The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Photo Reuters  By DVB News November 28, 2013 More than 200 people have died and 140,000 have been displaced in religious violence over the last year and a half. The violence started in Arakan state in June 2012 between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. Although many Arakanese Buddhists lost their homes, the majority of the victims were Muslims. Then in Meikhtila last March, mobs of Buddhists torched Muslim homes, businesses and mosques in anti-Muslim violence that spread to other cities all over the country. Amid intensifying religious tensions in Burma, DVB Debate’s final episode of the season discusses how to end religious violence. In one of the liveliest debates on the show so far, panelists and guests plea for more law enforcement against hate speech and discrimination. The three-person panel consists of: Buddhist monk from the Saffron Monks Network, Pandavimsa from Shwe Taung Monastery; High Court lawyer Kyaw Nyein; and Buddhist monk and leader of th

Aung San Suu Kyi at a World Economic Forum BBC debate in Naypyidaw in June 2013. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy) By SANAY LIN & SIMON ROUGHNEEN  Irrawaddy News November 28, 2013  RANGOON — U Wirathu, the Mandalay-based monk who heads the “969” anti-Muslim movement, believes that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi would not be a good president for Burma. “I wish [President] Thein Sein to be re-elected. If he refuses to go for the post, my vote will go to Shwe Mann,” said the controversial monk—whose speeches and sermons are said to have fueled anti-Muslim violence across Burma since June 2012. Both Suu Kyi, the former dissident and now opposition parliamentarian, and Shwe Mann, a former No. 3 in the old military junta, have stated their interest in becoming president after the 2015 parliamentary elections. Incumbent Thein Sein, Shwe Mann’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) colleague, has not said whether or not he will put his name forward afte

ONE FAITH: Speaking passionately through an interpreter, OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told the emotional crowd of Rohingya Muslims: “We are here to tell you that you are not alone, you are not abandoned.” (AN photos by Maha Akeel) By  Arab News November 28, 2013 A high-level delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), headed by Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, visited Myanmar (previously Burma) last week in what was described as a landmark visit.  Not everyone welcomed the good will visit. Protests by radical Buddhist monks greeted the delegation outside Yangon airport on Nov. 13, and the day before their arrival, hundreds marched down the streets of Yangon objecting to the delegation’s visit, seeing it as a form of interference in the country’s internal affairs. The delegation did not spend time in Yangon. It was swiftly whisked away to the administrative capital, Nay Pyi Taw. The delegation spent Thursday in meetings with official

Myanmar policemen stand on alert in the streets of Htan Gone village on August 26, 2013 after some 1,000 anti-Muslim rioters. Picture: AFP BurmaTimes (By Mg Hla Myint) A villager who prefers not to be named from Kwak Soun ( Basawra) village reported that Army from Aang Daang out post under Maungdaw district arrested three villagers of Kwak Soun ( Basawra) village under Maungdaw district for operating illegal Bangladeshi mobiles at yesterday night(26 NOV 2013) . Army found two mobiles when they raided the three villagers were detained in their Aang Daang out post that is more than one mile far away from the said village. Unexpectedly, the army also detained Anowarul Hoque, son of Adul Hakhim although army found neither mobile nor any illegal thing from him. They were neither released nor prosecuted until reporting. So, their parents are worrying extremely if they are inhumanely tortured by the army. The three detainees were expected to be released after taking a big amount f