The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By David Scott Mathieson Human Rights Watch December 16, 2013 For nearly two decades, Myanmar was a key case study in the growth of the international human rights movement, a country beset by systematic denial of basic freedoms of assembly, association and expression. It stifled a once-assertive media; suffered a brutal, decades-long civil war; and incarcerated thousands of political prisoners. Political and economic reforms since 2011 have done much to improve this dire condition, going even further than some of the government’s critics in the local Myanmar human rights community and international movement could have thought possible. But with these tentative gains come greater challenges to turn promises into reality and address the disastrous effects of 50 years of ruinous military rule. The world marks Human Rights Day on December 10, a reminder that as Myanmar opens up to new internal and external pressures, economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights will take on ...

At the end of our visit to the camp for internally displaced people, we thanked the women for sharing their stories. But then they said: visitors come, we talk to them, they listen, leave. Nothing changes for us. By Jurate Kazickas Women's eNews December 17, 2013 A female refugee and her child at a displacement camp in Myanmar's Rakhine State. Credit: UN Photo /David Ohana Myanmar's largest city of Yangon, at a conference bringing together women from around the country, women spoke confidently of their vision for a better future and their role in the political process. But only a few hundred miles away, in the state of Rakhine, the second poorest in the country, in a crowded camp for families driven from their villages by ethnic and religious violence, the women feared for their lives and their uncertain future. The situation for these people is so dire that a U.N. official could only say, "Not only is there no light at the end of the tunnel, there is...

Kuwait News Agency December 15, 2013  BRUSSELS, Dec 16 (KUNA) --The European Union Monday welcomed progress in the national reconciliation process in Myanamr, and looked forward to the conclusion of a nationwide ceasefire agreement. The EU Foreign Affairs Council which met today, in a statement, called on the Government of Myanmar to "address the underlying causes of inter-communal violence and to guarantee the respect of human rights and the rule of law." It invited the Government to pursue durable solutions, including by addressing the status and welfare needs of the Rohingya Muslim minority. "In order to contribute to peace-building and respect between the communities, the EU strongly encourages development initiatives and thepromotion of religious and ethnic tolerance," said the statement. The Council urged all leaders to take a zero tolerance approach to violent extremism. The statement underlined the EU intention to significantly incr...

Rohingya refugees prepare for a meal at Thechaung refugee camp upon arrival in Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, Oct. 28, 2012.photo: AP / Khin Maung Win By Fardah Antara News December 15, 2013 Singapore (Antara News)- The Myanmar government must stop the escalation of violence against the Rohingya minority because it is dangerous and could develop into genocide, Rafendi Djamin, a noted Indonesian human rights activist, said. "The human rights situation in Myanmar is regressing because the government and politicians let the escalation of violence continue against the Rohingya people," Djamin, Indonesias representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), said on the sidelines of a workshop entitled Reporting on Regional Integration and ASEAN, here on Saturday. Myanmar will be ASEAN Chair 2014 and automatically become chairman of the AICHR next year, he said, adding that this would be an appropriate opportunity for Myanm...

Burma Times December 14, 2013 According to a teacher from Wa Ma Kya village said on the condition of anonymity, the authority of buthidaung township and village administrators of the Takan Kwa Sone village, Maw Taw biz village, Boon Gyi village (Sayed bawli fara), Kwa Son Village(Fatayma fara) and Wa Ma Kya village of the Takan Kwa Sone Village tract under Buthidaung Township have restricted the villagers going to the nearest mountain and one village to another village, etc.  Usually most of the villagers survive by selling fire woods that bring from the nearest mountain. At present they couldn’t go to bring the firewood from it as they were warned by the authorities not to go to the mountain.  So many villagers are in serious troubles.The mountain is about 10km far away from the Rohingya villages and they have to cross the Rakhine villages to go to the mountain. Besides the Rohingya villagers cannot go from one village to another village without the written p...

Dr Tun Aung is serving a 17-year prison sentence after being convicted of multiple criminal offences, including inciting a riot. By   Amnesty International  December 14, 2013  At a Glance Take action as part of Amnesty's Write for Rights 2013 campaign: Dr Tun Aung: Imprisoned for trying to help “ Dr Tun Aung should be released immediately so that he can return to being a family man, a community leader and a doctor. I firmly believe that Amnesty International members around the world will play a vital role in securing his freedom. ” An Amnesty International Southeast Asia Campaigner recently explained how a passion for Myanmar led her to become an Amnesty International activist, and why Dr Tun Aung needs your help. I’ve had a strong interest in civil and political rights since I was a teenager in Ireland. My father was a lifelong member of Amnesty International, so I was always aware of the organization. At ...

Rohingya are a native ethnic Muslim minority from Arakan, a western state of Burma, living many centuries. Before Rohingya became the stateless in own soil, they have encountered many operations of dehumanization from various Burmese governments starting in 1963 up to now. Rohingya have lost their history, nationality, dignity, home, land, property and faced human rights abuses such as restriction on religion, marriage, education, travel, arbitrary taxation, arrest, rape, etc..  2012 has been the greatest disaster for Rohingya as Rakhine extremists and government forces launched the grass-root killing of Rohingya throughout Arakan making hundred thousands displaced, killed and missing, while the international community has been silently neglecting the suffering state of Rohingya. Rohingya the Victims of Ethnic Cleansing