The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Report by Sindhi Khan | Written by M.S. Anwar RvisionTV.com Maung Daw, Arakan- October 1, 2013 President Thein Sein travelled to Arakan state on Tuesday morning but his trip to Sandoway was postponed because of continued violence in the streets. (PHOTO: Ye Htut FB) President of Myanmar Pseudo Civilian Government, U Thein Sein, was on his visit to Arakan yesterday. He arrived in Maung Daw by helicopter around 2PM on 1st October 2013. Earlier, he had visited Sittwe, Pauktaw and other townships. As soon as he arrived in Maung Daw, he looked around the downtown of Maung Daw. Accompanying him were Immigration Minister U Khin Yi, Deputy Defense Minister U Soe Win and President’s Office Minister U Soe Thein. Then, he held a meeting with Maung Daw Township Authority, selected village administrators in Maung Daw township, Rakhine Community Representatives and Rohingya Community Representatives at the office of Maung Daw district administration. In the meeting hall, there ...

President of Burma Thein Sein has begun his first visit to Rakhine state since sectarian violence broke out there Associated Press October 1, 2013 Burma 's president has begun his first visit to western Rakhine state since sectarian violence broke out there more than a year ago. President   Thein Sein 's three-day trip comes amid reports today of a new spate of arson attacks around the city of Thandwe, where dozens of homes have been torched or damaged since the weekend. Burma , a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been grappling with Buddhist-Muslim violence that has killed hundreds of people and sent 140,000 more fleeing since June 2012, the majority of them Muslims. A senior official in the president's office said Thein Sein arrived today in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe and would also travel to the inland town of Mrauk-U.

Myanmar President Thein Sein (C) arrives at Yangon International Airport before leaving for a visit to Britain and France on July 14, 2013. Photo: AFP AFP July 14, 2013 President Thein Sein left Myanmar Sunday for a visit to Britain and France, an official said, as the former junta general looks to build on support for his much-lauded reforms. "The president left Yangon this morning to visit Britain and France," a government official told AFP without giving further details of the visit, Thein Sein's second trip to Europe in months. Another official earlier said the trip would be from July 14 to 18. Thein Sein visited several European countries in March -- although not Britain or France -- to bolster relations. The former general has surprised the international community by overseeing sweeping reforms since taking the presidency in 2011. Those changes include freeing hundreds of political prisoners and welcoming democracy champion Aung San ...

AFP May 6, 2013 YANGON — Myanmar's president on Monday pledged to uphold the "fundamental rights" of Muslims in strife-torn Rakhine state, in the wake of deadly religious unrest that has spread across the country. In a speech to the nation following the release last week of an official report into last year's violence in western Rakhine that killed around 200 people, Thein Sein said the country should aim for "peaceful coexistence". "Regarding Rakhine, our government will take responsibility for upholding Muslims' fundamental rights," he said, adding that ethnic Rakhines, who are mainly Buddhist, "will not be neglected". Rakhine state remains deeply divided following major eruptions of unrest in June and October that saw mobs rampage through villages and torch thousands of homes, displacing 140,000 mainly Rohingya Muslims. Waves of anti-Muslim unrest have spread across the country this year. Buddhist monk...

President Thein Sein at the press briefing: AP BY YADANA HTUN,  Associated Press, April 14, 2013 YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's president said Sunday his country needs to learn from the violence and instability that has wracked the Southeast Asian nation over the last two years if it is to overcome the challenge of democratization. Thein Sein spoke in a radio address broadcast to mark the  start  a day earlier of a traditional New Year holiday that is celebrated by revelers across Southeast Asia with friendly water fights. Thein Sein, a former general, took office two years ago after Myanmar's long ruling junta stepped down. He has since led an unprecedented transition toward democratic rule, releasing political prisoners, easing censorship and signing cease-fire deals with all but one of the nation's rebel groups. But the country has also been plagued by a war with ethnic Kachin rebels in the north, sectarian violence in western Rakhine state, and ...

Prime Minister Julia Gillard (left) and the President of Myanmar Thein Sein speak to the press at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Photo: AFP DVB News: March 17, 2013 Australia boosted aid and eased restrictions on defence cooperation with Burma as Thein Sein became the Southeast Asian country’s first head of state to visit Canberra since 1974. As the once pariah country approaches the second anniversary of a quasi-civilian rule, Canberra said it was increasing its support to recognise reforms. “As a close neighbour, Australia will benefit from a more open and prosperous Myanmar (Burma) that is fully integrated into the region,” said Prime Minister Julia Gillard. “Australia’s commitment to expand its constructive engagement with Myanmar recognises the unprecedented process of change under way there towards political freedom and the new opportunity this brings to help promote the prosperity of Myanmar and its people. “It also recognises President The...

BRCA President Mr. Anwar’s interview with SBS World Radio News over the concern of President Thein Sein visit to Australia The Federal Government is being urged to raise human rights issues during a visit next week by Burma’s President Thein Sein. Radio Link _media_audio_world-news_130312_257882 The calls follow a United Nations report expressing concern over how Burma is making the transition from military rule to democracy. Santilla Chingaipe has the details. Recently, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma released a report highlighting developments in Burma after decades of military rule. Tomas Ojea Quintana says despite progress, Burma still needs to tackle serious human rights challenges. Mr Quintana says only then can democratic transition and national reconciliation succeed. “It requires ensuring that new legislation such as the proposed Printing and Publishing Law does not claw back advances in freedom of expression. It includ...

In this file photo taken Jan.11, 2011,Prime Minister Thein Sein is seen as he delivers speech during an opening of a road in Burma/Myanmar. Pic: AP. VOA News February 25, 2013 Burmese officials say President Thein Sein is heading to Europe Monday for high-level European Union talks, as the former rogue state deepens ties with the West. Officials say Thein Sein will first fly to Norway, followed by Finland, Austria, Belgium and Italy. Topics expected to be on the agenda are sanctions, development aid, economic reforms, Burma's human rights recordand efforts to negotiate peace in ongoing internal conflicts. The EU responded last April to a string of reforms under the Thein Sein administration by suspending all sanctions except an arms embargo, while the U.S. has dismantled many of its key trade and investment sanctions.

Myanmar President Thein Sein met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in the Lao capital Vientiane in November 2012. (Photo: President's office) Mizzima News: February 22, 2013 Thein Sein has received official invitations to visit five European countries in the near future, according to an announcement in state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on February 22.  The Myanmar president will travel to Norway, Finland, Austria, Italy and Belgium in what will be the first of his official overseas trips of 2013. The latest invitations come following the relaxation of sanctions and improvement in bilateral relations with the European countries.  Norway opened an embassy in Yangon in November 2012; Finnish Minister of International Development visited Myanmar in January; and the President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce met with Thein Sein in Naypyitaw earlier this month.  Italy recently stepped up cooperation with Myanmar under the supervis...

OIC was about to come to Myanmar just to help the riot victims from both Rohingya and Rakhine communities in Arkan state. The helpless and hopeless victims from both sides were happy and seeing tomorrows to meet OIC with their inharmonious heart beats as they know that it is a world richest organization and hope that it would be a part of a big role for their uncertain future to be nurtured step by step and day after day. But suddenly, demonstrating (protests) waves hit in Arkan state and swept all the victim’s hopes away shocking the world mankind and human watch groups.

An IDP camp near Sittwe in Rakhine state, Myanmar. Photo: UNHCR Myanmar/2012 23 November 2012 – The United Nations refugee agency today  announced  it has started an aid airlift for those displaced by the recent inter-communal violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The two flights that will leave from Dubai this weekend are bringing 3,500 family-sized tents for some 17,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Nay Pyi Taw, 20 Nov,President U Thein Sein of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar met Indonesian President Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, at Call Room on the 4th floor of Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this morning. In his speech, the Indonesian President said that he acknowledged Myanmar’s success of democratic reforms. And Indonesia would continue to support it. Indonesia would send Indonesian economic delegation comprised of state- and private-owned entre-preneurs to

Burma’s president leaves the possibility open for another stint in office. Thein Sein speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 27, 2012. AFP Burma’s President Thein Sein said he may consider serving another term in office if the country and people want him to do so. "If I have my way, I will only serve one term,” said the 67-year-old retired general, who assumed office for a five-year term in March 2011, at a forum in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

People shout slogans in support of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma during a demonstration outside the United Nations’ offices in Sanaa, Yemen on Aug. 13, 2012. (PHOTO: Reuters) The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) has appealed to world leaders at the UN General Assembly to put pressure on Burma’s President Thein Sein following his proposal that third countries accept Rohingya refugees. The Burmese president is currently in New York attending the UN General Assembly. Ahead of a meeting between Thein Sein and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, the US announced it was lifting further sanctions on Burma due to the progress of reform under its new government.

Robert Hormats, the US Under-Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs, speaks during an interview in New York in March. (PHOTO: Reuters) WASHINGTON—As Burmese President Thein Sein left his country on what is being billed as a “historic” visit to the United States, a top Obama administration official on Monday said the US needs to partner with India to unlock the vast potential emerging out of the region. “The development of trade and transit links between Southeast and East Asia has been hindered for decades by poor regional infrastructure connectivity, the isolation of the Burmese government, and political mistrust between India and its neighbors,” the Under-Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, Robert Hormats, said in his address to the India Investment Forum in New York.

On August 29 th , the U.S. government  waived travel sanctions against U Thein Sein , Burma’s President and former general of Burma’s dissolved military regime, allowing him to travel freely during his visit to the UN General Assembly this month. The United States also  eased economic sanctions against Burma this year, allowing U.S. businesses to invest in the  heavily sanctioned country.

  Burmese citizens living in Thailand held portraits of President Thein  Sein as they gather outside the Burmese embassy in Bangkok on 24 July 2012. (Reuters) Buddhist monks, politicians and other ethnic Arakanese figures are kindling hatred towards Muslim Rohingya in an area plagued by sectarian violence, Burma’s president has warned in a report seen by AFP Friday.

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  The Burmese government is changing their promised to delivery  aids  and ground investigation in Arakan state to Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), UN and internationals INGOs which the Burmese president said to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, according to an elder from Maungdaw who base on an exclusive interview with VOA Burmese Service chief Than Lwin Htun in Naypyidaw on August 14. “But now the Burmese authority didn’t want to do this as it is an internal problem between two groups not religious and ethnic problem.” The government is giving assistance to the victims and has asked an “independent” Burmese Human Rights Commission to investigate the unrest, which erupted in June, where the Rohingya and Buddhist communities are living together. There is “no need” for a foreign commission to investigate the  violence  as an international issue, said President Thein Sein in an exclusive interview with VOA Burmese Servi...

President Thein Sein during interview with VOA Burmese Service chief Than Lwin Htun, Naypyitaw, August 13, 2012. B urmese President Thein Sein says his government will open schools to improve the education of minority Rohingya Muslims who accuse the majority Buddhist state of persecuting them. In an exclusive interview with VOA Burmese Service chief Than Lwin Htun in Naypyidaw, Thein Sein also said he believes it is necessary to modify  the country's 1982 Citizenship Law , which grants Burmese nationality to third-generation immigrants. He did not elaborate. The Burmese government refuses to recognize the country's estimated 800,000 Rohingya Muslims as an ethnic group and denies them citizenship. Many Burmese consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Rohingya Muslims, who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape religious violence, sit in a boat after being intercepted crossing the Naf River by Bangladeshi border authorities in Taknaf,...