The Stateless Rohingya Blog

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 ...

By Jonah Fisher BBC News August 29 2013 Time magazine labelled Wirathu "The face of Buddhist terror" This week, religious violence has once again flared in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Hundreds of Muslim homes have been burnt to the ground in Sagaing region after being attacked by Buddhist mobs. In just over a year more than 200 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed and many more displaced as unrest has spread from Rakhine state in the west to towns across the country. Many are blaming a controversial monk and the nationalist organisation he helps lead for the rising tensions. In a classroom at one of Mandalay's most famous monasteries, a teacher is at work. Shin Wirathu is taking a class of young monks at Masoeyin through the five precepts or pillars of the Buddhist faith. This morning, he is lecturing on the importance of avoiding sexual misconduct. "Yes venerable monk," the young men chant in unison, as Wirathu softl...