The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By Aung Naing Oo  November 01, 2014 rvisiontv.com Buthidaung, Arakan State : Myanmar’s Police arrested three innocent Rohingyas in relation to firecracker explosions in Buthidaung Township on Friday night, which the police have arbitrarily labelled as Bomb Blasts, according to the reliable sources. The sources further say that the Chief of the Buthidaung Township Police in cooperation with the local Rakhine extremists themselves plotted the explosions of the heavy firecrackers and labelled them as a bomb blasts, which the domestic media and other Burmese Program Media abroad blatantly bought. The three victims of the arbitrary arrests are said to be shopkeepers at the place where the explosion had occurred. “It was around 9:00PM on Friday night, some heavy firecrackers exploded before some Rohingya owned shops at the Byuha Goong village in Ward 4, Buthidaung Township. Since they were mere firecrackers explosions, there were no naturally any injuries o...

File photo of Yanghee Lee, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma (PHOTO: Reuters) By   Jacob Robinson October 31, 2014 UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee has expressed concern about “possible signs of backtracking” that could undermine Burma’s reform process, according to a UN press statement released yesterday which highlighted some key points of Ms. Lee’s speech to the UN General Assembly about Burma’s human rights situation. Ms. Lee’s speech on 28 October was designed to inform the UN General Assembly about the findings contained in her report about human rights issues in Burma. The report—which was released on 23 September—said that Burma’s “far reaching reforms have dramatically transformed the political, economic, social and human rights landscape…since the establishment of the new Government.” But during her speech Ms. Lee also said, “more is required if gains are to be genuine, sustainable and win the support of the people of Myanm...

US President urges Myanmar leader to support civil and political rights of the stateless Rohingya Muslims minority. Burmese President Thein Sein meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Yangon 2012 Photo (AFP) US President Barack Obama has urged Myanmar's president to address ethnic tensions in his country, while also discussing political reforms with the opposition leader. The White House said Obama had separate telephone conversations on Thursday with President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ahead of a second presidential visit to Myanmar next month. His visit in mid-November comes amid growing US concerns about human rights abuses in Myanmar, including the jailing of journalists and alleged oppression of stateless Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities caught in conflict with government troops. Obama urged Sein to take additional steps to address ethnic tensions and support the civil and political rights of the Rohingyas. T...

Teknaf, Bangladesh : An unregistered Rohingya refugee teenage girl of Leda camp (Tal) was raped by a local on October 29, 2014, Jalal, a refugee committee member from Leda camp said. The victim has been identified as— Bibi (not real name), 12, from leda camp and the rapist is Farid Alam (40), son of Lal Meah, hailed from Leda village. He is a  local Bangladeshi and  a staff of “NGO Forum,” which is established in Leda camp. He has duty to look after the camp, according to sources. On October 29, at about noon, the said Alam went to F-Block, shed No. 321 and suddenly entered the shed and forcibly raped the teenage girl while her mother was not present at the shed and the victim was alone. Her mother went to Nilla to buy some medicine, Hussain, a refugee from the camp said. Some refugees saw the said rapist while entering the shed, but refugees believed that he was working there as a staff of NGO Forum, Hussain more added. Suddenly, the victim gave hue and cry f...

By Kyaw Win  TSRNews October 29, 2014  Kutupalong, Ukhiya : It is always insecurity that chases Rohingya and forces their dreams and future prospects in jeopardy. The insecurity faced by Rohingya in Bangladesh refugee camps has been increasingly high in the recent days, in fact it has always been ever since they have set their foot in the soil of neighbourhood, Bangladesh with a hope that they will be looked upon with a kind eye. Sadly, it turned out to be opposite of what they have expected, instead groups of local gangs and local officers have been abusing and taking advantages of the stateless Rohingya living in registered and unregistered Refugee camps. On October 24th 2014, the insecurity level is reached a new high in both registered refugee camps in Kutupalong and Naya Para as well as unregistered refugee camps after a registered Rohingya refugee youth tried to block a local gang from robbing of another unregistered refugee. At 2:00 pm local time, the you...

Myanmar soldiers patrol in a street as Muslims take refuge at their camp in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine state in western Myanmar (Photo :AP) By KPN  October 28, 2014 Maungdaw, Arakan State : Maungdaw high level officers from all departments had applied a new law for Rohingyas who were arrested –more than 100 rohingyas- recently for so-called population data collection or census, said Halim, a Human Rights Watchdog from Maungdaw. The concerned authority – Burma Border Guard Police (BGP) officers, District Administration officer, Township administration officer, Army officers and Immigration officers – decided to file cases with a new law for Rohingyas who were arrested recently for refusing to identify as Bengali instated of Rohingya in so-called population data collection or census. The authority applied an Act to file cases with linked to Rohingya Solidarity Organization – RSO (a rebellion group), which was not functioning in the areas, Halim said. The false al...

Enforced confinement has created further danger for Rohingya Muslims, pictured here in refugee camps outside Sittwe in Rakhine State, Burma. Nic Dunlop By Nic Dunlop NewsWeek October 27, 2014 Thin Taw Li refugee camp filled me with foreboding. Although I had visited camps where people had fled civil war, this was the first time I had been among a people who face ethnic cleansing. The camp is home to more than three thousand Rohingya who fled sectarian violence in Burma’s Rakhine state. For decades the Rohingya Muslims have been subjected to systematic persecution by their largely Buddhist countrymen: denied citizenship, suffering forced labour, rape and killings. The United Nations has described them as “the world’s most persecuted minority” and other observers have warned of an impending genocide. In 2011, after decades of repressive military rule, a radical reform programme began. Elections were held, a new government was formed and Aung San Suu Kyi was rel...