[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 82 (Thursday, May 27, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3874]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                  ROHINGYA: BURMA'S FORGOTTEN MINORITY

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the ongoing abuses and tragedies in Burma are 
almost unfathomable. The brutal and cruel military dictators 
systematically oppress and exploit the ethnic minorities in Burma, and 
they are denied the basic and fundamental rights that belong to every 
human being.
  Among the minorities most deprived of such rights is the Rohingya, a 
Muslim minority in western Burma. The Rohingya people are denied 
citizenship, freedom of movement, college education, and even marriage. 
They need permission just to leave their villages and are prohibited 
from traveling beyond a particular region of the country. The tactics 
of rape, forced labor, torture, land seizures, arbitrary arrests, and 
extortion are also used to repress them. As a result, 1.5 million 
Rohingya have fled to surrounding countries.
  I met with a representative of the Rohingya recently; and his request 
was, Please speak up for us, we are people too. For the Rohingya and 
for all the ethnic minorities and suffering people of Burma who are 
victims of this cruel dictatorship, we must speak out against their 
horrific abuses. Our government, the U.N., and ASEAN should speak up as 
well.

                          ____________________