The Stateless Rohingya Blog

 Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei Press TV: May 18, 2013 Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei has urged a swift end to the violence and the breach of human rights against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. In a meeting with the ambassadors of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Khazaei said suppression and violence against Muslims are taking place despite Myanmar’s claims of democratization and reform.  He criticized a lack of consensus and coordination among Muslim countries to adopt a resolution in condemnation of the atrocities against the Muslims in Myanmar, stressing the importance for Myanmar’s government to take effective measures to stop the violence.  “At a time when Muslim countries are concerned about the situation in Myanmar, the political whim of certain Western states to establish better relations with Myanmar’s government has weakened the process of looking into the situa

U.S. President Barack Obama sits alongside Myanmar's President Thein Sein in a US-Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali on November 18, 2011. © 2011 Reuters Human Rights Watch : May 18, 2013 Obama Should Press Visiting Burmese President to Keep Past Rights Pledges (Washington, DC) – The United States should use the upcoming visit by Burma’s president to ask tough questions about the slowing pace of human rights reforms and insist on implementation of past commitments, Human Rights Watch said today. President Barack Obama is hosting a visit to Washington, DC, by Burma’s president Thein Sein on May 20-21, 2013. Six months after Obama’s visit to Burma, key pledges by the Burmese government remain unimplemented or unmet. With large numbers of political prisoners still not released, a May 17 release of about 19 political prisoners appeared to be more politically calculated than a genuine commitment to reform. “The last yea

GEMUNU AMARASINGHE / AP A Rohingya man pushes a rickshaw leaving a camp for displaced Rohingya people in Sittwe, northwestern Rakhine State, Myanmar, Thursday, May 16, 2013. Some members of the Rohingya minority started to evacuate for safer shelters ahead of Cyclone Mahasen, while others refused to leave, mistrusting the government. Toronto Star : May 18, 2013 In western Burma, 140,000 people have been forced from their homes by communal violence. Their camps are now at risk of being inundated by monsoons. RAKHINE STATE, BURMA—As a mob of Arakanese Buddhists descended on their village, Ma Nu, 52, and her family pushed off in their fishing boat. “The day before, we were given leaflets, telling us to leave,” says Ma Nu, a Rohingya Muslim. “We lived together for decades. We never thought anything like this could happen.” From the water, they watched the violence unfold. Stragglers were attacked and houses were looted with the assistance of loca

BDnews24 May 18, 2013 Issues related to Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry and migration of Rohingyas figured prominently during talks between foreign Minister Dipu Moni and US Secretary of State John Kerry at Washington on Friday. “We’re looking forward to more cooperation in all areas of our common concern, both bilaterally and also at multilateral levels," Dipu Moni said after the meeting. She said Kerry has been invited to visit Bangladesh and the US Secretary of State has said he will try to come soon. This is the first meeting between the two after John Kerry took over as the Secretary of State in January. Addressing the media jointly, Kerry said the US was prepared to help in any way possible for those affected by Cyclone 'Mahasen'. He expressed grief over the death of more than 1,100 people in the Rana Plaza collapse. “We hope that this will be able to help all of us cooperate on the issue of labour safety and workers’ ri