Michael Doyle | August 18 | Refugees International
WASHINGTON—Refugees International announced today that thirty-three legal and human rights experts, including former high-level State Department and White House officials, delivered a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to publicly determine that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya people.
Signatories to the letter include former U.S. Ambassadors-at-Large for War Crimes Issues David Scheffer and Stephen Rapp, former Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide Juan Mendez, and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power. The letter and full list of signatories can be found here.
“We fully recognize that the administration has condemned the massive assaults, particularly ethnic cleansing, against the Rohingya population and imposed economic sanctions on a number of Myanmar military leaders,” the experts write. “We now ask that you take a critical step to demonstrate American resolve in the face of such egregious crimes and thus help the Rohingya recover their rightful place in Myanmar society, including respect for their safety and political and religious rights.”
Originally published by Refugees International. Read the full letter here.