The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Groups Burmese received with hostility to the UN Special Rapporteur Press TV August 13, 2013 The United Nations has urged the Myanmar government to hold talks with Rohingya Muslims to avoid further violence in the west of the country. United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards made the remarks at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday. "UNHCR is reiterating its call for peaceful dialogue and confidence-building between the (internally displaced persons) and government. We believe this is key to avoiding further violence," Edwards said. Meanwhile, UN's human rights envoy for Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana was visiting Rakhine state, where violence killed one and injured ten others last week. Rohingya Muslims have faced torture, neglect, and repression in Myanmar for many years. Hundreds of Rohingyas are believed to have been killed and thousands displaced in recent attacks by extremists who call themselves Buddhists.

Refugees International's team meeting with Kyaw Hla Aung, left. By Sushetha Gopallawa Refugees International August 13, 2013   During my recent visit to Myanmar, I met with human rights activist Kyaw Hla Aung in a Rohingya village in Sittwe Township, Rakhine State. We talked about his peaceful political activism, his public service, and his humanitarian work. But mostly we talked about how he and other village elders and leaders feared for their lives.    Two days before the meeting, a government-sponsored verification process in the nearby Rohingya displacement camps had increased communal tensions. Fearing the exercise was aimed at undermining their claims to citizenship, the Rohingya community refused to participate. The ensuing protests by Rohingya, though small in size, forced the government to abandon the verification process and sparked a wave of arrests of Rohingya activists.    Kyaw Hla Aung told us that he was not present in the camps when these inc