Philippine president offers citizenship to Rohingya

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday offered Filipino citizenship to Rohingya refugees and reiterated his willingness to accept them into the country, a local news portal reported.

“I am willing to accept Rohingyas,” GMA News, an online portal, quoted Duterte as saying while he was addressing a convention in capital Manila.

Last April, Duterte also called the military crackdown on Rohingya community in Myanmar’s Rakhine State as “genocide” prompting strong criticism from Myanmar, it added, forcing him to issue an apology.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled "Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience."

Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.

The UN has also documented mass gang rapes, killings – including of infants and young children – brutal beatings and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity and genocidal intent.