The Stateless Rohingya Blog

A man walks past a destroyed mosque in Pauktaw, Myanmar, that was burned in violence between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya, in October 2012. Rights groups fear that an upcoming census could spark further violence.   (ATAR/AFP/Getty Images) By  Patrick Winn  Global Post    March 5, 2014 BANGKOK — Decades of dictatorship in Myanmar produced a deep catalogue of casualties: slain dissidents, land mine victims and economic ruin, to name a few. A lesser-known casualty of Myanmar’s totalitarian rule? Facts. For instance: Maybe Myanmar has the population of  South Korea . Maybe its population rivals that of France. Both estimates of Myanmar’s population — ranging from 48 to 65 million — are commonly cited. The truth? No one knows for sure. The troubled Southeast Asian nation formerly titled Burma hasn’t held a census since Michael Jackson released “Billie Jean” on vinyl. In late March, Myanmar will launch its first census in m...

Immigration and Population Minister U Khin Yi gestures during a news conference about the census, in Yangon on December 14. Photo: Hein Htet/Mizzima By Mizzima News March 05, 2014 Immigration and Population Minister U Khin Yi has been asked by four Rakhine Nationalities Development Party MPs to ensure that ‘Rohingya’ cannot be used as a category in the census due to begin late this month. The MPs said that if Rohingya were allowed to use the term to identify themselves during the census it could lead to conflict in Rakhine State because Rakhine Buddhists would oppose any such move. The four, U KhinMaung (AmyothaHluttaw) and PyithuHluttaw MPs U Htun Aung Kyaw, U Phay Than and Daw Khin Saw Wai made the request at a meeting with U Khin Yi in Nay Pyi Taw on the evening of March 4. “If they are allowed to be listed in the census as ‘Rohingya’, problems may arise,” said U Phay Than (Myebon Township). “If they list those Bengali people as ‘Rohingya’ in the census,...

Myanmar police on patrol in one of the Rohingyan camps. Animosity towards the police is very high./Andrew Stanbridge/Al Jazeera By Aung Aung The Stateless Every religion should be a living force in order to play a vital role in moral uplift, social and cultural unification of mankind. Myanmar regime has been using Buddhism as a cruel strategy for their political gain since 1988, that caused 100s violence nationwide. Myanmar regime has been deceiving the world as if they are reforming. In reality, they formed 969 Buddhist terrorist gangs law which is called nazism law. The government has been empowering the Buddhist gangs in the name of national security and caring Buddhism besides destroying other nations. Major, Moe Kyaw Thu, has been using force-labor in Min Pya, Arakan, Myanmar where he orders the villagers for 10 Rohingyas as force-labor without wages and without food from the each village of Min Pya. When those Rohingya requested food at noon, Major’s assistance told ...

Kutupalong, Ukhiya : A Rohingya refugee girl was raped by four local Villagers at Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh today at around 5:30 am of local time. The 16 years old victim, Sanjida Begum, daughter of Abul Hossain who lives in Block A2 of unregistered Refugee Camp and works in a garment in Chittagong to support her family. The accident happened at above the mentioned time while she was returning from her work. As soon as she got down from bus at the entrance of refugee camp, the local extremist Jasim and his gang caught her as they were waiting to loot Rohingya refugees who passed through on the road towards the camp. They robbed her 5,000 taka salary and all the ornaments she wore. They did not let her go after robbing, instead they took advantage of loneliness on the road to gang raped her. She was found in some degree of loss of consciousness by a group of wood cutter who sent her to nearby MSF (Médecins Sans Frontiérs) hospital where she is currently being tr...

Heads of state and government of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) countries meet at the Myanmar's capital Nay-Pyi-Taw on the eve of Bimstec summit yesterday. Photo: PID By Daily Star BD Dhaka has urged Nay Pyi Taw for an "amicable solution" to take back the Myanmar refugees from Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who reached the Myanmar capital yesterday to attend the third Bimstec summit, made the call during her meeting with the country's president Thein Sein at the Presidential Palace. According to official estimate, around 30,000 registered Rohingya refugees and some 3 lakh to 5 lakh undocumented Myanmar nationals are living in Bangladesh. Of them, a significant number intruded here following persecution during the previous military rule in Myanmar. Hasina also had a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, head of Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy, at the parliamen...

Photo: G. Ramakrishna By Syed Mohammed Times of India March 3, 2014 HYDERABAD: When they arrived in the city a little over three years ago from Myanmar, the Rohingya refugees were hopeful of a new life and emancipation from military junta's persecution. While their new home did assuage their feelings of utter hopelessness, lack of steady employment remains a major cause for concern. The Rohingya influx began in the aftermath of the ethnic violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, with the first batch arriving in the city in October 2011. From a mere 35 in October 2011, their number shot up to over 1,500 in just three years. They are now spread across five neighbourhoods - Balapur, Barkas, Shaheen Nagar, Kishan Bagh and Shastripuram - all in the Old City. But most of them are without work. For instance, Dudey Miya's daily trips to the local labourer point, popularly known as adda, in Barkas to find work are often unfruitful. Three days a wee...

B y  Mabrur Ahmed   Restless Beings March 01, 2014 Leaked government documents and images emerged late last night outlining plans to further unsettle the Rohingya population in Arakan, Myanmar. Minutes from a high-level meeting between Than Shwe, the brutal ex-leader of military Burma, and other senior officials detail plans to remove INGO's, instigate further attacks on Rohingya villages during March and April and to target Rohingya leaders in September.  The documents were leaked shortly after Medécins Sans Frontières' (MSF) license to operate in Arakan was revoked by Naypitaw government administration on February 26th. The decision was made as MSF's staff witnessed violence towards Rohingya in the Killa Dong village massacre last month.  MSF staff also treated injured Rohingya villagers which unsettled the Naypitaw administration's stance on foreign NGO's working in Arakan state.  The leaked documents cite that UN and INGO presen...