The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Hla Win wasn’t able to plant this year Photo: David Swanson/IRIN  IRIN News September 23, 2013  PIKE SAKE, 23 September 2013 (IRIN) - Hla Win, an ethnic Rakhine farmer in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, knows all too well the impact of last year’s  sectarian violence . He used to earn more than US$2,500 a year from his 2.4-hectare paddy field, located in a Muslim village adjacent to his ethnic Rakhine community, Pike Sake, in Myanmar’s Pauktaw Township. He used to hire Muslim day labourers to cultivate his field.  “I won’t earn anything this year,” the 45-year-old father of three told IRIN. “Everything changed overnight. I lost everything.”  His story underscores the broader implications of last year’s deadly  inter-communal violence  between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, particularly in the area of livelihoods, which has been largely off the radar screens of donors.  “People of both communities, liv...

Aidworkers say thousands of displaced Rohingya still receive no humanitarian aid(Partners Relief and Development) DVB  by HANNA HINDSTROM 5 February 2013 Thousands of Muslim Rohingyas, who were uprooted after sectarianclashes in western Burma last year, are still not registered as internallydisplaced persons (IDPs) by the government and continue to be deniedhumanitarian assistance, local sources have warned. An international aid worker, who recently returned from theconflict-torn Arakan state, told DVB that she visited remote areas around thestate capital Sittwe, where people were forced to beg for food from locals andregistered IDPs in order to survive. “What most of the world is not aware of are the refugees thatare not living in [registered] camps,” said Oddny Gumaer from Partners Reliefand Development. “And those people are living in conditions that are so badthat I’m sure if the international community doesn’t do something very soonthey are going to die....

BANGKOK, 29 October 2012 (IRIN) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has called on Bangladesh to open its borders to Rohingyas fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar. “UNHCR continues to consider that until public order and security are restored for all communities in [Myanmar’s] Rakhine State, states should not forcibly return to Myanmar persons originating from Rakhine State,” Pia Paguio, senior protection officer and officer-in-

ICAPP vice chairman Abdul Matin Khasru has made clear Bangladesh's stand on the Rohingya issue that Dhaka would not accept any more Rohingya refugee, reports BSS. "Bangladesh could no longer afford to accept any more Rohingya refugee from Myanmar," Mr Matin, also MP and Awami League law secretary, said while holding meetings with top leaders of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National League for Democracy (NLD) during their visit to Myanmar from September 11-13.

By Patrick Barta YANGON—Intolerance toward Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar has dented some Americans’ perceptions of the country, but hasn’t significantly altered Washington’s views on easing sanctions, the U.S.’s new ambassador in Yangon said.