WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Co-Chairs of the Senate Human Rights Caucus, issued the following statement commemorating the two-year anniversary of the U.S. declaration of genocide against the Rohingya people in Burma’s northern Rakhine State:
“Two years ago today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that the Burmese military had committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017, conducting an ‘extreme, large-scale, widespread’ campaign of terror with the aim of driving the Rohingya from Burma. More than half a decade after these atrocities, the 600,000 Rohingya who remain in Burma are a stateless people subject to continued discrimination and violence. More than 1 million Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees. We must be vigilant and act decisively in the face of genocide and mass atrocities to prevent the loss of civilian lives.
“Last month, alongside Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), we introduced a Senate resolution recognizing religious freedom as a fundamental right. The resolution specifically cites Burma’s campaign of violence against the Rohingya people, who are predominantly Muslim in a majority-Buddhist country. We call on the government of Burma to hold the perpetrators of violence against the Rohingya accountable for their heinous actions and to end the continued persecution of Rohingya still living in Burma.”
Senator Coons is also Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.