Chairman Yoho on the hearing: “Long thought to be one of the most persecuted minority populations on earth, violence against the Rohingya has reached new levels. Following the August 25th attack by ARSA, Burmese authorities have conducted an indiscriminate and brutal crackdown throughout Rohingya areas in Burma’s Rakhine state, leaving over 400,000 displaced, hundreds dead, and villages decimated. Many, including UN officials, have described this recent wave of violence as ‘ethnic cleansing.’ This hearing will provide Members with an up-to-the-minute understanding of the situation on the ground in Rakhine state, the conditions in Burma that precipitated this ongoing crisis, and options  for the U.S. policy response.”

Opening Statements


Full text of Chairman Ed Royce’s opening statement

Witnesses

Mr. Walter Lohman
Director
Asian Studies Center
Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy
The Heritage Foundation
[full text of statement]
[truth in testimony form]

Mr. Daniel P. Sullivan
Senior Advocate for Human Rights
Refugees International
[full text of statement]
[truth in testimony form]

Michael F. Martin, Ph.D.
Specialist in Asian Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Congressional Research Service
[full text of statement]

Ms. Andrea Gittleman
Program Manager
Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
[full text of statement]
[truth in testimony form]

____________________________

Hearing transcript (PDF)