The Biden administration intends to declare that the years-long persecution of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim population is in fact "genocide."
According to the Associated Press, Secretary of State Anthony Blankenship plans to make a long-awaited announcement Monday during a ceremony at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the move was not made public.
The move does not signal a new crackdown on Myanmar's military government, which has been under US sanctions since the start of a campaign against the Rohingya ethnic minority in the western state of Rakhine in 2017.
However, the US government's announcement could put additional international pressure on the Myanmar government, which is already facing genocide charges in the International Court of Justice.
On the other hand, human rights groups and lawmakers are working together to pressure the Trump and Biden administrations to take action.
Welcoming the expected announcement, Congressman Jeff Merkel said, "I commend the Biden administration for finally recognizing the atrocities against the Rohingya as genocide."
In a statement issued shortly after the State Department's announcement, Blanken Hearer will express his views on the atrocities at the Holocaust Museum in Myanmar and visit the exhibition entitled "The Myanmar Race Way". Will
The humanitarian group Refugees International also welcomed the move, saying "the announcement of the recognition of genocide by the United States is welcome. It is also a concrete sign of the commitment to justice for all those who are still facing atrocities at the hands of the military government. "
It should be noted that since August 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the Buddhist-majority country and moved to refugee camps in Bangladesh.
