[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6335-S6336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ROHINGYA CRISIS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Saturday, August 25, 2018, marked 1 year 
since the brutal attacks in Burma that sent more than 700,000 Rohingya 
fleeing for their lives to Bangladesh.
  Horrific stories were reported, including mass murder, rape, babies 
being thrown into fires, and entire villages razed to the ground at the 
hands of Burmese military officials. In Bangladesh, these desperate 
refugees joined hundreds of thousands of others who fled in waves of 
previous violence.
  The Rohingya sadly have a long history of being discriminated against 
and even violently attacked in Burma. In fact, UN Secretary General 
Antonio Gutteres said recently of the Rohingya, ``there is no 
population in the world that I have seen more discrimination against.'' 
While we have seen changes in Burma recently, the horrible treatment of 
ethnic minorities such as the Rohingya has continued.
  Saturday, August 25, 2018, is also the day we lost our Senate 
colleague, the great patriot, John McCain.
  John McCain and I historically partnered with Senators Feinstein and 
McConnell to renew sanctions against Burma until it released Aung San 
Suu Kyi and moved toward democracy. More recently, John McCain was the 
sponsor of bipartisan Senate legislation that would narrowly sanction 
those Burmese military officials response for the violence against the 
Rohingya. I was proud to join him in that effort. The bill has nearly 
two dozen cosponsors, Members from across the country and the political 
spectrum. We all recognize as John McCain did that, despite the 
historic changes in Burma, we must not allow the Burmese military to 
continue to act with impunity.
  We appreciate the efforts of our administration--humanitarian aid, 
sanctions on a few security officials and units, interviewing refugees 
and documenting crimes--but it is not enough, especially as Burmese 
officials continue to deny that any crimes took place and ignore calls 
of safe and voluntary repatriation and accountability. There are even 
reports that the Burmese military continues to bulldoze and overtake 
former Rohingya villages, as well as engage in attacks in Shan and 
Kachin State against other ethnic minorities.

[[Page S6336]]

  It is no wonder that the UN's Independent International Fact-Finding 
Mission on Myanmar reported recently that the Burmese military acted 
with ``genocidal intent''--genocide, not a term taken lightly and not a 
term applied often. This comes on the heels of reports by others, such 
as Fortify Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. 
Presented by the UN's Human Rights Council, the latest report is the 
result of interviews with nearly 900 witnesses, and it calls for the 
international community to act.
  Our State Department has similarly reported that the Burmese 
military's operations against the Rohingya were ``well-planned and 
coordinated,'' although I am disappointed that the Department stopped 
short of making a legal determination on the crimes.
  Senator McConnell continues to block any action on the late John 
McCain's bipartisan legislation.
  A year after the latest wave of violence, report after damning report 
documents the Burmese military's scorched-earth tactics. The 
international community calls for immediate action: accountability, 
humanitarian relief, conducive conditions in Burma for safe and 
voluntary repatriation.
  Congress has its hands tied by the majority leader.
  Like Senator McConnell, I have also been a big fan of Aung San Suu 
Kyi and had high hopes for her, and I recognize the near impossible 
position she is in with the Burmese military, but her blindness to the 
suffering of her own people, not to mention her defense of the absurd 
jailing of the two Reuters reporters, troubles me deeply. That is not 
the Aung San Suu Kyi that John McCain called his ``personal hero.''
  John McCain's bill is about ensuring that we hold the Burmese 
military accountable for its operations. I hope the majority leader 
will finally recognize that and allow this bipartisan bill to move.

                          ____________________