III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 105 

Condemning the coup in Burma and calling for measures to ensure the 

safety of the Burmese people, including Rohingya, who have been threatened and displaced by a campaign of genocide conducted by the Burmese 

military. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. BROWN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. WARNER, Mr. 

REED, Ms. ROSEN, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the coup in Burma and calling for measures 

to ensure the safety of the Burmese people, including 

Rohingya, who have been threatened and displaced by 

a campaign of genocide conducted by the Burmese military. 

Whereas, on February 1, 2021, the Government of Burma 

was overthrown by the Burmese army, or Tatmadaw, returning the same army responsible for the genocidal military campaign against the Rohingya people to a greater 

position of power and authority, at least temporarily; 


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•SRES 105 IS 

Whereas the hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens who 

have taken peacefully to the streets to protest the coup 

have been met with increasingly brutal displays of force 

by the Tatmadaw and the Myanmar Police Force, and 

over 50 citizens have been killed to date; 

Whereas, since the February 2021 coup, the Tatmadaw-enforced media and communications blackouts and travel 

limits are limiting the ability of journalists and humanitarian actors to provide services or monitor the safety 

and security of people across Burma, including approximately 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Rakhine State; 

Whereas media reports that the Burmese military have recently blocked shipments of humanitarian assistance intended for persons displaced by the ongoing offensive and 

militarization in the ethnic states; 

Whereas recently announced United States sanctions target 

Tatmadaw actors specifically for their role in the coup, 

but ethnic minorities living within Burmese borders have 

suffered a wide range of systematic abuse and discrimination for many years; 

Whereas, since August 25, 2017, approximately 740,000 

Rohingya have fled from Burma to escape the Burmese 

military and security force’s well-documented and systematic campaign of persecution and atrocities; 

Whereas most of the Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, resulting in the creation of the world’s largest 

and most densely populated refugee camp, while others 

escaped to India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other parts of 

South and Southeast Asia; 

Whereas, on December 3, 2018, the United States Holocaust 

Memorial Museum concluded that ‘‘there is compelling 


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evidence that the Burmese military committed ethnic 

cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide against 

the Rohingya’’; 

Whereas the May 2019 Amnesty International report on war 

crimes in Rakhine State outlines continued human rights 

violations, including ‘‘indiscriminate attacks’’ on civilians, 

and expresses alarm about the impact of continued fighting on the food security of Rakhine State; 

Whereas then-United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein testified that the Tatmadaw’s 

brutal campaign against the Rohingya was a ‘‘textbook 

example of ethnic cleansing’’ and ‘‘without regard for 

basic principles of international law’’; 

Whereas, in his nomination hearing, Secretary of State 

Antony Blinken stated that he would oversee an interagency review to determine whether Burma’s crimes 

against the Rohingya amount to genocide; 

Whereas, after many years of hosting hundreds of thousands 

of Rohingya refugees while bearing other internal challenges, media report that the Government of Bangladesh 

is growing weary of hosting the Rohingya, building new 

barriers to restrict the ability for Rohingyas to work, access education, buy SIM cards, learn the local language, 

exercise their right to freedom of expression, including 

peaceful assembly, or move freely; 

Whereas, in a step toward reducing the refugee population on 

the mainland, the Government of Bangladesh has relocated over 10,000 Rohingya from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan 

Char, a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, but has 

denied the United Nations access to the island and the 

ability to undertake independent technical and protection 


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assessments to verify whether the island is safe and habitable to host this vulnerable population; 

Whereas it has not been verified that Rohingya refugees’ ongoing relocation to Bhasan Char is fully informed and 

voluntary, as required under international law; 

Whereas the United Nations Refugee Agency reports that 

2,400 Rohingya refugees chose dangerous boat journeys 

to escape their limited futures in Bangladesh over the 

last year, leading to at least 200 deaths and missing persons; 

Whereas efforts to force the return to Burma of more than 

800,000 Rohingya refugees now living in Bangladesh 

would constitute a gross violation of international human 

rights law and would come at increased risk during this 

time of political instability and military rule; 

Whereas the fundamental operational principles of voluntary 

repatriation must be based on informed consent, legal 

and physical safety, dignity, and the absence of any form 

of coercion, economic or otherwise, as well as the full protection of the returnees’ human rights, including the 

right to restore their citizenship status in Burma; 

Whereas approximately 236,000 Rohingya refugees returned 

to Burma from Bangladesh under the terms of a 1992 

agreement after a previous bout of violence against the 

Rohingya forced them to flee, only to face continued denial of restoration of their citizenship, prejudice, violence, 

and persecution, and in many instances forced to live in 

internally displaced persons camps with their freedom of 

movement restricted; 

Whereas Burma’s 1982 citizenship law stripped Rohingya of 

their Burmese citizenship, rendering them stateless; 


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

by restricting registration of Rohingya births and denying them freedom of movement as well as access to 

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

political participation; 

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 

1992 repatriation agreement between Burma and Bangladesh; 

Whereas the Arrangement includes references to restoring 

normalcy and human rights in Rakhine State, ensuring 

refugee returns comply with international standards of 

safety, dignity, and voluntariness, and commencing a 

process to address root causes in line with the Rakhine 

Advisory Commission recommendations; 

Whereas Rohingya refugees currently hosted in Bangladesh 

demonstrated in protest against an initial November 

2018 repatriation plan between the Governments of Bangladesh and Burma, citing concerns for their security and 

the lack of meaningful political reforms in Burma to include restoration of their full citizenship; and 

Whereas, following the 2021 coup, human rights groups, humanitarian actors, and refugees in Cox’s Bazar continue 

to express grave concerns about the heightened risk for 

a renewed campaign of genocide in Burma, calling for a 

halt to any efforts to move or adjust the status of any 

Rohingya persons: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) condemns the February 1, 2021, military 

2 coup that deposed an elected government and cast a 

3 pall over years of hope, investment, and progress to4 ward a more democratic and free Burma; 

5 (2) expresses deep concern for the safety and 

6 security of the hundreds of thousands of Burmese 

7 people who have taken to the streets to protest the 

8 coup, and condemns the Tatmadaw and the 

9 Myanmar Police Force for their acts of terrorism 

10 against Burma’s civilian populations; 

11 (3) calls on Burmese authorities to allow jour12 nalists, human rights organizations, United Nations 

13 monitors, and humanitarian actors full and safe ac14 cess to every part of the country, including Rakhine 

15 State, to ensure that humanitarian needs of all in16 ternally displaced persons are being met and that 

17 human rights of every population in Burma, includ18 ing ethnic minorities, can be monitored and pro19 tected; 

20 (4) asks the governments of countries neigh21 boring Burma, including Bangladesh and Thailand, 

22 to provide immediate, direct cross-border assistance 

23 to adequately address humanitarian needs of all ref24 ugees suffering from ongoing Burma Army mili25 tarization and offensives; 


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1 (5) welcomes steps by the Government of Ban2 gladesh and other neighboring states to receive 

3 Rohingya refugees, but raises substantial concern re4 garding reports of refugees being turned away or 

5 moved into holding centers, as well as for the health 

6 and safety of all refugees, including those currently 

7 living in camps at Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char; 

8 (6) appeals to Bangladesh and other countries 

9 in the region to commit to providing safe harbor for 

10 Rohingya refugees, until their human rights, includ11 ing their right to restoration of full citizenship, can 

12 be guaranteed; 

13 (7) calls on international organizations and all 

14 host governments, including the Government of Ban15 gladesh, to ensure improved access for Rohingya ref16 ugees to basic services, education, and livelihood op17 portunities; 

18 (8) asks the Government of Bangladesh to 

19 allow the international community, including the 

20 United Nations and other human rights and human21 itarian actors, full and complete access to all 

22 Rohingya in Bangladesh while refraining from any 

23 forced relocation of Rohingya refugees into tem24 porary settlements or other ‘‘model villages’’; 


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1 (9) urges the Government of Bangladesh to 

2 grant the United Nations access to conduct inde3 pendent, comprehensive technical and protection as4 sessments of Bhasan Char and to verify that any re5 locations of Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char are 

6 voluntary and done with fully informed consent; 

7 (10) encourages the Government of Bangladesh 

8 to guarantee Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char 

9 freedom of movement, including the right to choose 

10 to return to Cox’s Bazar; 

11 (11) commends the significant contributions of 

12 numerous donor nations, including the United 

13 States, and encourages donors to increase future in14 vestments to better meet the significant humani15 tarian needs in Burma and Bangladesh, while taking 

16 particular care to ensure that no donor funding sup17 ports the Burmese military regime or individuals 

18 who supported or benefited from the coup; 

19 (12) affirms United States Government efforts 

20 to engage regional partners, including the Associa21 tion for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to co22 ordinate pressure on Burma to end all oppression of 

23 minority communities and address all related human 

24 rights concerns; 


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1 (13) urges countries in the region to abide by 

2 commitments made under regional declarations to 

3 provide assistance and safe disembarkation to 

4 Rohingya and others stranded at sea; 

5 (14) enjoins United States and multinational 

6 business that have invested in Burma to discontinue 

7 investment in military-owned businesses and State8 owned enterprises that fund the Tatmadaw and en9 able the oppression and mistreatment of the 

10 Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in Burma; and 

11 (15) urges the President of the United States— 

12 (A) to fully investigate and continue to 

13 hold accountable Burmese military leaders, in14 cluding Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, for 

15 gross violations of human rights, war crimes, 

16 crimes against humanity, including sexual and 

17 gender-based violence, or genocide; 

18 (B) to suspend all political and financial 

19 support to the State Administrative Council and 

20 the peace process including to the Joint Peace 

21 Fund; 

22 (C) to make a formal determination on be23 half of the United States designating the ac24 tions against the Rohingya by the Burmese 

25 military as genocide; 


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1 (D) to advocate with counterparts from 

2 other donor nations to reinstate all humani3 tarian aid for Burmese refugees and internally 

4 displaced persons that can be provided directly 

5 to those needing assistance without passing 

6 funds through the army, government, or mili7 tary-owned enterprises; and 

8 (E) to work with interagency partners to 

9 impose any additional targeted sanctions 

10 through existing authorities, including under 

11 the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Account12 ability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public 

13 Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656), the Burmese 

14 Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (Public 

15 Law 108–61; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note) and the 

16 Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s 

17 Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act of 2008 (Public 

18 Law 110–286; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note), to pre19 vent further egregious violations of human 

20 rights against ethnic minorities in Burma. 

Æ 


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