On the recordJune 20, 2018
I rise on World Refugee Day to draw attention to the plight of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Since October 2016, the Burmese military has targeted the Rohingya people with what the State Department has described as ethnic cleansing. Through interviews in refugee camps and other fact-finding missions, the U.N. Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights and multiple NGOs have documented a systematic campaign of mass rape, extrajudicial killings of young babies and children, brutal beatings, burning of entire villages, and other serious human rights violations. Mr. Speaker, 7,000 Rohingya were killed in the first month of the violence, while an estimated 700,000 have fled to Bangladesh. At the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, we have worked to bring attention to the sickening discrimination and mistreatment of the Rohingya. The oncoming monsoon season in Bangladesh will cause more difficulties for the Rohingya refugees. Congress must hold the Burmese military accountable for their actions and provide the necessary aid needed to meet this crisis. ____________________
