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Showing posts from March 3, 2012

Stateless along the Bay of Bengal: The Future of Burma's Rohingya

By: Christian N. Desrosiers After hustling myself out of the city center across a handful of muddy fields, I entered a low wooden building where an elderly imam was waiting for me. His beard was dyed orange in the manner of the Prophet, and it stood out strongly against his skin, dark as rich soil. We spoke in low tones. Secrecy was necessary: if we were caught meeting by one of the many informants in his community it would be bad for me and worse for him. He is a member of a group that Refugees International has dubbed "one of the most persecuted groups in the world."

Burmese Migrants in Malaysia Face Registration Woes

Children of Burmese migrants at a community school in Kuala Lumpur (Photo: Patrick Boehler / Irrawaddy) While a controversial government amnesty program for illegal migrants in Malaysia is expected to run out next month, a similar scheme may soon affect  tens of thousands of Burmese refugees in the nation. The so-called “6P” scheme was introduced by the Malaysian authorities last summer to biometrically register and legalize illegal foreign workers, but most Burmese refugees were not eligible for the amnesty program.