US reiterates pursuing accountability for atrocities against Rohingya

WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (NNN-BSS) — The United States (US) reiterated to pursuing and demanding accountability for those responsible for the atrocities and other human rights abuses against Rohingyas.

“We recognize the need to address the root causes of this violence and hold perpetrators accountable to help prevent such atrocities from recurring,” US State Department said in a statement marking the fourth
anniversary of horrific ethnic cleansing against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State of Myanmar.

The US welcomes the inclusive path forward envisioned by the NUG and other pro-democracy groups in Myanmar and their pledge to reform the 1982 citizenship law, among other actions intended to protect the rights of Rohingya and members of other ethnic minority groups, said the statement.

“These steps will be necessary to safeguard the human rights and human dignity of all people in Myanmar, including Rohingya,” the State Department said.

The statement said The United States remembers the victims and recommits to pursuing and demanding accountability for those responsible for these atrocities and other human rights abuses, and seeking justice for victims.

The US will continue to promote justice for victims and accountability for those responsible for atrocities and other human rights abuses, it said.

“The brutality of the military’s atrocities on that day shocked the conscience of the international community – but we recognize the Rohingya had already suffered decades of grave human rights abuses, and that many of those abuses continue today,” it added.

Today, the statement said the same military leaders who perpetrated the Feb 1 coup are committing abuses against pro-democracy activists and members of ethnic and religious communities across the country.

“We have seen the same light infantry brigades that terrorized Rohingya communities in 2017 inflict brutal violence on pro-democracy protestors since the coup,” read the statement.

The coup and the brutality of the military’s subsequent crackdown have exacerbated the already precarious situation for vulnerable people across Myanmar, including Rohingya.

The United States continues to underscore the need for unhindered humanitarian access to all people requiring assistance in Myanmar.

At the launch of the 2021 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in May, the United States announced nearly $155 million in new assistance to sustain critical efforts to support Rohingya refugees and members of the host communities in Bangladesh and internally displaced Rohingya and other affected people in
Myanmar.

This new funding, which includes life-saving COVID assistance, brought the total US humanitarian aid for those affected by the crisis in Myanmar, Bangladesh and elsewhere in the region, to more than $1.3 billion – including more than $1.1 billion in Bangladesh and more than $238 million in Myanmar – since August 2017.

“We encourage other members of the international community to likewise support peace building and social cohesion work in Rakhine State, and to contribute to the Joint Response Plan,” said the statement.

Since Aug 25, 2017, Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and other rights groups dubbed as “genocide”.

In the last four years, not a single Rohingya went back to home although Myanmar agreed to take them back. — NNN-BSS