The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Photo by phuketwan.com  Phuket_Wan,  March 6, 2013 PHUKET: Thai security forces opened fire on defenceless Rohingya boatpeople north of Phuket, killing at least two and as many as 15, according to detailed accounts by three survivors and Thai villagers who are sheltering them. The killings, which are said to have occurred on February 21, came during a botched attempt by the military to transfer about 20 would-be refugees from the large boat on which they arrived from Burma (Myanmar) with 110 others, to a much smaller vessel. When some feared they would be separated from family members, they jumped in the water and the military men opened fire during the predawn incident, the witnesses said. Survivors Habumara, 20, Rerfik, 25, and Jamar, 16, said yesterday that they swam for their lives when the shooting broke out. They are currently being sheltered by sympathetic villagers. Two fresh graves, said to contain Rohingya, were seen by a Phuketwan repo...

Al-Arabiya March 6, 2013 By Ramzy Baroud One fails to understand the unperturbed attitude with which regional and international leaders and organizations are treating the unrelenting onslaught against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Numbers speak of atrocities where every violent act is prelude to greater violence and ethnic cleansing. Yet, Western governments’ normalization with the Myanmar regime continues unabated, regional leaders are as gutless as ever and even human rights organizations seem compelled by habitual urges to issue statements lacking meaningful, decisive and coordinated calls for action.  Meanwhile the “boat people” remain on their own. On Feb. 26, fishermen discovered a rickety wooden boat floating randomly at sea, nearly 25 km off the coast of Indonesia’s northern province of Aceh. The Associated Press and other media reported there were 121 people on board including children who were extremely weak, dehydrated and ne...

A delegation of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) is visiting South Africa to raise awareness about the situation of the Rohingya and human rights in Burma. The delegation was invited by Burma Campaign South Africa and Protect the Rohingya Group from Johannesburg. Yesterday evening the delegation met the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa, Ibrahim Ibrahim and highlighted the new apartheid system against Rohingya being imposed by the Burmese Government. The delegation highlighted how the immediate priorities are safety and security, and for President Thein Sein to allow full international humanitarian access, not just to those in camps, but also those in villages. The delegation asked the Foreign Minister to support international observers on the ground, support a UN Commission of Inquiry, and to pressure Thein Sein to repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law. BROUK President Tun Khin said: “I am extremely satisfied with the meeting with the South Africa Deputy F...

Rohingya while resting releasing tired and temporarily housed in shelters House Immigration Punteut, Lhokseumawe. (Doc - Care) Indian coast guards have rescued 108 Rohingyas off the coast of the country's eastern Andaman archipelago, a website in the islands reports.   The ‘Andaman Sheekha’ said that two coast guard ships, C-145 and Aruna Asaf Ali, rescued these Rohingyas from an unmanned barge 'Ganpati’, which was tugged away from Myanmar to Mumbai by ‘Tug Star Jakarta’. Some officials of Indian company Punj Llyod drew the attention of the coast guards about the presence of some 15 unidentified people in the unmanned barge and the presence of some boats in its vicinity on the evening of 28th Feb, the website said. On receipt of the information, Interceptor Boat C-145 under the command of Coast Guard Commandant SR Nagendrgan was pressed into action. "It sailed out from Diglipur and intercepted Tug Star Jakarta at 9:00pm Indian time. Then the Coast Guard...

Maungdaw  Cíddar Fara ( Village ) Maungdaw, Arakan State: High officials from Maungdaw have collected huge amount of money from new appointed village administration officers sine last February 15, said a village administrator officer who paid huge money to high officers.  “The high officials – U Kyi San, Township administration officer and U Aung Myint Soe, District administration officer- were collecting huge amount of money from the candidate who had run village administration officer election and getting number three position in the election. After receiving the money form the last number candidate, issued appointment letter for post of village administration officer.” “Even, the high numbers of getting votes from the villagers in the village administration officer election, had also to pay money (starting from one million to 6 million) to the high officers to get official appointment letter, according to a former village administration officer from Maungdaw. ...

Deutsche Welle March 05, 2013    The government of Myanmar has indicated that it plans to usher in a new era of business transparency in its oil, gas and other industries. Auctions for the rights to explore deposits are being prepared. Myanmar's government on Monday announced a new drive to open its economy to badly needed foreign investment. Energy Ministry officials pledged a new era of transparency particularly in the country's oil and gas industry. The ministry's assistant director, Aung Kyaw Htoo, promised international standards would be upheld in auctions for the rights to explore and exploit lucrative energy reserves. "Transparency is the most important word," he said at a conference in Yangon with several major foreign oil firms attending. In January, Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, invited potential investors to tenders for 18 onshore oil blocks, with a further 50 offshore blocks expected to be opened to offers by April...

Bangla Times March 05, 2013 By Mohamed Ibrahim  To implement its Human Barrier policy the government of Burma has taken a plan to establish Model Villages to populate the Rohingya majority areas of Arakan by the Rakhaine and Buddhists people. Model villages have been established in the confiscated lands of the Rohingya communities. The government has replaced Rohingya Holy places, historical monuments and relics by building monasteries, pagodas and other Buddhist structures. Under the border area development program the junta has provided each of Rohingya lands for cultivation, 0.2 acres of land for housing. They distributed each of the new settler families with kyat 40,000 as lump sum monetary help, Kg 40 per head free of cost per month, one pair of bullocks and one bullock cart. Each of such model villages has been provided fifteen 5 Hp Honda Tractors. The Thein Sein has a policy of relocation Burmans or Rakhine Families into new Model Villages comprising the...