The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By Aye Myint ׀ RvisionTV November 07, 2014 Kyauktaw, Arakan State : An innocent Rohingya youth was shot by some unknown armed Rakhine terrorists in Kyauktaw Township tonight and is now said to be in critical condition, according to the reliable sources. The youth is identified to be 26-year-old Shakir (son of) Ali Johar hails from Let Saung Kok village, Kyauktaw Township. He earns his livelihood as a fisherman and was attacked while he was fishing in Kaladan River. “Shakir (son of) Ali Johar, age 26, went for fishing in Kaladan river (also called Kissapa Nadi) yesterday (on 7th November) evening. He hails from Let Saung Kok village. While he was fishing in the river around 11:00PM, some unknown armed terrorists from a Rakhine village from the other side of the river called Kyauk Dan village started shooting at him using guns. One of the bullets hit at the lower part of his neck resulting him in critical condition. Fortunately, he didn’t die but it has become too...

Tomas Munita for The New York Times By  Jane Perlez New York Times November 7, 2014 SITTWE, Myanmar  — The  Myanmar  government has given the estimated one million Rohingya people in this coastal region of the country a dispiriting choice: Prove your family has lived here for more than 60 years and qualify for second-class citizenship, or be placed in camps and face deportation. The policy, accompanied by a wave of decrees and legislation, has made life for the Rohingya, a long-persecuted Muslim minority, ever more desperate, spurring the biggest flow of Rohingya refugees since a major exodus two years ago. In the last three weeks alone, 14,500 Rohingya have sailed from the beaches of Rakhine State to Thailand, with the ultimate goal of reaching Malaysia, according to the  Arakan Project , a group that monitors Rohingya refugees. The crisis has become an embarrassment to the White House ahead of a scheduled visit by  President Oba...

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing delivers a speech at a parade in Naypyidaw to mark Armed Forces Day, the anniversary of Burma taking up arms against the occupying Japanese. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) By Emelina Perez November 7, 2014 [JURIST] An investigation [report, PDF] conducted by the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School [official website] determined three Myanmar Army commanders committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Thandaung Township, Kayin State, between January 2005 and December 2006. The study explains that beginning in 2005, the Myanmar Army engaged [press release] in human rights violations when they fired mortars, killed villagers, burned homes and laid landmines in the village, displacing more than 42,000 residents. Military policies authorized targeting civilians, according to the report, through methods such as armed tactics and destruction of property. The evidence collected by the clinic includes witness accounts of the...

The government plans to shift the Rohingya refugee camps from Cox's Bazar's Khutuppalang and Nayaparha.   Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a meeting with the officials of the disaster management and relief ministry on Thursday said the camps would be shifted to a 'better location', according to her press secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury. Rohingya refugees would be shifted to a bigger area as they now live in a very inhumane condition in slums, Chowdhury further quoted her as saying. The prime minister said the area to be vacated near the beach in Cox’s Bazar would be used for developing tourism. According to official statistics, there are 34,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, but unofficial figures suggest it to be somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000, according to bdnews24.com

TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA  from the BUDDHIST TEACHERS NETWORK URGING YOU TO ADDRESS ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE AT THE UPCOMING ASEAN MEETING IN BURMA/MYANMAR Dear President Obama,  We as 381 Buddhist Teachers in America represent a large community that is deeply concerned about the growing anti Muslim violence in Myanmar and across Asia, and the plight of the 1.3 million Rohingyas, many forced to live against their will in inhumane internment camps and permanent ghettoized communities. We know you have been supportive of all Burmese people and have encouraged peace and reconciliation across the nation. Your upcoming visit to Burma is an important opportunity to strengthen your capacity as a peacemaker. We urge you to once again express concern for Burma’s Muslims and Rohingyas in your public speeches and as well as in your diplomatic engagements there. We believe you can do so in a positive way, honoring the Burmese legacy of tolerance and Metta, values shared acro...