The Stateless Rohingya Blog

File photo of Yanghee Lee, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma (PHOTO: Reuters) By   Jacob Robinson October 31, 2014 UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee has expressed concern about “possible signs of backtracking” that could undermine Burma’s reform process, according to a UN press statement released yesterday which highlighted some key points of Ms. Lee’s speech to the UN General Assembly about Burma’s human rights situation. Ms. Lee’s speech on 28 October was designed to inform the UN General Assembly about the findings contained in her report about human rights issues in Burma. The report—which was released on 23 September—said that Burma’s “far reaching reforms have dramatically transformed the political, economic, social and human rights landscape…since the establishment of the new Government.” But during her speech Ms. Lee also said, “more is required if gains are to be genuine, sustainable and win the support of the people of Myanm...

The UN's Assistant Secretary-General Haoliang Xu. (Photo: UNDP) By Alex Bookbinder Democratic Voice of Burma September 9, 2014 A senior United Nations delegation departed for the Arakan State capital of Sittwe on Monday to “take stock of the ongoing humanitarian and development situation in Rakhine [Arakan] State and review priorities for the UN system,” according to a statement. Assistant Secretary-General Haoliang Xu, who is also the assistant administrator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its regional director for Asia and the Pacific, is accompanied by John Ging, the director of the Coordination and Response Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). The visit is part of a weeklong visit to the country, Xu’s first in his official capacity. Xu and Ging will subsequently meet with Burma’s vice president, Dr. Sai Mauk Kham, and other senior ministers in Naypyidaw later this week. The pair will depa...

Naw Ohn Hla, leader of Democracy and Peace Women Network. (Photo: DVB) By DVB News August 9, 2014 A Rohingya activist, a Mon activist and a women’s rights advocacy group were the recipients of awards from N-Peace Network, an international advocacy group that supports women’s leadership in conflict resolution. Wai Wai Nu, a former political prisoner and the director of Women Peace Network Arakan, was awarded N-Peace Network’s “Peace Generation – Young Women and Men Building Peace” award; while Mi Khin Khin Kyu, an ethnic Mon who advocates for women’s rights in Mon State and other parts of Burma, was recognised in the category of “Women Transforming their Communities”. In addition, Democracy and Peace Women Network was recognised for “Thinking Outside the Box”, an award for bringing new solutions to persistent problems. Naw Ohn Hla, leader of the Democracy and Peace Women Network, said that her work involves educating farmers and workers about their rights when it comes to...

United States Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell, Major General Anthony Crutchfield, and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Tom Malinowski at the US Embassy in Rangoon on 28 June, 2014. (PHOTO: DVB) By Feliz Solomon Democratic Voice of Burma June 30, 2014 A delegation of senior officials from the United States has left Burma with the message that “it is time to engage” the country’s military. Speaking to reporters in Rangoon on Saturday, Tom Malinowski, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, said that the  US is preparing for “cautious” engagement, which could include non-combat training. “The purpose of this engagement, the sole purpose, was and is to speak to the military about the importance of human rights, the rule of law and civilian control,” Malinowski said. He added that “there is the potential for a deeper partnership, even a full partnership, in the future.” The assistant secretary led a week-long de...

A patient is carried to hospital in Arakan State, August 2013. (Photo: Reuters) By Feliz Solomon Democratic Voice of Burma April 8, 2014 The international community has again issued urgent pleas to the Burmese government to restore humanitarian access and ensure the protection of residents — foreign and local — in Arakan State, where critical health and supply services were largely terminated in late March. “Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in Rakhine [Arakan], mainly from the Rohingya community, are not receiving vital medical and humanitarian aid,” read a joint statement issued by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for Internal Development. British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire on Monday summoned the Burmese Ambassador to the FCO to urge restoration of humanitarian access. The same day, UN Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana called recent events in Arakan “the latest in a long history of discrimination and persecution...

Burma's Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann addressing both houses on Thursday, 27 February 2014. (Photo: DVB) By  Shwe Aung DVB News February 28, 2014   Burma’s Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann urged relevant ministries to draft laws protecting national race and religion during Thursday’s assembly. The recommendation follows a message from President Thein Sein recommending legislative action on a petition he received in July 2013 from the Organisation for Protection of National Race and Religion (OPNRR), headed by Ashin Tilawka Biwuntha (also known as Tiloka Bhivamsa), member of the government appointed National Head Monks Committee. Upon Thein Sein’s receipt of the petition, which was forwarded to the Speaker, 1.3 million people had signed in favour of creating legislation to protect national race and religion. Since that time, the OPNRR said that they have gathered nearly three million additional supporters. In his message to the Speaker, Thein Sein decla...

By DVB And REUTERS February 20, 2014 The human rights situation in Burma has improved, UN envoy Tomás Ojea Quintana said at Yangon Airport on Wednesday, speaking at a press conference that concluded a six-day visit to the country and also marked the end of his six-year mandate as the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the country. However, the Argentine diplomat criticised the Burmese government’s handling of the Rohingya crisis in Arakan State and said he has serious concerns over the impartiality of a government investigation into an alleged massacre of 48 Muslims in the village of Duchira Dan in Muangdaw Township between 9 and 13 January. Quintana noted that Burma had made strides in releasing prisoners of conscience, opening space for freedom of expression, the development of political freedom, and “important progress” in bringing an end to conflict with ethnic armed groups. But he called for a “change of mindset” within all levels of government to ...

By Naw Noreen DVB News February 14, 2014 Tomas Ojea Quintana met with protest as he arrived in western Burma’s Arakan State on Friday during his last visit to the country as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma. Nyo Aye, protest leader and member of the Rakhine Women’s Network said the protestors gathered in five areas along Quintana’s route from the Sittwe Airport to the town’s prison and displacement camps, demanding that he get out of town. “We don’t want him here,” she said. “This is the ninth time he is in town and every single time he comes here, he only pays attention to Bengalis, and we are protesting his biases.” Many Burma nationals use the term Bengali to refer to the ethnic Rohingya Muslim minority, which are not recognised as one of Burma’s official ethnic groups, and are legally denied citizenship. Rohingya Muslims have been termed by the United Nations as among the world’s most persecuted peoples. Quinta...

The blaze on Tuesday night in Duchira Dan, Maungdaw Township, left at least 16 Rohingya homes razed, although no one was reported injured. (PHOTO: DVB) By  Colin Hinshelwood Democratic Voice of Burma January 30, 2014 Shwe Maung , a Rohingya MP in Burma’s Lower House who represents Buthidaung constituency, has said that local Maungdaw police were involved in  the fire that ripped through the west tract of Duchira Dan village on 28 January , razing between 16 and 22 homes belonging to Rohingya families. Speaking exclusively to DVB on Thursday, Shwe Maung said that until the day before the fire, local Rohingya men were assigned as lookouts to guard the three village tracts since most of the residents living there were women. “On Tuesday [28 January] afternoon, the locals were informed that the police would take over guard duty at Duchira Dan-West and so the Rohingya lookouts only had to patrol the Middle and East tracts,” he said. “That evening, the houses in ...

Maungdaw officials show observers the site where, they say, the uniform, boots and overcoat of Pol. Sergeant Aung Kyaw Thein were discovered. (PHOTO: President's Office) By  Colin  Hinshelwood Democratic Voice of Burma January 29, 2014  Burmese President Thein Sein has ordered an independent investigation into allegedly fatal incidents which occurred in the village of Duchira Dan [also written Du Char Yar Tan] in Maungdaw Township, northern Arakan State, on 13 January. Speaking at a diplomatic briefing in Rangoon on Tuesday evening, Burma’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin said the presidential order for an independent investigation team into the alleged killings would include separate probes and field trips by: the Central Committee for Peace Stability and Development of Rakhine [Arakan] State; the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission; and the Rakhine Conflict Investigation Commission. The appointment of Burma-based teams to the Maungdaw inquiry would a...

By  Helen Regan Democratic Voice of Burma January 04, 2014 Burmese asylum-seekers currently based in Indonesia say they will continue to risk their lives and travel by boat to Australia, despite the very high chance they will never get there. Among the rolling hills of Cisarua, a small town three hours from Jakarta, about 800 asylum-seekers live in overcrowded houses. Those who have fled their homes in Burma, Afghanistan, Iran and elsewhere in Asia have paid people-smugglers to take them to Indonesia, in the hope that one day they will be able start a new life in Australia. Saw Aung is originally from Mon state. He fled his home because he said he was being persecuted for being a Muslim. He has been living in Cisarua with his wife, Cho Cho, and two children for a year. He has already tried to get to Australia by boat but a storm forced the tiny vessel to turn back to Indonesia. “Suddenly, heavy rain and a storm came in. Everyone was scared,” he said. “We ha...

Rangoon Archbishop Charles Bo (PHOTO: UCA News) DVB News Junuary 01, 2014 In his New Year message to the Roman Catholics of Burma, Monsignor Charles Bo called for unity between the “different souls” of “this wonderful nation” and pointed particularly towards the Rohingya Muslims of western Burma, saying those born in the country should be granted citizenship. The archbishop further called for an end to violence against the Rohingyas, and urged the country to instead fight against poverty and human trafficking. “On the eve of the New Year, Myanmar prepares for the dawn of a new era characterized by freedom, democracy, justice, peace, hope and fraternity among the different souls of this wonderful nation,” wrote Msgr Charles Bo in  AsiaNews  in a message addressed for 1 January 2014 on the occasion of the World Day of Peace. He noted that Burma has “opened its doors to the world” over the past two years through a series of reforms in favour of democratic freedoms...