The Stateless Rohingya Blog

The Arakan Rohingya Union Conference is being held at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah. (AN photo)  Jeddah: Nadim al -Hamid  Arab News, June 7, 2013 Under the direction of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia is making all-out political and diplomatic efforts to support the cause of Rohingyas on the international level.  “The Kingdom is exerting pressure on the world community,” said Abdullah Maaroof, president of the International Rohingya Center and leader of the Burmese community in the Kingdom.  Speaking at the Arakan Rohingya Union Conference, which opened at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) yesterday, he said: “We will soon see the positive the results of these efforts.” He described the efforts as strong and effective because of the Kingdom’s political and Islamic leverage on the international level. He said Saudi Arabia will work on many fronts to exert pressure on international organizations that have s

Tehran Times ‎: July 7, 2013 TEHRAN – Myanmar has welcomed Iran’s proposal to hold a dialogue between Muslim and Buddhist religious scholars in order to help ease sectarian strife in the south Asian country.  Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi put forth the proposal during a meeting with Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin on Friday.  Araqchi expressed grave concern over the ongoing clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims and the appalling situation of displaced Muslims, urging Myanmar’s officials to take effective measure to help resolve the conflicts.  The senior Iranian diplomat also said that Tehran was ready to help Myanmar’s government settle the crisis and send humanitarian aid to the affected people.  Sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have erupted on several occasions.  Muslims make up about 5 percent of the nation’s roughly 60 million people and are denied citizenship by Myanmar government.  The violenc

KPN News July 6, 2013 Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh:  A commander level flag meeting between Burma border security force (Nasaka) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was held at Cox’s Bazar regarding the issue of landmines on July 4, according to BGB source. “They discussed especially the issue of landmines and drug trafficking especially Yaba  smuggling during the meeting. The meeting was held at a rest house nearby beach of BGB at Cox’s Bazar.” According to sources, the members of BGB complained to the delegation of Nasaka that the Burma’s authority had planted landmines along the Bangladesh-border from the border pillars No. 37 to 40 within the distance of 70-100 yards from the Bangladesh border line. Regarding the landmines, the representatives of Nasaka denied it. However, the official level of Bangladesh will make a survey along the border areas very soon, sources said. The Commander of BGB Battalion No. 17, Col.  Muhamad Nuzurul Islam led the 14 members of BGB from

Jiranun Cheamcharoen is the director of the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families on Koh Sireh. Photo: Chutharat Plerin Jiranun Cheamcharoen, 46, from Ratchaburi, received a BA from Thammasat University and an MA from Ramkhamhaeng University. She has been a social worker since 1991 and the director of the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families on Koh Sireh for four years. Here, she talks about the difficulties of housing Rohingya children and what action she took after they ran away from the shelter.   Phuket Gazette: July 7, 2013 PHUKET: When the Rohingya children ran away, the first thing my staff feared was me. They were afraid I would blame them. But I don’t blame them at all. We did our best to take care of them and worked 24 hours a day to look after them. The responsibility of taking care of these children is not just ours, it is the responsibility of the province and the government as well. I didn’t want them to run away, nobody did. But our shelter is