The Stateless Rohingya Blog

KPN News:  June 22, 2013  Buthidaung, Arakan State: Four Rohingya villagers were brutally killed by a group of Natala villagers on June 16, said an elder from the village on condition of anonymity. The deceased have been identified as Mohamed Habib (47), son of Nazir Ahamed, Mohamed Yasin (17), son of Mohamed Habib, Abdul Goni (18), son of Mohamed Yousuf and another one ( not available ).  They all hailed from Singdi Parang village tract of Buthidaung south. The deceased Rohingya went to the forest to collect firewood and vegetables in morning of June 16, but they didn’t back to their home in the evening of that day, according to sources  A group of victims’ relatives went to different areas of mountains side to look for their love one whereabouts in the morning of June 17. But, they didn’t get any information, sources said. However, on June 19, the relatives got information from some sources that they were killed by a group of Natala ...

Mayu press : June 22, 2013 (Jeddah) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) formed a Rohingya Registry Committee under the supervision of Makkah based Jaliyat, an organization for providing Iqama (Stay Permit) to every single Rohingya Body lives there. The persons of Registry Committee approve thousands of non Rohingya as Rohingya to getting Iqama (Stay Permit) with 25-30 thousands Riyal per head. The government of Saudi Arabia attempts to help Rohingya only who are in KSA with free Iqama (Stay Permit) and job facilities as the Burmese Buddhists proceed to vanish whole Rohingya Community from their homeland, Arakan, Burma. The Saudi Authority asked Rohingya Registry Committee to justify and list all the Rohingya live in KSA with complete profile. Regarding the information on data list, the registry committee preferred more Bengali than actual Rohingya to be input profile. As they follow the Breach of Order by taking 25-30 thousand Riyal per non Rohingya. Hence, it can be c...

A Muslim religious leader speaks to Muslims seeking shelter at a monastery in Lashio township on 31 May 2013. (Reuters) By EMANUEL STOAKES June 21, 2013 DVB News Over the past twelve months, brutal attacks on Burma’s Muslim community have taken place across the country, spreading from Arakan state in the west to, most recently, Shan state in the east. Serious atrocities have occurred, including acts that allegedly amount to crimes against humanity. Many of the worst offences are believed to have perpetrated with the aid of state agencies; in other incidents, the police stood by and did nothing to prevent loss of life. Such extremely grave abuses have elicited widespread concern, but in an alarming number of cases, perhaps even the majority, impunity for the perpetrators has followed. By contrast, Muslims accused of crimes related to the same incidents have felt the full force of the law quickly, excessively and unmistakably. These patterns are disturbingly in...

 Internally displaced ethnic Rohingya Muslim in Baw Du Pha field in the state of Arakan (Burma). November 3, 2012 © Carlos Sardiña Galache. Human Rights Watch: June 21, 2013 This month, hundreds of ethnic Arakanese Buddhist protesters marched through the streets of Sittwe calling on authorities to enforce a two-child limit on Rohingya Muslims—that is, to demand a discriminatory population control regulation that restricts Rohingya from choosing how many children they have. President Thein Sein had a chance to speak out against Arakan State’s overtly discriminatory policy and order local authorities to revoke it. But instead he remained silent—prompting speculation among Burma watchers that, despite earlier claims from his office that he was still deciding whether to support the policy or not, he was fully in favor of it. Last week, the president reinforced that when Burma’s Minister of Immigration and Population Khin Yi publicly endorsed the two-child limit. On...

Aung San Suu Kyi at today’s World Economic Forum BBC debate in Naypyidaw (Photo: Simon Roughneen) Written by AFP Mizzima News June 21, 2013 Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has criticised a proposal by nationalist monks to restrict marriages between Buddhist women and men of other faiths, describing it as a violation of human rights, a report said Friday. "This is one-sided. Why only women? You cannot treat the women unfairly," Radio Free Asia quoted the Nobel Peace Laureate as saying in an interview. "I also understand that this is not in accordance with the laws of the country and especially that it is not part of Buddhism," the veteran activist said. "It is a violation of women's rights and human rights." Under the proposal—spearheaded by the controversial Mandalay cleric Wirathu—non-Buddhist men wishing to marry a Buddhist woman would have to convert and gain permission from her parents to wed or risk 10 yea...

Postnoon: 20 June 2013 Rohingya refugees from Burma continue to pour into Hyderabad and no proper account of them seems to be maintained. Though a humanitarian issue, the security risk involved is ignored. From 5,000 a few months ago, the number of refugees from the strife-torn Myanmar (Burma) has risen to some 12,000 now in the absence of any check on the inflow of Rohingya refugees from the Rakhine state of Burma. Myanmar’s 8,00,000 Rohingyas are stateless people today after the ethnic Buddhists drove them out. They are denied citizenship in Myanmar and are rejected by Bangladesh. The UN calls them, “one of the most persecuted people in the world.” In the past one month alone, 35 families totalling 200 members reached the City. A revisit to the camp in Balapur, Shaheennagar and surrounding areas shows that the government of India and the State government appear unconcerned about them. Many of them have no refugee status and some claim to have cards from the UN high...

KPN News :  19 June 2013  Nasaka (Burma border security force) officers nearly killed a Rohingya man from southern Maungdaw after a unprovoked beating that left him unconscious and bleeding from the mouth, according an elder from his village. “Nasaka personnel from area 7 went to Molana Mohamed Jalal, 40; son of Nazir Ahmed, home in Aley Than Kyaw village at midnight on June 17. They tried to enter the home after breaking the door.” After the home owner woke, he screamed for help after seeing the armed men at his door speaking in Burmese, according to a Nasaka source. Villagers rushed to the scene after hearing the screams, but Nasaka fired shots into air, according to various sources. Jalal was then dragged from the house and beaten still he was unconscious. Villagers believe the Nasaka officers went to Jalal’s home to rob him. They only beat after he accused them of stealing and this made them very angry, a close relative of the victim said. Late...