Take Action: Pass the BRAVE Burma Act
Last week, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), joined by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), introduced the bipartisan BRAVE Burma Act (S.3981) to strengthen the U.S. response to the crisis in Burma and increase pressure on the military junta responsible for atrocities against the Rohingya and other communities. The bill would extend the Burma Act of 2022, push for additional sanctions on key regime-linked entities, cut off access to hard currency, arms, and jet fuel, and direct U.S. opposition to international assistance that could benefit the junta. Contact your members of Congress below and urge them to support S.3981.
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What’s Going On
For decades, the Rohingya Muslims and other minority communities in Burma have endured discrimination, persecution, and mass violence at the hands of the Burmese military. The atrocities committed against the Rohingya in 2017 were not an isolated episode; they were part of a broader, long-running campaign to strip a people of citizenship, freedom of movement, security, and dignity.
In 2022, the U.S. government formally determined that members of the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya. That recognition mattered, but recognition alone is not justice.
Today, more than one million Rohingya refugees remain in Bangladesh, while roughly 600,000 Rohingya are still inside Burma, many in Rakhine State, where they continue to face statelessness, restriction, and danger.
Since the military coup in 2021, Burma’s crisis has widened. The junta has intensified violence against civilians across the country, deepened humanitarian need, and further destabilized conditions for Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minorities. What began as a genocide against the Rohingya now sits within a larger struggle over military rule, democracy, accountability, and survival.
Why This Demands U.S. Action
U.S. policy cannot reverse the Rohingya genocide on its own, but it can either increase pressure on the junta or help sustain the conditions that allow impunity to continue. Congress has real leverage over sanctions, international financing, refugee and humanitarian policy, accountability programs, and diplomatic strategy.
That means U.S. responsibility is not abstract. Washington can decide whether sanctions authorities remain strong or expire, whether international financial institutions are pressed to keep denying legitimacy and resources to the junta, whether Rohingya justice and protection efforts are funded, and whether Burma remains a serious foreign policy priority rather than a forgotten atrocity file.
At a moment when aid cuts, policy drift, and attention fatigue can all make a bad situation worse, Congress should be moving in the opposite direction: toward stronger accountability, deeper humanitarian support, and sustained backing for democracy and civilian rule in Burma.
Burma and Rohingya: Critical Bills Right Now
BRAVE
BRAVE
Burma GAP
No New Funds
Arms Embargo
ON BURMA &
ROHINGYA
Click a bill to learn more.
These five measures speak to the core policy fights around Burma right now: sanctions, democracy, Rohingya protection, international financing, and cutting off the junta’s access to weapons.
What We’re Doing
Emgage Action has long advocated for the Rohingya and for accountability for Burma’s military. We support legislation that treats the Rohingya genocide as an ongoing policy emergency rather than a closed chapter and that recognizes the fight for Rohingya justice as inseparable from the broader struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma.
That means pushing Congress to strengthen and preserve sanctions authorities, support Rohingya refugees and survivors, fund atrocity accountability and witness protection, block international support that could empower the junta, and maintain pressure for a genuine return to civilian rule.
We also believe U.S. officials must stop treating Burma as a secondary issue. The Rohingya deserve more than memorial statements. They deserve policy that matches the gravity of genocide.
Our Path Forward
Emgage Action supports a U.S. approach to Burma that is clear-eyed and consistent: protect Rohingya communities, isolate the military junta, support democratic actors and civil society, and pursue accountability for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Congress should pass the strongest available Burma legislation, ensure that justice and humanitarian programs are funded, and reject any policy that normalizes military rule or allows the junta to regain money, weapons, or legitimacy.
The Rohingya have waited too long for the world to act with seriousness. The United States should not look away, soften its pressure, or settle for symbolic concern. It should help build a policy worthy of the scale of the crime.