The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Enforced confinement has created further danger for Rohingya Muslims, pictured here in refugee camps outside Sittwe in Rakhine State, Burma. Nic Dunlop By Nic Dunlop NewsWeek October 27, 2014 Thin Taw Li refugee camp filled me with foreboding. Although I had visited camps where people had fled civil war, this was the first time I had been among a people who face ethnic cleansing. The camp is home to more than three thousand Rohingya who fled sectarian violence in Burma’s Rakhine state. For decades the Rohingya Muslims have been subjected to systematic persecution by their largely Buddhist countrymen: denied citizenship, suffering forced labour, rape and killings. The United Nations has described them as “the world’s most persecuted minority” and other observers have warned of an impending genocide. In 2011, after decades of repressive military rule, a radical reform programme began. Elections were held, a new government was formed and Aung San Suu Kyi was rel...

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui July 24, 2015 In Buddhist Burma, rape is increasingly used for genocidal campaigns against Muslims and other minorities. The state of Arakan had her share of troubles in recent years, all started with rumors that a Buddhist woman was violated by a Rohingya Muslim. Based on medical reports, Dr. Maung Zarni and I, including many other human rights activists, have shown that there was no truth to such allegations. But the extermination campaign that followed resulted in the death of thousands and the uprooting of nearly a quarter of the Rohingya and other Muslims of Burma. The targeted violence did not confine itself to Arakan but spread everywhere. Before the start of a new hate campaign, there was always some false allegations lodged against one or two Muslims to stir up the Buddhist mob to start the genocidal campaign against Muslims.  Last month, the crimes of the Arakan state were repeated in Mandalay - all with a false claim.  The news...

By Dr. Maung Zarni July 6, 2014 Myanmar Government-backed 969 - now "Defence of Buddhism and Race League" - manufactured "Buddhist-woman-raped-by-a-Mus lim" story to incite religious violence in Mandalay "I am not ashamed of having been raped by a fellow Bama and Justic e Department staff, but I am ashamed that monks and other (anti-Muslim) groups are distorting and using my rape story to create religious conflicts in my hometown of Mandalay." Ma Hae Mar Kyaw (17), a Mandalay rape victim, Press Conference in Mandalay, 3 July 2014. The gist of the story according to this news report about her press conference: Back in 2013, her older brother was approached by some elements to sell drugs. When her brother refused to cooperate they went ahead and farmed him with possession of illegal drug charges for which the brother was arrested. She and her family began attending his court hearings in Mandalay and became well acquainted with one co...

Chief Superintendent Zaw Min Oo talks to the media during a news conference about riots in Mandalay July 2, 2014. Myanmar police fired rubber bullets on Wednesday to disperse crowds of Buddhists and Muslims facing off in the streets of Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, police said. (Photo: Reuters/Stringer) By   Jared Ferrie and Aung Hla Tun Reuters July 2, 2014 Myanmar  police fired rubber bullets on Wednesday to disperse crowds of Buddhists and Muslims facing off in the second-largest city of Mandalay, police said, in the latest outbreak of trouble in two years of sectarian unrest.  Police deployed more than 600 officers after a crowd of about 300 Buddhists including 30 monks began throwing stones near a tea shop owned by a Muslim man at 11 p.m. (1630 GMT) on Tuesday, according to a statement released by Mandalay police. "One policeman, three Buddhists and one Muslim were injured by stones in the incident," the statement said. "Two...

Facebook has gained immense traction in Myanmar in recent years [Photo: Hereward Holland/Al Jazeera]   By Hereward Holland Al Jazeera June 14, 2014 Since violence erupted in 2012, Facebook users in Myanmar have fanned anti-Muslim sentiment. Yangon, Myanmar - A nest of laptops in a shabby downtown apartment here acts as the modest, but passionate, command centre of Myanmar's battle against hate speech. White flowers stand in a glass bottle on a table surrounded by volunteers sitting cross-legged, lit up by their computer screens. The group of young people work for Panzagar, a new civil society organisation dedicated to countering the tide of online vitriol with flower power or, more accurately, flower speech. "Now, compared to the military regime, we have some freedom, there is no censorship, and we can use the internet and write whatever we want on the Facebook," said Panzagar's Nay Phone Latt. "But at that time there are so many people who misuse the fre...

By Taylor O'Connor  New Mandala April 29, 2014 Image: Logo of local interfaith initiative, Coexist Myanmar Violence has raged on in Myanmar’s Rakhine State for nearly two years now. As security forces continue to be implicated in acts of violence targeting Muslims and known instigators of violence operate freely, it becomes increasingly clear that the Myanmar’s political leaders have no interest to resolve the conflict. While humanitarian agencies in Rakhine State come under attack by the communities in which they live, international praise and increased investment allow the government to neglect addressing conflict related issues. Members of the international community involved in Myanmar must have deep awareness of the context and knowledge of a number of interrelated issues if they are to avoid further aggravation of the conflict. Mindful planning and coordinated action would ease tensions and support resolution of key issues. This article will describe the ...