WASHINGTON: Six US Senators have urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to designate Pakistan and Myanmar as “countries of particular concern” for their alleged violation of religious freedom.

In a letter to Secretary Tillerson, posted on Oct 27, the senators said they were seeking Myanmar’s re-designation for “creating a staggering humanitarian disaster” by killing hundreds of Rohingya Muslims, which the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing.

They are seeking a similar designation for Pakistan because of its certain laws.

The letter has been signed by a bipartisan group of senators — Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio, Chris Coons, Todd Young, Jeff Merkley and James Lankford. The letter precedes the Nov 13 deadline before which the State Department needs to notify Congress on its ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC) designations.

The senators informed Mr Tillerson that the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has long recommended designating Pakistan a CPC. This year, the commission sought 16 designations but the State Department approved only 10. Pakistan was among the remaining six that were given an exemption.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2017