The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By  Radio Australia March 12, 2014 Thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar still lack health care two weeks after the government ordered the international medical charity MSF to leave Rakhine State . Reports are now emerging of deaths in the camps housing those displaced by the long-running sectarian violence in the state. MSF's operations were suspended late last month when it was accused of prioritising the treatment of the Rohingya community over local Buddhists. The organisation has since been allowed to resume its work in Myanmar, but not in Rakhine State. Former US Congressman Tom Andrews has been in the country for a month. He leads the Washington-based NGO, United to End Genocide, and he's been visiting the camps where displaced Rohingya are struggling to survive. Correspondent: Karon Snowdon Speakers: Tom Andrews, former US Congressman and president of the NGO, United to End Genocide ANDREWS: The United Nations has described...

By Radio Australia October 18, 2013 In Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state, minority Muslims live under apartheid-like conditions, housed in temporary camps and segregated from the majority Buddhist population. This has led to a health care crisis as Muslims are subject to strict movement restrictions and local hospitals are known to refuse to treat them. Presenter: Jared Ferrie Speaker:  Vickie Hawkins, the deputy head of mission, Medecines Sans Frontiers; Myint Aung, villager FERRIE: In townships around the Rakhine capital of Sittwe, Muslims who need serious medical attention must wait hours and even days before being able to visit the one hospital that will treat them. They are not allowed to visit local hospitals. Instead they must travel to Sittwe General Hospital, which has a special ward for Muslims. But Muslims are not allowed to travel freely, so aid agencies like Medecines Sans Frontiers must negotiate with local authorities to transport each individua...

Myanmar President Thein Sein shakes hands with Senator The Hon Bob Carr, Foreign Affairs Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia, at the Credentials Hall of the Presidential Palace on July 10, 2013. Photo: President's Office Radio Australia: July 12, 2013 Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Australia won't use foreign aid as a bargaining tool with Myanmar, despite being "apprehensive" about the future of the country's minority Rohingya Muslim population. Senator Carr has raised their plight during talks with the government in Naypyidaw, but he's ruled out accepting large numbers of Rohingyas as refugees, even though they are not considered to be citizens of Myanmar. Presenter: Naomi Woodley Speaker: Bob Carr, Australian Foreign Minister BOB CARR: Australia takes a keen interest in their plight and in the need for reconciliation and harmony within this part of Myanmar. NAOMI WOODLEY: How was that message received by the ...

Radio Australia June 14, 2013 European MPs have jointly condemned the violence against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, and called on the government to do more to protect them. The European Parliament has passed a motion saying it condemns the grave violations of human rights against the Muslim minority in Rakhine state. The motion says it "deplores the failure of the Myanmar government to protect the Rohingyas against organised violence." The Rohingya diaspora has welcomed the motion, but has also called for an international investigation into what they call a 'genocide'. Presenter: Sen Lam Speaker: Nurul Islam, president, Arakan Rohingya National Organisation, London NURUL ISLAM: This is very encouraging and we're very much thankful to the European parliament for adopting this resolution, and we take it as a proper encouragement for the Rohingyah people. LAM: Do you think it might improve the situation for them? NURUL ISLA...

 Photo by LARRY DOWNING /Reuters Radio Australia:  May 22, 2013 Just a day following historic White House talks between President Obama and Myanmar's reformist head of state Thein Sein, a trade and investment deal has been struck between the two countries. The Obama administration suspended most sanctions on Myanmar last year and is hoping the new trade agreement will show the country tangible benefits for embracing reform, including better protection for workers rights. While some human rights groups say it's too soon to reward Myanmar, others, such as business consultant and former British envoy Derek Tonkin, say sanctions should now be lifted completely. Presenter: Sen Lam Speaker: Derek Tonkin, advisor to Bagan Capital Limited and former British ambassador to Vietnam and Thailand TONKIN: I think we are approaching a point at which we can begin to speak of 'normalisation of relations' between Myanmar and the outside world. In some cas...

Residents walk past buildings burning in riot-hit Meiktila, central Myanmar. (Credit: AFP)   Radio Australia   April 30, 2013 Plans to control the birth rate of Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar has been described as "chilling". A Myanmar Government Commission report has recommended a family planning program be implemented to curb the growth of the country's Muslim Rohingyas. The region has been plagued by ethnic clashes between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority. Fighting over the past year has left hundreds dead and tens-of -thousands homeless. The Commission found that the high birth rate of Rohingya has been a factor in the tensions. It also recommends sending more troops into troubled regions to quell the violence. But Human Rights Watch says the recommendations are disturbing and will only increase tensions. Phil Robertson says Government troops are guilty of stoking the flames of racial hatred in the fledgling democracy. ...

Myanmar's progress towards democracy has been heralded around the world, but recent violence against ethnic minorities has caused the country's human rights to be questioned. Despite this, the UN's Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, says the government is committed to reform and resolving the issue of Rohingya statelessness. (Credit: ABC)  Radio Australia: April 12, 2013 United Nations Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, says the government is committed to reform and resolving the issue of Rohingya statelessness. Myanmar's progress towards democracy has been heralded around the world, but recent violence against ethnic minorities has caused the country's human rights to be questioned. Despite this, Mr Nambia has told Newsline the country's reform agenda is "on track" and the government wants to address the issue of citizenship. "I would say that these latest...

Vijay Nambiar, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special adviser on Myanmar, looks at debris of the buildings destroyed during the ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in Meikhtila, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday, March 24, 2013. The top UN envoy to Myanmar toured a central city Sunday destroyed in the country's worst explosion of Buddhist-Muslim violence this year, calling on the government to punish those responsible for a tragedy that left dozens of corpses piled in the streets, some of them charred beyond recognition.(AP Photo/Khin Maung Win) Radio Australia‎   March 24, 2013 The United Nations envoy to Myanmar has spent Sunday visiting the central town of Meiktila destroyed by deadly communal riots. The United Nations envoy to Myanmar has spent Sunday visiting the central town of Meiktila destroyed by deadly communal riots. Vijay Nambiar, the UN special adviser on Myanmar, met some of the estimated 9,000 people ...

Muslim Rohingya walk around the Bawdupha Internally Displaced Persons camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's western Rakhine state. (Credit: AFP) Radio Australia  March 19, 2013 Myanmar has dismissed a United Nations report calling for urgent action to protect tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees this monsoon season. Presidential spokesman U Ye Htut has told Australia Network'sNewsline program the shelter at camps holding an estimated 120,000 people is adequate. "I think most of the people are still living in the camp but they have enough shelter and food supply for the rainy season," he said. United Nations Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana says in his report he is concerned the camps will flood in a few months time and recommends Rohingya refugees be integrated into communities. "The coming rainy season in May, which will flood many of these camps, further increases the urgency of relocation in order to avo...

Source  Radio Australia : Thailand to turn away any more boatloads of Rohingya from neighbouring Burma which try to land on its coast A senior official says Thailand will turn away any more boatloads of Rohingya from neighbouring Burma which try to land on its coast after an increase in refugees fleeing sectarian unrest.