A senior U.S. official said on Monday that resettlement in a third country is not the answer to the swelling tide of boat people in Southeast Asia and called for Myanmar to give citizenship to Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution there. Anne Richard, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for population, migration and refugees, said resettling all Rohingya refugees in the United States would entice others to leave their homeland.
“The answer to the issue is peace and stability and citizenship for the Rohingyas in Rakhine State, and that is the solution,” she said at the end of a three-day visit to Malaysia. “At the moment, there is tremendous persecution and oppression of the Rohingyas in Rakhine State. They do not have citizenship and we are concerned about their human rights,” she said.