III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 376 

Urging the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh to ensure the safe, 

dignified, voluntary, and sustainable return of the Rohingya refugees 

who have been displaced by the campaign of ethnic cleansing conducted 

by the Burmese military. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 23, 2018 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. KAINE, Mr. MCCAIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. COONS, and Ms. 

SMITH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh to ensure 

the safe, dignified, voluntary, and sustainable return of 

the Rohingya refugees who have been displaced by the 

campaign of ethnic cleansing conducted by the Burmese 

military. 

Whereas, on August 25, 2017, attacks on security posts in 

Burma by the military group Arakan Rohingya Salvation 

Army resulted in a brutal, systematic, and disproportionate reprisal by the Burmese military and security 

forces on Rohingya villages in Rakhine State; 

Whereas more than 650,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to 

Bangladesh since the Burmese military commenced its 


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•SRES 376 IS 

scorched-earth campaign, with the burning of villages and 

local monuments, and reports of widespread gang rape, 

starvation, killing, and forcible deportation; 

Whereas the Government of Burma has consistently denied 

access to the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on 

Myanmar established to investigate human rights violations around the country; 

Whereas Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina proposed 

that ‘‘safe zones’’ be created inside Burma to protect all 

civilians irrespective of religion and ethnicity under 

United Nations (U.N.) supervision; 

Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s mandate is to provide, in collaboration 

with other actors, international protection to refugees 

and to assist them in finding durable solutions through 

voluntary repatriation, local integration, or resettlement; 

Whereas the U.N. General Assembly has repeatedly affirmed 

UNHCR’s function of facilitating the voluntary repatriation of refugees and, in recognition of the importance of 

sustainable return, has widened its mandate to include 

providing assistance for their rehabilitation and dealing 

with the consequences of their return; 

Whereas the fundamental operational principles of voluntary 

repatriation are safety, to include legal and physical safety, and dignity, to include treatment with respect and full 

acceptance by their national authorities, including the full 

restoration of refugees’ rights; 

Whereas, on November 23, 2017, the Government of Burma 

and the Government of Bangladesh signed an agreement, 

known as the ‘‘Arrangement’’, on the return of displaced 

persons from Rakhine State, which is modeled after the 


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1992 repatriation agreement between Burma and Bangladesh; 

Whereas the Arrangement includes references to restoring 

normalcy and human rights in Rakhine State, for refugee 

returns to comply with international standards of safety, 

dignity, and voluntariness, and to commencing a process 

to address root causes in line with the Rakhine Advisory 

Commission recommendations; 

Whereas approximately 236,000 Rohingya refugees returned 

to Burma under the terms of the 1992 agreement, only 

to continue to be denied citizenship, face prejudice, violence, and persecution, and in many instances be forced 

to live in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps with 

their freedom of movement restricted; 

Whereas Burma’s 1982 citizenship law stripped Rohingya of 

their Burmese citizenship, rendering them stateless; 

Whereas the Government of Burma continues to systematically discriminate against the Rohingya people, including 

by continuing to restrict registration of Rohingya births 

and to deny them freedom of movement, access to 

healthcare, land, education, marriage, voting rights, and 

political participation; 

Whereas the Government of Burma has repeatedly abused 

land use laws to unjustly seize land from Rohingya refugees; 

Whereas UNHCR is working closely with the Government of 

Bangladesh and partners to provide protection and assistance to the Rohingya refugees and to support the host 

populations affected by the influx; 


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Whereas the Government of Burma has not reached an 

agreement with UNHCR on its role in the safe, dignified, 

and voluntary return of Rakhine State refugees; 

Whereas Myanmar Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr. Win Myat Aye, on December 28, 2017, 

announced that the repatriation process will begin on 

January 22, 2018; 

Whereas there is concern that up to 100,000 Rohingya could 

be at risk of forced return into two ‘‘model villages’’ or 

supported by 1,200 tents provided by the Government of 

Burma, without assurances of their safety or details regarding long-term solutions to address root causes of 

Rohingya disenfranchisement; 

Whereas ‘‘model villages’’ and similar tactics in Burma dating back to colonial rule have been used to strategically 

shift population groups and deepen religious and cultural 

divides; 

Whereas, on December 12, 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe 

Oo, two journalists reporting and documenting atrocities 

against the Rohingya, were arrested and on January 10, 

2018, formally prosecuted with violating the ‘‘Official Secrets Act,’’ further risking Burma’s democratic transition; 

Whereas UNHCR, as of December 17, 2017, reports that 

conditions in Burma’s Rakhine State are not yet conducive to enable safe and sustainable return, as refugees 

continue to flee Rakhine State into neighboring Bangladesh; 

Whereas UNHCR reports that those who arrive have suffered 

immense violence and trauma in Burma, with some having witnessed the deaths of family members and friends 


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and most having little or nothing to return to, with their 

homes and villages destroyed; and 

Whereas there is concern that deep divisions between communities remain unaddressed and humanitarian access is inadequate: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns the violence and displacement in3 flicted on Burma’s Rohingya and other ethnic mi4 norities; 

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

6 by Burmese authorities; 

7 (3) condemns the attacks by the Arakan 

8 Rohingya Salvation Army militant group; 

9 (4) calls on the Government of Burma to allow 

10 full access to Rakhine State and ensure the full par11 ticipation of UNHCR, the internationally endorsed 

12 organization tasked with ensuring that refugee re13 turns are voluntary, safe, dignified, and meet inter14 national refugee and human rights standards, and 

15 that the voices of refugees are represented in order 

16 to ensure the sustainability of such returns and to 

17 prevent further waves of displacement; 

18 (5) commends the positive role of the Govern19 ment of Bangladesh in receiving Rohingya refugees 

20 to date and urges the Government of Bangladesh to 

21 continue allowing the full participation of UNHCR 


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1 and human rights organization in accessing refugee 

2 camps; 

3 (6) calls on UNHCR and international non4 governmental organizations to play a role in moni5 toring repatriation efforts by the Governments of 

6 Bangladesh and Burma to ensure a process that 

7 meets international norms for voluntary, safe, and 

8 dignified repatriation; 

9 (7) calls on the U.N. to consider the feasibility 

10 of Bangladesh’s proposal for a ‘‘safe zone’’ or for a 

11 peacekeeping mission to protect and defend vulner12 able communities under international supervision; 

13 (8) agrees that any return of Rohingya should 

14 include guarantees that any returns of refugees will 

15 be voluntary and dignified, that there will be no 

16 threats to protection or security upon return, that 

17 refugees will be able to return to their places of ori18 gin or other locations as desired, and be able to 

19 enjoy equal rights with others in Burma, including 

20 the restoration or granting of full citizenship, free21 dom of movement, and access to basic services; 

22 (9) recognizes that any forced relocation of 

23 Rohingya refugees into temporary settlements, IDP 

24 camps, ‘‘model villages,’’ or other areas not of refu25 gees’ choosing is unacceptable; 


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1 (10) calls on the Government of Burma to allow 

2 for a flexible and practical approach to dealing with 

3 evidence of Rohingya residence in Burma, recog4 nizing that the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh 

5 possess a wide range of documents and that some 

6 refugees have no documents and will need to estab7 lish their residence by other means; 

8 (11) calls on the Government of Burma to ad9 dress root causes consistent with the Rakhine Advi10 sory Commission recommendations and fully imple11 ment all of the recommendations of the Commission, 

12 including providing equal access to full restoration 

13 or granting of full citizenship for the Rohingya pop14 ulation; 

15 (12) calls on the Government of Burma to ac16 knowledge and address the issue of statelessness for 

17 the Rohingya, the deprivation of rights, and institu18 tionalized and pervasive discrimination of the 

19 Rohingya population in order to bring about any 

20 sustainable solutions; 

21 (13) commends the Government and the people 

22 of Bangladesh for their extraordinary generosity and 

23 efforts to provide shelter and relief for nearly 

24 1,000,000 Rohingya refugees forced to flee their 

25 homes in Burma; 


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1 (14) calls on the Government of Bangladesh to 

2 ensure all refugees have freedom of movement and 

3 under no circumstances are subject to unsafe, invol4 untary, precipitous, or uninformed returns to 

5 Burma; and 

6 (15) calls on the Government of Burma to im7 mediately release journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw 

8 Soe Oo. 

Æ 


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