The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Men offer Friday prayers in a temporary mosque after returning to a Rohingya IDP camp from a shelter from cyclone Mahasen, outside of Sittwe, on 17 May 2013. (Reuters) Aye Nai DVB News : May 30, 2013 Prosecutors in Sittwe have hit seven Rohingyas in Arakan state with myriad charges, including rioting, after they were arrested for refusing to register as ‘Bengalis’. During a hearing on 23 May, senior immigration official Yan Aung Myint charged the seven suspects from Thetkalpyin displacement camp with robbery, intimidation and disturbing officials on duty. Twenty-four individuals, who authorities claimed might be on the run, were also charged in absentia. The hearing comes after a scuffle erupted between government officials and the Rohingya on 26 April, after authorities tried to register the internally displaced persons (IDPs) as ‘Bengalis’ in accordance with a programme headed by the Ministry of Immigration and Population. Prosecutors said that around 100...

Reuters © Firefighters extinguish a fire during a riot between Buddhist and Muslims in Lashio township May 29, 2013. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun Press TV has talked with Myra Dahgaypaw, with the US Campaign for Burma from Washington D.C., to comment on the ongoing systematic persecution of Muslim Rohingyas by the extremist Buddhists in the country. What follows is a rough transcript of the interview.  Press TV: Myra Dahgaypaw, let us look at the political developments.  We had the president of Myanmar who visited Washington recently and we also had Aung San Suu Kyi, who came out and made some statements.  Can you tell us if any of those two figures have addressed what is going on in Myanmar regarding what many are calling ethnic cleansing, when you see these types of violence erupt there.  Dahgaypaw: Well, at this point only the words are out there but no action has been taken.  Those who have to suffer, they are still suffering and tho...

Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Commanding officer of Nasaka area number 7, Maungdaw south, has used new tactics to extort money from Rohingya villagers under his commanding area recently, according to a trader on condition of anonymity. “The Nasaka Commanding officer ordered the villagers and village admin officers – have to build toilets and poultry farms inside the Nasaka commander camp.” But, some admin officers are taking advantage of Commander ordered and taking more money from villagers -1500 kyat per rich family and1000 per poor family – and it is very difficult to pay the money by very poor and widow. The collecting are more than to build build toilets and poultry farms inside the Nasaka commander camp.” “Syed Alam, the admin officer of Khonza Bill village is the officer who collected money from everyone who are not able to pay and harassing the villagers for money,” according to villagers. “After conflict, Rohingya community are not able to earn money from their cultur...

A village burns after sectarian violence in Myanmar. (Getty Images) World News Australia - SBS May 29, 2013 Rohingya is the name given to Sunni Muslims originating from the Arakan (now Rakhine) region of Myanmar. The name Rohingya dates back to around the 7th century, and was originally a term used to refer to people with dark skin. Rohingya is the name given to Sunni Muslims originating from the Arakan (now Rakhine) region of Myanmar (formerly called Burma). The name Rohingya dates back to around the 7th century, and was originally a term used to refer to people with dark skin. The UNHCR describes Rohingya as “virtually friendless” among Myanmar’s other ethnic and religious communities. Dr Jonathan Bogais from the University of Sydney believes sectarian conflict between Muslim and non-Muslim people in Myanmar dates back to the early days of the British East India Company operating in Bangladesh. Local workers were sent south to develop plantati...

A Muslim man sits in a shelter in Rubber Garden refugee camp Times photographer Kaung Htet, thetimes.co.uk The National ‎- May 29, 2013 Two years is a very long time in politics. In 2011, when the military junta in Myanmar opened the door to political and economic reform, there was a flurry of diplomatic activity from around the world. The release from house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi drew praise, and the transformation of General Thein Sein from military hardman to civilian president brought promises of economical normalisation. By and large, western and regional governments have kept up their end of the bargain. Sanctions have been lifted and world leaders, including US president Barack Obama, have visited a nation that was once a pariah. Just this month Thein Sein made a friendly return visit to Washington. But as the West has lined up to welcome Myanmar in from the cold, it is in Myanmar where politicians are failing to deliver. A trou...

Mohamed Farooq Mayu Press: May 28, 2013 A mosque and an Islamic religious orphanage were blazed in Lashio, a town situated in Shan State of  Burma on the night of 28 May 2013. The Buddhist thug surrounded the compound of the mosque, the largest one in Lashio, located in No.8 quarter at 8 pm tonight and they set fire the building at around 8.10 pm. Regarding the reliable sources, fire brigade failed to extinguish. Fire service holders simply claimed that they did not receive any further instruction to do so. The mob also set on fire an Islamic religious orphanage. The orphanage provided shelter more than 200 helpless and poor students across the Lashio. The event had been taken place by a dispute between a man and a woman who had been set on fire. It was spread out as the man is a Muslim. As per information from local residents, the man is not a Muslim. The woman victim hospitalized at Lashio general hospital. The authority imposed Section 144 there. There...

Myanmar 2013 © Kaung Htet A doctor examines a child at the MSF clinic in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Pauk Taw township. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) International May 28, 2013 Yangon, 27 May 2013  – Nearly a year since deadly inter-ethnic clashes in Rakhine state first broke out, conditions in the displaced persons camps, combined with movement restrictions and ongoing segregation of Rakhine and Muslim communities, are severely impacting on healthcare, said Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today. An estimated 140,000 people are still living in makeshift camps. According to official estimates, the vast majority of the displaced are a Muslim minority - often referred to as the Rohingya. The Rohingya are a stateless minority group, not recognised as citizens by the Government of  Myanmar . As well as direct victims of violence, tens of thousands more people that are still in their homes have been almost entirely cut off from  health  facilit...