The Stateless Rohingya Blog

People who belong nowhere  By M. Mizanur Rahman and Tasfi Sal-sabi The Daily Star October 27, 2014 REFERRING to statements by some residents and an expert, Aljazeera reported on October 25 that a growing sense of despair had caused a mass migration of at least 8,000 Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar in the last two weeks. The number of people who have fled since communal violence broke out two years ago is more than 1,00,000. Usually, the popular destinations of these Rohingya people are Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Pakistan and India. In the last few decades, thousands of Rohingyas migrated to Bangladesh from Myanmar. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das The Rohingya are one of the most down-trodden ethnic minorities in modern history, having been denied citizenship and basic human rights by the Myanmar government. For the Rohingyas, security of life, food, accommodation, arbitrary arrest, detention, sexual harassment and means of earning have been major problems...

Setting fire to Rohingya villages- an act that was carried out by Rakhine & Security forces. By C.R. Abrar The Daily Star October 2, 2014 QUITE predictably, the 2014 national census of Myanmar has come back to haunt the ethnic Rohingyas.  Media reports inform that the Myanmarese government has devised a new plan under which members of the Rohingya community would be given the thorny choice: accept ethnic reclassification and the prospect of citizenship or be detained.  Under the new arrangement the community members would be required to identify themselves as 'Bengalis' (and not as 'Rohingyas') or face detention. Plans are underway to “construct temporary camps in required numbers for those who refuse to be registered and those without adequate documents.” The new decree is being proposed at a time when most of Myanmar's 1.3 million Rohingya population, particularly those in western Arakan, has been living in what has been described as “apar...

By The Daily Star August 31, 2014 Myanmar will start the process of repatriating Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh’s camps within two months in 'a breakthrough' in bilateral relations, the foreign secretary has said. M Shahidul Haque said they would start the process of taking back 2,415 of its nationals it verified earlier. The decision was conveyed at the secretary-level talks on Sunday. Myanmar’s Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw led his side to the meeting, known as ‘Foreign Office Consultation’. Foreign Secretary Haque told journalists after the meeting both sides agreed on a number of measures to take the relations forward. The meeting was held in “open, frank, and cordial” manner that he said indicated “greater understanding between the two countries”. Myanmar side was not present at the briefing. The Rohingya refugee issue has been the main irritant in the relations. Bangladesh gave shelter to thousands of refugees who fled the Rakhine province afte...

Photo: Anurup Kanti Das By Ananta YUSUF The Daily Star August 29, 2014 This week the Star interviews a Rohingya refugee who shares his experience of surviving the atrocities perpetrated by the Myanmarese (Burmese) junta It was a cloudy night of September 15, 2012. Amidst an undulating sea of harvest and blades of tall grass, Alauddin Miah (pseudonym), a rich farmer, took shelter with his extended family. The thunder of clouds and the scream of the wounded, innocent people slowly faded away, but that frightening image remained with him as he says, “It was the third day, we were staying on the beel (wetland used as a paddy field). I can still hear the scream of the wounded. The nearby canal was flooded with blood and corpses.” In fear of ethnic atrocities, Udong, which is 12 km south to Mungdow town of Myanmar, was nearly abandoned. People left behind everything that they had at home in search of a safe place. Like Alauddin, many people took shelter in the wet lands of...

By The Daily Star August 27, 2014 A five-member Myanmar delegation arrives here today for talks over issues concerning Bangladesh, including repatriation of Rohingyas, stopping Yaba smuggling, establishing a border liaison office to fast track dispute resolution, and holding regular security dialogues. The delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Thant Kyaw and accompanied by two officials from the embassy in Dhaka, is likely to raise allegations of armed insurgents in yellow fatigues operating in the neighbouring country from Bangladesh, stated sources. Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque will lead the 10-member Bangladesh side at the foreign secretary-level 8th Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) on August 31, informed diplomatic sources. The delegation will afterwards call on Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali in the afternoon. It will also go on a visit to Sylhet tomorrow. Talks will also centre around human trafficking and security, economic issues inclu...

By Fakhruddin Ahmed The Daily Star August 25, 2014   ROHINGYA crisis has been weighing on the world's conscience for decades.  The UN Human Rights Council lists Myanmar's 800, 000 Rohingya Muslims among the world's most persecuted minorities.  Residents of Myanmar for over 600 years, Rohingyas have been stripped of their Myanmar citizenship.    Oppression and expulsion have been repeatedly perpetrated on them by Myanmar's Buddhist majority for centuries.  An estimated 300,000 Rohingyas languish in Bangladeshi and Thai refugee camps. Rohingya villages have been cordoned off, and many Rohungyas have been confined to concentration camps.  Humanitarian agencies such as Doctors without Borders have been barred from entering and treating patients in those camps. Rohingyas are perishing while the world looks away. Rohingya is an Indo-European Rohingya language; the words Rohingya means a resident of the state of Arakan.  Myanmar ...

Two Rohingya women cuddle their newborns at a camp in Kutupalong, Cox's Bazar. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das Foreign Secy-Level Meeting with Myanmar  By Rezaul Karim The Daily Star August 22, 2014 Repatriation of Rohingya refugees, border management, human trafficking, boosting trade and investment, and introduction of coastal shipping will be high on the agenda at the Bangladesh-Myanmar meeting to be held in Dhaka on August 31. The foreign secretary-level Eighth Foreign Office Consultation will also discuss issues like regular holding of security dialogues, import of gas from Myanmar, confidence-building measures to remove misunderstanding between the two neighbouring countries, cooperation in areas of climate change, energy, agriculture, education and increasing border trade and tourism. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and Myanmar Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Thant Kyaw will lead their respective sides in the talks. An eight-member Myanmar delega...

  (Photo: Anurup Kanti Das) By Ananta Yusuf The Daily Star June 27, 2014 The Star explores the history and the origins of the Rohingya community in this week's issue “Our rooftop was filled with dried food The pasture was filled with harvest and chillies We came to Bangladesh leaving behind what we have Thought Muslims will embrace us with care and love How hard we tried to live in Burma, How long we've waited to go back Now memories floated adrift when we look back to the east….” (translated from a Rohingya song) Ayesha Begum (not her real name), a middle aged Rohingya refugee, was singing this Tarana (a form of folk song) on the sea beach of Shamlapur, Cox's Bazar. Time has passed her by all that remains are frustration and insecurity for her life. There is a misconception that Rohingyas do not have their own identity, history and culture. The mainstream media, researchers and political institutions of Myanmar have always tried to ...

  By Ahmad Ibrahim The Daily Star June 08, 2014 The UNHCR estimates that at the moment there could be as many as 500,000 unregistered Rohingya refugees inside Bangladesh. This number is in excess to the 25,000 that are registered refugees and are living in two of the camps provided by the UNHCR. What it means is that half a million people are living on Bangladeshi soil without any legal rights or provisions. They exist like ghosts in the wind because the government of Bangladesh does not recognise their presence. The real problem, though, starts in Myanmar, where Thein Sein's military backed government fails to acknowledge their presence as well, often turning a blind eye to the massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine and the crimes against humanity being committed on Myanmar land. On March 29, the Myanmar government banned the word 'Rohingya' and insisted that the Muslim community register as 'Bengalis.' Critics will point to the fact that it is a po...

Officials of Border Guard Bangladesh, in the right row, and Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) at a deputy director general-level (DDG) flag meeting in Myanmar's Maungdaw yesterday, as tension flared on the border after a BGB nayek, Mizanur Rahman, was shot dead by BGP in an unprovoked attack on May 28. The two sides were led by Cox's Bazar Sector Commander Col Khandker Farid Hasan and Maungdaw's Director Police Brig Thin Ko Ko. Photo: BGB .................................................................................................................................................. Returns his SMG, ammo at a BGB-BGP flag meeting; claims they mistook him for Rohingya separatist Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) yesterday returned the sub-machine gun (SMG) of slain Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Nayek Mizanur Rahman along with 120 bullets and four magazines following a flag meeting between the two forces. In an unprovoked attack, BGP shot at ...

Stina Ljungdell in refugee camp By  The Daily Star May 19, 2014 While the Rohingya plight came to the spotlight in 2012, UNHCR has been involved in this for a very long time. What is the UNHCR's role in dealing with the Rohingyas residing in Bangladesh? Stina Ljungdell (SL) : For the past decades there has been movement by Rohingyas to Bangladesh; they have come in waves. The UNHCR was asked by the government of Bangladesh to assist them in 1991/2, when almost 250,000 refugees had come to Bangladesh. There was a massive repatriation in 1992 and further movements back to Myanmar till 2005 but no more after that. At present, there are about 31,000 Rohingyas residing in two refugee camps, of which some 25,000 are currently registered with the government of Bangladesh. UNHCR and the government of Bangladesh are in the process of conducting a joint verification with the aim to establish a joint database. UNHCR works in tandem with the government to provide the refugees w...