The Stateless Rohingya Blog

British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire delivers a speech during a press conference at the British Council in Yangon on January 30, 2014. Photo: Hong Sar / Mizzima By Manny Maung Mizzima New s Junuary 30, 2014 Violence targeting Muslims and the escalating humanitarian situation in Rakhine State could gravely undermine Myanmar’s reform process, Britain’s Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire warned in Yangon on January 30. Mr Swire expressed disappointment at the government’s apparent reluctance to address inter-communal violence. “I have been appalled to hear of further tragic deaths this month in northern Rakhine and we have called for an investigation into this,” Mr Swire said. “On the humanitarian front, the rise of intimidation and threats towards UN and international staff attempting to deliver life-saving food and medical supplies … is utterly unacceptable and actually quite shocking,” he said. Mr Swire said other violent incidents targeting Muslims throu

 Photo: Ministry of Information/Myanmar Fire in Du Char Yar Tan, Maungdaw By Gianluca Mezzofiore IBTimes News January 29, 2014 Burmese police set fire to at least 70 Rohingya homes in the village of Du Char Yar Tan, where at least 48  Muslims were said to have been killed  by a Buddhist mob amid renewed sectarian violence, it has been claimed. Two eyewitnesses said that police burnt down the houses overnight. The village has been semi-deserted after the mob violence a week ago. Two hundred villagers were allowed to return in the area in the remote Maungdaw township in Rakhine state.  "We are calling for an international investigation. Without protection, more Rohingya will die," Tun Khin, human rights activist and president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK, told  IBTimes UK . The Ministry of Information  confirmed the incident on Facebook  but blamed Muslim villagers who "burned their own homes". The Burmese government h