[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 9, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H3882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE PLIGHT OF THE ROHINGYA MUSLIMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Levin) for 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 
5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the unspeakable 
suffering of the Rohingya people. We must do all we can to shine a 
spotlight on their plight. Last night, the PBS NewsHour presented an 
hour-long documentary about the brutal campaign against the Rohingyas 
led by the Burmese military. At times it became intolerable to continue 
watching footage of young men being beaten, listening to the accounts 
of young girls and women being raped and killed, and seeing human 
remains shoved into mass graves.
  The facts are well known. Since August last year, nearly 700,000 
Rohingya Muslims have fled the violence in Myanmar to neighboring 
Bangladesh, where they are being housed in deplorable conditions and 
face an uncertain future. Some of the conversation lately has focused 
on returning the Rohingya Muslims to Burma, resettling them to a remote 
island or some third country. However, I believe the most pressing 
conversation today must be for the Burmese military and civilian 
government led by Aung San Suu Kyi to confront the issue head-on.
  The Burmese leadership must acknowledge ethnic cleansing and acts of 
genocide that have been inflicted on the Rohingya people. As recently 
as March, a senior Burmese official reportedly made a series of 
comments designed to deny or downplay any violence and atrocities 
against the Rohingya Muslims, saying the vast majority remain in Burma, 
and ``if it was genocide, they would all be driven out.''
  He went on to declare that the Burmese Government ``would like to 
have clear evidence'' of ethnic cleansing and genocide. That clear 
evidence already exists. Even as Burma has denied international 
investigators the ability to enter the country to gather evidence of 
such crimes, the United Nations' factfinding mission found ``concrete 
and overwhelming'' evidence of ``human rights violations of the most 
serious kind, in all likelihood amounting to crimes under international 
law.''
  The investigative team found widespread and systematic ``State-led 
violence'' and had ``numerous accounts of children and babies who were 
killed, boys arrested, and girls raped.''
  Various rationales have been suggested for the failures of the 
Burmese Government to acknowledge and act upon atrocities against 
Rohingya Muslims. It is said that Aung San Suu Kyi does not control the 
military and there is a danger that the military would use the present 
crisis as a way to dismantle the civilian government. It is said that 
the civilian government is working within a deep traditional bias 
against the Rohingyas, and some see them as illegal immigrants from 
Bangladesh.
  Others have suggested that pressure on the civilian government could 
lead to Burma moving closer to the Chinese. Still others point out that 
talks about the Rohingyas returning to Burma must be afforded time to 
work out, and the process has only begun.
  None of this--none of this--can undermine for a moment the realities 
of the persecution of the Rohingyas. The PBS documentary ``Myanmar's 
Killing Fields'' left no doubt about the extent and nature of the 
atrocities perpetrated against the Rohingyas. As a U.N. official has 
stated, it is ``a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.'' Until the 
Burmese civilian government and military openly acknowledge their role 
in these atrocities, protection and justice for the Rohingya Muslims 
will remain out of reach.
  There is an overriding need for the Burmese Government and the world 
to step up to the plight of the Rohingyas. Senator John McCain and 
Senator Dick Durbin introduced, on September 7, 2017, a resolution 
clearly addressing the plight of the Rohingyas. I introduced the same 
resolution 7 days later.
  Subsequent events have darkened still further the plight of the 
Rohingyas since then. While the basic message in the resolutions 
remains the same, it would be wise to update them and then that this 
entire issue be fully and directly addressed by the Congress.
  Bishop Desmond Tutu once said: ``If you are neutral in situations of 
injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.''
  The documentary on ``Frontline'' last night made it painfully clear 
that this Congress must not accept neutrality or any shade of it. We 
must stand tall on the side of justice.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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