Bangladesh welcomes US declaration that Myanmar army committed genocide against Rohingya

The Bangladesh government has welcomed the US declaration that Myanmar's army committed genocide and crimes against humanity in its violence against the Rohingya minority.

Making the announcement on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attacks against Rohingya were "widespread and systematic" and that evidence pointed to a clear intent to destroy the mainly Muslim minority.

“We welcome this,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the media in Dhaka on Tuesday. “Although late, this is most welcome.”

A clear statement by the United States saying genocide was committed could bolster efforts to hold the Myanmar generals accountable and help prevent further atrocities, activists and US officials believe.

Myanmar's armed forces launched a military operation in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 of the mainly Muslim Rohingya from their homes and into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson.

In 2021, Myanmar's military seized power in a coup. Blinken warned that as long as the junta was in power nobody in the country would be safe.

Blinken's recognition of genocide and crimes against humanity refers mainly to events in 2017, before last year's coup. The step comes after two State Department examinations -- one initiated in 2018 and the other in 2020 -- failed to produce a determination.

Some former US officials told Reuters those were missed opportunities to send a firm message to the Myanmar generals who later seized power.

In the last days of the Donald Trump administration, some US officials urged then secretary of state Mike Pompeo to formally declare that the Myanmar military’s campaign against the Rohingya minority was a genocide. Pompeo never made that call. Less than two weeks after he left office on Jan 20, Myanmar’s generals seized power.

Advocates say Monday's declaration, which does not automatically unleash any punitive measures but carries political weight, could help judicial efforts worldwide to hold the junta accountable, but say more action needs to follow.

Momen also sees it as “good news” for Bangladesh because he believes more pressure from the US may settle the Rohingya repatriation issue. He urged Blinken to create more pressure on Myanmar to take back the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, besides holding the generals accountable for the atrocities against the Rohingya.

Momen blamed Myanmar for foiling Bangladesh’s efforts to send back the Rohingya intentionally.

“They [Myanmar] had said they would take back 11,000 people. Finally, they sent back a list of 700 people. And the list is defective,” he said, reiterating that the government will not force any Rohingya to go back.

He said scrutiny of the list by his colleagues revealed that Myanmar mostly put the name of one member of a family on it, but dropped the others. “The possibilities of their going back dropped when they divided the families.”

“They made the list in such a way that points to their ill motives and a lack of good will.”

[With details from Reuters]