House of Commons unanimously votes to call Myanmar Rohingya killings a genocide

In a rare show of unanimity, MPs on Thursday agreed to call the campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya in Myanmar an act of genocide.

Liberal MP Andrew Leslie, who is parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, rose following question period to present a motion asking for unanimous consent among MPs from all parties to recognize as a genocide the killings, which began last summer, and to call for the generals and leaders responsible to be prosecuted for the crime under international law.

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More than 900,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017.

The Rohingya are an ethnic minority in Myanmar who have been the target of a campaign of systemic rape and murder led by the Myanmar military.

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Aung San Suu Kyi, who holds a position equivalent to prime minister in the country, has consistently failed to stop the violence.

She holds Canadian citizenship.

Last year, the United Nations recognized the campaign of violence against the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing.

The decision by the House of Commons comes after the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar told the Human Rights Council earlier this year she believed the crimes amount to genocide.