The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Phyo Wai Aung has been sentenced to death for alleged involvement in the Rangoon water festival bombing. (Photo: AHRC) Phyo Wai Aung, the man accused of carrying out a deadly bombing during the Burmese water festival in 2010, has died just months after his release from prison from an illness that went untreated while he was still in custody. Family members said he died at his home in Rangoon’s Kyauk Myaung Township at around 3 am on Friday. The 33-year-old engineer was sentenced to death in May of last year for his alleged role in a series of bombings that killed at least 10 people and injured around 100 others during festivities to mark Thingyan, the Burmese new year, in April 2010. He was subsequently released under a presidential pardon on Aug. 3, 2012.

Chittagong, Bangladesh:  The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today called on Thai authorities to give United Nations refugee agencies unhindered access to Rohingya boat migrants, so that they can ascertain whether or not they are asylum seekers and if they are eligible for refugee status,” according to a AIPMC statement. Rohingya boat people near Bon Island in Phuket province “Thai authorities should suspend plans to deport at least 73 Rohingya migrants back to Burma.” “Thailand has a history of mistreatment of Rohingya refugees, and their push-back, or ‘help on’

Maungdaw, Arakan State:   The Maungdaw authority passed an order today to hold the border pass of Rohingya who are living in Ward number 3 and 5, according to village administration office member. Maungdaw Exit and entry point No.1 “The Rohingya – living in Ward number 3 and 5 – who denied to take digital fingerprints and photographs for registration  process with Bengali race.” The Burma border security force (Nasaka) entered today ward number 3 to collect so-called family population list with computerized digital fingerprints and photographs as Bengali which Rohingya community denied to register  and no one went to register with them, said a politician.