Whereas Burma recognizes 135 distinct ethnic minorities among its residents; Whereas Burma refuses to recognize the Rohingya people as such a minority; Whereas the Burma Citizenship Law of 1982 effectively rendered the Rohingya people stateless; Whereas an estimated one million Rohingya reside predominately in the Burmese state of Rakhine and have been subjected to human rights abuses by the government and military of Burma for more than 50 years; Whereas, on August 25, 2017, a Rohingya armed group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked Burmese security outposts; Whereas the Burmese Army responded by systematically and ruthlessly attacking civilians; Whereas more than 580,000 people have fled northern Rakhine since late August 2017; Whereas these refugees have fled to Bangladesh; Whereas this most recent crisis has resulted in the total Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh reaching more than 800,000 people; Whereas over 200 villages in northern Rakhine have been totally or partially destroyed, allegedly by the Burmese military as part of a clearance operation ; Whereas officials at the United Nations have heard reports from members of the Rohingya community about the indiscriminate killing of unarmed civilians, the presence of landmines along the border with Bangladesh, and gender-based violence directed against the Rohingya, including rape and sexual assault; Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights— (1) reported that members of the Rohingya community have suffered extrajudicial killings, forced disappearance, arbitrary detention, looting, and the occupation and destruction of property; (2) stated that he has seen reports, including satellite images, of Burmese security forces and local militias burning Rohingya villages and shooting civilians who were fleeing this violence; and (3) called the ongoing crisis in Rakhine a textbook example of ethnic cleansing