The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Repatriation becomes more complicated after Myanmar unrest A camp of Rohingya refugees at Kutupalang of Ukhiya upazila in Cox's Bazar district. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das The recent sectarian violence in Myanmar has jeopardised the repatriation of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh for the last 21 years. Already the process has remained stalled for the last seven years because of issues such as the unwillingness of the refugees to go back and complications in getting clearance from the Myanmar government.

Burma is located in Southeast Asia covering an area of  more  250,000 square miles and with a population of more than 60 million people. In recent history it was under British rule from 1886 until 1948, and Burma is a country that never been part of the Commonwealth after the departure of the British.

The rights watchdog detailed cases in which security forces used brutal force against the country’s Muslim minority. ARAKAN – A leading human rights watchdog has accused Burma “biased” local police and military of using “brutal force” against Rohingya Muslim minority as sectarian violence flared in northern Arakan (Rakhine) state over the past few weeks. “The Burmese government needs to put an immediate end to the abusive sweeps by the security forces against Rohingya communities,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a report released earlier this week cited by Eurasia Review on Saturday, July 7.

Outcasts ... a man weeps after his arrest in Bangladesh. Photo: AP The recent brutal religious violence in Burma's western Arakan state has cast a shadow on the country's democratic progress. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of homes destroyed as Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims clash near the Bangladeshi border in the country's worst sectarian violence in decades.

Maungdaw Township: Hafez Salim with other three Rohingya from Ashika Para were arrested by Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) after checking the family list  today at about 9:00pm, according a villager on condition of anonymity Similarly, Mohamed Alam (35), son of Mohamed Ismail was also arrested by Nasaka three days ago, was severely tortured in Nasaka area No.6 and became very serious where he was unable to pay the Nasaka demand money 2.5 million for release, he said.

GENEVIEVE CARBERY A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition aiming to put a human face on statelessness, which affects 12 million people without a nationality, has opened in Dublin. The Rohingya people of Burma, the Nubians of Kenya and the stateless of Ukraine are among eight groups featured in Nowhere People, a six-year project by US photographer Greg Constantine and sponsored by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

An ethnic Rohingya from Burma and living in Malaysia, wearing a traditional Malay "songkok" prayer cap, recites prayers at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur on 17 June 2012 as sectarian riots engulf Burma’s Arakan state. (Reuters) Burmese security forces have systematically abused the stateless Rohingya group after sectarian violence flared in northern Arakan state in early June, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday.

How Burma’s pro-democracy movement betrayed its own ideals and rehabilitated the military BY FRANCIS WADE Sectarian rioting in western Burma has pitted the majority Buddhist population against a small Muslim minority group. Dozens of people on both sides have been killed, and countless  homes  destroyed. Thousands of refugees have taken flight.

The staff stopped in recent days for "interrogation". The government has not yet provided official responses to their conditions. The NGO has suspended humanitarian  activities  for  safety  reasons. The area was the scene of sectarian  violence  between Buddhists and Muslims. Tens of thousands of refugees still living in refugee  camps .