The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Photos created by kalle Bergbom Facebook Thomas Fuller New York Times: May 11, 2013 BANGKOK — A tropical cyclone in the Andaman Sea is headed close to an area in Myanmar where tens of thousands of victims of ethnic and religious violence are living in makeshift camps, adding urgency to fears of what the United Nations has termed a looming “humanitarian catastrophe” for displaced families. Of the more than 130,000 people forced to flee their homes in rioting between Buddhists and Muslims over the last year in western Myanmar, around half are living in low-lying camps near the sea, the United Nations says. Human rights organizations have issued repeated warnings that the displaced people are at risk of disease and hunger during the rainy season, which begins this month and continues until around September. “We’re definitely very concerned,” said Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations refugee agency. “...

Panelists pictured at the FCCT in Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo: Lance Woodward) Irrawaddy News: May 11, 2013 The Burmese government is conducting a concerted campaign of genocide against its Muslim minorities, with Buddhist monks and the state collaborating in violent anti-Muslim attacks, the academic and activist Maung Zarni said during a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok on Thursday. “It’s nothing short of genocide,” he said. “Genocide is a process that unfolds; it’s a virus that spreads quickly into a contagion that cannot be stopped. What has happened in Burma in the last two years is evil, vile and depraved,” he said. The genocide in Burma is now on the scale of Pol Pot’s Cambodia, he added. “And it won’t stop until all the country’s Muslims and Rohingyas are eliminated.” These are challenging times, Burmese Muslim leader Myo Win said. He runs an education NGO called Smile in Rangoon, and came from Burma espe...

Head of Turkish Parliamentary commission Ustun: We heard the news about violence against Rohingya Muslims from Anadolu Agency" Turkish Press: May 10, 2013 ANKARA - Turkish Parliamentary Human Rights Commission began to investigate the violence which targeted Muslims last year in Rakhine, a province of Myanmar. Chairman of Turkish Parliamentary Human Rights Commission Ayhan Sefer Ustun explained to the AA correspondent the preparations for reporting the violence against Rohingya Muslims which started last summer. Emphasizing the importance of AA's sharing news, videos photographs from the region, Ustun said "we learned the developments in the region from AA. It helped us react quickly." Criticizing the silence of the world and actions of Buddhist monks, Ustun stated that "The speeches of Buddhist Monks were far superior than Hitler's". Ustun indicated that if the conditions were suitable, he would visit Rakhine.

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Burma’s border security force (Nasaka) is conducting irregular surveys in Rohingya villages of Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships coercing the Rohingya villagers to use ‘Bengali’ as their racial name in place of ‘Rohingya’ against their will, according to villagers of Maungdaw Township. “Some villagers were arrested or tortured for opposing their dictation while others run-away. For instance, the Nasaka Director went to Kawar bill village with security force to arrest Maulana Johar (22), son of Maulana Sayed Amin, hailed from Kawar Bill over the allegation that he had incited villagers not to participate in conducting surveys. So, he is going into hiding to avoid arrest. He is the Imam of the mosque.” Besides, four other youths including Hussain (20), son of Idris were also arrest from the village tract by the same accusation yesterday and brought to the Nasaka camp where they were detained, a relative of Hussain said. Similarly, the conc...

Maungdaw Showza par bridge Narinjara News: May 10, 2013 One resident of Maungdaw Township area in western Burma was killed by the Burma Army during the early hours of Thursday morning while the soldiers were patrolling in that locality, local villagers informed. The deceased is yet to be identified but the authority has confirmed that he is a Muslim who hails from Maung Ni village at the outskirt of Maungdaw. The authority has shifted the dead body to Maungdaw hospital for an autopsy. The local residents of Maungdaw Township have expressed their ignorance about the reason behind the killing. Of course, there is a wild rumour spread in the locality that the person was shot dead  by none other than the Burma army as the victim tried to attack the armed personnel near the village while the army unit was patrolling there. Till the filing of this report, no one has claimed the body for cremation, which is still at Maungdaw hospital, asserted the hospital aut...

Government rebuild a Hindu house in Maungdaw, It was burnt during violence in 2012 Maungdaw, Arakan State: The concerned authority of Maungdaw has settled and built houses for Natala villagers on Rohingyas’ lands in Maungdaw south recently, said a schoolteacher on condition of anonymity. “Authority has built 10-house for Natala villagers at Honsara village after being relocated some Rohingya families from their own lands.” The victims have been identified as Nurul Haque (45), Anzul (40), Md. Salim (37), Md. Zuahar (42), Lal Meah (46), Anu Meah (60), Ziabul Hoque (33), Mohamed (65) and Rahim Ullah (50), they all hailed from Honsara village of Maungdaw township. In June 2012, many Rohingyas’ homes were torched by the Natala villagers from Honsara and the Rohingyas are staying nearby Rohingyas’ house in same village for their safety, according to villagers.   “The lost homes owners went their locality again and wanted to build houses but the authority and Natala...

Rohingya Muslim children gather at a camp for those displaced by violence, near Sittwe April 28, 2013. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj   Author:  Emma Batha Reuters AlertNet: May 10, 2013 LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than 125,000 Rohingya living in dire conditions after fleeing ethnic violence in western Myanmar face a humanitarian catastrophe as the monsoon approaches, a rights group has warned. Death rates will rise in the coming months as rains swamp overcrowded camps, increasing the risk of serious diseases including cholera, said Melanie Teff, a senior advocate with Refugees International. Teff, who has just returned from visiting the region, said Myanmar’s government had run out of time to relocate people or build robust shelters after repeatedly changing its plans. “People are already dying because the appalling conditions they are living in are making them ill, and this will be hugely exacerbated during the rainy season,” Teff added. ...