US Says That Rohingya Persecution Does Not Constitute Genocide

Less than a week after the United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the Islamic State (IS) committed genocide against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria, the State Department has determined that Myanmar's persecution of its Rohingya Muslim minority does not qualify for genocide.

In a report to Congress seen by Reuters, the State Department said the U.S. government is "gravely concerned" about abuses against the Rohingya, but did not determine that they constitute mass atrocities.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is undergoing a transition from military rule to a government headed by democratic reformist Aung San Suu Kyi. It is reported that her government has lead to a slowdown in the number of migrants fleeing to Thailand and beyond in order to escape Buddhist extremists.

The Rohingya are Muslims from the Rakhine State in Myanmar. There is a dispute over their exact origins, with some saying they are native to Rakhine and others saying they migrated during the British rule of Burma, which lasted from 1824-1948.

There are roughly 1.33 million Rohingya in the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. They are considered stateless, since a law passed in 1982 excluded them from citizenship.

Congress passed legislation last year directing Kerry to consult with governments and rights organizations and report to lawmakers on whether these extremists had committed atrocities against the Rohingya.

In a report that addressed concerns of genocide committed by both IS and Myanmar, Kerry stated that the U.S. remains "concerned about current acts that constitute persecution of and discrimination against members of the Rohingya population in Burma."

US says Myanmar is persecuting #Rohingya Muslims but not on the level of mass atrocities https://t.co/TIq6FH8B54 pic.twitter.com/kzvMObcJCQ

— Pichayada P. (@PichayadaCNA) March 22, 2016

The decision comes during a heated political season which has seen xenophobic rhetoric from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, who has proposed a ban on Muslims from entering the U.S.

It called on the government of Myanmar "to pursue comprehensive and just solutions," including addressing human rights abuses, upholding rule of law, allowing access by aid groups and developing a path to citizenship or restoring citizenship to stateless people, including Rohingya.