The Stateless Rohingya Blog

(Photo: European Commission DF ECHO) By Knox Thames The Diplomat May 14, 2014 Its recent opening notwithstanding, Myanmar still has a long way to go when it comes to religious freedoms. As has been well reported, Myanmar’s democratic opening has coincided with serious and alarming violence against religious minorities. These depredations often fall along ethnic lines, creating a difficult witches’ brew of issues that would challenge any government, but are ones Naypyidaw must now confront. The recent report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), where I work, recently put forward a roadmap that could address these abuses and move Myanmar forward. Myanmar’s leadership needs to understand that the assault on Rohingya Muslims must stop. In April, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power expressed deep concern for the ongoing violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Daniel Russel, the Assistant Secretary of State for Ea...

Image credit: Flickr (foreignoffice) Mong Palatino The Diplomat  July 25, 2013 It is common for unpopular governments to be accused by their enemies of committing serious human rights violations such as murder and kidnapping, but it is not often that genocide is included in the charge sheet. Even notorious dictators who are assumed to be guilty of committing the most heinous crimes against humanity are rarely accused of genocide. When various groups denounce a government’s action or program as being genocidal, it immediately gets global and media attention. Something evil must be really happening to warrant the use of the term. Two Southeast Asian governments are currently facing such accusations. Myanmar is accused of committing genocide against the ethnic Muslim Rohingya minority. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, a former senator and the influential Catholic Church hierarchy have warned the government that it could be held liable for genocide if it implements...

Luke Hunt The Diplomat July 5, 2013 As Myanmar continues its reform process, the politics is throwing-up a bevy of contrasts – some welcomed and others not. One tour company is offering free beer while the government has banned the recent issue of TIME Magazine, featuring a cover of a Buddhist monk blamed for the recent carnage against Muslims in the country’s north. The July 1 edition of Time carried the cover photo of  Burmese monk Ashin Wirathu , a known fundamentalist and head of the 969 group, which has deployed the age-old technique of mixing rabid nationalistic and religious sentiment to stir up hatred against minorities. He would like to see a ban on the marriage of people from different faiths and remains unapologetic for the waves of anti-Muslim violence that has to date claimed more than 200 lives in the country and forced another 150,000 people from their homes. In a recent interview with the Global Post  he even added : “Muslims are like the...