The Stateless Rohingya Blog

Rohingya men rest in a rented house in Cheras Baru, Kuala Lumpur March 2, 2014. (Photo:  REUTERS/Samsul Said) By  Stuart Grudgings Reuters March 6, 2014 Human traffickers have kept hundreds of Rohingya Muslims captive in houses in northern Malaysia, beating them, depriving them of food, and demanding a ransom from their families, according to detailed accounts by the victims. The accounts given to Reuters suggest that trafficking gangs are shifting their operations into Malaysia as Thai authorities crack down on jungle camps near the border that have become a prison for the Muslim asylum seekers fleeing persecution in  Myanmar . Police in the northern Malaysian states of Penang and Kedah have conducted several raids on the houses in recent months, including an operation in February that discovered four Rohingya men bound  together  with metal chains in an apartment. But Reuters' interviews reveal a trafficking network on a far bigger...

By Jonah Fisher BBC News March 6, 2014 Getting into Aung Mingalar as a journalist is relatively simple. We visited a couple of government offices, had a letter written for us and then after having our documents forensically examined, were allowed in. For the Buddhists who dominate the Rakhine capital, Sittwe, it is even easier. Their buses, rickshaws and motorbikes just get waved through by the  police. Many even use the main road as a short cut just to reach another part of town. For the residents of Aung Mingalar, however, things are very different.  The 4,000 Muslim Rohingya who live inside are effectively prisoners - restricted first by the police checkpoints and then by the Rakhine Buddhist community that surrounds them on all sides and constantly looks on.  "The police will not allow us out, because if they do, they know we will be beaten by the Rakhine [Buddhists]," a young Rohingya man said. Rohingya residents of Aung Mingalar ...

By Matthew Russell Lee UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- While the UN is now inviting Myanmar to contribute "peacekeepers" to its missions, as Inner City Press reported five days ago, a change of the guard for U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar is about to take place.    Nominated to replace Tomas Ojea Quintana, by Baudelaire Ndong Ella as President of the Human Rights Council, is Ms. Yanghee Lee of South Korea. If there is no objection by the close of business (in Geneva) on March 7, she's got the post.   But what about the issues? Even as  Myanmar denies the rights of the Rohingya , Karen and Kachin and other people, the UN is inviting it to contribute troops to UN Peacekeeping under  Herve Ladsous , it was confirmed to Inner City Press on February 27.    Earlier this month, Inner City Press asked the UN about the exclusion of "Rohingya" from upcoming UN-assisted census.  On February 26 , Inner City Press asked: Inner Ci...

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...