The Stateless Rohingya Blog

A security guard stands by a camp for displaced Rohingyas near the Rakhine state capital Sittwe on May 15, 2013. (RFA) Radio Free Asia August 16, 2013 A leader of the minority Rohingya Muslim community in western Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state has called for a meeting between representatives of his group, local ethnic Buddhists and the government to put an end to deadly clashes in the region. Abu Tahay, chairman of the Union Nationals Development Party (UNDP), said the three groups should include an international arbitrator to independently judge on issues that have led to clashes between members of his minority group and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, which last year left nearly 200 dead and 140,000 displaced. “We need a group that can exert influence on both communities, such as an international intermediation group,” Abu Tahay told RFA’s Myanmar Service in an interview in Washington on Tuesday. “If so, this group could decide on the arguments. It would create a

Parliament speaker Shwe Mann talks to members of the media at the lower house in Naypyidaw on August 16, 2013. Myanmar's quasi-civilian government has announced a series of political and economic reforms since coming to power in 2011 after the end of nearly half a century of military rule. AFP PHOTO Bangkok Post August 17, 2013 Myanmar's parliamentary speaker Friday said the government will be instrumental in any amendment to the nation's military-drafted constitution, which currently bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency. Parliament speaker Shwe Mann talks to members of the media at the lower house in Naypyidaw on August 16, 2013. Shwe Mann said the government will be instrumental in any amendment to the nation's military-drafted constitution, which currently bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency. Opposition members of parliament and democracy activists have raised fears military lawmakers, who have 25