The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Rohingya men rest in a rented house in Cheras Baru, Kuala Lumpur March 2, 2014. (Photo:  REUTERS/Samsul Said) By  Stuart Grudgings Reuters March 6, 2014 Human traffickers have kept hundreds of Rohingya Muslims captive in houses in northern Malaysia, beating them, depriving them of food, and demanding a ransom from their families, according to detailed accounts by the victims. The accounts given to Reuters suggest that trafficking gangs are shifting their operations into Malaysia as Thai authorities crack down on jungle camps near the border that have become a prison for the Muslim asylum seekers fleeing persecution in  Myanmar . Police in the northern Malaysian states of Penang and Kedah have conducted several raids on the houses in recent months, including an operation in February that discovered four Rohingya men bound  together  with metal chains in an apartment. But Reuters' interviews reveal a trafficking network on a far bigger scale than authorit

By Jonah Fisher BBC News March 6, 2014 Getting into Aung Mingalar as a journalist is relatively simple. We visited a couple of government offices, had a letter written for us and then after having our documents forensically examined, were allowed in. For the Buddhists who dominate the Rakhine capital, Sittwe, it is even easier. Their buses, rickshaws and motorbikes just get waved through by the  police. Many even use the main road as a short cut just to reach another part of town. For the residents of Aung Mingalar, however, things are very different.  The 4,000 Muslim Rohingya who live inside are effectively prisoners - restricted first by the police checkpoints and then by the Rakhine Buddhist community that surrounds them on all sides and constantly looks on.  "The police will not allow us out, because if they do, they know we will be beaten by the Rakhine [Buddhists]," a young Rohingya man said. Rohingya residents of Aung Mingalar have

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- While the UN is now inviting Myanmar to contribute "peacekeepers" to its missions, as Inner City Press reported five days ago, a change of the guard for U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar is about to take place.    Nominated to replace Tomas Ojea Quintana, by Baudelaire Ndong Ella as President of the Human Rights Council, is Ms. Yanghee Lee of South Korea. If there is no objection by the close of business (in Geneva) on March 7, she's got the post.   But what about the issues? Even as  Myanmar denies the rights of the Rohingya , Karen and Kachin and other people, the UN is inviting it to contribute troops to UN Peacekeeping under  Herve Ladsous , it was confirmed to Inner City Press on February 27.    Earlier this month, Inner City Press asked the UN about the exclusion of "Rohingya" from upcoming UN-assisted census.  On February 26 , Inner City Press asked: Inner City Press: I'