The Stateless Rohingya Blog

President U Thein Sein meets former British PM, Speaker of House of Common (photo President Website) By Maung Zarni  Asia Times  July 19, 2013 LONDON - Britain, the largest donor country and former colonizer of Myanmar, is effectively aiding and abetting the unfolding "ethnic cleansing" of Muslim Rohingya by helping to finance the country's controversial 2014 national census.  Ex-general and head of Myanmar's quasi-civilian government Thein Sein made an official visit to Britain this week, during which his hosts announced a new 30 million-pound (US$45.6 million) development assistance package and resumption of arms sales. One third of that amount is earmarked to bankroll the former colony's census, "which is essential to make sure support is getting to those who need it more", according to an official British government statement. Because Thein Sein's government is forcing the Rohingya people to register as "Bengali"...

A Rohingya Muslim illegal immigrant puts his hand on the railing inside the Immigration Detention Centre during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kanchanaburi province July 10, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha By Amy Sawitta Lefevre July 19, 2013 BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's navy denied on Friday a Reuters report that its personnel were involved in a lucrative smuggling and trafficking network that exploits minority Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution and dire living conditions in Myanmar. The Reuters investigation, citing people smugglers and Rohingyas who made the journey, found that Thai naval security forces were involved in the smuggling of Rohingya Muslims. They have fled Myanmar in sharply growing numbers over the last year following outbreaks of religious violence at home. The smuggling network, centered on the west coast of southern Thailand, transports thousands of Rohingya mainly into neighboring Malaysia, a Muslim-majority c...

On a recent visit to London Myanmar's leader Thein Sein announced he would release all prisoners of conscience.© 2013 Getty Images Amnesty International : July 17, 2013 Amnesty International has called into question President Thein Sein’s recent commitment to clear Myanmar’s jails of prisoners of conscience by the end of the year.  On the same day he made this promise to delegates at a conference in London, police in Myanmar’s Rakhine state arbitrarily detained a 74-year-old Rohingya human rights defender.  “The government continues to rely on repressive laws to silence dissent and jail peaceful protesters in Myanmar,” said Amy Smith, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher.  “For there to be lasting change in the country, these practices need to be stopped and the laws need to be brought in line with international standards.”  During a speech at the independent policy institute Chatham House in London on 15 July 2013, President Thein Sei...

President of Myanmar, Thein Sein (L) in 10 Downing Street Photo: EPA By Michael Harris Telegraph UK : July 18, 2013 Unless the Foreign Secretary ups the pressure on Burma the apparatus of the military dictatorship will remain, writes Michael Harris If you want to know how much has changed in Burma since the much-vaulted transition, try and put on a punk gig in the capital, Rangoon. It’ll take two months and require the signatures of eight bureaucrats from varying levels of government. You may never get permission. But to punks in Burma, the idea they may even be able to play publicly at all is progress. This is transition Burma, a country full of contradictions where the military no longer hold captive Aung San Suu Kyi and have released some of the thousands of her fellow political prisoners – yet the full apparatus of the military state still exists. The worry is, while the UK and US drop sanctions and William Hague took the time to congratulate President Thein Sein i...

BDNews24: July 17, 2013 The beatings were accompanied by threats: If his family didn't produce the money, Myanmar refugee Abdul Sabur would be sold into slavery on a fishing boat, his captors shouted, lashing him with bamboo sticks. It had been more than two months since Sabur and his wife set sail from Myanmar with 118 other Rohingya Muslims to escape violence and persecution. Twelve died on the disastrous voyage. The survivors were imprisoned in India and then handed over to people smugglers in southern Thailand. As the smugglers beat Sabur in their jungle hide-out, they kept a phone line open so that his relatives could hear his screams and speed up payment of $1,800 to secure his release. "Every time there was a delay or problem with the payment they would hurt us again," said Sabur, a tall fisherman from Myanmar's western Rakhine state. He was part of the swelling flood of Rohingya who have fled Myanmar by sea this past year, in one of the ...

Burmese government troops patrol in conflict-ridden Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, in this June 2012 file photo. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) KPN News July 16, 2013 Maungdaw, Arakan State: The high officials of Maungdaw district announced again imposing of emergency act 144 in the areas today, according to an official from Maungdaw. “The authority – district administration officer and township administration officer – announced in Maungdaw about imposing of emergency act 144, after dissolving Burma border security force (Nasaka), as most of Rohingya from rural areas traveled to Maungdaw town for their household shopping and their personnel matters which was not able before for blockage  and harassment of Nasaka.” The Rohingya people traveled to Maungdaw mean, to gather and see relatives in Maungdaw which was not able since July 2012 for blocking of security force especially Nasaka. The gathering of Rohingya in Maungdaw become eyesore for high officials who try ...

   Rohingya child's collect fire wood from the jungle and sell it (T eknaf Bangladesh) Stephanie March ABC Australia July 17, 2013 Bangladesh capital Dhaka has cracked down on migration from neighbouring Myanmar, closing its border, refusing to support asylum seekers and turning back boats. Surakatun and her family have been eating boiled leaves and rice for the past three days. It's a normal lunch at the unofficial refugee camp in Kutupalong - once the pots are empty, that's it. "My husband is old now so if I don't go out and beg we go hungry," she said. Like everyone in the camp, Surakatun is a Rohingya who has fled violence in Myanmar - she would rather endure this harsh existence than go back there. "If you see your daughter being dragged in front of you and being violated sexually would you bear that? Would you allow that to happen?" she said. In June and October last year, violence broke out between Buddhi...