The Stateless Rohingya Blog

KPN News August 29, 2013 Maungdaw, Arakan State: Security force – Army, police and Hluntin- personnel have been checking of Rohingya village in Maungdaw since last week of August, according to an elder from Maungdaw. The security force had checked Ward number 5, yesterday where they were checking the family lists with together a list from them, said a village admin office member from Maungdaw. The security force entered house by house to check the villagers without any village admin member and asking the person who they needed – escaping the person after riot in 2012-but no one was arrested by them as all the male villagers fled from their home and village after security round up the village, the member said. It is one kind of harassment to Rohingya community and it made the villagers not able to sleep in their home at night which is change to attempt to rape the Rohingya female in the village, the elder said. Similarly, the security forc

Photot SR BDNews24 August 29, 2013 The newly appointed UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Country Representative Stina Ljungdell has praised Bangladesh for sheltering Myanmar refugees for long. Presenting her credentials to Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, she on Thursday said Bangladesh hosted Rohingya refugees for last 30 years with “a highly satisfactory protection regime compared to many places in the world”. According to a foreign ministry media release, she said Bangladesh’s “good work and best practices” went unappreciated “when in fact it should be praised for maintaining peaceful refugee camps”. The Foreign Minister, however, reaffirmed that crowded Bangladesh does not have the capacity to accept more refugees, most of whom flee Myanmar due to sectarian clashes. She thanked the UNHCR for their “continued financial and institutional support” for the maintenance of two refugee camps at Kutupalong and Noyaparha in Cox’s Bazar.

By  Danish Refugee Council Thomson Reuters Foundation August 29, 2013 Tailor-made business grants enable IDPs in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to get back on their feet and resume livelihood activities. DRC’s recently launched livelihood programme will provide support to both Buddhist and Muslim communities affected by last year’s sectarian violence. This week DRC delivered the first round of small-business grants to Buddhist IDPs displaced by the June and October 2012 sectarian violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The violence led to the displacement of more than 140,000 people, both Muslims and Buddhists, across Rakhine State. The evident need for life-saving assistance continues. But as the IDP situation evolves from an emergency context to a more protracted displacement scenario, livelihood support will be a key element in providing economic opportunities for IDPs and other conflict-affected communities and decrease dependency on humanitarian aid.

By Jonah Fisher BBC News August 29 2013 Time magazine labelled Wirathu "The face of Buddhist terror" This week, religious violence has once again flared in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Hundreds of Muslim homes have been burnt to the ground in Sagaing region after being attacked by Buddhist mobs. In just over a year more than 200 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed and many more displaced as unrest has spread from Rakhine state in the west to towns across the country. Many are blaming a controversial monk and the nationalist organisation he helps lead for the rising tensions. In a classroom at one of Mandalay's most famous monasteries, a teacher is at work. Shin Wirathu is taking a class of young monks at Masoeyin through the five precepts or pillars of the Buddhist faith. This morning, he is lecturing on the importance of avoiding sexual misconduct. "Yes venerable monk," the young men chant in unison, as Wirathu softl

Photo AFP By Mizan Rahman (Dhaka) Gulf Times August 28, 2013 Bangladesh coastguards pushed back 11 Rohingyas to Myanmar early yesterday after they were held trying to cross into Bangladeshi waters in Teknaf sub-district of southeastern Cox’s Bazar district. Coastguard sources said a patrol team from the Teknaf Station detained the 11 Myanmar nationals as they were trying to enter Bangladesh in a small wooden boat at Niting around 9pm on Tuesday. The detainees were Nur Alam, 20, Hafez Ahmed, 22, Ahsan, 15, Labdhu, 20, Osman, 22, Abdul Alim, 17, Jonayed, 19, Rashid Ahmed, Ruma Begum, 17, Hamida Begum, 16, and Rahima Khatun, 15. Following interrogation, the arrested were pushed back into Myanmar around 3am yesterday. Authorities said they could not provide shelter to the Myanmar Muslims, as those already given refuge have triggered social and economic problems. Officials in Cox’s Bazar yesterday attributed the fresh influx to hundreds of Muslims in My