The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Myanmar boys get their new National Registration Cards at a releasing ceremony [EPA] Al Jazeera: July 8, 2013 Forty-two children released as country seeks to reduce the use of child soldiers after global outcry. Myanmar has released 42 children and young people from its armed forces, encouraging increased efforts to reduce the use of child soldiers, the UN has said. The former military-run nation, long accused of violating human rights, has decreased - but not completely halted - the number of children recruited to the army. Ashok Nigam, the UN’s resident coordinator in Myanmar said, “We are very happy for the 42 children and their families today but we must accelerate efforts so that many more children benefit from release." According to the statement 34 of those freed were under 18 while the remaining eight were young people who had been recruited as children. Myanmar released 42 children in September 2012 and a further 24 in February followin...

KPN News: July 8, 2013 Maungdaw, Arakan State: Rohingya community from Maungdaw north are not able to sleep in their home at night for fear of arrest and most of the villages become war field after authority forced them to participant in the digital fingerprint and photograph, said a village administration officer from Maungdaw south. “The authority –mostly Nasaka personnel- tried to arrest who were not voluntary participated in the digital fingerprint and photograph program. The Rohingya community escaped from their villages while the Nasaka entered the villages to collect the family lists with digital fingerprint and photograph program as the concerned authority forced to sign as Bengali race and recently illegal enter from Bangladesh which treated them as foreigners.” The Nasaka personnel are hunting the Rohingya at night , entered the village and arrested who ever met  or looting Rohingya home while nobody were found in the home, said a student from Maungdaw. ...

The Arakan Rohingya Union Conference is being held at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah. (AN photo)  Jeddah: Nadim al -Hamid  Arab News, June 7, 2013 Under the direction of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia is making all-out political and diplomatic efforts to support the cause of Rohingyas on the international level.  “The Kingdom is exerting pressure on the world community,” said Abdullah Maaroof, president of the International Rohingya Center and leader of the Burmese community in the Kingdom.  Speaking at the Arakan Rohingya Union Conference, which opened at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) yesterday, he said: “We will soon see the positive the results of these efforts.” He described the efforts as strong and effective because of the Kingdom’s political and Islamic leverage on the international level. He said Saudi Arabia will work on many fronts to exert pressure on international organi...

Tehran Times ‎: July 7, 2013 TEHRAN – Myanmar has welcomed Iran’s proposal to hold a dialogue between Muslim and Buddhist religious scholars in order to help ease sectarian strife in the south Asian country.  Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi put forth the proposal during a meeting with Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin on Friday.  Araqchi expressed grave concern over the ongoing clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims and the appalling situation of displaced Muslims, urging Myanmar’s officials to take effective measure to help resolve the conflicts.  The senior Iranian diplomat also said that Tehran was ready to help Myanmar’s government settle the crisis and send humanitarian aid to the affected people.  Sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have erupted on several occasions.  Muslims make up about 5 percent of the nation’s roughly 60 million people and are denied citizenship by Myanmar gove...

KPN News July 6, 2013 Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh:  A commander level flag meeting between Burma border security force (Nasaka) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was held at Cox’s Bazar regarding the issue of landmines on July 4, according to BGB source. “They discussed especially the issue of landmines and drug trafficking especially Yaba  smuggling during the meeting. The meeting was held at a rest house nearby beach of BGB at Cox’s Bazar.” According to sources, the members of BGB complained to the delegation of Nasaka that the Burma’s authority had planted landmines along the Bangladesh-border from the border pillars No. 37 to 40 within the distance of 70-100 yards from the Bangladesh border line. Regarding the landmines, the representatives of Nasaka denied it. However, the official level of Bangladesh will make a survey along the border areas very soon, sources said. The Commander of BGB Battalion No. 17, Col.  Muhamad Nuzurul Islam l...

Jiranun Cheamcharoen is the director of the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families on Koh Sireh. Photo: Chutharat Plerin Jiranun Cheamcharoen, 46, from Ratchaburi, received a BA from Thammasat University and an MA from Ramkhamhaeng University. She has been a social worker since 1991 and the director of the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families on Koh Sireh for four years. Here, she talks about the difficulties of housing Rohingya children and what action she took after they ran away from the shelter.   Phuket Gazette: July 7, 2013 PHUKET: When the Rohingya children ran away, the first thing my staff feared was me. They were afraid I would blame them. But I don’t blame them at all. We did our best to take care of them and worked 24 hours a day to look after them. The responsibility of taking care of these children is not just ours, it is the responsibility of the province and the government as well. I didn’t want them to run away, nobody did. But our shelte...

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui Shenali Waduge is a die-hard apologist for Buddhist crimes against others, esp. Muslims. So it is not surprising to note Shenali's intellectual inability to discern truth objectively. Instead, what we find is an attempt to rewrite history distorting facts with fictions, myths and lies. Before Islam came to the Indian subcontinent, Buddhism has already been marginalized by powerful Hindus. Even in Bengal, which is closer to Bihar where Siddhartha Gautam Buddha was born, Hindu Brahmins/leaders/rulers were able to reclaim their control over the people. As a matter of fact, had it not been for Islam, Buddhism would have totally been wiped out by Hindus in entire India. Shenali and other Buddhist apologists for Buddhist crimes may like to read the scholarly writings of unbiased area experts on this issue rather than swallowing poisonous pills that are distributed by chauvinist monks like Wirathu to clear their indefensible ignorance and despicable hostil...