IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1710 

Calling on the military regime in Burma, the State Peace and Development 

Council, to immediately recognize the Rohingya people as full and equal 

citizens of Burma, lift all restrictions on movement, marriage, and access 

to education for the Rohingya people, and end its campaign of religious 

and ethnic persecution amounting to crimes against humanity throughout 

Burma. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. PITTS, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the military regime in Burma, the State Peace 

and Development Council, to immediately recognize the 

Rohingya people as full and equal citizens of Burma, 

lift all restrictions on movement, marriage, and access 

to education for the Rohingya people, and end its campaign of religious and ethnic persecution amounting to 

crimes against humanity throughout Burma. 

Whereas the military regime in Burma, the State Peace and 

Development Council (SPDC), appears to be perpetrating 

crimes against humanity and war crimes against ethnic 

nationalities, particularly the Karen, Karenni and Shan 

in eastern Burma, including the apparent widespread and 


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•HRES 1710 IH 

systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labor, 

the use of human minesweepers, the destruction of over 

3,500 villages since 1996, and murder; 

Whereas National League for Democracy (NLD) leader and 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and has been excluded from the 

political process; 

Whereas over 2,100 political prisoners remain in jail, subjected to severe torture, dire conditions, and denial of 

medical treatment; 

Whereas the SPDC continues to forcibly recruit child soldiers; 

Whereas the SPDC continues its campaign of ethnic and religious persecution against Christians, particularly among 

the Chin and Kachin peoples; 

Whereas the Rohingya people, despite having lived in northern Arakan State for centuries, are denied citizenship, 

treated as temporary residents, subjected to severe restrictions on movement, marriage and access to education, and suffer grave violations of human rights, including forced labor, extortion, exploitation, discrimination, abuse, rape, and religious persecution; 

Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human 

Rights in Burma has concluded that these and other violations may amount to crimes against humanity, and has 

recommended the establishment of a United Nations 

commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes; 

Whereas the Governments of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Netherlands, and New Zealand have exVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:12 Oct 04, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1710.IH HR1710

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•HRES 1710 IH 

pressed support for the United Nations Special 

Rapporteur’s recommendations; 

Whereas approximately 1 million Rohingya out of a total population of 3 million have fled Burma and are living in 

exile in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab 

Emirates, Malaysia, Pakistan, and other countries; 

Whereas an estimated 29,700 unregistered Rohingya in 

makeshift camps are in need of assistance; 

Whereas Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been facing 

severe pressure to return to Burma, and more than 1,000 

have been arrested, pushed back across the border, or 

jailed in Bangladesh since mid-2009; 

Whereas at least five Rohingya forced back into Burma from 

Bangladesh were arrested by the NaSaKa, the Burmese 

Government’s border security force, and are currently in 

Buthidaung jail, sentenced on August, 20, 2009, to five 

years imprisonment; 

Whereas U Kyaw Min, a Rohingya Member of Parliament 

elected in 1990, who was sentenced to 47 years imprisonment for political reasons and immigration charges, was 

transferred from Insein to Mingyan jail in 2007 and his 

wife, two daughters, and one son have been sentenced to 

12 years imprisonment and are currently detained in 

Insein Prison; 

Whereas at least 1,000 Rohingya are in immigration detention camps in Saudi Arabia, some of whom have been detained for more than two years; 

Whereas in 2009, local Thai civil defense organizations forced 

hundreds of Rohingya out to sea on boats without engines and with only a ten-day supply of food and water; 


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•HRES 1710 IH 

Whereas 52 Rohingya still remain in indefinite detention in 

a Bangkok Immigration Detention Centre, while two 

have already died in detention in Thailand; and 

Whereas Medecins sans Frontieres has described the 

Rohingya as one of the ten people groups in the world 

most at risk of extinction: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) calls on the SPDC to recognize the 

3 Rohingya people as full and equal citizens of Burma 

4 and to lift all restrictions on movement, marriage, 

5 and access to education; 

6 (2) calls on the United States Department of 

7 State to continuously raise the question of the status 

8 of the Rohingya people in its dialogue with the 

9 SPDC; 

10 (3) calls on the Government of Bangladesh to 

11 desist from forcing unregistered Rohingya to return 

12 to Burma and to seek a durable solution for the 

13 Rohingya people; 

14 (4) calls on the Government of Bangladesh, in 

15 cooperation with the United Nations High Commis16 sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other inter17 national agencies, to address the dire humanitarian 

18 conditions and food insecurity in the makeshift 

19 camps housing an estimated 32,000 unregistered 

20 Rohingya, especially during the monsoon; 


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•HRES 1710 IH 

1 (5) calls on the Government of Thailand to 

2 allow UNHCR access to detained Rohingya rescued 

3 at sea and to allow refugees status determinations; 

4 (6) calls on the Government of Thailand to pro5 vide Rohingya refugees with adequate protection; 

6 (7) calls on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 

7 allow Rohingya access to education and livelihoods; 

8 (8) calls on the United States Government to 

9 provide increased humanitarian assistance in north10 ern Arakan State; 

11 (9) calls on the United States Government to 

12 provide continued support for education for 

13 Rohingya refugees outside Burma; 

14 (10) calls on the United States Government to 

15 consistently raise the plight of the Rohingya with 

16 the Governments of Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Ma17 laysia, Thailand, and other members of the Associa18 tion of South-East Asian Nations; 

19 (11) calls on the United States Government to 

20 raise the plight of the Rohingya within the United 

21 Nations at every opportunity; 

22 (12) calls on the United States Government to 

23 put consistent pressure on the SPDC to release all 

24 political prisoners, including Rohingya Member of 

25 Parliament U Kyaw Min and his family; 


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•HRES 1710 IH 

1 (13) calls on the United States Government to 

2 proactively support the recommendation of the 

3 United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human 

4 Rights in Burma for the establishment of a commis5 sion of inquiry to investigate crimes against human6 ity and war crimes in Burma, including the viola7 tions perpetrated against the Rohingya people; and 

8 (14) calls on the United States Government to 

9 continue to engage with the Government of Ban10 gladesh in the economic development of the Cox’s 

11 Bazar region in which the majority of the Rohingya 

12 refugee population lives. 

Æ 


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