Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak out against the horrifying human rights abuses that our administration fails to confront. There are more than 1.3 million Rohingya refugees who have fled the genocide in Burma. About half a million were driven out by a deliberate, coordinated campaign by the Burmese state to destroy Rohingya villages. According to Human Rights Watch, refugees who arrived in Bangladesh in 2018 reported continued abuses by Burmese security forces, including killings, arson, enforced disappearances, extortion, severe restrictions on movement, and lack of food and healthcare. They also reported sexual violence and abduction of women and girls in villages and at checkpoints along the route to Bangladesh. Returnees to Myanmar faced arrest and torture by authorities. There are more than 128,000 Rohingya still in detention camps, where they have been confined since 2012. At its peak, Rohingya refugee resettlement in the United States was 2,573 refugees in fiscal year 2015. That number has dropped to just 207 in fiscal year 2019. We are supporting Rohingya refugees through funding programs in refugee camps, but we must do more and help them resettle here in the United States. ____________________”