FILE PHOTO: The remains of a burned Rohingya village is seen in this aerial photograph near Maungdaw, north of Rakhine State, Myanmar September 27, 2017. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has not made a determination of “genocidal intent” for attacks on Rohingya in Myanmar for legal reasons, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

“It is a very specific legal designation. It is not one that is easily made. To the average person, of course these things are incredibly horrific and it seems we should just slap a label on something. Well, they’re complex legal designations that have legal meaning and weight in courts around the world,” said spokeswoman Heather Nauert.