A senior US diplomat called on Myanmar Friday to grant its persecuted Rohingya minority citizenship rights as a way to help reduce the current exodus of migrants across the Bay of Bengal.

"They should have a path to citizenship," Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Yangon a day after talks with Myanmar leaders on the ongoing crisis, adding "the uncertainty that comes from not having any status is one of the things that may drive people to leave".