The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Part of a 121-strong group of Rohingya boatpeople, including six women and two children, arrive at a shelter in Punteuet in Aceh province on February 27, 2013, after being found adrift by fishermen around 25 km from the coast of Sumatra. (AFP PHOTO) 200 nabbed ahead of 'migrating season' THE authorities are stepping up measures to prevent the illegal inflow of Rohingya from neighbouring Myanmar.  Illegal entries by members of this ethnic group usually soar between November and April every year - after the monsoon period has ended.  The Rohingya - who are Muslim - have been fleeing for years from Myanmar's western Rakhine State, where they face severe repression in most facets of daily life by a government that regards them as "Bengalis" from Bangladesh.  "Security agencies have estimated that more than 10,000 Rohingya people will arrive in Thailand via Ranong and nearby provinces between next month and April next year," Deputy Rano...

Photo Displaced Rohingyas  The Nation November 3, 2013  Fear of safety and communal strife is forcing the minority community to flee the country The UN refugee agency this weekend issued a statement warning about the possible exodus of boat people from Myanmar because of the outbreak of violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state. Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pointed out that more than 1,500 people had left Rakhine state by boat last week and there were reports that some of them had drowned off the coast. Fear of personal safety and instability in Rakhine state are some of the reasons why a growing number of the people are leaving, according to the UNHCR. The ongoing tension between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine state this past year has resulted in numerous casualties. More than 140,000 are internally displaced. The violence has been largely desc...

By Kavi Chongkittavron  The Nation September 1, 2013 BANGKOK: After a series of closed door discussions and numerous rephrasing by policy-makers including foreign experts, Myanmar has finally picked the theme “Moving forward in unity towards a peaceful and prosperous Community” for its engagement with Asean next year. Like previous Asean chairs, the title reflects Naypidaw’s agenda and priorities when it takes up the grouping’s helm in 127 days. The 10-word slogan, the longest ever in Asean history, was personally given a nod by President Thein Sein recently. Earlier a few versions were put forward for consideration focusing on the centrality of Asean, economic cooperation and community building as well as political and economic reforms taking place in the past two years. The chosen theme was neutral and encompassing. “It is very comprehensive,” said a senior Asean official who attended the Asean Economic Ministerial meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, where ...

Rohingya Muslim illegal immigrants gather at the Immigration Detention Centre. THAILAND - Ten Rohingya detainees escaped at dawn yesterday from a detention facility of the Ranong Immigration Office. It is the latest in a series of Rohingya escapes from various facilities in the past few months. The 10 escapees were part of a group of 118 Rohingya detainees at the facility. The Ranong Immigration Office has begun a manhunt for the 10 runaway Rohingya. "We have handed out their photos to motorcycle-taxi riders, community leaders and local people in a bid to track them down," office chief Ekkorn Bussababordin said, adding that he believed the 10 escapees were still in Ranong. Ekkorn said that he would step up security measures at the detention facility to prevent further escapes. Thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar's Arakan State have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry. In Satun, just two out of 31 Rohingya boys remain in custody at the Sat...

Rohingyas intercepted on the Thai coast are sent to the crowded Phan Nga immigration detention centre. The Nation: August 23, 2013 The government should end the inhumane separation and detention of ethnic Rohingya families from Myanmar and allow them to contribute to the Thai economy For years, thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar's Arakan State have set sail to flee persecution by the Myanmar government. The situation significantly worsened following sectarian violence in Arakan State in June 2012 between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Arakanese, which displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya from their homes.  In October 2012, Arakanese political and religious leaders and state security forces committed crimes against humanity in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya.  During the so-called "sailing season" between October 2012 and March 2013, more than 35,000 Rohingya are believed to have fled the country. Internati...

The Nation  August 9, 2013 SOME 260 Rohingya refugees who have been held captive for almost seven months tried yesterday to break out of the Phang Nga Immigration Centre to celebrate the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The riot began at about 9am when some inmates tore down the doors separating three detention cells. They reportedly shouted and stormed the main gate to get out of the building. A team of about 300 officers rushed in to control the situation.  Negotiators including a religious leader and representatives of human-rights groups were sent in to calm them down but the detainees insisted on joining the Hari Raya Eid-al-Fitri celebration outside. Pol Maj-General Chalit Kaewyarat, provincial police chief, said the men were upset that they were not allow to celebrate outside and since the facility was short on staff, some  Rohingya  incited a mob to press their demands.  Authorities managed to disperse t...

Santipark Ramasutra The Nation July 26, 2013 Representatives from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Thailand provided relief bags to 102 Rohingya children and women yesterday at Songkhla's Children and Family Home. The representatives explained that they wanted to provide basic necessities to the refugees as they try to help look for a third country that would offer them refuge. They also thanked the government and officials at the shelter for taking care of them. The embassy officials also visited other shelters such as the one at the Sadao border to hear the refugees' problems, particularly their plea for refuge in a third country and not to be sent back to Myanmar.  The Rohingya are in temporary detention after they fled Myanmar in search for a "better life" in Malaysia and Indonesia via Thailand. 

TheNation  June 14, 2013  The European Union is committing 200,000 euro to provide humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees being detained in Thailand, the EU Delegation to Thailand announced Friday. The help will be directed to  Rohingya  men at detention centres and  Rohingya  women and children at social welfare facilities. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) will take charge of the aid, which will provide the  Rohingya  with basic household items, food and health care. The project will be monitored by the EU's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), which maintains a regional office in Bangkok. The funding decision was made after ECHO experts, accompanied by ECHO's Director of Operations, Jean-Louis de Brouwer, paid a visit to one of the detention facilities in May. Some 2,000 Rohingyas, fleeing communal violence in Myanmar, were intercepted in Thailand in early 2013, while ...

The Nation March 16, 2013 The UN's refugee agency on Friday called on the government to investigate reports that Thai navy men shot at Rohingya boat people fleeing sectarian conflict in Myanmar. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has asked the Thai government to verify recent reports that a Rohingya boat was towed out from Thai waters and that shots were fired during the interception. "The UNHCR has met the survivors of a boat incident reported in Phang Nga, southern Thailand, cross-checked their accounts with other sources and established that the incident is the same one reported by boat people who arrived in Aceh, Indonesia, on February 26," said the agency's spokesperson Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba.  She said that UNHCR staff in Indonesia spoke to some of the 121 arrivals in this group, which includes women and children. "UNHCR is gravely concerned that people fleeing unrest could have been turned away and exposed to ...

The Nation February 6, 2013  House Standing Committee on State Security chairman Weng Tojirakan Wednesday discussed the Rohingya migrant issue and recommended talks with Myanmar to repatriate them or contact the United Nations to find a third country to take them in. National Human Rights Commission's head of violation inspection division, Kesarin Tiangsakul, said it found many women  and children among the Rohingya migrants who aimed to work in Malaysia and Indonesia, using Thailand as a transit point. After they were arrested - and Thai law could detain them for six months - the government had to find a  solution  to the problem because these people couldn't be repatriated elsewhere. It also had to provide them with care on a humanitarian basis, Kesarin said.    The Nation

The Nation: Kavi Chongkittavorn  February 4, 2013  On the surface, Thailand's decision to allow hundreds of Rohingya refugees to remain inside the country temporarily for six months as illegal immigrants seemed a commendable move. However, upon deeper scrutiny it showed the government's knee-jerk manner of responding to the influx of "new boat people" from the Bay of Bengal and the overall recklessness among intra-government agencies. Worse still was the view held by the secretary-general of the National Security Council, Lt-General Paradon Pattanathaboot, who continues to be in a state of denial, believing that the Rohingya are not victims of a region-wide human trafficking operation. The Thai authorities believe they are victims of human smugglers who dump them in Thailand before they go to Malaysia. For the past few years, after the monsoon season ends, the Rohingya have taken to the sea inside small fishing trawlers arranged by smugglers. They have...

The Nation February 4, 2013  The Rohingya immigrant issue is an internal affair of Myanmar, which Asean members should address on humanitarian grounds, former Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday. At the root of the problem is the fact that Myanmar's constitution and internal laws do not recognise the Rohingya as citizens, he said. Other groups in Myanmar don't accept the Rohingya, who are based mainly in Rakhine and number about 800,000 in all, he said, adding: "This has to be dealt with gradually, as Myanmar authorities are worried about intervention from the outside world." "The United Nations has been working on the Rohingya issue, but has to be careful in dealing with it, and Asean needs to address it, especially on humanitarian grounds," he said. Surin was speaking at a school in Nakhon Si Thammarat run and sponsored by the Pitsuwan family. HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn made a p...

The Nation: February 1, 2013  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Friday urged all involved countries to provide assistance to Rohingya refugees leaving Myanmar. UNHCR's senior regional public information officer, Vivian Tan, said the Rohingya people's journey out of their homeland was often full of risk and hundreds had died along the way. 

Source The Nation  January 30, 2013  The best place on earth to discuss the Rohingya issue is Myanmar - and it's timely to raise the issue with the authorities in Nay Pyi Taw now as they are in the process of seeking political reform for national reconciliation. And reform cannot take effect unless the Rohingya issue is addressed.

                            Flood of refugees should be discussed by Asean, NHRC says. Ethnic Rohingya fleeing from Myanmar deserve the attention of Asean as their problems are huge, a panel of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says. Panel chairwoman Angkhana Neelapaijit spoke yesterday after visiting some Rohingya people in Narathiwat.

The Nation: Foreign organisations have always been quick with promises to help Thailand care for refugees fleeing violence, but rarely deliver, leaving the Kingdom to shoulder the burden alone, Armed Forces Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimaprakorn said yesterday.

Humanitarian care would be provided for Rohingya minority people from Myanmar - for the time being - and Thailand would seek help from the United Nations and other international groups to try to resolve their plight, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. Concerned agencies are in the process of classifying some 857 Rohingya people who illegally entered Thailand recently, the Ministry's permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow said yesterday.

Source The Nation: Thailand will be working closely with international agencies, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to extend help to 857 Rohingya people found illegally entering Thailand earlier this month. We will proceed in line with laws and humanitarian principle,"  Foreign  Affairs Ministry's permanent secretary Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Tuesday.