The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Myanmar President Thein Sein (left) meets with Italian President Giorgeo Napolitano in Rome on March 7, the same day an Amnesty International report called on the UN to be aware of continuing rights abuses in Myanmar. (PHOTO: Myanmar President's Office) Mizzima News  March 8, 2013    Amnesty International has appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to continue closely monitoring the human rights situation in Myanmar in light of President Thein Sein's visit to Europe. In a statement released on March 7, the human rights NGO called for “the mandate of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar to be renewed” and for “the Myanmar Government to guarantee sustained international human rights monitoring to promote and protect human rights alongside national human rights mechanisms.” The release coincided with the Myanmar president's welcome in Italy where he met with his Italian counterpart Giorgeo Napolitano, who co...

Khalifa Foundation has distributed urgent aid totalling 5,200 tonnes Gulf News  March 04, 2013  Burma: The Khalifa Bin Zayed Humanitarian Foundation (KZHF) has distributed another 2,600 tonnes of food aid to Myanmar Muslims, completing its third and last phase of the urgent aid totalling 5,200 tonnes of relief items among 850,000 beneficiaries. As per directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the assistance was purchased from the local markets of Myanmar in cooperation and coordination with the Embassy of Kuwait to be shipped by sea to “Rakhine (Arakan)” for distribution among the affectees there. 

Burmese President Thein Sein, left, meets with Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo on Feb. 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) The Irrawaddy February 28, 2013 Burmese President Thein Sein met with members of Norway’s Burmese community on Wednesday, urging them to return to their native country, while also expressing gratitude to his hosts for supporting his reform efforts. “The reason I chose Norway to be my first stop is because Norway has helped our people and country in terms of education, health care and support for environmental conservation,” he said during his five-minute speech. He also thanked the Norwegian government for clearing Burma of the 3 billion Norwegian krone (US $527 million) debt that it owes the oil-rich Scandinavian country. After decades of isolation, Burma can now begin to rebuild itself with low-interest loans from multilateral lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, thanks to Norway and other countrie...

Reports on Human Rights Practices at the Washington Foreign Press Center on March 11, 2010. Testimony Michael H. Posner Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Statement Before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Washington, DC February 28, 2013 Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing and for the Commission’s sustained concern about Burma over the years. I am particularly grateful to the late Tom Lantos himself, who played a critical role in shaping U.S. policy. I appreciate the opportunity to outline for the Commission the administration’s views on human rights and democracy in Burma. As the members of the Commission are aware, the last 18 months have brought a number of changes to Burma—from the release of hundreds of political prisoners to the revision of several repressive laws—that many would have said were unthinkable just two years ago. Of course the many activists and advocates who have been pus...