[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 105 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 105
Condemning the coup in Burma and calling for measures to ensure the
safety of the Burmese people, including Rohingya, who have been
threatened and displaced by a campaign of genocide conducted by the
Burmese military.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 11, 2021
Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Young, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Collins, Mr.
Coons, Ms. Warren, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr.
Brown, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Cantwell, Mr.
Van Hollen, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Warner, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rosen, and Mrs.
Shaheen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the coup in Burma and calling for measures to ensure the
safety of the Burmese people, including Rohingya, who have been
threatened and displaced by a campaign of genocide conducted by the
Burmese military.
Whereas, on February 1, 2021, the Government of Burma was overthrown by the
Burmese army, or Tatmadaw, returning the same army responsible for the
genocidal military campaign against the Rohingya people to a greater
position of power and authority, at least temporarily;
Whereas the hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens who have taken peacefully
to the streets to protest the coup have been met with increasingly
brutal displays of force by the Tatmadaw and the Myanmar Police Force,
and over 50 citizens have been killed to date;
Whereas, since the February 2021 coup, the Tatmadaw-enforced media and
communications blackouts and travel limits are limiting the ability of
journalists and humanitarian actors to provide services or monitor the
safety and security of people across Burma, including approximately
600,000 Rohingya remaining in Rakhine State;
Whereas media reports that the Burmese military have recently blocked shipments
of humanitarian assistance intended for persons displaced by the ongoing
offensive and militarization in the ethnic states;
Whereas recently announced United States sanctions target Tatmadaw actors
specifically for their role in the coup, but ethnic minorities living
within Burmese borders have suffered a wide range of systematic abuse
and discrimination for many years;
Whereas, since August 25, 2017, approximately 740,000 Rohingya have fled from
Burma to escape the Burmese military and security force's well-
documented and systematic campaign of persecution and atrocities;
Whereas most of the Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, resulting in the
creation of the world's largest and most densely populated refugee camp,
while others escaped to India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other parts of
South and Southeast Asia;
Whereas, on December 3, 2018, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
concluded that ``there is compelling evidence that the Burmese military
committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide
against the Rohingya'';
Whereas the May 2019 Amnesty International report on war crimes in Rakhine State
outlines continued human rights violations, including ``indiscriminate
attacks'' on civilians, and expresses alarm about the impact of
continued fighting on the food security of Rakhine State;
Whereas then-United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Zeid Ra`ad al-Hussein
testified that the Tatmadaw's brutal campaign against the Rohingya was a
``textbook example of ethnic cleansing'' and ``without regard for basic
principles of international law'';
Whereas, in his nomination hearing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated
that he would oversee an interagency review to determine whether Burma's
crimes against the Rohingya amount to genocide;
Whereas, after many years of hosting hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees
while bearing other internal challenges, media report that the
Government of Bangladesh is growing weary of hosting the Rohingya,
building new barriers to restrict the ability for Rohingyas to work,
access education, buy SIM cards, learn the local language, exercise
their right to freedom of expression, including peaceful assembly, or
move freely;
Whereas, in a step toward reducing the refugee population on the mainland, the
Government of Bangladesh has relocated over 10,000 Rohingya from Cox's
Bazar to Bhasan Char, a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, but has
denied the United Nations access to the island and the ability to
undertake independent technical and protection assessments to verify
whether the island is safe and habitable to host this vulnerable
population;
Whereas it has not been verified that Rohingya refugees' ongoing relocation to
Bhasan Char is fully informed and voluntary, as required under
international law;
Whereas the United Nations Refugee Agency reports that 2,400 Rohingya refugees
chose dangerous boat journeys to escape their limited futures in
Bangladesh over the last year, leading to at least 200 deaths and
missing persons;
Whereas efforts to force the return to Burma of more than 800,000 Rohingya
refugees now living in Bangladesh would constitute a gross violation of
international human rights law and would come at increased risk during
this time of political instability and military rule;
Whereas the fundamental operational principles of voluntary repatriation must be
based on informed consent, legal and physical safety, dignity, and the
absence of any form of coercion, economic or otherwise, as well as the
full protection of the returnees' human rights, including the right to
restore their citizenship status in Burma;
Whereas approximately 236,000 Rohingya refugees returned to Burma from
Bangladesh under the terms of a 1992 agreement after a previous bout of
violence against the Rohingya forced them to flee, only to face
continued denial of restoration of their citizenship, prejudice,
violence, and persecution, and in many instances forced to live in
internally displaced persons camps with their freedom of movement
restricted;
Whereas Burma's 1982 citizenship law stripped Rohingya of their Burmese
citizenship, rendering them stateless;
Whereas the Government of Burma continues to systematically discriminate against
the Rohingya people, including by restricting registration of Rohingya
births and denying them freedom of movement as well as access to
healthcare, land, education, marriage, voting rights, and political
participation;
Whereas, on November 23, 2017, the Government of Burma and the Government of
Bangladesh signed an agreement, known as the ``Arrangement'', on the
return of displaced persons from Rakhine State, which is modeled after
the 1992 repatriation agreement between Burma and Bangladesh;
Whereas the Arrangement includes references to restoring normalcy and human
rights in Rakhine State, ensuring refugee returns comply with
international standards of safety, dignity, and voluntariness, and
commencing a process to address root causes in line with the Rakhine
Advisory Commission recommendations;
Whereas Rohingya refugees currently hosted in Bangladesh demonstrated in protest
against an initial November 2018 repatriation plan between the
Governments of Bangladesh and Burma, citing concerns for their security
and the lack of meaningful political reforms in Burma to include
restoration of their full citizenship; and
Whereas, following the 2021 coup, human rights groups, humanitarian actors, and
refugees in Cox's Bazar continue to express grave concerns about the
heightened risk for a renewed campaign of genocide in Burma, calling for
a halt to any efforts to move or adjust the status of any Rohingya
persons: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the February 1, 2021, military coup that
deposed an elected government and cast a pall over years of
hope, investment, and progress toward a more democratic and
free Burma;
(2) expresses deep concern for the safety and security of
the hundreds of thousands of Burmese people who have taken to
the streets to protest the coup, and condemns the Tatmadaw and
the Myanmar Police Force for their acts of terrorism against
Burma's civilian populations;
(3) calls on Burmese authorities to allow journalists,
human rights organizations, United Nations monitors, and
humanitarian actors full and safe access to every part of the
country, including Rakhine State, to ensure that humanitarian
needs of all internally displaced persons are being met and
that human rights of every population in Burma, including
ethnic minorities, can be monitored and protected;
(4) asks the governments of countries neighboring Burma,
including Bangladesh and Thailand, to provide immediate, direct
cross-border assistance to adequately address humanitarian
needs of all refugees suffering from ongoing Burma Army
militarization and offensives;
(5) welcomes steps by the Government of Bangladesh and
other neighboring states to receive Rohingya refugees, but
raises substantial concern regarding reports of refugees being
turned away or moved into holding centers, as well as for the
health and safety of all refugees, including those currently
living in camps at Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char;
(6) appeals to Bangladesh and other countries in the region
to commit to providing safe harbor for Rohingya refugees, until
their human rights, including their right to restoration of
full citizenship, can be guaranteed;
(7) calls on international organizations and all host
governments, including the Government of Bangladesh, to ensure
improved access for Rohingya refugees to basic services,
education, and livelihood opportunities;
(8) asks the Government of Bangladesh to allow the
international community, including the United Nations and other
human rights and humanitarian actors, full and complete access
to all Rohingya in Bangladesh while refraining from any forced
relocation of Rohingya refugees into temporary settlements or
other ``model villages'';
(9) urges the Government of Bangladesh to grant the United
Nations access to conduct independent, comprehensive technical
and protection assessments of Bhasan Char and to verify that
any relocations of Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char are
voluntary and done with fully informed consent;
(10) encourages the Government of Bangladesh to guarantee
Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char freedom of movement, including
the right to choose to return to Cox's Bazar;
(11) commends the significant contributions of numerous
donor nations, including the United States, and encourages
donors to increase future investments to better meet the
significant humanitarian needs in Burma and Bangladesh, while
taking particular care to ensure that no donor funding supports
the Burmese military regime or individuals who supported or
benefited from the coup;
(12) affirms United States Government efforts to engage
regional partners, including the Association for Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), to coordinate pressure on Burma to end
all oppression of minority communities and address all related
human rights concerns;
(13) urges countries in the region to abide by commitments
made under regional declarations to provide assistance and safe
disembarkation to Rohingya and others stranded at sea;
(14) enjoins United States and multinational business that
have invested in Burma to discontinue investment in military-
owned businesses and State-owned enterprises that fund the
Tatmadaw and enable the oppression and mistreatment of the
Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in Burma; and
(15) urges the President of the United States--
(A) to fully investigate and continue to hold
accountable Burmese military leaders, including Senior
General Min Aung Hlaing, for gross violations of human
rights, war crimes, crimes against humanity, including
sexual and gender-based violence, or genocide;
(B) to suspend all political and financial support
to the State Administrative Council and the peace
process including to the Joint Peace Fund;
(C) to make a formal determination on behalf of the
United States designating the actions against the
Rohingya by the Burmese military as genocide;
(D) to advocate with counterparts from other donor
nations to reinstate all humanitarian aid for Burmese
refugees and internally displaced persons that can be
provided directly to those needing assistance without
passing funds through the army, government, or
military-owned enterprises; and
(E) to work with interagency partners to impose any
additional targeted sanctions through existing
authorities, including under the Global Magnitsky Human
Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of
Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656), the Burmese
Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-61;
50 U.S.C. 1701 note) and the Tom Lantos Block Burmese
JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008
(Public Law 110-286; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note), to prevent
further egregious violations of human rights against
ethnic minorities in Burma.
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