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credible reports of Burmese military and security 
forces bulldozing numerous villages where violence 
occurred, thus destroying physical evidence, and in 
some cases, constructing new military installations 
on top of the bulldozed villages. 
(8) On November 22, 2017, former Secretary of 
State Rex Tillerson stated that ‘‘After a careful and 
thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that 
the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes 
ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. Those re-
sponsible for these atrocities must be held account-
able’’. He also said the violence ‘‘has a number of 
characteristics of certainly crimes against human-
ity’’. Despite repeated requests from Members of 
Congress, as well as the result of its own investiga-
tion (the executive summary of which was released 
on September 17, 2018), the Department has de-
clined to make a determination if the atrocities in 
Rakhine State constitute genocide or crimes against 
humanity. 
(9) On December 12, 2017, Wa Lone and 
Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters covering the 
crisis in Rakhine State, were entrapped, arrested, 
and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, 
continuing a trend of restricting media and free 
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speech and attempting to thwart coverage of the 
events in Rakhine State. 
(10) Another barrier to the voluntary, safe, dig-
nified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to 
Rakhine State is the refusal of the Government of 
Burma to reinstate the full citizenship of the 
Rohingya, as well as the Government’s unwillingness 
to consider the repeal of or amendments to the Citi-
zenship Act of 1982 that stripped the Rohingya of 
their full citizenship. 
(11) During 2018, the ongoing conflict in 
Burma escalated in Kachin and Shan States, re-
ignited in Karen (Kayin) State, and spread into 
Chin and Rakhine States. Along with the increase in 
fighting between Burma’s security forces and several 
ethnic armed organizations, there was a rise in alle-
gations of human rights abuses perpetrated by Bur-
mese security forces in these conflict areas. 
(12) In April 2018, thousands of civilians fled 
fighting between the military and ethnic armed 
groups in Kachin State, prompting peaceful dem-
onstrations. In December 2018, three prominent ac-
tivist in Kachin State, Lum Zawng, Nang Pu and 
Zau Jet were convicted and sentenced to 6 months 
imprisonment for defaming the military. 
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(13) On June 6, 2018, the United Nations Ref-
ugee Agency and the United Nations Development 
Programme signed a tripartite Memorandum of Un-
derstanding with Burma. The Office of the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and var-
ious international human rights and international re-
lief agencies agreed that conditions in Rakhine State 
are not sufficient for the voluntary, safe, dignified, 
and sustainable return of the Rohingya. 
(14) The United Nations Independent Inter-
national Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, the De-
partment of State, and more than a dozen human 
rights organizations have reported and documented 
a campaign of violence perpetrated by the security 
forces of Burma, which indiscriminately fired on and 
killed civilians, raped women and girls, and arrested 
Rohingya men without any cause or charges. Sat-
ellite images obtained by Amnesty International re-
veal that, out of the approximately 470 villages in 
northern Rakhine State, nearly 300 were partially or 
completely destroyed by fire since August 25, 2017, 
most of which were completely or partially populated 
by Rohingya Muslims. 
(15) In its report of September 17, 2018, the 
United Nations Independent International Fact- 
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Finding Mission on Myanmar determined that there 
was sufficient evidence of ‘‘genocidal intent’’ in the 
attacks against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, and 
probable ‘‘crimes against humanity’’ and ‘‘war 
crimes’’ in Burmese security forces assaults on eth-
nic minorities in Kachin and Shan States. The Mis-
sion recommended that the United Nations Security 
Council ‘‘should ensure accountability for crimes 
under international law committed in Myanmar, 
preferably by referring the situation to the Inter-
national Criminal Court or alternatively by creating 
an ad hoc international criminal tribunal’’. The Mis-
sion also recommended the imposition of targeted 
economic sanctions, including an arms embargo on 
Burma. 
(16) On September 3, 2018, Wa Lone and 
Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to seven 
years in prison and released as an act of Presi-
dential amnesty on May 6, 2019, after over 500 
days in jail. Time Magazine included pictures the 
two reporters on the cover of its ‘‘Person of the 
Year’’ issue on December 10, 2018, as two of the 
‘‘Guardians and the War on Truth’’. 
(17) According to the free-speech organization 
Athan, 44 journalists and 142 activists have faced 
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trial since 2016 charged with colonial-era laws used 
to stifle dissent, while tightening restrictions on ac-
tivist groups. 
(18) On September 28, 2018, the United Na-
tions Human Rights Council passed a resolution 
that calls for an independent mechanism to collect 
and analyze evidence in regard to the serious inter-
national crimes committed in Burma against 
Rohingya Muslims and other minorities since 2011. 
The resolution requests that the independent mecha-
nism ‘‘prepare files in order to facilitate and expe-
dite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in 
accordance with international law standards, in na-
tional, regional or international courts or tribunals 
that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over 
these crimes’’. 
(19) On November 15, 2018, the Government 
of Bangladesh and the Government of Burma aban-
doned plans to return more than 2,000 Rohingya to 
Rakhine State after it was determined that none 
were willing to voluntarily return given the current 
conditions in Rakhine State, as well as the Govern-
ment of Burma’s failure to ensure the returnees’ 
safety, dignity, or sustainability of their livelihoods. 
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(20) A December 2018 report by the Public 
Law Interest & Policy group noted that ‘‘the de-
struction of their villages, crops, and virtually all in-
frastructure clearly points to a strategy of ensuring 
the Rohingya’s permanent removal. The mass 
killings and accompanying brutality, including 
against children, women, pregnant women, the elder-
ly, and those crossing the border to Bangladesh fur-
ther suggest, however, that, at least in the minds of 
some perpetrators, the goal was not only to expel, 
but also to exterminate the Rohingya * * *’’ and 
that ‘‘there are reasonable grounds to believe that 
crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes 
have been committed against the Rohingya in 
Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State’’. 
(21) Despite substantial evidence of widespread 
and systematic atrocities committed by Burmese se-
curity forces in Rakhine State, State Counselor 
Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s Commander-in- 
Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing continue to 
maintain that no such widespread and systematic 
atrocities occurred. 
(22) On December 13, 2018, the United States 
House of Representatives passed House Resolution 
1091 (115th Congress) which expressed the sense of 
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the House that ‘‘the atrocities committed against the 
Rohingya by the Burmese military and security 
forces since August 2017 constitute crimes against 
humanity and genocide’’ and called upon the Sec-
retary of State to review the available evidence and 
make a similar determination. 
(23) On December 19, 2018, the United Na-
tions 
Humanitarian 
Coordinator 
requested 
$202,000,000 for the 2019 Humanitarian Response 
Plan for Burma. 
(24) The 2019 Joint Response Plan for the 
Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis asks the inter-
national community to provide $20,500,000 in as-
sistance to meet needs in Bangladesh. 
(25) On May 14, 2019, the United Nations 
Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar urged all coun-
tries to cut off economic ties to Burma’s military- 
owned businesses, stating ‘‘* * * due to the gravity 
of past and continuing violations, attention must be 
given to the political, economic and financial ties of 
the Myanmar military * * * so we can cut off the 
money supply as a means of increasing pressure and 
reducing the violence.’’. 
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TITLE I—MATTERS RELATING 
TO THE CONFLICT IN BURMA 
SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States as follows: 
(1) To support a complete transition to democ-
racy and genuine national reconciliation in Burma, 
including accountability for the atrocities committed 
by the Burmese military against the Rohingya popu-
lation and other ethnic minorities throughout the 
country. 
(2) To pursue a United States strategy of cali-
brated engagement, which is essential to support the 
establishment of a peaceful, prosperous, and demo-
cratic Burma that includes respect for the human 
rights of all its people regardless of ethnicity and re-
ligion. 
(3) To ensure that the guiding principles of 
such a strategy include— 
(A) supporting legal reforms, removing re-
maining restrictions on civil and political rights, 
and ensuring civilian governance, including re-
forms to the current constitutional provision re-
serving 25 percent of parliamentary seats for 
appointments by the military, which provides 
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the military with veto power over constitutional 
amendments; 
(B) establishing a fully democratic, plural-
istic, and representative political system that in-
cludes free, fair, and democratic elections in 
which all people of Burma can vote; 
(C) promoting national reconciliation and 
the conclusion of a nationwide cease-fire agree-
ment, including the development of a political 
system that is inclusive of ethnic Rohingya, 
Shan, Kachin, Chin, Karen, and other ethnic 
groups, measures to address natural resource 
governance, revenue-sharing, land rights, and 
constitutional change enabling inclusive peace; 
(D) ensuring accountability through inde-
pendent international investigations of genocide, 
war crimes, and crimes against humanity, in-
cluding sexual and gender-based violence, per-
petrated against the Rohingya and other ethnic 
minorities by the military and security forces of 
Burma, violent extremist groups and other com-
batants involved in the conflict; 
(E) strengthening Burma’s civilian govern-
mental institutions, including support for great-
er transparency and accountability; 
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(F) encouraging the establishment of pro-
fessional military, security, and police forces 
that operate under civilian control and are held 
accountable for human rights abuses, corrup-
tion, or other abuses of power; 
(G) combating corruption and illegal eco-
nomic activity, including that which involves the 
military and its close allies; 
(H) empowering local communities, civil 
society, and independent media; 
(I) encouraging the provision of full citi-
zenship for the Rohingya population in Burma, 
as well as durable solutions for those displaced 
in Bangladesh; 
(J) promoting responsible international 
and regional engagement; 
(K) strengthening respect for and protec-
tion of human rights and religious freedom; and 
(L) promoting broad-based, inclusive eco-
nomic development and fostering healthy and 
resilient communities. 
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