Canada parliament declares Rohingya killings as genocide

Canada's Parliament on Thursday unanimously adopted a motion declaring crimes committed against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar to be genocide.

The motion also endorsed the findings of a United Nations mission that outlined how crimes against humanity have been committed by the Myanmar military against Rohingya and other minorities.

In Washington, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland praised members of Parliament for passing the motion to recognise the "atrocity."

Human rights observers called the declaration a significant milestone.

Some 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh after a brutal counter-insurgency campaign by Myanmar security forces. The UN report alleged widespread rights violations, including rape, murder, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes and villages.

Myanmar denies any organised abuses.

The country's de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been widely criticised for failing to stop the violence.

Prominent public figures and politicians in Canada have called for Suu Kyi to be stripped of her honorary Canadian citizenship.