The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Dharamsala : Following the intermittent communal clashes in western Rakhine state involving predominant Buddhist and Muslim Rohingya, a state of emergency has been observed in that part of the country. Many Burmese regard Muslims as foreigners from across the Bangladesh border and this has led the two communities to indulge in deadly violence to prove their hegemony over other.

Maungdaw, Arakan State:   A slaughtered Rohingya dead body was found on the roadside of Powet Chaung village of Maungdaw north, Arakan State, on October 1, in the morning, said a neighbor on condition of anonymity. “The dead body was identified as—Noor Hashim (38), son of Hakim Ali, hailed from Powet Chaung village of Maungdaw Township.”

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Three ambassadors from – USA, United Kingdom and Australia – visited Maungdaw Township by helicopter today in the morning, said a local youth from Khadir Bill ( Nyung Chaung village) on condition of anonymity. “The helicopter only landed at Khadir Bill village near Maungdaw town to see the Natala villages, where some of the Natala villagers and some Rakhine brought from other side of Maungdaw, have been gathering since June after the clashes between Rakhine and Rohingya.”

Crammed into squalid camps, thousands of people who fled communal violence in Myanmar face a deepening humanitarian crisis with critical shortages of food, water and medicine, aid workers say. More than 100,000 people have been displaced since June in two major spasms of violence in western Rakhine State, where renewed clashes last month between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims uprooted about 30,000 people.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is set to arrive in Burma's capital Nay Pyi Taw for a key trade and diplomatic visit. He is the latest Western official to visit Burma since the country embarked on a reform programme last year. The EU is competing for trade and investment opportunities in Burma now that most sanctions have been lifted. Mr Barroso is also likely to raise the plight of the Rohingya minority with both the government and the opposition.