The Stateless Rohingya Blog

US President Barack Obama visited to Burma yesterday and used a historic speech in Burma to urge an end to sectarian unrest in the western state of Arakan (Rakhine), saying there was “no excuse for violence against innocent people”. “National reconciliation will take time, but for the sake of our common humanity, and for the sake of this country’s future, it is necessary to stop the incitement and to stop violence.”

It is very unfortunate that Daw Aung San Kyi has made the situation more appalling by remaining long silent on the deadly violence against Rohingyas. If she spoke out in the beginning she could have saved many lives and destructions in Arakan. She knows the extent of damages and systematic destruction of Rohingya people and their villages, with the involvement of the government police, soldiers, Nasaka and other security forces, and the Rohingya people are completely unprotected, said Nurul Islam, the President of Arakan Rohingya National Organization (ARNO).

U.S. President Barack Obama waves after delivering a speech at University of Yangon's convocation hall in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Nov 19, 2012. (GEMUNU AMARASINGHE/AP Photo) PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Myanmar Naingan, Mingalaba!  (Laughter and applause.)  I am very honored to be here at this university and to be the first President of the United States of America to visit your country.  I came here because of the importance of your country.  You live at the crossroads of East and South Asia.  You border the most populated nations on the planet.  You have a history that reaches back thousands of years, and the ability to help determine the destiny of the fastest growing region of the world.

By Qutub Shah Due to similarities between Rohingya Issue and Palestine issue in some aspects, we found many writers and thinkers assimilating the former to the latter using different terms. This was E. Forechamer, a British who described Arakan as ‘Palestine of the east’ saying, “Arakan to be the Palestine of the east”. In an article published by Malaysia-Chonicle.com this land is pointed saying ‘Southeast Asia’s Palestine’. Some others, like Ramzy Baroud labeled the Rohingyas as ‘Palestinians of the east’. These are not mere words but different writer has viewed different points of resemblance such as being a decades-old issue, of tripartite sides, having aggressions against Muslims, weakness of the world in solving the problems, displacement of the inhabitants from their fatherland by expatriates and aliens.

By RAKSHA KUMAR The first time that a leader of any consequence had spoken about the plight of the Rohingyas of Myanmar, considered one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, was when the Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited India last week. She told an Indian news channel that the violence against the Muslim minority group was a “huge international tragedy” and that she would try her best to help the situation. Rohingya asylum seekers in India say the attention is coming too late.