US House of Representatives calls Myanmar crimes against Rohingya are genocide

"The Burmese military and security forces have unleashed a targeted campaign against the Rohingya people – killing unarmed civilians, raping women and children, burning down villages, and planting landmines along border areas transited by refugees fleeing for their lives," read an official statement.

"The House of Representatives took a stand by passing H. Res. 1091, declaring these crimes genocide," it said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) said in a statement: "With this resolution, the House will take the important step of naming the atrocities committed against the Rohingya people in Burma what they are: genocide."

The Rohingya people, predominantly of Burma’s Rakhine state, are often called the world’s most persecuted minority.

"The Rohingya are essentially stateless people, as the Burmese government refuses to recognize them as citizens – despite the fact that the Rohingya people have lived in Burma for generations,"Ed Royce said.

He said: "The most recent wave of persecution began in August of 2017, when Burmese security forces and civilian mobs began a horrific wave of attacks. Mass murder, rape and destruction of villages throughout Rakhine State has been documented.

These atrocities have driven more than 700,000 Rohingya from their homes to Bangladesh, bringing the total Rohingya refugee population there to nearly a million."

He said the State Department’s investigation revealed 'countless heart-wrenching pieces of evidence', like the account of one woman who hid in bushes as she watched Burmese soldiers throw infants and toddlers into a river to drown and shot their mothers who tried to save them.

He said: "The United States has a moral obligation to call these crimes genocide. Failing to do so gives the perpetrators cover and hinders efforts to bring those accountable to justice. With this resolution, the House fulfills its part of that duty."

Image: UN website