As Reuters reported on 21 March 2022, the US government has officially declared that violence committed against the Rohingya minority by Myanmar's armed forces does amount to
genocide and crimes against humanity.
World Watch Research analyst Thomas Muller comments: "This declaration has been long-awaited by a broad coalition of human rights groups. However, it refers to events that took place several years ago and its immediate consequences are not clear. In general, the media coverage of the current war in Ukraine has pushed all other scenes of conflict out of the spotlight. Meanwhile, the military regime ruling Myanmar since 2021 continues to attack all forms of opposition, supported by hardline Buddhist monks, e.g. from the largely defunct Ma Ba Tha organization. Reports indicate that some of these monks have even been
taking up arms, as Radio Free Asia reported on 14 March 2022."
Thomas Muller continues: "The 2019 investigation focusing on the Rohingya, which was carried out by the
International Fact-Finding Mission of the UN, had already found hints of systematic attacks being carried out against Christians. However, the current conflict is far broader and is disproportionately
affecting Christian communities in Chin, Kachin, Karen and Kayah states as well as in the Sagaing region (UCA News, 24 March 2022). In Kayin State, at the Thai border, 10,000 people are internally displaced. In all these places, it is becoming more and more challenging to receive news, as the regime cracks down on
reporters (Radio Free Asia, 29 March 2022)."
