Senator compareder in the United States was the last senator gardner the United States was the last standing. It was hurting our interest. It was hurting the ability of this elected government to have a good start in addressing the problems that had been ignored by 50 years of military authoritarian repressive rule. It does not mean burma had reached perfection. Mr. Murphy we knew this would be bumpy. We knew there would be challenges. We had to look at the tools available to us to encourage behavior change and proper actions. Proper actions are required by all in the International Community, including china. We would hope as a member of the Security Council china could join us in recognizing the militarys disproportionate response has exacerbated these problems, and china needs to work with others on the Security Council to understand that the instability thats being created could affect the neighborhood, including chinas own interest. Senator gardner has china publicly condemned the military in burma . Mr. Murphy i dont think we have seen that in regards to the Burmese Military. We are looking for a better posture on their part. Senator gardner thank you. Senator she shaheen. Senator shaheen thank you. You are hearing the frustration from my colleagues on this committee about the inability to better effect the outcome whats happening in burma. I understand there have been allegations of sexual violence, of rape, of other actions rohingya ly targeting women. Can you tell me if we have raised those specific concerns of genderspecific violence with the burmese government . Yes, senator. We share your concerns. The reports primarily coming om refugees, very incredible n. G. O. s would include sexual violence, violence against women and children. Mr. Murphy these are particularly vulnerable populations within a larger vulnerable population within the rohingya. We have addressed this with all the stakeholders. This is not a money lithic overnment that has full monolithic government that has full senator shaheen i understand that. Mr. Murphy we have had discussions with the commander in chief of forces. We have expressed our concerns with other stakeholders including local populations, local leaders in the state and we have pointed out these kind of abuses, this kind of displacement threatens the transition to democracy, creates a much bigger risk for the attraction of International Terrorism and could set burma back. So its in the countrys interest, not only to protect local populations but to pay a path forward thats in the betterment of all 55 million people. Senator shaheen i appreciate that. Unless you have a different response, ambassador storella, i will go on. Mr. Storella i will say our ambassador herself met with victims of genderbased violence so she could hear their testimony. We are providing assistance to thousands of people who have been victims of that violence. Thank you. Senator shaheen thank you. I do appreciate it. This week senator isakson and i will reintroduce the violence against women act and it speaks to the importance of this legislation as we address the crimes that are unfortunately not happening here with the rohingya but in other places around the world. I understand that there are an estimated 69,000 pregnant rohingya refugee women in bangladesh. I am not sure that number is correct, but the main assistance they are getting is certainly pa and i support that. I support the efforts they make around the world to help pregnant women and women Vulnerable Women who are in need of pre and postnatal care. I guess, ambassador storella, can you tell me if the administration supports unfpas efforts here and how we do that . Mr. Storella senator shaheen, the United States does support efforts for women who are particularly vulnerable. We are working with a number of different agencies to ensure there are things like enderappropriate latreens available. Senator shaheen but we are not supporting the efforts of unfpa, is that correct . Mr. Storella the United States is not. Senator shaheen thats unfortunate because there are many women in need of that help. I dont know if any of you can answer this question but i do know i have heard from people who have in New Hampshire and other places who have expressed oncern about why more have not spoken out more forcefully on this circumstance. Mr. Murphy, what is your assess hement . Why sheant she spoken out more forcefully and what happened to that power sharing arrangement if she did . Mr. Murphy my parents are residents in New Hampshire and ask me the same question. Aung san suu or kyi. We are seeing widespread racism directly at the rohingya. There are many that suffered rom racism inside the state. From hnic have suffered essentially directed discrimination. Very complicated environment. Wed like to see more champions, more vocal people for the rohingya and other repressed populations. Speaking on behalf of the hingya is a very dangerous situation for people in burma. We need broader Human Dignity and respect for each other. Our particular message is not just to the government. Also to the armed forces. Local ethnic leaders but also the broad members of the burmese nation. Reflect on your own suffering. Your own voyage to overcome authoritarian rule and think about your fellow human beings. The terrible treatment of the rohingya is a real achilles heel for this country and for their transition. We need a Broad Public Campaign for all burmese to understand they are together. Rohingya are part fert fabric. They need to have basic human rights and thats a broad message and were looking not just for a singular champion but for all burmese to understand Human Dignity is a real important aspect to this crisis. Senator shaheen i think thats very well said. What kind of message could i just ask one more question . Senator gardner as long as you dont have limb answer it. Senator shaheen its a rhetorical statement. What kind of a message does it send to burmese leadership, military and civilian, when in the United States of america we have a travel ban on muslimmajority countries, members coming into this country . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator gardner thank you. Thank you very much. Senator reisch. Senator reisch thank you for your service. I think what you are seeing here today are some considerable frustration and outrage among members of this committee. There is no difference in our feeling, all of the committee, in that regard. We all share this flues tration. We all share we all share this frustration. We all share this outrage. I want to thank you for speaking with the moral clarity that you have spoken with here today. I appreciate that you dont communicate directly with the president. Tell him what he should say or shouldnt. Some people have tried that and not successfully i have noticed. At the state department you peak with the full force and effect of the United StatesForeign Policy. We appreciate that. Our job, of course, in this committee is to help craft Foreign Policy and that will be done im sure as we move forward through resolutions or statutes that address this problem. I think today youve been very clear in assessing how difficult this is to do. Ne of the things i find that shows the difficult nature of this these are my words, not yours but it seems like youre facing an entire population, country that possesses a prejudice thats not appropriate, obviously, and its manifesting itself in some very bad things. Now, i dont know how you address that. Certainly sanctions are one way to do that, but prejudice is not easily overcome and frankly i dont know that sanctions are something are going to convince people they should be thinking differently than what they are. In any event, id like to hear each of you address briefly if you would this issue that were dealing with, not an individual, which we frequently are in some countries, not even just the military as we are in some countries, but really the civilian Government Plus the population of the country thats really turning a blind eye towards this. How do we do you have suggestions for change in that conduct . Mr. Murphy, lets start with you and work our way down. Mip very much appreciate your moich very much appreciate your perspectives. I want to share with you my frustration doesnt begin with this cry sifments it began 20 yearsing a when i first visited there and have worked on and off over the course of my career over the particular challenge of the repressed rohingya opulation. Its been a longstanding problem. Frustration doesnt translate to action. We need to change the behavior. We have identified something new in the current elected Government Environment and that is a willingness to try and tackle the underlying challenges in the state. A path to citizenship. The development for all of the underdeveloped population that is reside there. I want to revisit that commission. Its in small measure that this commission was formed under the leadership of the former u. N. Secretarygeneral and came up with 88 very specific recommendations. The new government has embraced them. We now need to see implementation. We need other stakeholders to support those recommendations, including the armed forces, local leaders. Those paths forward include cooperation and coordination with bangladesh. Development of access to basic Government Service that is have been lacking. Most importantly, a path to citizenship. So this disenfranchised population has a means to participate and gain from the benefits that other citizenship citizens enjoy. Its not going to be easy. These recommendations are beth shortterm and long term. But both short term and long term. We have a government that is willing to do something that other regimes have ignored. That does not mean this government has taken all the right steps. Were calling on the government to do all it can to end the violence, stop the hate speech, pave a path forward for return of repratt ated repatriated refugees and find way toward national peace. This government has also convened a conference which has been unprecedented since the 1940s, bringing together all representatives throughout the country to pave a path forward and ending conflict. As we talk about conflict today in rekind state, there is ongoing conflict in the north. Burmas been at war with itself nonstop for over 70 years. And this government is trying to achieve some peace. Weigh need to work with those stakeholders who see a better way. At the same time we talked about targeted sanctions and measures those not with the program. We have to have a measured balanced approach. Senator risch my time is up. I apologize. I really wanted to hear both your perspectives. I would just say thank you again for your service. I know how disheartening this is as we listen to these facts. Dont give up. Represent us as you have and continue with development of policy that will do the best we can to do something about this, thank you, mr. Chairman. Chairman corker senator kaine. Senator kaine this is an important hearing. I miss add little bit of your Opening Statements and i apologize, but i just pick up on some rhett range language i want to come back on. I know the state department under way with an analysis to determine whether whats happening in burmas ethnic cleansing. Just for the record the french president at the end of september said what was happening to the rohingya constituted genocide and we must condemn ethnic pure fay fi case is under way and act. And the turkish president also labeled the genocide. Would urge with dispatch us determining what we think it is and labeling it. You talk, i think it was mr. Murphy, i heard you use the word, theres vigilante action. I think of vigil lanty vigilante action i think of rogue individuals. Not the government. This is clear this isnt just vigil lanties or prejudice, but there is official actors involved, including the military, in ways that i think are not deniable. Thats not the same as vigilante action to my understanding of the term. You also condemned the militarys disproportionate response. I think thats a disproportionate response to the attack on Burmese Military. I dont really view the role of the military, the Burmese Military in the accounts i have read as being a responder. I think that they have been a participant and often an initiator many of the attacks on the rohingya. I think if we want to be careful about lang a wadge like ethnic cleansing and genocide, we ought to be careful about t i think we also need to be careful about phrases like the military is a responder or theres vigilante action. I think all the evidence would suggest it has much more an official sanction and prim ture prima ture than that and thats the basis of the work under way in the state department to determine how to label it. I want to ask questions about bangladesh. Im the Ranking Member with senator risch on the subcommittee over the region of the world that includes bangladesh. These refugees are largely going to bangladesh which has its own set of challenges. Could you tell the committee how the flow of refugees into bangladesh is affecting that country . Are there things we can do to help them deal with the refugees . Mr. Murphy senator kaine, the crush of refugees is unmanageable. For a conindustry strapped for resources, limited infrastructure, and also facing difficult weather, its nearly impossible. Ambassador storella i think bangladesh has done a great job by opening its borders and the International Community to permit opportunities to assist the people there. One of the most important things that bangladesh has done is to work with the unhcr to undertake a registration of those arriving. I spoke with someone from bangladesh yesterday, he said some 260,000 refugees have been registered. 13,000 are being registered per day. Senator kaine theres been 600,000 that have fled ambassador storella 603,000. These registrations are important because they provide protections themselves and the basis for the subsequent repatriation when conditions permit. I think bangladesh has demonstrate add great deal of patience and working with the authorities. There was a meeting today which the Home Affairs Minister is working of bangladesh is working with the burmese to pave the way for eevepk eventual returns. Senator kaine that 603,000, i have heard that an estimate. Thats about half the total of burma, islation that ackzphrat ambassador storella we do not know the exact population, but believe the 00,000 plus the number already in bangladesh, which brings the total to about a million s. More than half of the population. Senator kaine from the usaid impective, could you offer sorry ms. Somvongsiri. Ms. Somvongsiri usaid aid works closely with the p. R. M. In bangladesh and agree with ambassador storellas assessments in terms of the government generosity in an already impoppished country. The ability to take in this massive, massive influx. Our program through food for peace there is supplementing efforts in terms of providing much needed food assistance, nutrition, and a lot of interest to give you the sense of the challenges to be able to do the food assistance. Some of the work is toward Building Logistics likes roads to have deliverry into the very confined area. One other thing ill mention is we do have a Robust DevelopmentAssistance Program in bangladesh and were looking how to reshape that to help affected communities that are there. Senator kaine aim not going to ask another question but probably do questions for the record to flesh out the extent of activities were doing to help bangladesh and other things were doing. Chairman corker thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, for holing this important hearing and winces for focusing today on the appalling treatment of burmas muslim and ethnic minority, the rohingya. Im grateful to all the members of this committee on both sides who take concrete steps to address this cry sifments in july, start tillis and i, cochairs of the human rights caucus, held a briefing about the displacement of the rohingya. At that point relatively early in this crisis, there is more than 6 hundred,000 who fled burma because of the militarys brutality. Senator coons theres been a great deal of great whether the state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi, by her silence is contributing to this violence. On september 17, he one of her fell nobel lawyer yeats, Archbishop Desmond tutu, wrote a moving letter which he said, quote, if the political price of your ascension to the highest office in myanmar is your silence, the price is surely too steep. A country not willing to protect the dignity of all people is not free. It is the congress as a symbol of righteousness to led the country. I agree with him. I hope the United States will continue to speak out, stand up for human rights, and call for policies and action that is empower and protect the rohingya. Ambassador, first to you. You answered questions from senator kaine about whats happening on the ground in bangladesh. I would be interested in whether you foresee the rohingya being able to return to burma. And what steps you are taking to urge the burmese government to recognize and protect them upon their return. Whether they will get documentation of citizenship or residency, and what you believe the longterm plan is both in bangladesh and in burma for their safe treatment and care while refugees and their return to the nation of origin of burma. Ambassador storella senator coons, thank you very much for focusing on a critical question. The very first thing we must under all circumstances insist returns must be the goal and must be voltaire rain the government of burma must provide for the security of returning refugees. We have seen some elements of progress despite an other wise dismal scena