Canada declares Burma Rohingya killings ‘genocide’

Canadian lawmakers have unanimously voted to declare crimes committed against Rohingya Muslims by the Burmese (Myanmar) military to be genocide.

The House of Commons endorsed on Thursday the findings of a UN fact-finding mission on Burma that found “crimes against humanity have been committed against the Rohingya” and that these acts were sanctioned by top Burmese military commanders.

In a motion, Canadian lawmakers said they “recognise that these crimes against the Rohingya constitute genocide”.

Rights organisations have accused Burmese military of committing extrajudicial killings, gang rape, and arson during their bloody campaign launched in August last year after army posts came under attack from Rohingya rebels.

More than 700,000 Rohingya people have forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they now live in cramped refugee camps.

They also urged the UN Security Council to refer the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC), while also calling for Burma’s generals to be investigated and prosecuted “for the crime of genocide”.

“I want to underscore how tragic, how horrific the crimes against the Rohingya are,” Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said. “We are leading an international effort for justice and accountability for the Rohingya.”

Read more from Source: Al Jazeera