The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Friday, February 22, 2013     (Menafn - M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is calling for urgent action to prevent the rising numbers of people killed trying to cross the Indian Ocean in smugglers' boats, particularly the increasing numbers of women and children from the stateless Rohingya community. "It is clear that the Indian Ocean has become for people fleeing their countries one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world," the agency's spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, told journalists in Geneva. The agency estimates that out of the 13,000 people who left on smugglers' boats in 2012, close to 500 died at sea when their boats broke down or capsized in the Bay of Bengal. "Already in 2013, several thousand people are believed to have boarded smugglers boats in the Bay of Bengal," Mr. Mahecic added. Of particular concern is the Rohingya community from western Myanmar

Myanmar President Thein Sein met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in the Lao capital Vientiane in November 2012. (Photo: President's office) Mizzima News: February 22, 2013 Thein Sein has received official invitations to visit five European countries in the near future, according to an announcement in state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on February 22.  The Myanmar president will travel to Norway, Finland, Austria, Italy and Belgium in what will be the first of his official overseas trips of 2013. The latest invitations come following the relaxation of sanctions and improvement in bilateral relations with the European countries.  Norway opened an embassy in Yangon in November 2012; Finnish Minister of International Development visited Myanmar in January; and the President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce met with Thein Sein in Naypyitaw earlier this month.  Italy recently stepped up cooperation with Myanmar under the supervision of UNE

Shwe Maung represents Buthidaung constituency in northern Arakan state. (Photo: DVB) Hanna Hindstrom Democratic Voice of Burma February 22, 2013 A member of parliament has fired back at claims that Rohingya Muslims do not exist in Burma, after a senior government minister allegedly accused the group of fabricating its history in a parliamentary discussion on Wednesday. It follows media reports that the Deputy Immigration Minister, Kyaw Kyaw Win, on Wednesday formally denied the existence of a Rohingya race in Burma, referring to a stateless Muslim minority isolated near the Bangladeshi border. But Shwe Maung, who is a native Rohingya, slammed the allegations, quoted in the English-language version of Burma’s state media outlet the New Light of Myanmar, as historically and factually inaccurate. “We should not simply deny there are no Rohingya, if we do that it would be irresponsible, we need a study,” said the MP, who represents Buthidaung constituency in nort