The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Recent events in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma, have many causes which need to be addressed. On all sides, however, there is agreement that there needs to be clarification and proper implementation of citizenship laws. Speaking in Norway on 18th June 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi said: “If we were very clear as to who are the citizens of the country, under citizenship laws, then there wouldn’t be the problem that is always coming up, that there are accusations that some people do not belong in Bangladesh, or some people do not belong in Burma.”

Natala and security forces destroy Holly Qurans, religious books and vandalize religious school Thayet Gonetan (Sairkongbow) Madrasa (Religious school) of Maungdaw Township had been vandalized by Natala villagers accompanied by security forces today at about 12:30pm, according to an elder from village. “Seven security forces accompanied by 50-Natala villager from Sairkongbow Natala village went to the said Madrasa and destroyed all Holly Qurans and Hadith books which were thrown to the water and Maungdaw-Aley Thankyaw road after tearing up all the books.”

Two Rohingya women cuddle their newborns at a camp in Kutupalong, Cox's Bazar. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das Bangladesh officially accommodates around 29,000 Rohingya refugees. However, different estimates suggest the number of the Myanmarese minorities living in and around Cox's Bazar ranges between 2.5 and 5 lakh. In 2004, roughly around 2 lakh Rohingyas were living illegally in the region. According to locals this number has risen to 5 lakh as illegal immigration remains almost unchallenged along the coastal borders. During a visit to the furthermost southern district in mid-2004, this correspondent found many small settlements of Rohingya squatters.

Maungdaw Township: A 34-member parliamentary team —consisting of no local Rohingya MPs—led by Thura Shwe Mann visited Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, on July 8. But, the team only visited with Buddhist community, especially the Natala villagers and Monks who are  giving shelter  Mogh  and distributed relief goods to them. The team neither met with Rohingya Muslims nor gave any relief to them, said an elder from Mungdaw.

Even as the world watches the reforms shaping Burma, violence against Rohingya Muslims in last month’s ethnic clashes in Rakhine province once again brought the focus back on the troubled relationship between the ethnic minority and the Burmese state. The Burmese government has been in the process of normalising its ties with various troubled ethnic minorities in the country, but the Rohingya community remains at loggerheads with the Rakhine Buddhist community. The Thein Sein government, in fact, had to declare martial law in many districts of Rakhine to quell the clashes in which nine Rohingya Muslims were killed.

NEW YORK: Burmese security forces have responded to sectarian violence in northern Arakan State with mass arrests and unlawful force against the Rohingya Muslim population, Human Rights Watch said today. Local police, the military, and a border security force known as Nasaka have committed numerous abuses in predominantly Muslim townships while combating the violence between the Rohingya and ethnic Arakan, who are predominantly Buddhist, that broke out in early June 2012.