The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By Legal Aid Network (LAN) Comment on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement proposed by the Government of Burma/Myanmar Introduction Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been plagued by a complex civil war since the independence of the country in 1948. To bring this to an end, a dialogue process between the ruling regime led by President Thein Sein and the ethnic armed groups (hereafter ‘EAOs’) has been taking place for about three years now since it commenced in 2011. On November 2, 2013, a conference was held in Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (‘KIO’), in Kachin State, with the participation of almost all the major EAOs. There, the ethnic leaders reached a common agreement for, inter alia, the establishment of a federal union coupled with a federal army, as a crucial part of a new political framework. To read full report, please click here

Dr. Maung Zarni DVB News: April 26, 2013 Dear International Crisis Group President Louise Arbour, I am writing to bring to your attention to the rather disturbing recent developments in Burma. Within 24 hours of your organisation’s “In Pursuit of Peace” dinner in New York, Burma’s Minister of Immigration and former Chief of Police Khin Yi, who was part of the delegation accepting the award on behalf of President Thein Sein, reportedly reiterated the Thein Sein Administration’s neo-fascist stance on the highly controversial 1982 Citizenship Act. In response to a question posed by a Rakhine nationalist during his public meeting with Burmese exiles in New York City this week, Khin Yi emphatically stated that Burma’s citizenship law is “solely based on blood” and no foreigners or “foreign blood” officially resided in Burma before the first Anglo-Burmese war in 1824. Khin Yi was emphatic when he said Thein Sein’s government will never alter ...

United Nations human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana during a visit in August 2011. (Kaung Htet/The Myanmar Times) Myanmar Times February 11, 2013 The United Nations’ human rights envoy will make a six-day visit this week to gather  data  on conflicts in Kachin and Rakhine states ahead of the submission of a report to the Human Rights Council in March. Mr Tomás Ojea Quintana, the special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, will make his seventh visit to Myanmar from February 11 to 16, the UN said in a statement on February 5. “As Myanmar continues to undergo reforms, it is important to assess the current  human rights situation and to reflect on positive developments and remaining challenges,” Mr Quintana said in the statement. The visit is Mr Quintana’s first since August 2012, when he expressed concern about the violence in Rakhine State in June and called for a review of the 1982 Citizenship Act “to ensure that it is in line with international human r...

Radio Free Asia February 05, 2013 A UN official urges the Burmese government to allow assistance to tens of thousands of people displaced by violence. AFP Vijay Nambiar (L) gives money to a Kachin family at a refugee camp in Myitkyina, Feb. 5, 2013. The U.N.’s special advisor on Burma on Tuesday visited refugee camps in Kachin state that had previously been closed to international aid groups, pledging to work with the Burmese government to deliver aid to those displaced by clashes between rebels and government troops. Vijay Nambiar, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on Burma, visited the camps in the capital Myitkyina and nearby Waimaw together with Burmese Immigration Minister Khin Ye, government-appointed peace negotiator Aung Min and presidential advisor Soe Thein. They met with several nongovernmental organizations and residents of Myitkyina later that day. The visit marks the first by a U.N. official to observe the refugee situation in Kachin state, whe...

Human Rights Watch  February 1, 2013 (Bangkok) – Burma’s human rights situation remained poor in 2012, despite some noteworthy actions by the government to adopt rights-respecting reforms, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2013 released today. In its 665-page report, Human Rights Watch assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including an analysis of the aftermath of the Arab Spring.

US Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell, left, speaks to Aung Zaw, the editor of The Irrawaddy. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Earlier this month, America’s top diplomat in Burma, US Ambassador Derek Mitchell, sat down with The Irrawaddy’s editor Aung Zaw to discuss his country’s stance on the current situation in Burma. In the interview, Mitchell touched on a range of issues, from US-Burma militiary ties and the Kachin conflict to China’s role in the region and Burma’s relations with North Korea. Below are some highlights from their conversation. Question: Some critics say it’s premature to develop US-Burma military relations. How would you respond?

BANGKOK/LAIZA, Myanmar: Thailand arrested and pledged to deport more than 150 Myanmar Rohingya migrants discovered in a hidden camp near the country's southern border with Malaysia, police said yesterday. The 71 men and 85  women  and children were found on a rubber plantation in Songkhla Province, local police colonel Krisakorn Pleetanyawong said, four days after some 400 Rohingya were discovered in another raid in the province.