US to declare Rohingya repression in Myanmar a ‘genocide’

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the Biden administration intends to declare that Myanmar’s years-long repression of the Rohingya Muslim population is a “genocide.” Two officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to announce the long-anticipated designation on Monday at an event at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The designation does not in and of itself portend drastic new measures against Myanmar’s military-led government, which has already been hit with multiple layers of U.S. sanctions since the campaign against the Rohingya began in western Rakhine state in 2017. But it could lead to additional international pressure on the government, which is already facing accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.