[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 199 (Wednesday, December 6, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1663-E1664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONDEMNING ETHNIC CLEANSING OF ROHINGYA AND CALLING FOR AN END TO 
   ATTACKS IN AND AN IMMEDIATE RESTORATION OF HUMANITARIAN ACCESS TO 
                             RAKHINE, BURMA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 5, 2017

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support of 
House Concurrent Resolution 90 which condemns the attacks against 
civilians by Burma's (also known as Myanmar) security services and 
calls on Burma's Commander-in-Chief, Min Aung Hlaing, to end such 
attacks in the state of Rakhine.
  I share the sentiments of this Resolution that expresses appreciation 
for the government of Bangladesh for providing refuge to those fleeing 
violence.
  As the Resolution does, I, too, condemn the Arakan Rohingya Salvation 
Army attacks, but also warn that these attacks do not justify the 
response that has resulted in severe human rights violations and 
atrocities against civilians.
  Rightfully so, the Resolution calls on Burma's government and 
military and security forces to: (1) implement the recommendations of 
the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, and (2) allow humanitarian 
access to refugees and internally displaced persons.
  Further, the bill urges support and access for the United Nations 
Fact Finding Mission to Burma, and I strongly support that effort.
  The Resolution calls on Burma's military and government to allow 
refugees to return to Burma and to change laws and policies that have 
contributed to insecurity in the state of Rakhine.
  And last but not least, the Resolution calls on the President to 
impose sanctions on those responsible for human rights abuses, 
including members of Burma's military and security services.
  Over the past month, 436 thousand Rohingya have fled from their homes 
in Myanmar's western Rakhine State to neighboring Bangladesh.
  This is the second exodus of Rohingya, members of a Muslim ethnic 
minority, in the past year.
  The current exodus, like the previous one in October 2016 that led 87 
thousand to flee, is being driven by a brutal government crackdown 
following attacks by armed Rohingya.
  Despite calls from international rights groups for stronger action to 
stop the violence, there appears to be little appetite within the wider 
international community for more robust intervention.
  Permitting the current crisis to unfold, however, eats away at its 
credibility and threatens peace and stability in Southeast Asia.
  On August 25, militants attacked 30 police posts and an army base in 
northern Rakhine

[[Page E1664]]

State, killing ten police officers, a soldier, and an immigration 
official.
  Following this attack, the government designated the organization 
responsible, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), also known as 
Harakah al-Yaqin, a terrorist group.
  Security forces have responded with indiscriminate force against the 
Rohingya community.
  Shamefully, security forces have razed entire villages to the ground 
and have killed, tortured, and raped civilians.
  The United Nations has previously described the October 2016 violence 
against the Rohingya as ``crimes against humanity,'' and on September 
11 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, 
referred to the current situation as ``a textbook example of ethnic 
cleansing.''
  The government of Myanmar (also known as Burma) has denied these 
accusations.
  Instead, Myint Swe--a former chief of military intelligence--said 
that ``people from abroad have fabricated news claiming genocide.''
  I am all too familiar with the instance of a head of government 
denying his own shameful actions by blaming an imaginary fake news 
source.
  The Myanmar government insists it is only targeting ``terrorists.''
  With hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing, many of whom are 
women and children, the government's claim rings false.
  The UN estimates that children make up about 60 percent of the 
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
  Although Myanmar has refused to allow international fact-finding 
missions into the country, groups including the UN, Human Rights Watch, 
and Amnesty International, which interviewed Rohingya refugees in 
Bangladesh, have documented atrocities committed by security forces.
  I am proud to be on the right side of history today, standing here in 
Congress, to speak out on my support for these human rights 
organizations that fight against anti-democratic governments that would 
go as far as backing genocide.

                          ____________________