The Stateless Rohingya Blog

A report by International Crisis Group says Myanmar's Muslims are 'not ripe for radicalization' but could be pushed to violence if voting right is removed   (Credit: Arche-Nova) By Joshua Carroll October 23, 2014  YANGON, Myanmar: Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar could be pushed towards civil disobedience or violence if moves to strip them of their right to vote are successful, according to an influential report. The International Crisis Group‘s 38-page advisory said the Rohingya, the Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, see their voting rights as “their last remaining connection to politics and means of influence.” The report warned the situation in Rakhine is likely to become much more volatile as next year’s general election approaches. It added that sectarian violence, which has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands, mostly Rohingya, is a “significant threat” to the country’s nascent democratic reforms. At the heart of Rohing...

Rakhine State Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn speaks to the press. Photo: Mizzima By Kay Zuu, Min Aung Khine Mizzima News October 23, 2014 Some European countries have challenged the Myanmar authorities to prove the claim that Rohingya do not exist in Myanmar by providing strong evidence, according to Rakhine State Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn. The minister raised the issue during an October 22 press conference held at the Rakhine State government office on the subject of the recent Asia-Europe Meeting held in Italy that was attended by Myanmar President U Thein Sein. Myanmar has come under fire over its handling of the Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine State who the government refers to as “Bengalis”, claiming they are illegal immigrants. U Maung Maung Ohn said these European governments suggested that the Myanmar central government should publish a book to “prove” that Rohingya do not exist in the Rakhine State. “There are some books published by some cou...

A displaced woman cares for her baby at a camp on the outskirts of Sittwe in Rakhine state, western Myanmar. ( AFP/Soe Than Win) Opinion By Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat October 22, 2014 In April, I wrote an article for The National on the worsening situation for Muslims in Myanmar. Their condition has not got any better. Instead, the government has adopted new legislation that is likely to have a further devastating impact on its Muslim minority. Last month, the country’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, told envoys at the UN General Assembly that a long-expected strategy for the Rohingya minority would soon be put into effect. According to Mr Lwin, the “action plan” had been devised to guarantee peace and security for everybody in the area. He called on the global community to take part in the implementation of this strategy to provide a “durable solution” in the region. Not long after Mr Lwin’s address at the UN, mainstream media such as Reuters shed light on...

Teknaf, Bangladesh : Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Bangladesh Coastguards arrested 14 Rohingyas from different entry points of Bangladesh- Burma border and handed over to Teknaf police station on October 21, Didar, a local from Teknaf town said. “A patrol team of BGB arrested nine Rohingyas from the Naff River on October 21, at about 3:00 pm while they were entering the Bangladesh through the entry point of Teknaf Jadimura by a small row boat.” According to BGB sources, members of BGB arrested one male, four women and four children after being conducted operation. They all belong to Khunna Para (village) of Maungdaw Township. After arrest, they were brought to Dumdum Meah BGB outpost of Teknaf Battalion No. 42 for further investigations. The BGB women checked their whole bodies and got more than 7,000 pieces of Yaba tablets, BGB sources said. A relative of a victim Hamida (29) said on condition of anonymity that they crossed Burma-Bangladesh border by a row boat, but ...

By Fayas Ahmed October 22, 2014 The latest tactics of arbitrary arrests, tortures, detentions and killings of Rohingya innocent people at Maungdaw Township in Arakan State, with false and fabricated allegation has become the daily phenomenon of President Thein Sein’s regime and his accomplices. Since September last week, the BGP personnel arrested more than 100 Rohingya villagers (including Maulanas, Hafezi Quran, students. women and even minor boys ) with false and fabricated case in Maungdaw Township to take avenge who did not participate in so-called population data collection. However, the concerned authorities have been trying to frame case against them implicating with Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), which was not existed in Burma many years ago. Every night, the BGP personnel went to Rohingya villages and tried to arrest the villagers, so the Rohingya villagers are not able to stay in their homes because of arbitrary arrest of BGP.  Some instances ...

By KPN October 22, 214 Buthidaung, Arakan State : The situation of the Buthidaung jail is very depraved situation for prisoners, especially for Rohingyas who are in the jail, according to a prisoner recently released from Buthidaung jail. “Some of the recent arrested Rohingya villagers from Maungdaw Township had been sent to Buthidaung jail where they are being tortured severely every day.” Some of the prisoners are identified as—Maulana Sayed Amin ( 35), son of Sultan, hailed from Tolatoli (Min Gyi Rwa) of Maungdaw south; Maulana Wares (40), son of Jahid Hussain, hailed from Badaka Dewan Ali village of Maungdaw north;  Master Abdul Hai (30), son of Ahmeddu, hailed from Wetkin village of Maungdaw north;  Sayed ( 35), son of Gura Meah, hailed from Garata Bill;  Maulana Shaker (40), father’s name unknown, hailed from Garata Bill, Mohamed Tayub (40), son of Younos, hailed from Garata Bill, the released prisoner more added. Some others are unknown villagers that ...

By John Sifton Human Rights Watch October 21, 2014 A lot has changed here in Burma in the last three years. Large-scale political prisoner releases have occurred. There has been a lessening of censorship and surveillance. The government has permitted some movement toward democratic reforms—although much of that progress now appears to have stalled.  Not all changes, however, have been positive. In the midst of Burma’s recent transformations, caustic and divisive anti-Muslim voices have been on the rise. In May and October 2012 in Burma’s western Arakan State, ethnic Arakanese Buddhists with the backing of local authorities carried out extensive attacks on vulnerable minority Rohingya Muslims and other Muslim populations in a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” that amounted to crimes against humanity. Hundreds of people were killed and ultimately more than 100,000 were displaced. The effects of that violence are still felt now. Today most Rohingya in Arakan State live in ...