U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed a pledge by a shadow government in Myanmar to address discrimination and human rights abuses against minority Rohingya Muslims.

Blinken said in a tweet Sunday that the pledge by the National Unity Government (NUG) is “an important signal to all those working for an inclusive, democratic future.”

The NUG, set up by a group of ousted lawmakers in Myanmar, called last week for the Rohingya to help it overthrow the military government, promising the group citizenship in a future democratic state.

“We invite Rohingyas to join hands with us and with others to participate in this Spring Revolution against the military dictatorship,” the group said in a statement.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 1 coup, overthrowing a democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

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A local monitoring group says security forces have killed at least 800 protesters and bystanders since the coup. Military leaders dispute the figures.

The military government has labeled members of the NUG shadow government as terrorists. The NUG is made up of ousted lawmakers, mostly from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

The NUG has promised to repeal a 1982 law that denies citizenship to most Rohingya, and it said it was committed to repatriating more than 740,000 Rohingya who have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

Muhammed Taher, a Rohingya teacher living in a Bangladesh refugee camp, told the VOA Rohingya Lifeline program that he welcomes the NUG’s comments and that he is thankful the shadow government used the term “Rohingya” in its statement. Myanmar’s government has generally avoided using the term, referring to the group as “Muslims living in Rakhine” state.

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