releases: https://andylevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/levin-chabot-engel-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-investigate-genocide
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://andylevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/levin-chabot-engel-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-investigate-genocide | Levin, Chabot, Engel Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Investigate Genocide of Rohingya in Burma | 2020-11-13 | 2020 | 2020-11 | Democrat | House | MI | Andy Levin | L000592 | andylevin.house.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. Congressman Andy Levin (D-MI) and Steve Chabot (R-OH), both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today introduced legislation that would require the State Department to determine if violent actions taken by military and security forces in Burma constitute genocide against the Rohingya people. The Rohingya Genocide Determination Act would require the Secretary of State to issue a determination within 90 days of the bill's enactment and makes clear the bipartisan sense of Congress that atrocities perpetrated by the Burmese military constitute genocide. We as a nation cannot deny the nature of the violence faced by the Rohingya people, said Rep. Levin. Silence is complicity. This bill affirms what we already know to be true: military forces in Burma have committed atrocities that amount to genocide against the Rohingya people. The urgency feels personal to me after I traveled to Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh last year. Only by facing these horrors head on can we begin the long process of healing and justice for the Rohingya. As a longtime advocate for human rights in Burma, I believe it is well past time for the United States Government to call the atrocities committed by the Burmese military against the Rohingya in 2017 what they were: a genocide, said Rep. Chabot. For our part, the House passed legislation in 2018 which I authored declaring that these atrocities were, indeed, a genocide. That is why I am joining Congressman Andy Levin to introduce the Rohingya Genocide Determination Act of 2020, bipartisan legislation which requires the State Department to determine the legal nature of the crimes committed against the Rohingya people. I hope that with this legislation, we can take one more step toward holding the perpetrators accountable. Like so many ethnic minorities in Burma, the Rohingya have been victims of systemic oppression and violence at the hands of the Burmese military for decades, said Chairman Engel. Three years after enduring a genocide carried out by that same military, the Rohingya still have not seen any justice for their suffering. Congress remains committed to holding the Burmese military accountable for its crimes against the Rohingya people, and it's past time for the administration to take action. Naming and acknowledging the full extent of these crimes is a critical first step toward accountability for the perpetrators of these crimes and justice for the victims. We must not remain silent in the face of such appalling violations of human rights. Rep. Levin's and Rep. Chabot's Rohingya Genocide Determination Act joins companion legislation in the Senate introduced by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Ranking Member of the East Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). The bill has the support of thirty civil society organizations including American Jewish World Service, Emgage Action and Refugees International. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |