Without using the word himself, Scot Marciel, the new US ambassador to Myanmar, said Muslims in Rakhine State have the right to use the word “Rohingya.”
“They get to choose what they want to be called,” he said in his first public remarks at Yangon’s American Center, reiterating the US stance that communities have a right to self-identify.
It was an interesting first speech for Marciel, who started in late March. Fielding questions from journalists and civil society and business interests, Marciel talked about the possibility of removing sanctions (under review), traffic in Yangon (bad), the peace process (important but Myanmar, not US, is running point) and whether the US will use Myanmar and not Burma (probably making the change to Myanmar after Aung San Suu Kyi’s comments about using either one, but Washington will make the decision).
The speech came weeks after nationalists protested outside the US embassy in Yangon after it used the word Rohingya in a statement, prompting Suu Kyi to reportedly ask Marciel not to do that any more.
While Marciel stood by the US position, he did so diplomatically, never uttering the controversial word himself and referring to “some communities” in Rakhine State when discussing the importance of intercommunal harmony.
Most of the Rohingya are confined to destitute camps and villages in Rakhine following Buddhist-Muslim violence in 2012.
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