed accounts of mass atrocities on civilians.
The declaration was celebrated by human rights groups as they emphasized the necessity of the determination to be followed by concrete actions to seek justice and hold the Burmese military accountable for their crimes.
Bliken echoed this goal stating, “As we lay the foundation for future accountability, we’re also working to stop the military’s ongoing atrocities, and support the people of Burma as they strive to put the country back on the path to democracy.”