The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Rohingya people have no  home , rejected by Bangladesh and rendered stateless by Burma. The Burmese government claims Rohingya people are Bangladeshi, but Bangladesh claims they are illegal migrants.  MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/GETTYIMAGES An emotional Rohingya Muslim  woman , fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar, is pictured on an intercepted boat trying to cross the Naf river into Bangladesh in Teknaf on June 13, 2012. Some sobbed quietly while others pleaded and raised their arms to heaven. Their children looked on with glassy stares, utterly exhausted after days at sea in an open boat. Soon they would be on the water again, escorted by a Bangladeshi coast guard vessel and pushed back into the waters of Burma where they knew violence still raged.

Rohingya refugees from Burma gather in an unregistered Rohingya refugee camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh on 14 June 2012. (Reuters) Burma’s Immigration and Population Minister Khin Yi told DVB yesterday the government has promulgated a policy aimed at repatriating Rohingya refugees who recently fled violence in western Burma. “Regarding the Bengalis who left across the border, we have policies to accept them back,” said Khin Yi, who referred to the Rohingya’s as Bengalis.

No relief for Rohingya in Maungdaw Two helicopters with relief goods arrived yesterday in Maungdaw and all the relief goods are kept in Myoma monastery where the relief goods were distributed to the Rakhines who are not taking shelter as refugees. Most Rakhines have homes and foods but they receive the relief from distribution centers. The authority setup three centers in Maungdaw – Myoma monastery, Myo Oo Pagoda monastery and Ward number 5 junctions “Community hall for Buddha religious purposes.”

Syed Zain Al-Mahmood  in Teknaf Sectarian violence in Burma has sent Muslim Rohingya refugees fleeing across the border, but they find themselves unwelcome in neighbouring Bangladesh Nozir Hossain shows the scar he received while trying to protect himself on the day his sons were killed. Photograph: Syed Zain Al-Mahmood for the Guardian Some sobbed quietly while others pleaded and raised their arms to heaven. Their children looked on with glassy stares, utterly exhausted after days at sea in an open boat. Soon they would be on the water again, escorted by a Bangladeshi coast guard vessel and pushed back into the waters of  Burma  where they knew  violence still raged .

Apparently, Bangladesh's pushback of helpless Rohingyas from its territorial waters into those of Myanmar seems to have worked. Or has it? Given that 30,000 were afflicted in the latest eruption of ethnic violence in Rakhine state capital Sittwe, this may have been just a stalling operation.  Since no media is allowed in the troubled zone, there's no way knowing whether those sent back by us are safe. Perhaps, Bangladesh's stern approach has gone down well with the Myanmar authorities. For once, we could bite the bullet and let them float into the elements of nature, or shove them into the tunnel of uncertainty.