The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Reuters:  A Muslim woman sits near a mosque in Yangon By Dani Patteran Myanmar Correspondent International Business Times UK January 28, 2014  Unprecedented political reforms in Myanmar have been widely celebrated, but these achievements are marred by increasing religious extremism and horrific levels of violence aimed at the region's Muslims. About 90% of the country's population of 55 million are Buddhist, with Muslims making up between 4% and 8%. For decades, the Buddhist majority has lived peacefully along with the Muslims. But over the past year, several violent episodes against Muslims led by angry Buddhist mobs have tainted the picture of a progressive Myanmar painted by president Thein Sein. The capital Yangon, a multicultural city where all faiths have been living side by side, has also witnessed a rise in fear and suspicions among the two communities. Over recent days, UN humanitarian chiefs, and human rights organisations have reported

By M.S. Anwar based on the report by MYARF Rvisiontv 26th January 2014   Maungdaw, Arakan State We learnt how Myanmar Military and Security Force (Hlun Hteins) resurrected the violence against Rohingya people by making a full-fledged assault on a Rohingya village called Duchiradan (Kilaidaung) in southern Maungdaw, Arakan State, on 14 th  January 2014. They mutiliated and killed around 50 innocent people. They raped women/girls. Rohingyas’ homes were destroyed and their properties were looted by Rakhine extremists. They arbitrarily arrested many people. More than 300 people are still missing. People believe they were also massacred by the military and the secuity force in cooperation with Rakhine terrorists. On 18 th  January 2014, some people witnessed three trucks loaded with the corpses of Rohingya being driven towards Rathedaung Township via the road by the forest to the east of Maungdaw. Unfortunately, Myanmar Regime was extremely successful in covering up all those cri

A Thai fishing boat plies the invisible maritime border between Thailand and Myanmar, with the hills of Myanmar visible in the background November 1, 2013. CREDIT: REUTERS/ANDREW RC MARSHALL By  Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Andrew R.C. Marshall Reuters January 27, 2014 BANGKOK  - Thai police have rescued hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from a remote camp in a raid prompted by a Reuters investigation into human trafficking, police officials said on Monday. Police detained 531 men, women and children in Sunday's raid at a camp near the town of Sadao in the southern province of Songkhla, on a well-established route for human smugglers near Thailand's border with Malaysia. It was the first raid on illegal Rohingya smuggling camps since January 9, 2013. The police said they were following up on a December 5 Reuters report that Rohingya were held hostage in camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay ransoms to release them. Some were beaten and

The Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar continues to suffer from violent attacks [Reuters]    By Emanuel Stoakes Al Jazeera Junuary 27, 2014 A UN supervised investigation is needed before more atrocities are committed against the Rohingya Muslims. Yet another deadly attack on  Myanmar 's persecuted Rohingya minority  made the news  recently, this time taking place in the village of Du Chee Ya Tan, Rakhine state, not far from the border with Bangladesh. It is the latest in a series of incidents over the past 18 months in which the nation's Muslim community in general, and the predominantly Muslim Rohingya in particular, have experienced violence at the hands of Buddhist mobs. I consulted reliable NGO sources and interviewed witnesses shortly after the event hit the news in order to assemble a picture of what may have happened. Brutal acts of slaughter were perpetrated, so I was told, in retaliation for the killing of a policeman by the villagers, which o

By The Salem News January   26, 2014  According to the country's law, Rohingya are not a recognised minority group and have no rights of citizenship. Due to their statelessness, they  are subject to systematic persecution and have been victims of violence and discrimination. (GLASGOW) - A Scotland-based human rights organisation is calling on the international community to intervene in what is being called the ‘silent genocide’ of the Burmese Rohingya Muslims, who the United Nations has called the most persecuted minority group in the world. Global Minorities Alliance, a human rights group which advocates for the rights of persecuted minority groups around the world, is deeply concerned about the recent escalation of human rights abuses against the Rohingya minority and criticised the Burmese government for their ongoing sub-human treatment to one of the most vulnerable communities in the world, and for their unwillingness to ensure any protection. The recent