The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By World Bulletin February 13, 2014 1,300 Rohingya detained in immigration detention centers in Thailand sent back to Myanmar authorities 3 months ago. Human Rights Watch reacted with "serious worry" Friday to news that Thailand deported 1,300 Rohingya Muslims back to Myanmar three months ago under the supervision of an unnamed "NGO." Thailand's immigration bureau commissioner told local newspaper the Bangkok Post on Wednesday that all 1,300 Rohingya detained in immigration detention centers in Thailand had been sent back to Myanmar authorities “in a clear and transparent manner” under the supervision of an “NGO (non-government organisation) working on protecting the rights of minorities”. “We don’t even know what NGO he (bureau commissioner Pharnu Kerdlarpphon) is referring to,” Sunai Pasuk, Thailand's Director for Human Rights Watch, told the Anadolu Agency on Friday. “We are seriously worried because they sent them back to the Myanmar au...

By  Helen Regan Democratic Voice of Burma January 04, 2014 Burmese asylum-seekers currently based in Indonesia say they will continue to risk their lives and travel by boat to Australia, despite the very high chance they will never get there. Among the rolling hills of Cisarua, a small town three hours from Jakarta, about 800 asylum-seekers live in overcrowded houses. Those who have fled their homes in Burma, Afghanistan, Iran and elsewhere in Asia have paid people-smugglers to take them to Indonesia, in the hope that one day they will be able start a new life in Australia. Saw Aung is originally from Mon state. He fled his home because he said he was being persecuted for being a Muslim. He has been living in Cisarua with his wife, Cho Cho, and two children for a year. He has already tried to get to Australia by boat but a storm forced the tiny vessel to turn back to Indonesia. “Suddenly, heavy rain and a storm came in. Everyone was scared,” he said. “We ha...

Dolly Beach: where the asylum seekers had been camping. Photo: Supplied By Lucy Carroll December 5 2013 A group of Rohingya asylum seekers spent three days camped out on a Christmas Island beach unnoticed, eating crabs and coconuts to survive, after their boat sank on Monday. Eight people walked out on to a main road on the island on Thursday to seek help, while another 17 remained on the beach. All 25 asylum seekers have now been taken into immigration detention. Christmas Island councillor Gordon Thomson said the asylum seekers had been camping on Dolly Beach for three days. "They walked [out] along a very steep track for about six kilometres. They found themselves on one of our main roads where they were seen and police and custom officers scrambled to pick them up." A group of Rohingya asylum seekers spent three days camped out on a Christmas Island beach unnoticed, eating crabs and coconuts to survive, after their boat sank on Monday. ...

Latifar, an asylum seeker from Myanmar, with her husband Niza, their 7 year-old daughter. (AAP) By SBS News  Australia November 29, 2013   The federal government says it will not return a Rohingya asylum-seeker family and their Australian-born baby to Nauru until their case is properly dealt with. An asylum seeker family from Myanmar with a sick newborn baby will be allowed to stay in Australia for the time being. Lawyers for the family have struck a deal with the Department of Immigration to allow them to argue their case with procedural fairness. Federal Circuit Court Judge Margaret Cassidy recognised the deal in Brisbane on Friday. Listen: SBS reporter Stefan Armbruster tells Kristina Kukolja what happened in court today. The family of five was challenging a government order to send them back to a detention centre on Nauru after baby Ferouz was born in Brisbane. They will be allowed to stay in Australia until they receive a fair hearing and aft...

By UNHCR November 11, 2013 BANGKOK, Thailand - Growing numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers are being detained in the Asia-Pacific region as states increasingly use detention to deter irregular migration, UNHCR and its partners have warned. These concerns were raised at a regional consultation on immigration detention for south and south-east Asia held last week in Bangkok. Co-hosted by UNHCR, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APPRN) and the International Detention Coalition, the Thursday-Friday meeting brought together members of the region's civil society, national human rights institutions as well as other UN agencies and other partners. As a principle, the UN refugee agency opposes the detention of people seeking international protection. It believes that detention should only be used as a measure of last resort where it is determined to be necessary and proportionate in each individual case. In the Asia-Pacific region, rough estimates put the...

The woman fears that her children will die if they are sent back to the Nauru detention facility. (Photo: AAP) By Felicity Ogilvie ABC News November 9, 2013 An asylum seeker who was flown from Nauru to give birth in Australia says she is afraid that her baby and young children will die if the family is sent back to the island. The Rohingya woman from Myanmar says she gave birth via caesarean section in a hospital in Brisbane on Wednesday. The woman says that while she was pregnant she was detained in a tent for two weeks on Nauru. She says they were served pre-prepared meals that were sometimes only half-cooked, and she says it was hot inside the tents. "It was too hot. I cannot explain. Even day or night I could not fall asleep because of the heat," the woman said through a translator. The Rohingya woman, who says she has diabetes, says she was flown to Australia because she was pregnant. The woman says she was flown to Australia about 20 days...

By  Sydney Morning Herald   November 06, 2013  A JOINT APPEAL TO THE PRIME MINISTER ABOUT THE USE OF THE TERM 'ILLEGAL MARITIME ARRIVALS' Dear Prime Minister, On behalf of the many Australians who believe in the importance of protecting people fleeing persecution, we write to voice our objection to the Australian Government's recent decision to refer to asylum seekers who enter Australia by boat as "illegal maritime arrivals". You and members of your Cabinet are well aware that seeking asylum is not illegal under Australian or international law. Article 31 of the Refugee Convention makes it clear that contracting states, including Australia, must not impose penalties on people who arrive without authorisation to seek refugee protection. This Article recognises that very few of the world's refugees get the opportunity to cross borders with prior permission and that rules which regulate normal migration flows must be suspended where those cross...