The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Burmese Rohingya Muslims, rescued at sea in western Indonesia, sit in a detention centre in Lhokseumawe on Wednesday (February 27th). The 121 asylum seekers were found adrift by fishermen around 25km off the northernmost tip of Sumatra. [Reza Juanda/AFP]  By Devianti Faridz Channel News Asia ‎ August 8, 2013 INDONESIA: While many Muslims celebrate Idul Fitri at home with their families, for some it is a struggle to figure out where home is. 38-year-old Muhammad Hanif, whose parents fled Myanmar in the 1980s, is one of thousands of asylum seekers who ended up in Indonesia. After living 30 years in Malaysia and undergoing many interviews at the UN refugee office there, he lost patience with the process and packed up his belongings and his family. They travelled by fishing boat and illegally landed in North Sumatra. Mr Hanif said his family then met a group of men, who deceived them into paying US$13,000 to take them to Australia. He said: "The smug...

Anasuya Sanyal Channel News Asia August 1, 2013 Myanmar's President Thein Sein has called for a line to be drawn between politics and religion in the country. In his regular monthly radio address to the nation, the president warned of the danger of mixing the two, and the possible long-term detrimental impact on society. Myanmar President Thein Sein (AFP/Nicholas Kamm) SITTWE, Myanmar: Myanmar's President Thein Sein has called for a line to be drawn between politics and religion in the country. In his regular monthly radio address to the nation, the president warned of the danger of mixing the two, and the possible long-term detrimental impact on society. His comments come amid simmering ethnic and religious tensions in some parts of the country. In 2012, sectarian violence engulfed the capital city of Sittwe and the city remains a patchwork of religiously segregated zones. In Rakhine state, the country's second poorest which borders Bangl...