The Stateless Rohingya Blog

An ethnic Rakhine man with homemade weapons walks near houses that were set aflame during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe, Burma, on June 10. (Reuters) By  Glenn Kessler   Washington Post December 31, 2013   “The United States, I think, has played a really important role in this period in standing up against atrocities and for democracy and human rights” in Burma. –Samantha Power, U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, Nov. 20, 2013 “Today, more than 1,000 political prisoners have been released, and we’re helping Burma build a credible electoral infrastructure ahead of its 2015 national elections.  We’re supporting a process of constitutional reform and national reconciliation.  As Burma moves toward greater openness and change, we are easing sanctions, while encouraging responsible investment and robust support for the people and civil society activists who suffered so long under the iron fist of dictatorship.”

Boats carrying Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, trying to cross the Naf River into Bangladesh to escape sectarian violence, are intercepted by Bangladeshi Coast Guard officials in Teknaf on June 18, 2012. By KPN  December 31, 2013 Teknaf, Bangladesh: Nine Rohingya passengers were missing by sinking a boat in Naff River while crossing the Naff River from Zadi Mora Point to Burma yesterday, Lalu Meah, a local fisherman from Teknaf said. Heavy and squally winds sank a small passenger row boat with 18 Rohingyas who were crossing the Naff River from Jadi Mora entry point of Teknaf, Bangladesh to Burma on December 30 at about 6:30pm, Lalu Meah said. In the accident, nine Rohingya passengers including children were rescued by some fishermen but other nine Rohingyas have been missing in the Naff River, sources said. After getting information, the Teknaf Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Battalion No. 42 rushed to the spot and rescued some passengers, but others were not able to

By PressTV December 30, 2013 The United States is complicit in the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar for easing sanctions against the Asian country, a political analyst tells Press TV. “As far as who is responsible for this, I think we have to assign some responsibility not only to the government in Myanmar and to the Noble Laureate Aung San Suu kyi, … but also, we have to blame the American government and world community,” Kevin Barrett, a political commentator from Madison said in a Monday interview with Press TV. The analyst noted that the US has been rewarding the Myanmar regime with ever-closer political and economic ties despite the genocide of the minority Rohingya Muslims. “Now, if we look back at when this latest wave of extreme persecution and genocide started, it was May of 2012 and less than two months later the US rewarded the Myanmar government for its genocide by sending its first ambassador in decades to Myanmar and o