The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Buddhist monk Wirathu (C), leader of the 969 movement, greets other monks as he attends a meeting on the National Protection Law at a monastery outside Yangon, June 27, 2013. VOA News June 28, 2013 RANGOON — This week's  Time Magazine cover  bearing the image of Wirathu, a monk who has come under international scrutiny for spreading anti-Muslim hate speech was banned in Burma. Has hate-speech on the internet and in sermons delivered by Buddhist monks led to religious violence, and has the government fulfilled its responsibility in dealing with hate speech?  Burma has only just recently stopped censoring print news media, but when Time magazine ran a cover story detailing the anti-Muslim hate-speeches of influential Buddhist monk Wirathu, the issue was banned because the information ministry feared it could incite further violence.  Since June of last year, five separate incidents of communal violence perpetrated against Muslims across the country ha...

Internally displaced Rohingya boys shiver in rain in a makeshift camp for Rohingya people in Sittwe, Burma, May 14, 2013. VOA News June 18, 2013 The United Nations is urging Burma to address the citizenship status and other long-term needs of minority Rohingya Muslims, tens of thousands of whom remain in refugee camps following communal violence. The U.N. humanitarian relief agency said Tuesday 140,000 people remain displaced in Burma's western Rakhine state, a year after the Buddhist-Muslim clashes killed about 200 people and left much of the region racially and religiously segregated. The report said increased humanitarian aid has addressed the immediate needs of the displaced communities. It said food is now distributed regularly to those in need, about 3,000 latrines are functioning, and temporary shelter for over 71,000 people has been built. But the agency cautioned that such measures are only temporary, warning that root causes of the tensions must...

VOA News : March 21, 2013 Authorities in central Burma have imposed a curfew following sectarian unrest that left at least 10 people dead and two Muslim religious buildings destroyed. The clashes broke out Wednesday following an argument between a customer and the Muslim owner of a gold shop in the main bazaar in the Mandalay city of Meikhtila. The dispute turned violent when hundreds of Buddhists and Muslims descended upon the shop. Police say several buildings, including a mosque and an Islamic school, were burned.   Officials say a Buddhist monk was among at least 10 people killed. Over 20 others were injured. The situation was reported to have been brought under control after police imposed a curfew at nightfall, but police say violence broke out again on Thursday. The U.S. ambassador to Burma, Derek Mitchell, said in a brief statement he is "deeply concerned" about the violence and extends his "deepest condolences" to those affected...

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.

Thai authorities intercept 73 Rohingya refugees off the coast of Phuket, southern Thailand. Photo: AP  Source VOA News: Thai authorities say a boat-load of Rohingya Muslim refugees allegedly fleeing sectarian violence and persecution in western Burma must be sent back to their homeland. The 73 migrants, including  women  and children, were found drifiting in a small, overcrowded boat off the Thai resort town of Phuket, well short of their final destination of Malaysia.