The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Buddhist monk Wirathu (C), leader of the 969 movement, greets other monks as he attends a meeting on the National Protection Law at a monastery outside Yangon, June 27, 2013. VOA News June 28, 2013 RANGOON — This week's  Time Magazine cover  bearing the image of Wirathu, a monk who has come under international scrutiny for spreading anti-Muslim hate speech was banned in Burma. Has hate-speech on the internet and in sermons delivered by Buddhist monks led to religious violence, and has the government fulfilled its responsibility in dealing with hate speech?  Burma has only just recently stopped censoring print news media, but when Time magazine ran a cover story detailing the anti-Muslim hate-speeches of influential Buddhist monk Wirathu, the issue was banned because the information ministry feared it could incite further violence.  Since June of last year, five separate incidents of communal violence perpetrated against Muslims across the country have left scores

KPN News June 29, 2013 Chittagong, Bangladesh : Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is facing difficulties to handle border issues with its counterpart Burma border security force (Nasaka) as the Nasaka is unwilling to sit for discuss, according to Major General Aziz Ahmed, the BGB Director General. “BGB is facing difficulties to hold for talk with Nasaka to resolve cross-border disputes.” “Apparently, Nasaka is reluctant to sit for talks on border issues.” The BGB chief was speaking to journalists on the occasion of his completion of six months in office. He highlighted on the restructuring process of the country’s border security force and recent developments. According to different sources from border, Burma border security force (Nasaka) picked up four Bangladeshis, including three policemen, from Gumdum border point of Naikongchhari Upazila of Bandarban on March 13, 2013 and BGB needed 13 days for release of Bangladeshi as the Nasaka is not willing to sit and

Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape religious violence, sit in a boat after being intercepted crossing the Naf River by Bangladesh border authorities in Taknaf, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 13, 2012. Bangladesh has turned back more than 1,500 refugees in recent days, officials said and a global human rights group on Wednesday urged Bangladesh to keep its border open to people seeking refuge from sectarian violence in western Myanmar.(AP Photo/Anurup Titu) Joshua Kurlantzick The National UAE June 27, 2013 In late May, the Myanmar president Thein Sein arrived in Washington, DC for a historic meeting with Barack Obama. The US president praised him lavishly at the press briefing that followed their summit. He lauded his leadership "in moving Myanmar down a path of both political and economic reform", before discussing joint projects that US assistance will focus on in Myanmar, such as improving agriculture. Pleased, Thein Sein replied: "I

Alders Ledge: The Work Of A Screamer : Never Ending... Today Alder's Ledge will be taking to the field... a local one... to help raise awareness of the plight of ethnic min...

Looking inside a crowded immigration detention centre (IDC) Phang Nga Province, southern Thailand, where 276 Rohingya men are now being kept and where conditions remain poor. [June 2013] © Contributor/IRIN HAT YAI, 28 June 2013 (IRIN) – Human rights groups are calling for improved living conditions for close to 2,000 Rohingya boat people now in detention in Thailand. “Thailand locks away Rohingya in heavily overcrowded detention centres when they should be treating them as asylum seekers who need to be protected,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) Asia division, told IRIN. Since January, 1,958 people have been apprehended by Thai authorities as they make their way to southern Thailand from Myanmar and Bangladesh, often in rickety, overcrowded boats, after weeks at sea. Calling them “illegal immigrants,” authorities have put 1,554 Rohingya men in overcrowded immigration detention centres (IDCs). Some 404 women and children are being held in