AUGUST 25, 2024 | PRESS RELEASE
JRJN Statement on the Rohingya Genocide Anniversary and Introduction of the Rohingya GAP Act
Today marks seven years since the Burmese military launched a wave of attacks against the Rohingya people, sparking a genocide and forcing more than 700,000 people to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
In 2022, the United States officially declared the crimes against the Rohingya a genocide. Though this determination came five years after the wave of atrocities began, the declaration was powerful. It turned a spotlight back onto the challenges that the Rohingya uniquely faced amid the broader political and military conflict in Burma. The United States has since taken action to deprive Burma’s military of the funds it uses to wage war on its own people, but much more must be done.
The Rohingya continue to face grave challenges. Fighting has escalated across Burma, including between the military junta and the rival Arakan Army. Caught in the middle of this conflict, Rohingya civilians are being targeted with horrific violence, and thousands have been displaced without adequate food, water, shelter or health care.
Beyond Burma’s borders, the number of Rohingya refugees worldwide has grown, with nearly one million in Bangladesh alone. Few, especially those living in the squalid camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region, have access to adequate nutrition, housing, education, jobs, freedom of movement, or meaningful durable solutions. In Bangladesh, their persecution is further compounded by threats of violence from roving armed groups. New political leadership in Bangladesh offers hope for a more democratic future but leaves the fate of the Rohingya refugees uncertain.
These are all painful reminders that while there has been important progress, it has not yet been enough to truly protect and uplift the Rohingya living in Burma or in refugee communities.
Last month, Representative Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the Rohingya Genocide Accountability and Protection Act (H.R. 8936, the Rohingya GAP Act) along with Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Micheal McCaul. The bill was then swiftly approved by the full committee with bipartisan support.
We applaud Rep. Meeks, Rep. McCaul, and all other Members of Congress who have supported this legislation and who continue to sound the alarm. We urge the United States to prioritize the provisions laid out in the Rohingya GAP Act as a major step towards getting the Rohingya support that is much needed and long overdue. This bill would make important strides in repairing conditions for the Rohingya, including:
Ensuring Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh receive sufficient food and nutrition;
Providing funding for investigations into the atrocities committed against the Rohingya and for promoting transitional justice and accountability mechanisms;
Supporting Rohingya civil society organizations;
Calling for efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and trafficking of the Rohingya, among other protections; and
Creating a new Special Coordinator for Rohingya Atrocities Prevention and Response at the State Department.
We urge Congress to pass this bill and ensure that the resources it would provide to the Rohingya people are quickly mobilized.
As a coalition of faith leaders inspired by Jewish values, we cannot ignore the atrocities continuing to unfold against the Rohingya people. We call on the U.S. government to do all it can to bring a swift end to the war in Burma, restore democracy and pressure the military and the Arakan Army to treat the Rohingya as citizens with equal human rights.
In the words of Lucky Karim, a Rohingya refugee who lived in the Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh refugee camp before immigrating to the United States, “It is time for the world to listen – and to act until everyone is safe.”
About the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network
The Jewish Rohingya Justice Network (JRJN) is the prominent consortium of Jewish NGOs advocating for the rights of the persecuted Rohingya people of Burma. JRJN’s membership includes 35 organizations and all major branches of American Judaism that together encompass the support of millions of American Jews —all standing together against genocide.
Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network works to promote a robust U.S. and international response to the Rohingya genocide through education of our communities and advocacy in Washington, DC.
The JRJN was founded in 2017 and has been advocating in solidarity with Rohingya leaders ever since.
To reach the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network for comment, email jewishrohingyajusticenetwork@gmail.com. For previous statements, click here.
