Van Hollen Helps Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Condemning Burmese Ethnic Cleansing, Calling for Safe Repatriation of Rohingya

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) along with Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Todd Young (R-IN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution condemning the Burmese campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya and calling for the "safe, dignified, voluntary and sustainable return" of the refugees who have been displaced by this violence.

The Senators were also joined by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Chris Coons (D-DE).

The resolution comes as planned repatriation from Bangladesh to Burma has been postponed amid fears that the repatriation as currently planned would be neither safe nor voluntary.

"The crimes that have been perpetrated against the Rohingya are horrific and will haunt us for generations to come," said Merkley, who led a congressional fact-finding mission to Burma and Bangladesh in November. "In the refugee camps in Bangladesh, I spoke with Rohingya who described systemic campaigns of rape and murder. I was shown the burns of women who fled as their homes burned around them. I saw the drawings made by children that depicted the Burmese military shooting innocent villagers as they fled. After a campaign of such violent ethnic cleansing, we must ensure that any repatriation of the Rohingya to their homeland is voluntary, safe and dignified."

"The Burmese military's systematic and deplorable campaign of violence against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities displaced hundreds of thousands of people. I look forward to working with the administration and the international community to ensure refugee returns are voluntary, safe, and dignified," said Senator Young. "An estimated 23,000 Hoosiers have ties to Burma. I will continue to help lead bipartisan efforts in Congress with respect to Burma--including holding the government there accountable and fostering deeper ties between Americans and Burmese from all backgrounds."

"The continued persecution and horrific ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya by the Burmese military must stop, and we will not waiver until the perpetrators are held accountable," Kaine said. "Today, we are speaking with bipartisan unity in calling on Burma and Bangladesh to protect the Rohingya and ensure they can return home in a manner that is safe and dignified."

"The systematic human rights abuses committed against the Rohingya people in Burma have shocked all people of conscience. Since August, more than 650,000 innocent men women and children have been forced to flee a campaign of unspeakable violence that the United Nations has called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing,'" said Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Now, as the governments of Burma and Bangladesh move forward with repatriation plans, many Rohingya believe their return home will be met with more violence. These displaced families deserve to have confidence that their return will be safe, voluntary and dignified. The United States and the international community should stand for nothing less."