Burma’s Junta Committed Genocide Against Rohingya, US Declares

Rohingya refugee Dildar Begum, 30, recovers from her wounds along side her daughter Nurkalima, 10, at the Sadar city hospital on Sept. 15, 2017 in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

The United States has formally determined that the Burmese military committed genocide against the Rohingya in a “widespread and systematic” manner, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.

Blinken said in a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum that “beyond the Holocaust, the United States has concluded that genocide was committed seven times.”

“Today marks the eighth, as I have determined that members of the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya,” he said.

Blinken said the determination on Burma’s military was based on “a factual assessment and legal analysis prepared by the State Department, which included documentation by a range of independent, impartial sources, including human rights organizations” and fact-finding.

“The attack against Rohingya was widespread and systematic, which is crucial for reaching a determination of crimes against humanity,” he said.

“The evidence also points to a clear intent behind these mass atrocities—the intent to destroy Rohingya, in whole or in part.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on during a press conference in Geneva on Jan. 21, 2022. Alex Brandon/AFP via Getty Images

Ten Rohingya men with their hands bound kneel as members of Burmese security forces stand guard in Inn Din village, Sept. 2, 2017. Pictures reportedly later emerged of the same men’s bodies in a shallow grave, having been hacked and shot to death. File Photo/Reuters

The Rohingya have been denied citizenship in the country since a Burmese citizenship law was enacted in 1982. The United Nations said that more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh due to a military crackdown in 2017.

In February 2021, the military junta ousted an elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup, sparking widespread anti-coup protests in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

Citing a 2018 State Department report that surveyed more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, Blinken said that the findings demonstrate that the Burmese military’s abuses of the Rohingya “were not isolated cases.”

Three-quarters of those surveyed claimed to have witnessed the military kill someone and more than half witnessed acts of sexual violence. One in five witnessed a mass-casualty event, killing or injuring more than 100 people in a single incident.

“For those who did not realize it before the coup, the brutal violence that has followed has made clear that there is no one the Burmese military won’t come for. No one is safe from atrocities under its rule,” the top U.S. diplomat said.

Rohingya refugees make their way along a beach after arriving by boat at Shah Porir Dip, Bangladesh, on Sept. 14, 2017. Allison Joyce/Getty Images

This aerial photo taken on Oct. 29, 2021, shows smokes and fires from Thantlang, in Chin State, where more than 160 buildings were destroyed by shelling from Junta military troops, according to local media. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Blinken claimed that the military junta had committed killings, rape, and other atrocities against members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Burma for decades.

“Reports of these abuses are widespread; they’re well documented. They’ve occurred in states across Burma. That history, and the determination we’re making today, are fundamental to understanding Burma’s current crisis,” he added.

Blinken also announced a contribution of “nearly a million dollars in additional funding” to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Burma, which has been collecting evidence of the most serious international crimes in Burma since 2011.

The United States has also shared information with the Gambia in connection with a case it has filed against Burma at the International Court of Justice over the atrocities committed against Rohingya, he noted.