
The Rohingya Genocide, Accountability and Protection Act is passing the US Senate
Last Updated on July 15, 2024 7:27 am
The Rohingya Genocide, Accountability and Protection Act (GAP) is being passed in the Senate, the upper house of the United States legislature. The Act is being passed to provide protection, support, humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees and internally displaced people as well as create a way out of Rohingya genocide and crimes against humanity.
Citing a report published by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on September 7, 2018, the US Congress said that impunity is the main cause of human rights violations in Myanmar.
On December 13, 2018, the US House of Representatives passed H.Res.1091 to protest the brutality and genocide of the Rohingya by members of the Burmese military and security forces since August 2017.
In a report on 16 September 2019, the FFM said there is a serious risk that acts of genocide against the Rohingya will occur or be repeated in Myanmar. In February 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup, derailing the country’s transition to democracy and ignoring the will of the people.
Since the February 2021 military coup, the Myanmar military and some local armed groups have continued to commit crimes and torture against the Rohingya. More than 600,000 Rohingya in Rakhine state face high risk. The Myanmar military continues to target the Rohingya through arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, sexual violence and killing.
The United States is at the top of the humanitarian response to the Rohingya crisis. Since 2017, the United States government has provided approximately $2.4 billion to address the Rohingya crisis. It is followed by UK and Japan respectively.
In March 2022, international funding for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh declined, despite growing demand following the United States’ resolution against the Rohingya genocide and crimes against humanity.
US assistance is limited to humanitarian funding and clearing the way for the resettlement of a small number of Rohingya. This support lacks a holistic approach to supporting the Rohingya to overcome the Rohingya genocide, crimes against humanity and decades of strategic oppression, marginalization and military impunity. The Rohingya crisis and the wider Burma crisis must be addressed simultaneously, not sequentially, to avoid further prolongation of the situation.
HR 8936 is the bipartisan Rohingya Gap Act. The Act would establish a holistic US policy to support the Rohingya community and create a path out of the genocide.
Highlights of Act:
> Approves the designation of a Special Coordinator for Rohingya Atrocities Prevention and Response at the US State Department to coordinate Rohingya policy.
> Calls for a comprehensive U.S. strategy to support Rohingya protection efforts, security in Burma, engagement with Rohingya communities and stakeholders to facilitate sustainable voluntary repatriation, development of a comprehensive transitional justice strategy, humanitarian assistance including basic needs, livelihoods, prevention of gender-based violence and trafficking, and support for Rohingya civil society organizations. has been informed.
> Calls on USAID and the State Department to ensure that Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh receive adequate rations to meet minimum standards of food and nutrition.
> Approval of higher education scholarships for Rohingya refugees by 2030.
> Establishment of a new Conflict Observatory for Burma to monitor and report on the ongoing violence in Burma.
> Approve $10 million per year for five years for the State Department to assist in the investigation, documentation, casework, transitional justice, and accountability mechanisms of atrocity crimes, witness protection measures, and technical assistance related to the Rohingya.
Several Rohingya and human rights organizations support HR 8936, including:
> Alliance for Pitchbuilding, Campaign for a New Myanmar, Human Rights Watch, Jacob Blaustein Institute, Zeus World Watch, Public International Law and Policy Group, The Sentry, Women’s Pitch Network, Americans for Rohingya, Refugees International and US Campaign for Burma.