The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Maungdaw, Arakan State : The emergency Act 144 was extended again for two months starting from April 10, 2013 by Maungdaw high officials – U Kyi San, Township admin officer and U Aung Myint Soe, District admin officer- referring for stable and peace in town, according to an official from Maungdaw. “The emergency Act was again issued for unwanted event in the Maungdaw during the Buddhist water festival which is coming on April 13 – 18 (officially April 13-16).” But, Rohingya community in Maungdaw said the emergency Act is to harass and to restrict their movement within their areas. Showing the Act, security forces are trying to extort money from Rohingya community. The emergency Act was first imposed in Maungdaw on June 10, 2012 after Rakhines and Rohingyas fight each other to control the conflict, but the Act is only for Rohingya community not for Rakhine, said a politician. U Hla Myint, a police sergeant, is disturbing Rohingyas to extort money from

Maungdaw, Arakan State : A group of Sommona  Natala villagers  attempted to abduct a Rohingya villager on April 10, 2013 for refusing to pay money they asked before, said a local trader from Aley Than Kyaw. “A group of Natala villagers went to Zurforza village tract of Aley Than Kyaw, with long swords at about 12:30 am at night on April 10 while all villagers were sleeping.” Mohamed Rafique (40), son of Kala Meah, hailed from Zurforza village tract of Aley Than Kyaw under the Maungdaw township and also a rich man in the village. The Natala villagers want his wealthy by kidnapping from his home and need to come out from house by shouting as “Your paddy fields are being destroyed.”  But, Rafique saw some Rakhine Natala villagers with swords within his boundary, according to villagers. After seeing the Rakhine Natala villagers, Rafique screamed and wanted help from the neighboring villagers. On hearing his voice, some Rohingya villagers rushed to the spot and seeing vill

His Excellency  April 10, 2013 Mr. Fumio KISHIDA The Minister of Foreign Affairs The Government of Japan Tokyo Subject: : A humble request to raise the issue of Rohingya in Myanmar with Hon. Ms Aung San Suu Kyi. Your Excellency; We Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan (BRAJ) would like to bring your kind attention that the current situation of entire Muslim population including Rohingya in Myanmar is tremendously endanger of bigger risk of their lives and properties. Japanese government and entire world community is witnessing one-sided Buddhist violence against the Muslim of Myanmar, particularly the Rohingya community in Arakan since June 2012 which is still going on. Indeed this discrimination on Rohingya and violation of their human rights are not new but continuously going on since 1962 by successive Burmese military regime. It is well documented by United Nation and International human rights body including Human Right  Watch  and Amnesty Int

A man stands in the courtyard of a partially-destroyed mosque after violence spread through central Myanmar, March 28, 2013. PressTV: April 12, 2013 A court in Myanmar sentences three Muslims to 14 years in prison with hard labor for beating a Buddhist customer in a gold shop in the central town of Meiktila. The gold shop owner, his wife and an employee, were given the jail terms for hitting the customer in an argument over a gold hairpin in Meiktila on March 20. The argument sparked several days of violence against Muslims across the country. Over 40 people were killed and more than a thousand others injured. A number of mosques and homes of Muslims were also burned down in several towns in central Myanmar. Myanmar’s Islamic Religious Affairs Council and the Myanmar Muslim National Affairs Organisation later appealed to the government of President Thein Sein to take swift action to stop the ‘violent attacks.’ On March 28, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human

Regiment 207's military camp a few miles from Sittwe.   By Assed Baig Vice.UK: April 12, 2013 Burma's Muslims are still having a pretty awful time of it. Last year, the country's Buddhist majority launched a series of attacks on the minority Rohingya Muslim population, supposedly because they're not "ethnically pure". The attacks have continued this year and now include the general Muslim population, as well as the ethnic Rohingyas, getting their homes burned down and heads smashed in by marauding gangs of vicious Buddhists. After monitoring the plight of the Rohingya and the two incidents of violence against them in June and Octoberlast year, I decided to fly out to Burma in wary anticipation of another round of trouble. The problem was that I had no money, no commission, no media organisation backing me and the mainstream media had pretty much stopped reporting on the issue. When I turned to the public to help fund my trip, the r

Myanmar's progress towards democracy has been heralded around the world, but recent violence against ethnic minorities has caused the country's human rights to be questioned. Despite this, the UN's Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, says the government is committed to reform and resolving the issue of Rohingya statelessness. (Credit: ABC)  Radio Australia: April 12, 2013 United Nations Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, says the government is committed to reform and resolving the issue of Rohingya statelessness. Myanmar's progress towards democracy has been heralded around the world, but recent violence against ethnic minorities has caused the country's human rights to be questioned. Despite this, Mr Nambia has told Newsline the country's reform agenda is "on track" and the government wants to address the issue of citizenship. "I would say that these latest