The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By: Christian N. Desrosiers After hustling myself out of the city center across a handful of muddy fields, I entered a low wooden building where an elderly imam was waiting for me. His beard was dyed orange in the manner of the Prophet, and it stood out strongly against his skin, dark as rich soil. We spoke in low tones. Secrecy was necessary: if we were caught meeting by one of the many informants in his community it would be bad for me and worse for him. He is a member of a group that Refugees International has dubbed "one of the most persecuted groups in the world."

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Maungdaw Township administration officer ordered village administration officers to follow the restrictions while issuing permission to build the house in Maungdaw at monthly village administration officers meeting in Township administration office, said a village administration officer.

Children of Burmese migrants at a community school in Kuala Lumpur (Photo: Patrick Boehler / Irrawaddy) While a controversial government amnesty program for illegal migrants in Malaysia is expected to run out next month, a similar scheme may soon affect  tens of thousands of Burmese refugees in the nation. The so-called “6P” scheme was introduced by the Malaysian authorities last summer to biometrically register and legalize illegal foreign workers, but most Burmese refugees were not eligible for the amnesty program.

Chiang Mai, Thailand:  Over 30 activists yesterday held demonstration and submitted letters, calling on Burma’s President Thein Sein to suspend China’s trans-Burma oil and letter regarding gas pipelines project, said Nay Myo Tun who eye-witnessed the strike in front of the China’s embassy in Chiang Mai.

Chaing Mai, Thailand:  Burmese political problem can be solved by political means said Dr. Khin Maung, the Central Committee member and Deputy Head of Foreign Affairs of United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) in a press conference of UNFC held on February 28, on Burma-Bangladesh border.

By AFP President Thein Sein waves after addressing parliament on 1 March (Reuters) Burma’s president said yesterday that his government wanted equal rights for ethnic minorities, the latest conciliatory gesture from the regime to armed rebel groups.

By HANNA HINDSTROM Migrant workers from Burma pass the time outside a building where they live in the port town of Mahachai, near Bangkok (Reuters) Up to one million Burmese migrants face deportation if they fail to complete Thailand’s national verification procedure by 14 June, human rights campaigners warn, with the stateless Rohingya seen as particularly vulnerable.