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) sub-
mitted 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 cam-
paign 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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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 re-
mains under house arrest and has been excluded from the 
political process; 
Whereas over 2,100 political prisoners remain in jail, sub-
jected to severe torture, dire conditions, and denial of 
medical treatment; 
Whereas the SPDC continues to forcibly recruit child sol-
diers; 
Whereas the SPDC continues its campaign of ethnic and reli-
gious persecution against Christians, particularly among 
the Chin and Kachin peoples; 
Whereas the Rohingya people, despite having lived in north-
ern Arakan State for centuries, are denied citizenship, 
treated as temporary residents, subjected to severe re-
strictions on movement, marriage and access to edu-
cation, and suffer grave violations of human rights, in-
cluding forced labor, extortion, exploitation, discrimina-
tion, abuse, rape, and religious persecution; 
Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human 
Rights in Burma has concluded that these and other vio-
lations 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 King-
dom, France, Canada, Australia, Czech Republic, Slo-
vakia, Hungary, Netherlands, and New Zealand have ex-
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pressed 
support 
for 
the 
United 
Nations 
Special 
Rapporteur’s recommendations; 
Whereas approximately 1 million Rohingya out of a total pop-
ulation 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 imprison-
ment 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 deten-
tion camps in Saudi Arabia, some of whom have been de-
tained for more than two years; 
Whereas in 2009, local Thai civil defense organizations forced 
hundreds of Rohingya out to sea on boats without en-
gines and with only a ten-day supply of food and water; 
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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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls on the SPDC to recognize the 
Rohingya people as full and equal citizens of Burma 
and to lift all restrictions on movement, marriage, 
and access to education; 
(2) calls on the United States Department of 
State to continuously raise the question of the status 
of the Rohingya people in its dialogue with the 
SPDC; 
(3) calls on the Government of Bangladesh to 
desist from forcing unregistered Rohingya to return 
to Burma and to seek a durable solution for the 
Rohingya people; 
(4) calls on the Government of Bangladesh, in 
cooperation with the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other inter-
national agencies, to address the dire humanitarian 
conditions and food insecurity in the makeshift 
camps housing an estimated 32,000 unregistered 
Rohingya, especially during the monsoon; 
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(5) calls on the Government of Thailand to 
allow UNHCR access to detained Rohingya rescued 
at sea and to allow refugees status determinations; 
(6) calls on the Government of Thailand to pro-
vide Rohingya refugees with adequate protection; 
(7) calls on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to 
allow Rohingya access to education and livelihoods; 
(8) calls on the United States Government to 
provide increased humanitarian assistance in north-
ern Arakan State; 
(9) calls on the United States Government to 
provide 
continued 
support 
for 
education 
for 
Rohingya refugees outside Burma; 
(10) calls on the United States Government to 
consistently raise the plight of the Rohingya with 
the Governments of Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Ma-
laysia, Thailand, and other members of the Associa-
tion of South-East Asian Nations; 
(11) calls on the United States Government to 
raise the plight of the Rohingya within the United 
Nations at every opportunity; 
(12) calls on the United States Government to 
put consistent pressure on the SPDC to release all 
political prisoners, including Rohingya Member of 
Parliament U Kyaw Min and his family; 
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(13) calls on the United States Government to 
proactively support the recommendation of the 
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human 
Rights in Burma for the establishment of a commis-
sion of inquiry to investigate crimes against human-
ity and war crimes in Burma, including the viola-
tions perpetrated against the Rohingya people; and 
(14) calls on the United States Government to 
continue to engage with the Government of Ban-
gladesh in the economic development of the Cox’s 
Bazar region in which the majority of the Rohingya 
refugee population lives. 
Æ 
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