III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 250 

Condemning horrific acts of violence against Burma’s Rohingya population 

and calling on Aung San Suu Kyi to play an active role in ending 

this humanitarian tragedy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, and Mr. LEAHY) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning horrific acts of violence against Burma’s 

Rohingya population and calling on Aung San Suu Kyi 

to play an active role in ending this humanitarian tragedy. 

Whereas the Rohingya are one of Burma’s many ethnic minorities that have lived under military dictatorship for 

most of the last few decades; 

Whereas approximately 1,000,000 Rohingya live predominantly in Burma’s Rakhine State, where they have faced 

ongoing repression under the Burmese military, including 

the revocation of their citizenship, killings, and mass 

rape; 


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•SRES 250 IS 

Whereas there is historical animosity between the majority 

Buddhist population and the minority Rohingya, with 

many in the Buddhist majority seeing the Rohingya as 

illegal immigrants from across the border in Bangladesh 

despite generational roots; 

Whereas since 1999, the Department of State has regularly 

expressed concern over legal, economic, and social discrimination against Burma’s Rohingya population; 

Whereas an outbreak of communal violence in the Rakhine 

State in 2012 saw more than 100,000 displaced, and tens 

of thousands of Rohingya forced into squalid camps 

where travel was, and continues to be, restricted; 

Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human 

Rights in Burma reported ‘‘a long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya’’; 

Whereas Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest for her peaceful advocacy of democracy in Burma, 

and during those years she was awarded the Sakharov 

human rights prize from the European Parliament, the 

Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal 

of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal for her 

tireless struggle for democracy and human rights; 

Whereas in her 2012 Nobel lecture Aung San Suu Kyi made 

an impassioned appeal to the world— 

(1) not to forget those who are suffering ‘‘hunger, 

disease, displacement, joblessness, poverty, injustice, discrimination, prejudice, bigotry’’ and war; and 

(2) that ‘‘wherever suffering is ignored, there will be 

the seeds of conflict, for suffering degrades and embitters 

and enrages’’; 


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Whereas in a landmark election held in November 2015, 

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy 

won a landslide victory in the first national vote since 

Burma’s nominal transition to civilian authority, after 

which Aung San Suu Kyi was named State Counsellor, 

a role created for her that made her the country’s de 

facto leader; 

Whereas in August 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi helped to establish the high-level Advisory Commission on Rakhine 

State, which is headed by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in order to address the mistreatment of the Rohingya; 

Whereas in October 2016, attacks on border police outposts 

led to reports of horrific human rights abuses against the 

Rohingya in a brutal military crackdown; 

Whereas in December 2016, a letter to the United Nations 

Security Council, which was signed by 23 international 

activists, including more than a dozen fellow Nobel laureates, called out Aung San Suu Kyi for her silence on the 

treatment of the Rohingya; 

Whereas in February 2017, the United Nations Office of the 

High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report, 

finding that crimes against the Rohingya ‘‘seems to have 

been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very 

likely commission of crimes against humanity’’; 

Whereas in March 2017, the United Nations Human Rights 

Council adopted a resolution creating a Fact-Finding 

Mission to Myanmar to investigate allegations of human 

rights abuses against the Rohingya and issue a report by 

the following year; 


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Whereas in April 2017, Aung San Suu Kyi denied that ethnic 

cleansing had taken place against her country’s Rohingya 

minority despite widespread and reputable reporting of 

human rights abuses in Rakhine State; 

Whereas, on August 25, 2017, fighters from the small militant group the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army conducted surprise raids on 30 police stations and an army 

base in Rakhine State, in which more than 100 people 

died, including at least 10 policemen and many militants; 

Whereas the attack resulted in a brutal and methodical reprisal by the Burmese military on villages, with helicopters firing on civilians, the razing of villages with petrol bombs, and front line troops cutting off families’ escape routes; 

Whereas the assault caused more than 140,000 Rohingya to 

flee for Bangladesh and more than 30,000 Rohingya are 

estimated to be trapped in conflict zones in western 

Burma; 

Whereas United Nations field work and the delivery of vital 

supplies of food, water, and medicine were suspended by 

the Government of Burma due to security concerns, leaving thousands of Rohingya vulnerable amid the deadly 

outbreak of violence; and 

Whereas, on August 31, 2017, the United Nations Security 

Council met to discuss the violence against the Rohingya 

in Rakhine State: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns the violence and displacement in3 flicted on Burma’s Rohingya civilians; 


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1 (2) calls for an immediate halt to all hostilities 

2 by Burmese authorities; 

3 (3) condemns the attacks by the Arakan 

4 Rohingya Salvation Army militant group; 

5 (4) urges the Government of Burma to allow— 

6 (A) unrestricted access to the United Na7 tions Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar; and 

8 (B) the resumption of the delivery of field 

9 work and aid from critical humanitarian organi10 zations to help those displaced and injured and 

11 to monitor events in Rakhine State; 

12 (5) calls on the Government of Burma to imple13 ment the August 2017 recommendations of its Advi14 sory Commission on Rakhine State, including— 

15 (A) to end restrictions on the movement of 

16 the Rohingya; and 

17 (B) to provide the Rohingya with citizen18 ship; and 

19 (6) encourages Aung San Suu Kyi to live up to 

20 her inspiring words upon receiving the 2012 Nobel 

21 Peace Prize with respect to ethnic reconciliation in 

22 Burma and to address the historic and brutal re23 pression of the Rohingya in Rakhine State. 

Æ 


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