The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Press Release By Fortify Rights February 25, 2014 Leaked government documents reveal severe violations of human rights of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, including restrictions on the freedom of movement, marriage, childbirth, and other aspects of daily life in northern Rakhine State, Fortify Rights said in a new report released today. The report implicates state and central government officials as perpetrators of the crime against humanity of persecution. Crimes against humanity are among the most serious crimes under international law. “The impacts of these restrictions are severe and have been well-documented for decades, but the official orders have been kept out of the public domain until now,” said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. “This architecture of abuse contributes to political instability and violence and must be lifted immediately.” The 79-page report,   Policies of Persecution: Ending Abusive State Policies Against Rohingya Muslim...

 Photo: AP Khin Maung Win By AP February 25, 2014 YANGON, Myanmar: An independent human rights group said Tuesday it has obtained official documents that directly implicate the Myanmar government in abusive and discriminatory policies targeting the country's long-persecuted minority Rohingya Muslim community. Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, said analysis of a dozen leaked official and public records detail restrictions on the right to travel freely, practice religion, repair homes, marry and to have families — the only place in the predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million that has limited parents to two children. While these policies have long been known, in some cases dating back decades, this is the first time the orders have been made public, he said, describing the chilling effect of seeing them in writing. "It represents a level of planning and knowledge among Myanmar authorities that raises the abuses to the threshold of c...

By   Bangkok Post February 24, 2014 Critics claim the first population-wide survey in 30 years is designed to ‘divide and rule’ and weaken ethnic minorities' political position Officially, Wut Yee Maung has a complicated background. If her Myanmar ID card is to be believed, she is a young Muslim woman who is half Burman-Pakistani and half Burman-Pathan. But the reality is different: Neither of her  parents are Burman or Pakistani, and how she came to be registered as such is a mystery to her.  When the census-taker comes around, Wut Yee Maung could register as Pathan, but to do so she will have to be listed under code 914: “Other”. The Pathan are not included among the 135 fractious and sometimes overlapping ethnic groups recognised on the Myanmar government’s official list. Instead, because of the prevailing tensions in Myanmar and on the advice of family members, she is inclined to conceal her Muslim identity and register as Burman and Buddhist. Th...

By Zin Linn OpEdNews February 21, 2014   Burma or Myanmar has a bad record concerning topic of human rights to date. Human Rights Watch criticizes Burma's lately formed National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which has not take part in competent role to scrutinize human rights violations in conflict zones. In February 2012, the commission's chairman, U Win Mra, said that the commission would not look into allegations of abuses in the country's ethnic armed conflict areas due to the government's efforts to negotiate ceasefires. HRW has also made a recommendation to the parliament which needed to pass legislation that would bring Myanmar's NHRC in line with the Paris Principles on national human rights institutions in order to establish it as an independent and effective institution. However, people do not satisfy with the NHRC's activities since it has made little progress for citizen's rights protection. Recently, the Network for Human Rig...

By  Harun Yahya Arab News When after years of house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi aptly described by many as the architect of democracy and human rights was allowed to enter politics, citizens of the world must have had heaved a sigh of relief. Her entry into the political arena was not only seen as a good omen for democracy in Myanmar but also raised expectations of many that it would put an end to the plight of the defenseless Rohingya Muslims in the province of Rakhine. Ironically, on both fronts the situation is not very reassuring. Despite Suu Kyi’s willingness to take part in the 2015 general elections, the sword of Law 59f is hanging over her political career, which bars anyone with family members who owe allegiance to a foreign power from participating in polls. Analysts believe it was a shrewd clause deliberately inserted into the constitution by the military junta to cope with such a situation. On the other hand, relentless oppression against Rohingyas, the m...

By Financial Express February 21, 2014 The USA on Thursday assured its full support for implementing the first ever national strategy over the issue of Rohingya refugees and undocumented Myanmar citizens in Bangladesh. The assurance came at a meeting between Anne C Richard, US assistant secretary of Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration (PRM), and Shahidul Haque, the Foreign Secretary Richard appreciated Dhaka’s efforts to address Myanmar refugee issue. Later, Shahidul Haque met with Rose Gottemoeller, acting under secretary for arms control and international security at the US Department of State and discussed wide range of global issues of mutual interests including security issues, according to a foreign ministry release.

More then 100 Rakhine Extremists were surrounded to attack 3 Malaysians in Sittwe Town, Arakan State Photo Soe Thu Moe FB Bernama February 21, 2014 PUTRAJAYA: Three Malaysians on a Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisations (MAPIM) humanitarian mission who came under siege by local residents in Rakhine, Myanmar yesterday, are now put under police protection. Zulhanis Zainol, 36, Mohamed Fithri Ahmad, 42, and Muhaimin Samad, 28, who were on a humanitarian mission in aid of the Rohingya community were believed to be surrounded by a group of extremist Buddhists in Sitwee, Rakhine. It is learnt that Mohamed Fithri and Muhaimin were local television employees filming a documentary. Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said the three men were brought out of Sitwee to be ferried to Yangon at 1.30pm (local time) yesterday. "I understand a group of local residents had surrounded them. Fortunately police came on time to save them and put the...