The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By Bill O’Toole Myanmar Times November 03, 2014 In the lead-up to the 2010 general election, the Union Solidarity and Development Party faced a problem in Rakhine State. A Muslim woman sits in front of temporary shelters in Sittwe township, Rakhine State. (Ko Taik/The Myanmar Times) Replicating their strategy elsewhere in the country, they sought to recruit influential locals to stand as candidates in the election, which was touted by the military as a key step in the nation’s road to democracy. However, they ran into well-organised opposition from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party. Though established just a few months earlier, following the release of election laws in March, the RNDP had managed to generate significant local support by tapping into widespread animosity toward the central government from ethnic Rakhine. The USDP needed allies in the region. Controversially, they turned to the Rohingya. “USDP approached us, they said we should pa...

AP Photo By Bill O’Toole   Myanmar Times April 07, 2014 Criticism of Myanmar’s census hit fever pitch last week when residents of Rakhine State were not allowed to self-identify according to their wishes, with even the United Nations appearing to turn on the government for its apparent back-flip. But experts say the census was “doomed from the start”, and that donors and the UN had more than enough warning of the likely problems but did little to act on them. In particular, a risk assessment commissioned by donors “clearly warned” of many of the problems facing the program now, including flawed data and the inflaming of ethnic tensions, a person familiar with the report told The Myanmar Times. The report was never released publicly and UNFPA did not respond to requests for information about its conclusions last week. But there were many more public warnings about the census’ likely impact. “Many individuals and organisations, both domestic and inter...