The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Posted by Dr.  Habib Siddiqui  In 2007 JARO under the able leadership of Mr. Salim Ullah hosted the first international conference on the Rohingyas of Burma (Myanmar) in two cities of Japan, which included Tokyo. Recently, I came across the newly released videos from this conference. I was invited as the chief guest and keynote speaker in this conference. The videos can be seen  here  in piecemeals (8 part series).  As you will notice, my concerns about the Rohingya people in a flawed democracy came so true with the latest unleasing of the pogroms against them - this time a collaborative one between the state actors and racist, criminal Rakhine politicians of the Arakan state.

  Maungdaw, Arakan State : The concerned authority – Township administration office – again extended the emergency Act 144 to another two months in Maungdaw today, according to official announcement. The Maungdaw district was imposed emergency Act 144 since June 8, 2012 bigoted violence between Rakhine and Rohingya communities in Maungdaw Town and it was extended once after three months and now again extended again for two months, said a politician from Maungdaw. “In Maungdaw, the authority are using emergency Act 144 to harass and oppress Rohingya community from their social activists – movement, praying in mosque, working for survival, marriage and gathering for funeral – and to extort money from Rohingya with so called warrant list which was not declared to public but when the security personnel need to use.” The worse thing is not allowed to gather for funeral pray, but if you had paid money, you are allowed to pray and gather, said an elder from Maungdaw. ...

Mike Carnegie and his wife have donated $30,000 and helped raise more for local charity Partners   By  George Johnson, CalgaryHerald February 7, 2013    Calgary Roughnecks player Mike Carnegie has been supporting the charity Partners for awhile. The locally-based group aims to raise money to help victims of Burma’s oppressive regime. Photograph by: Calgary Herald/Files , Calgary Herald Mike Carnegie’s brother-in-law Jacob was the hook. “He was travelling around Thailand and he ended up helping Partners,” explained the Calgary Roughnecks’ defender and assistant captain on Friday. “You can’t actually do your work in Burma, it’s illegal. So he had to work inside the Thailand border. “When I signed with the Calgary Roughnecks, in ’08, he talked to me about it. He said ‘You’ve got to check out this charity. It’s called Partners and their head office is in Calgary.’ ” Since then, after some initial research and an ever-growing awareness of the ...

Jointly attacked by Rakhine and Burmese security forces , a set on Flickr. Jointly attacked by Rakhine and Burmese security forces in Myanmar against minority Rohingya and other Muslims have increased in Rakhine State.

Source QUE:  February 07, 2013 Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned today that tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslim minority are victims of a humanitarian emergency in Burma (Myanmar) for lack of healthcare in Rakhine state. Photo:  A group of Indonesian Muslim protesters raise their arms and shout slogans during a protest in solidarity with the Rohingya Muslim minority against the front door of the Burmese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. EFE / Archive Four months after recent sectarian clashes between Rohingya and Buddhist in the east of the country, MSF called on the authorities to end isolation in the camps and threats against workers of the NGO. "Thousands have lost their homes and are living in precarious camps without  health  care, running water or basic needs. According to official estimates, the vast majority of the displaced are from the Muslim minority, known as Rohingyas," said MSF in a statement. The rape and murder of a...

Source Reuters: February 07, 2013 (Reuters) - Nearly 6,000 Rohingya Muslims have arrived in Thailand since October, when sectarian violence flared in Myanmar's western Rakhine state and displaced tens of thousands of people, a top Thai security agency said on Thursday Entire communities of Rohingyas are languishing in makeshift camps inMyanmar, without access to healthcare or clean water, according to the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid group, while Thailand has promised humane treatment for the 5,899 who have arrived on its shores. "Those detained will continue to be treated as illegal and given only basic care in line with humanitarian practices," said Dittaporn Sasamit, a spokesman for Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC). "The Foreign Ministry is negotiating with other countries to take them on and is seeking (Myanmar) citizenship papers for them so they can move on," he said. Myanmar's reformist g...

Maungdaw, Arakan State: A meeting was held between Rohingya – religious leaders (Maulana), elders – and Maungdaw concerned authorities- Burmese border security force (Nasaka), Township administration office, Immigration official- at State High School, Aley Than Kyaw, Maungdaw south on February 5, said a participant in the meeting on condition of anonymity. “The Rohingya religious leaders were summoned by Nasaka Director and discussed different issues of Rohingya regarding the present situation of Maungdaw Township.” More than 30 religious leaders (Maulana) participated in the meeting while the Maungdaw Township Administration officer, U Kyi San,  the  Nasaka  Director Col Aung Naing Oo, Immigration officer of Maungdaw Township, Commanders of  Nasaka  area No. 7 and  8 and other concerned officers  also participated in the meeting, according to a village admin office member. Everybody must follow the law of Burma as per your religious –I...