The Stateless Rohingya Blog

A boy from a Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDP) camp looks up as he huddles next to his mother while queuing for food in a school, where they were evacuated to shelter from cyclone Mahasen when it landed, outside of Sittwe, May 17, 2013. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun Reuters AlertNet : May 22, 2013 LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Ethnic Rohingya trapped in squalid camps in western Myanmar are living in conditions that are "a cross between apartheid South Africa and the West Bank", a British MP said following a trip to the region. Some 140,000 people in Rakhine State were uprooted after two rounds of violence last year between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslim Rohingya - described by rights groups as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Refugee groups say 90-95 percent of the displaced are Rohingya. The two communities are now segregated. Unlike the displaced Rakhines, the Rohingya are not allowed to leave their camps so they can no lo...

 Photo by LARRY DOWNING /Reuters Radio Australia:  May 22, 2013 Just a day following historic White House talks between President Obama and Myanmar's reformist head of state Thein Sein, a trade and investment deal has been struck between the two countries. The Obama administration suspended most sanctions on Myanmar last year and is hoping the new trade agreement will show the country tangible benefits for embracing reform, including better protection for workers rights. While some human rights groups say it's too soon to reward Myanmar, others, such as business consultant and former British envoy Derek Tonkin, say sanctions should now be lifted completely. Presenter: Sen Lam Speaker: Derek Tonkin, advisor to Bagan Capital Limited and former British ambassador to Vietnam and Thailand TONKIN: I think we are approaching a point at which we can begin to speak of 'normalisation of relations' between Myanmar and the outside world. In some cas...

Rohingya Muslims stand beside the word "Rohingya" written on a road between the camps for people displaced by violence near Sittwe, April 28, 2013. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj   By AYE NAI  DVB News: May 22, 2013 Nine Rohingyas, who were  arrested  late last month for refusing to register  as “Bengalis” at a displacement camp in western Burma, will be prosecuted for instigating riots, according to a state official. Arakan state’s attorney general Hla Thein told DVB that the group is likely to be hit with multiple charges including rioting and injuring public servants, when they appear at their next court hearing on Sunday. “They are going to be pressed with charges at the court on 26 May for rioting, hurting a public servant – a Tatmadaw (military) official was hospitalised after sustaining head injuries during the incident, aggravated theft for snatching phones off some public servants trying to report the situation to authorities and criminal i...

A Burmese soldier patrols through a neighborhood burned in recent violence in Sittwe, Arakan State. (Photo: Reuters) Alders Ledge   May 21, 2013 The Anonymity Of Myanmar's Murderers  (The Darkness Visible series) When Hitler came to power the world was shown the face of the evil that had befallen it. That little mustache and comb-over hair style has come to define what it means to be evil for many of us. No matter how you dressed the man, no matter how many kissing baby scenes are shown to us of him, Adolf is still the man who launched the Holocaust. For Jews, Romani, Sinti, Communist, Poles, and countless other victims the simple addition of that mustache to an image invokes the memory of his terror. A similar attachment to the image of Pol Pot can be found in Cambodian communities around the world. The memory of what happened when the Khmer Rouge took power still haunts the landscape of Cambodia. The men who helped bring about the horrors of the "party"...

Carrying belongings Muslims refugees get off a vehicle as they arrive at a rescue camp in Meikhtila about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, March.22, 2013. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win) BBC News:  May 21, 2013 Six Muslim men have been jailed for their role in religious clashes in the Burmese town of Meiktila in March. One of the men was jailed for 34 years for killing a monk; the others received sentences ranging from two to 14 years for crimes including unlawful assembly and religious disrespect. At least 43 people - mostly Muslim - died in the violence that erupted after an argument at a Muslim-owned shop. So far no Buddhists have been convicted in connection with the deadly clashes. The monk was knocked down from his motorbike by a group of Muslim men, beaten and killed, according to reports. Apart from the monk, Meiktila's violence was almost entirely directed against the Muslim minority. It sp...

President Obama shakes hands with President Thein Sein of Myanmar  (Photo: SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images) David Jackson USATODAY May 20, 2013 President Obama praised changes in the country he repeatedly referred to as "Myanmar" on Monday, but he added that the military government there needs to go even further. While official U.S. policy refers to the Asian nation by its older name — Burma — Obama used the name preferred by the ruling military government in encouraging President Thein Sein to continue on the difficult path of political and economic change. "As President Sein is the first to admit, this is a long journey and there is still much work to be done," Obama said. Holding out the hope of increased trade and investment with the United States and other nations, Obama said: "We very much appreciate your efforts and leadership in leading Myanmar in a new direction." White House spokesman Jay Carney said the name Burma rema...

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Tropical diseases -Diarrhea, fever, cough and vomiting have recently spread among the people in Maungdaw south, said a local village doctor on condition of anonymity. “Mostly children and elders of Khonza Bill (village), Udaung village and others have been suffering from various diseases after affecting storm “Mahasen”. According to villagers, the effected children and elders are going to the government hospital of Aley Than Kyaw, where no health workers are paying attention to these people. In the health center, most of the staffs are Rakhines community who are not facilitating Rohingya community as doctors and patients in Maungdaw and treating as Bengali, said villages from Alay Than Kyaw. According to sources, the monsoon changed after cyclone Mahasan, the Rohingya community near the river bank are feeling very hot during these time which carryout tropical diseases - Diarrhea, fever, cough and vomiting - among the Rohingya community. ...