More than 100 Rohingya rescued off Indonesian coast

Enlarge:

By AFP +

DVB

27 February 2013

Fishermen have rescued more than 100 ethnic Rohingya asylum seekers from Burma who were found drifting in a wooden boat off western Indonesia, an official said Wednesday.

The 121 Rohingya, including six women and two children, were found adrift late Tuesday by fishermen around 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the village of Cot Trueng, on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island in Aceh province.

“Their boat ran out of petrol as they tried to sail from Myanmar [Burma] to Thailand,” village chief Mukhtar Samsyah told AFP , adding that they had fled Burma to escape sectarian conflict.

He said the Rohingya were found in a weak condition but had recovered after being given food, water and a place to sleep.

“They’ve all been sent to an immigration detention centre in Lhokseumawe city,” he said.

The UN considers the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim ethnic group, one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, while Burma views its roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, denying them citizenship.

According to government statistics, Buddhist-Muslim unrest in Arakan has left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced since June 2012.

Almost 6,000 Rohingya fleeing the violence have illegally entered Thai waters since October, the Thai army said earlier this month.

In late January, Thailand’s navy blocked more than 200 Rohingya boat people from entering the kingdom as part of a new crackdown on the refugees, under which they will be given food and water but barred from landing if their boat is seaworthy.

The tougher stance came after Thai authorities said they were investigating allegations that army officials were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya.

Comments

Amnesty International's T. Kumar to Speak at the Islamic Society of North America's Convention

Amnesty International's T. Kumar to Speak at the Islamic Society of North America's Convention Advocacy Director T. Kumar to Speak on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (Burma) Contact: Carolyn Lang, clang@aiusa.org, 202-675-8759 /EINPresswire.com/ (Washington, D.C.) -- Amnesty International Advocacy Director T. Kumar will address the Islamic Society of North America's 49th Annual Convention "One Nation Under God: Striving for the Common Good," in regards to the minority community of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (Burma) on Saturday, September 1, at 11:30 am at the Washington DC Convention Center.

American Buddhists Promote 969 Movement With Website

Irrawaddy News: July 9, 2013 A group of American Buddhists has launched an English-language website promoting the 969 movement, in response to negative media surrounding the ultra-nationalist Buddhist campaign in Burma. The website aims to dispel “myths” about the movement, with a letter from nationalist monk Wirathu to a Time magazine reporter whose article about 969 was banned in Burma. “We’re not officially endorsed by Ven Wirathu at this time but will send a delegation to his monastery soon,” a spokesperson for the site said via email, adding that the group would create a nonprofit to coordinate “969 activities worldwide in response to religious oppression.”

Rohingya Activist Nominated for Human Rights Award

PHR congratulates Zaw Min Htut, a Burmese Rohingya activist, on his nomination for the 2011 US State Department Human Rights Defenders Award . Zaw Min Htut has been working for Rohingyas’ rights through the Burmese Rohingya Association of Japan since he fled Burma in 1998. Prior to that he was a student activist in Burma, and was detained for his participation in protests in 1996. In Japan, Zaw Min Htut has organized protests at the Burmese embassy and has written books on the history of Rohingya.

The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Search This Blog