[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 172 (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6797-S6799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis

  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Indiana for 
joining me on the floor today to raise awareness of the ethnic 
cleansing that has been occurring on the other side of our planet, 
ethnic cleansing by the Burmese military against the Rohingya Muslim 
minority.
  Just last week, together we sent a letter to U.N. Ambassador Nikki 
Haley. It was signed by 21 of our colleagues. It called for ``tangible 
actions against the Burmese government to end the violence, to help the 
Burmese people and make clear that there will be consequences for those 
who commit such atrocities against civilians.''
  I am pleased to partner with my colleague on this. I think he will 
share some remarks, and then I will follow up with some remarks of my 
own.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for his leadership on 
this issue. It has been a pleasure to lead a subcommittee in the 
Foreign Relations Committee with Senator Merkley. We have always worked 
in a constructive fashion on some consequential issues and none more 
consequential than the one before us today.
  With respect to the crisis in Burma, we recently met with the lead 
person on an international NGO who just returned from camps in 
Bangladesh. He briefed us on some of the horrible circumstances facing 
these individuals who have been forced out of Burma.
  This last Friday, as Senator Merkley indicated, we also led a letter 
to Ambassador Haley regarding the Burma crisis. I would also note that 
we had an important hearing on this topic yesterday in the full Foreign 
Relations Committee. I commend our leadership for putting that 
together.
  I want to share some of my thoughts about this crisis. Before I do, I 
would like to acknowledge folks back home in the State of Indiana. I 
happen to represent a significant number of Burmese Americans. These 
are patriotic fellow Hoosiers, who have played an instrumental role 
helping to educate me and members of my team on this crisis, and I am 
happy we can be responsive to their concerns.
  It is important for all Americans to understand what is happening in 
America and everything outside our shores. Burma is a country that 
doesn't typically capture the imagination or attention of people in the 
United States, but, right now, in light of this humanitarian crisis, it 
requires all of our attention.
  The Burmese military has conducted a deplorable campaign of violence 
against the Rohingya Muslim minority, including the systematic use of 
arson, murder, and rape. Our State Department tells us that nearly 300 
villages have been either partially or completely destroyed by fire 
just since August 25 of this year by the Burmese military. That is more 
than half of the approximately 470 Muslim villages in northern Rakhine 
State.
  Ambassador Haley has indicated that the Burmese military's actions 
constitute a sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic 
minority--ethnic cleansing. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights 
has referred to this situation as a textbook example of ethnic 
cleansing.
  We have seen more than 600,000, who are mostly of the Rohingya ethnic 
minority, flee the violence in the Rakhine State and seek refuge in 
Bangladesh. They travel on foot for days, carrying what they can of 
their belongings, carrying their young children. It is mostly women and 
children who make this trek. Upon arrival in Bangladesh, we have been 
briefed that many of them require immediate lifesaving assistance.
  To put this severity in some measure of context, yesterday, our 
Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development 
characterized the resulting population movement as ``almost 
unprecedented''--almost unprecedented--amidst all of the other 
challenges we have seen in recent years, including the migrant crisis 
coming out of the Middle East and across the shores of the 
Mediterranean. Some research suggests the refugee flow from Burma has 
been swifter than the exodus from Rwanda in 1994.
  Many Americans will say: You know, honestly, we have a lot of 
challenges in the world. Why should I care about this one? Well, here 
is why: In Burma, we see a group of people--the Rohingya--being 
systematically targeted because of their ethnicity. This, of course, 
runs afoul of our basic values, the principles upon which our country 
was founded. These principles inform the rules of the international 
order that has existed for some number of decades now. These rules are 
the mortar that holds the order together. We simply cannot allow 
certain rules of international behavior to be violated or that will 
encourage other bad actors, and they will continue to be undermined, 
thus, undermining our national interests.
  Recent history demonstrates that the systematic violation of 
fundamental human rights sooner or later engenders security threats to 
Americans, to our allies, and to our collective interests--think of 
Tunisia, think of Syria, think of the countries of Yemen or Nigeria. 
There are almost countless examples just in recent history where we 
have seen or are seeing right now the depravation of basic human 
rights. That, in turn, is undermining our values and our national 
interests.
  Let me apply this observation about the linkage between our values 
and our interests--not just domestically but internationally--to the 
situation in Burma. We know the past and present Burmese Governments 
have systematically deprived the Rohingya population of their most 
fundamental human rights. Not surprisingly, this has compelled a small 
number to join the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, ARSA.

  The most recent wave of ethnic cleansing began after ARSA conducted a 
coordinated attack on Burmese security outposts, and the Burmese 
military responded with disproportionate military actions and 
deplorable attacks on civilians.
  Here is a point the Burmese Government and the Burmese military must 
understand. By refusing to treat the Rohingyas as full, equal citizens 
and by attacking their own people who just want to live in peace, the 
Burmese military is only going to increase the number of Rohingyas who 
will be radicalized, exacerbating the very problem the Burmese military 
says it is trying to address. So this is not in Burma's interest. I 
can't emphasize that enough.
  Before the most recent iteration of this crisis, in December 2016, 
the International Crisis Group--an international nongovernmental 
organization--issued a report titled ``Myanmar: A New Muslim Insurgency 
in Rakhine State.'' The report said a number of things, among them that 
the ``continued use of disproportionate force that has driven tens of 
thousands from their homes or across the border to Bangladesh . . . 
could create conditions for further radicalizing sections of the 
Rohingya population that transnational jihadists could exploit.''
  As we saw in Syria--to choose just one comparative example--when the 
government fails to respect the basic human rights of their citizenry, 
then conflict ensues. It can lead to far wider radicalization. The 
conflict becomes a magnet, a magnet for international terrorists. It 
becomes a factory that creates more international terrorists.
  In short, when governments commit systematic and large-scale 
violence, oppression, and injustice against its own people, it creates 
a fertile ground for Islamist terrorist recruitment and radicalization. 
This is contrary to the interests of everyone, including the Burmese 
Government.
  Further, if left unaddressed, the humanitarian and security situation 
in Burma and Bangladesh will worsen and increasingly threaten regional 
stability and U.S. national security interests.
  The United States must continue to lead. There has to be an 
international response in Burma. We need other partners to step up and 
participate in that response, but the United States must continue to 
lead. Part of leading comes down to clarity. What do we want of the 
Burmese Government? I see at

[[Page S6798]]

least four things the Burmese Government must do.
  First, the Burmese Government and their military must immediately end 
its ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingyas. Second, the 
Burmese Government must address the root of this conflict by 
implementing the recommendations of a U.N. panel, the so-called 
Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. Third, the Burmese Government 
must permit safe access for journalists, for humanitarians, and for a 
United Nations fact-finding mission and all of their personnel so we 
can figure out precisely what is going on and who is responsible. 
Finally, the Burmese Government must facilitate the safe and voluntary 
return of all these individuals who have been displaced.
  When I leave the Senate floor today, I am scheduled to immediately 
visit with Burma's Ambassador to the United States. The points I just 
mentioned are points I intend to reiterate directly to that Ambassador.
  Moving forward, the United States should lead efforts to document 
atrocities in Burma however we can so the perpetrators can be held 
accountable. I also support the administration's announcement yesterday 
that it is exploring accountability mechanisms that are already 
available under U.S. law, including the so-called Global Magnitsky 
targeted sanctions.
  I call on countries like China and Russia to support the suspension 
of all international weapons sales to the Burmese military. They should 
not be transferring weapons to this murderous regime.
  In conclusion, as Senator Merkley and I stated in our letter on 
Friday to Ambassador Haley, now is the time. Now is the time to take 
bold and effective actions against the Burmese Government to end the 
violence, not just to help the Burmese people but to help stabilize the 
region and protect U.S. national security interests. Now is the time to 
uphold our fundamental values, the values, frankly, of civilized 
nations. Now is the time to work with this administration and 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make sure we can reach as 
peaceful and as positive a resolution to this horrible situation as 
possible.
  I want to close by once again acknowledging the tremendous leadership 
of Senator Merkley. I thank him for his partnership in this effort.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I appreciate the comments of my colleague 
and the opportunity for us to work together to help shine a light on 
this moment of great atrocities in the world. A great deal of what we 
are calling for is for America to do more to shine a light on it and 
for the world to work together, not just to shine a light on it but to 
end it and to proceed to have as much healing as can possibly take 
place.
  I thank my colleague from Indiana for being deeply in this 
conversation. It is a real pleasure to work on the Foreign Relations 
Committee together.
  We must address this situation. According to a report from the U.N. 
High Commissioner for Human Rights, ``government forces and Buddhist 
extremists in Burma have carried out `a well-organized, coordinated and 
systematic' campaign of human rights violations against the Muslim 
Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine State,'' with a strategy to ``instill 
deep and widespread fear and trauma--physical, emotional and 
psychological--among the Rohingya population.'' This comes after the 
commissioner's statement that this ``security operation,'' as they 
refer to it, in Burma was ``a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.''
  As we ponder international relations, we see from time to time that 
one group, somewhere in the world, will respond to deep tribal impulses 
and prejudices and seek to wipe out another group. These are horrific 
moments in history, and we have seen this movie--this situation--occur 
time and again. After such atrocities, the world has said ``never 
again''--``never again,'' meaning that we will respond when we see this 
happening. We will apply great pressure. We will coordinate with the 
world to make sure it stops, because such effort to wipe out another 
ethnic group is so unacceptable and it is such a crime against 
humanity.
  But here we are, and it is happening right now in Burma. It is 
happening with a Buddhist nation.
  We normally associate the Buddhist religion with a main emphasis on 
peaceful conduct. Yet this tribal impulse--these deep prejudices are so 
powerful that they overcome whatever peaceful impulse there is, and 
they have resulted in a massive effort to wipe out the Rohingya people. 
In the course, there have been a massive number of rapes. There have 
been children killed right in front of their mothers. There have been 
villages surrounded by soldiers and then the village huts set on fire, 
and then they have been shot as they flee. This is about as inhumane as 
it can get.
  Something close to 300 villages have burned to the ground. By some 
estimates, 3,000 civilians have been killed. A few weeks ago, we were 
talking about 400,000 refugees pouring into Bangladesh. Now, the number 
is 600,000 Rohingya refugees.
  Roughly half the Rohingyas live in Burma, and those refugees include 
300,000 children. Think about the type of trauma those children have 
just experienced and the challenges they will have regaining a 
foundation to thrive. Then there are those who are internally displaced 
inside of Burma, who have been driven out of their villages but haven't 
been able to make their way to Bangladesh. This is the challenge we 
face.
  There is an area of Bangladesh called Cox's Bazar. That is where 
these two main refugee camps are. International aid groups are working 
to quickly get as many resources as they can into this area so that 
people do not starve and so that medical wounds can be addressed. But 
there is still a significant lack of food, a lack of clean water, and a 
lack of sanitary bath and toilet facilities. That condition is ripe for 
spreading disease--diseases like cholera.
  When I was home in Oregon, I met with a group of Rohingya refugees 
who came and settled in Oregon. As we can imagine, they have a very 
personal connection to what is happening. Some of them have distant 
relatives still there. Some have immediate family members. They don't 
know exactly what has happened to everyone in the middle of this chaos.
  We also heard about villages that didn't get burned down but where 
the military was blockading people from leaving the village to go to 
the fields to secure food and blocking them from leaving the fields and 
going back into the village, probably responding to international 
outrage over villages being burned and essentially resorting to a 
strategy of starving out the villages to drive people away. Imagine 
being trapped in one of those villages, knowing what is happening to 
village after village after village, knowing children have been 
slaughtered, women have been raped and often killed, and men have been 
shot. The desperation is enormous.
  I heard firsthand accounts of conditions of refugees from Reza Uddin, 
who had just returned from a 2-week trip to visit them. He told 
powerful and moving stories about children who had been brutalized, 
children who had been separated from their parents, children who might 
possibly now be orphans because it is not clear if their parents are 
still alive or, if alive, where they are.
  The world collectively has not done enough. The community of nations 
has not done enough to address this unspeakable brutality. Bangladesh 
should be complimented for accepting these refugees fleeing for their 
lives. They have been cooperative. It is a challenge for them, and we 
should acknowledge that. We should continue to ask them to do 
everything possible and to give the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees 
and various aid organizations full opportunity, full access, and full 
authority to be in and assist those in these refugee camps.
  The United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations have 
condemned the actions of the Burmese, and that is certainly 
appropriate, but we haven't done enough. We have not taken the steps to 
which my colleague referred to strengthen sanctions or coordinate 
international countries to all weigh in. The only thing that will make 
a real difference here is pressure on the Burmese military. They are in 
charge. We can criticize the civilian government in Burma, and many 
have, and they have been unable to stop what

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is going on and sometimes often reflect the prejudices that contributed 
to this, but it is the military that makes the decisions.

  We had testimony from the State Department yesterday, and one of the 
officials used the term ``vigilantes'' for what the vigilantes are 
doing in this oppression. That is not the right term to use. This is 
not uncoordinated action. This is action coordinated through the 
military decision-making process. You don't surround camps, you don't 
have significant planning that goes into it, and have it just be 
vigilantes. Vigilantes may be involved, but they are not the driving 
force. They might be assisting the soldiers in some cases, but this is 
a coordinated act of the military of Burma, and it is important that 
the community of nations convey to the military how unacceptable this 
is and that there will be significant consequences.
  My colleague has referred to the fact that in this situation no 
military sales should be made to such a military. That is important, 
but that takes a conversation among nations, and the United States 
needs to be deeply engaged in this.
  There is a lot of international fundraising going on. There was a 
donors conference held on Monday to assist the refugees. It raised 
about $200 million or a little more in new funds. That is about $400 
per refugee. That is not nearly enough to provide for shelter or care 
in a situation with complete lack of access to fields or farming or 
support. It is going to take more than that. We should be involved in 
working with the United Nations, UNICEF, World Health, UNHCR, or the 
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and the World Food Program to step 
up and assist. I certainly believe it would be very helpful to have 
President Trump take this issue on and speak from the heart of our 
Nation to this dark and evil deed that is happening--that we reject it 
and we will partner with the rest of the world to end it.
  I do feel that there is a history in which we have helped lead 
nations in these situations. We haven't always been there. I know that 
President Clinton said that the biggest regret of his administration is 
that he didn't respond quickly in Central Africa when the Tutsis and 
Hutus went to battle against each other, slaughtering each other with 
machetes. This is a chance for us to really respond--to respond 
aggressively, to have that moral clarity, and to exercise that 
leadership in the world. I join my colleague in calling for such action 
for more assistance, with the aid to both Burma and Bangladesh, for the 
moral clarity to take action that pressures the Burmese military in a 
significant and compelling way and to provide assistance in the right 
of return--the ability of these individuals to be able to return to 
their villages.
  Traditionally, this group has been denied citizenship. Early on, we 
heard from the civilian government in Burma: We will let them come back 
if they show they are citizens. No. 1, they have never been granted 
citizenship. No. 2, after a horrific situation like this, if they did 
have papers, they wouldn't have papers now. They would have been burned 
along with the villages. There needs to be a change in attitude, a 
change of heart among the Burmese civilian leadership, and certainly 
among the military, to lead an effort in the peaceful tradition, the 
Buddhist tradition, of embracing this diversity and returning these 
people to their land.
  Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan now serves as chairman of 
the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. He and his team have laid out 
a report with very specific actions--actions that will help end the 
cycle of radicalization and the cycle of violence. We need to work to 
try to make sure those things are implemented, to show oppressive 
governments and the rest of the world that the world will not stand--
that the world will respond, and respond aggressively, in a 
coordinated, forceful way when ethnic cleansing occurs. That is the 
best deterrent we could have for future atrocities.
  Again, I thank my colleague for being in this dialogue and for his 
support to shine this light and to take a compelling more forceful 
action. Like him, I look forward to meeting with the Ambassador from 
Burma later today.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Rounds). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.