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“The lesson of history is that genocide is not an event like a bolt of lightning. It is a process, one that starts with hate speech and the politics of exclusion, then moves to legal discrimination, then the policies of removal and then finally to a sustained drive to physical extermination.”

Fareed Khan, spokesman for the Rohingya Human Rights Network, said in a statement that the report is far from perfect but he praised Rae for raising the possibility of a genocide in progress. He called the report “a solid foundation on which Canada can base its long-term approach to addressing the crisis, including bringing to justice Myanmar leaders who have committed crimes against humanity and genocide.”

Rae said at the news conference he wasn’t interested in an academic debate about whether genocide is occurring, but said the current crises “has very disturbing echoes of what has happened elsewhere in history, and we need to listen to those echoes.”

In the meantime, Rae says Canada needs to do more help refugees, including those in the region and those who might be able to find sanctuary elsewhere, and it needs to commit to a longer-term humanitarian strategy for the region, as it has in Syria and Iraq. Canada also needs to deepen its commitment to human rights on the ground, by protecting women and girls.

Aid agencies and rights groups welcomed the report because it showed the government specific areas where Canada can lead.

David Morley, president of UNICEF Canada said hundreds of thousands of children are at risk and they must be educated because “educating children in times of crises is key to helping them contribute to peace.”