The Stateless Rohingya Blog

As the persecution and human rights violations  against ethnic minorities in Burma continue, the U.S., ASEAN, and other stakeholders need to examine their engagement with the Burmese  military  regime with this problem foremost in their minds. Rohingya Muslims are one of the most oppressed ethnic minorities in the world. Since 1982, the Burmese government has systematically persecuted its  800,000 Rohingyas  by stripping them of citizenship, denying them free travel, restricting their  access  to land, and forcing them work for the military. The Bangladeshi government says that  300,000 Rohingyas  live in Bangladesh today after mass exodus from Burma. The majority remains unrecognized and live in refugee-like conditions. The Bangladeshi government is reluctant to receive more. On August 7, the U.S. State Department expressed its deep concern with the Bangladeshi government’s intent to shut down organizations providing aid to Rohingyas ...

Five detained local NGO staff members of an international aid organization were freed on Thursday in Rakhine State in Burma, while others still remain in jail. Two NGO workers with AZG, a Netherlands-based NGO, Kyaw Hla Aung, in blue longyi, and Win Naing, in red longyi, were released from a prison in Sittwe Prison on Thursday, August 16, 2012. Burmese Minister Khin Yi said that 10 workers with international NGOs were arrested in  connection  with Rakhine-Rohingya violence. Photo:  Mizzima Local authorities in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, released Doctors Without Borders employees Kyaw Hla Aung and Win Naing. They have been charged with inciting unrest. Authorities are believed to hold up to 10 other NGO aid workers detained during the community unrest. “I was charged with Article 505 [of Burma’s Penal Code] for inciting unrest, while Win Naing was charged with instigating conflict by showing people photos of  violence  in Taungoke Township,” Kyaw H...

Burma’s government-appointed human rights commission has rejected appeals by domestic and international groups, saying there is no need for an investigation into the communal  violence  between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya that erupted in June in Rakhine State.  The Organization of Islamic Cooperation said this week it will take up the Burmese government’s handling of the unrest with the U.N. Security Council, and called for a credible investigation into the unrest.  The UN human rights reporter for Burma said last week that the country’s Parliament would be the best body to conduct an investigation into the unrest.   He also called on Burma’s National Human Rights Commission to form a truth commission for a comprehensive and transparent investigation.   The human rights commission chairman, Win Mra, said on Thursday that a separate government-appointed group of investigators are charged with looking into the events that set off the community violence. ...