The Stateless Rohingya Blog

The European Rohingya Council (ERC) made ERC constitutional workshop for the first time on 24th since the organization formed and ERC conference was held on 25th. ERC constitutional workshop—the constitution is drafted particularly based on democracy and opposed all kinds of imperialism and nepotism. Moreover, it is distinctly prescribed that every institution regardless of faith and race as well as every Rohingya organizations can be participated without any obstacles and it is strongly declared that those parties which would be participated in ERC would be considered for their suitable rank and would be given priority according to their achievements.   More than 100 great personalities of several nationalities attended in the ERC conference. The great speeches of distinguished speakers of ERC: The prime speaker and great personality Mr. Delius has expressed sorrowfully the grave concerns about the long systematic persecution against Rohingya in their na...

Hundreds of Muslims in Myanmar become homeless after Buddhists burnt their homes and shops in Sagaing region of the violence-wracked country. Local officials say more than 300 people are currently sheltering at a school after Buddhist mobs torched their homes two days ago.  On Saturday, around a thousand anti-Muslim rioters rampaged through villages in the northwestern town of Kanbalu in the central region of Sagaing. The mobs set fire to Muslims’ properties and attacked rescue vehicles.  Sources say dozens of houses and shops were left in charred ruins.             "The fires burned until last night, but they have now been extinguished after it rained heavily," said Myint Naing, a local MP for the opposition National League for Democracy party. This is the fourth anti-Muslim riot to break out in central and northern Myanmar this year.  Similar violence in the Western Rakhine state last year left nearly 200 people dea...

Children who arrived on a Rohingya boat off Phuket on January 1 Photo by phuketwan.com/file For years, thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar's Arakan State have set sail to flee persecution by the Myanmar (Burmese) government.  The situation significantly worsened following sectarian violence in Arakan State in June 2012 between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Arakanese, which displaced tens of thousands of Rohingya from their homes.  In October 2012, Arakanese political and religious leaders and state security forces committed crimes against humanity in a campaign of ''ethnic cleansing'' against the Rohingya.  During the so-called ''sailing season'' between October 2012 and March 2013, more than 35,000 Rohingya are believed to have fled the country.  International pressure on Thailand to provide temporary protection to Rohingya arriving on its shores resulted in the current detention policy. Since January, more than 1800 Rohingya...

The government must decide quickly on temporary shelters for displaced Rohingya until more permanent solutions are found, a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says.  NHRC commissioner Niran Pitakwatchara said he was concerned the Rohingya currently being detained in Thailand were being deprived of basic rights.  The migrants, many of whom have arrived in southern Thailand by boat this year, have been kept in scattered shelters and detention centres for seven months and the government should now decide what to   do about them, Mr Niran said. The Rohingya migrants are kept in poor living conditions in temporary shelters, and also suffer exploitation by trafficking gangs, and extortion from smuggling gangs, he told a seminar titled: "The Rohingya : Unwanted and Alone in Thailand".  "Though Thailand is not a [UN refugee convention] signatory, state ministries could actually hasten their authority in  providing decent and appropriat...

The Thai government should quickly decide on temporary shelters for displaced Rohingya people until practical longer-term solutions are reached, says a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Dr Niran Pitakwatchara said he was concerned that the Rohingya refugees were being deprived of basic rights while under temporary care in Thailand. After drifting at the sea and being towed into various islands in southern Thailand since early this year, the migrants have been kept in scattered shelters and detention centres nationwide. Now it is time for the government to decide what to do next, said Dr Niran. Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled persecution in Myanmar over the past year and many have ended up in Thailand. They faced poor temporary shelter, exploitation by trafficking gangs, and extortion from smuggling gangs during their stay in Thailand, Dr Niran said at a seminar on the refugee problem. He suggested that something could still be done despite th...

Ten Rohingya refugees escaped the Ranong Immigration detention center in a dawn breakout yesterday. Photo: Gazette file PHUKET: Ten Rohingya detainees escaped at dawn yesterday from a detention facility at the Immigration Office in Ranong, the popular visa run destination for many expats and tourists in Phuket. The incident is the latest in a series of Rohingya escapes from various facilities in the past few months. The 10 escapees were part of a group of 118 Rohingya detainees at the facility. The Ranong Immigration Office has begun a manhunt for the 10 runaway Rohingya. "We have handed out their photos to motorcycle-taxi riders, community leaders and local people in a bid to track them down," office chief Ekkorn Bussababordin said, adding that he believed the 10 escapees were still in Ranong. Col Ekkorn said that he would step up security measures at the detention facility to prevent further escapes. Thousands of ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar's Arakan Sta...

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN –    A total of 34 Rohingya migrants remain at large after 37 of them escaped from a detention centre in Muang district early yesterday. The detention centre in Prachuap Khiri Khan houses 119 Rohingya. The escape took place around 2am Saturday at the centre in tambon Klongwan, which has two buildings housing 119 Rohingya who were transferred from Phangnga in January. The site is approximately 10 kilometres away from the Sing Khon temporary checkpoint with Myanmar. Weera Sriwattanatrakul, the governor of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, said the security guards at the site had fallen asleep while on duty. More than 200 police and other officials began a search within a radius of five kilometers from the detention site and found three escapers walking along a road. Mr Weera said the government needed to find a solution for dealing with the Rohingya, thousands of whom have fled persecution in Myanmar. Many Rohingya have ended up in Thailand in poor ...