Rohingya not recorded as Myanmar citizens in census

Myanmarian minister says the next census does not mean that Rohingya will be recognized as citizens of Myanmar.

Feb 12-2014

World Bulletin / News Desk

The Myanmar census, which is scheduled to begin on March 30, will include the Rohingya but that does not mean that they will be recognized as an ethnic group or as citizens of Myanmar, the Union Minister for Immigration and Population U Khin Yi said. 

In Maungdaw Village, Residents Fret Over Missing Family Members

A woman from the Rohingya Muslim village of Du Chee Yar Tan, in Maungdaw Township, shows reporters a damaged house. (Photo: Sanay Lin / The Irrawaddy)

Feb 11-2014

DU CHEE YAR TAN, Maungdaw Township — Zuu Lar Har is living in deep distress as she has been waiting more than three weeks for her 18-year-old daughter Zuu Kai to turn up.

The 60-year-old Muslim resident of Du Chee Yar Tan village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, said she feared for the life of Zuu Kai after she disappeared during the tumultuous events of Jan. 13, when, according to accounts of local villagers, an Arakanese Buddhist mob violently raided the village.

Rape Is a Weapon in Burma’s Kachin State, but the Women of Kachin Are Fighting Back

By breaking their silence, and documenting the outrages committed, local communities in Kachin are defending themselves against sexual violence from the Burmese military and police

Diana Markosian / Reportage by Getty Images

Galau Dau Yang, 35, stands outside her home in the northern Shan State village of Kut Khaing. Galau Dau Yang, who is ethnically Kachin, was gang-raped by police. Like in most conflict zones, human rights organizations report that rape is being used as a weapon by the military and police in Kachin State and neighboring Shan State, where many of the refugees have fled

Feb 11-2014

She had just finished describing how she had been raped by two men, dressed as policemen, when more police showed up. These police weren’t wearing uniforms, but everyone in the village in Burma’s northern Shan state knew who they were. And that’s when I stopped asking the questions and started being questioned myself.

Germany voices Rohingya concerns

YANGON - German President Joachim Gauck on Tuesday raised concerns over clashes between Myanmar's majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities, especially the Rohingyas.

German President Joachim Gauck delivers a speech at Yangon University in Yangon on Tuesday. Mr Gauck is in Myanmar for a three-day visit where he is scheduled to meet Myanmar President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (AFP 

Feb 11-2014

There has been a surge in sectarian violence since 2012 when fighting broke out in Rakhine State, home to about 800,000 Rohingya Muslims who were made stateless by a law passed in 1982.

Rohingya Genocide in Burma: Covert Report w/Andrew Day

February 11-2014

Today’s guest is Andrew Day, an activist championing the plight of the Rohingya peoples of Burma, who are suffering genocidal policies, including straight up massacres and ethnic cleansing, by Burmese authorities. Day describes the tension between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma, such that the tiniest, most insignificant triggers like brushing in the street have sparked backlashes. Village purges and driving the Rohingya into the sea with spears are common events for these Burmese peoples. This heart-breaking story is mostly ignored by the MSM. Please help us break the silence barrier by listening to Andrew Day’s interview on The Covert Report. It will shock you.

Burma’s Ethnic Minorities Decry Census, Jostle for Advantage

February 11-2014

RANGOON — Members of Burma’s largest ethnic minority groups and smaller ethnic subgroups are voicing concerns over a census due to be conducted late next month, with the survey’s system of classification criticized as inaccurate by some, and unnecessarily divisive by others.

Cautious praise for Myanmar from German President Gauck

February 10-2014
German President Joachim Gauck says Myanmar's reform course must include more reconciliation for its ethnic minorities. In his presence, officials signed plans for 500 million euros in debt relief for Myanmar.

Former general-turned-president Thein Sein was told by visiting German President Joachim Gauck on Monday that Myanmar can count on Germany if the Asian nation continues on its route toward democracy.

Gauck later told Myanmar's longtime opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi that he knew of "many other nations that were slower in reaching democratic norms than this country."

Portraits of Much Persecuted, Oft-Ignored Rohingya

Greg Constantine’s unflinching yet sensitive look at the Rohingyas’ plight has made an impact. (JG Photos/Tunggul Wirajuda)

February 10-2014

 The elderly Rohingya man epitomized his people’s plight. One of more than 300,000 Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar, the former forced laborer fled his home state of Rakhine in the 1990s following years of oppression by the Myanmar authorities and the Rakhine ethnic group. The years of suffering and exile are etched in his face, while his shaded right eye symbolized his blindness in one eye after a beating by his Burmese overseers. Next to his photo, a snapshot of a Rohingya family contrasts with the photo of a woman fleeing persecution under it. The former aptly represents the families and lives shattered by the ethnic and sectarian conflict suffered by the Rohingya, while the latter’s blank, forward looking gaze seem to point towards an uncertain future.

Ruling Party MP Investigated for Defaming Police

USDP Lower House member Shwe Maung. (Photo: Twitter/Shwe Maung)

February 04-2014

RANGOON — Shwe Maung, a ruling party parliamentarian representing the Rohingya majority township of Buthidaung in strife-torn Arakan State, said he was called in for questioning on Tuesday by the Home Affairs Ministry on allegations of defaming the Burmese police force and state.

Another Massacre of Rohingya - Another Failure to Act

February 04-2014
Following the violent attacks against the Rohingya of Burma in June and October 2012, where hundreds were killed and more than 140,000 forced to flee their homes, no-one doubted that more attacks would take place. It was just a question of where and when. Now we have the answer. The where was Du Chee Yar Tan village, the when was 14th January.

Burma’s Rohingya Are Now Being Forced to Live in Squalid Ghettos Watched by Guards

Increasingly, for most Rohingya, the only solution is to flee the country

Rohingya men look out from behind a barbed-wire fence used as a barrier to restrict travel on Nov. 25, 2012, on the outskirts of Sittwe in Burma
February 04-2014
The policeman manning the barbed-wire roadblock at the entrance to Bhumi quarter in Sittwe spells out the rules: if the Rohingya try to leave without a permit, they are apprehended and taken back to their homes. Asked if the Arakanese (Rakhine) are treated the same, he smiles, embarrassed, and shakes his head. This neighborhood, in the capital of western Burma’s Arakan (Rakhine) state, is one of several Muslim-majority areas of the town that have been transformed into de facto open-air prisons, with the movement of inhabitants tightly restricted by armed guards.

Myanmar's Buddhist-Rohingya ethnic divide

Displaced Rohingya Muslims struggle with persecution and Buddhist resentment.

February 04-2014

Sittwe, Myanmar - A checkpoint guarded by three bored-looking policemen in the middle of a narrow road separates two very different worlds.

On one side in Sittwe, capital of Myanmar's western state of Rakhine, people lead a common life: They're free to go wherever they please, marry whomever they want, and to attend religious ceremonies in their Buddhist temple of choice.

The Specter of Mass Killings in Burma

Religious intolerance is threatening the country’s tenuous transition to democracy.

An ethnic Rakhine man walks in front of houses burnt during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe, the capital of Burma's Rakhine state, in 2012. (Reuters)

January 31-2014

With all the dispiriting news about democracy these days, it is easy to lose sight of the promising transitions underway in Tunisia and Myanmar (Burma). After the recent constitutional bargain between the moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, and its secular opposition, Tunisia now seems headed toward viable democracy. Burma, however, remains a long ways from that achievement.

Rohingya MP claims police involved in Maungdaw blaze

January 31-2014

Shwe Maung, a Rohingya MP in Burma’s Lower House who represents Buthidaung constituency, has said that local Maungdaw police were involved in the fire that ripped through the west tract of Duchira Dan village on 28 January, razing between 16 and 22 homes belonging to Rohingya families.

Speaking exclusively to DVB on Thursday, Shwe Maung said that until the day before the fire, local Rohingya men were assigned as lookouts to guard the three village tracts since most of the residents living there were women.

UK minister condemns violence against Muslims

January 31-2014

Violence targeting Muslims and the escalating humanitarian situation in Rakhine State could gravely undermine Myanmar’s reform process, Britain’s Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire warned in Yangon on January 30.

Mr Swire expressed disappointment at the government’s apparent reluctance to address inter-communal violence.

An Old Lady, Eye-Witness of Fire on Rohingya Homes in Duchiradan Village, Killed by Myanmar Government Force

MYARF Report | Written by M.S. Anwar

30th January 2014

rvisiontv.com

Maungdaw, Arakan: around 8:30PM on 28th January 2014, Myanmar Military, Security Force and Police together conspired and torched Rohingya homes at the west-hamlet of the violence-hit village, Duchiradan (Kilaidaung), in Arakan State. Yesterday (i.e. on 30th January 2014) afternoon, at the village, officials from Maungdaw District Administration and Maungdaw Township Administration, Military officers, Security Force, Police and other regional authority held a meeting with the village administrators and elders from neighboring villages.

Pictures of Rohingya Homes Burnt Down in the Violence-Hit Village, Duchiradan (Kilaidaung)

M.S. Anwar | Pictures by Hayat and Report by MYARF

30th January 2014

rvisiontv.com (Browse Down to See Pictures)

Maungdaw, Arakan: around 8:30PM on 28th January 2014, Myanmar Military, Security Force and Police together conspired and torched Rohingya homes at the west-hamlet of theviolence-hit village, Duchiradan (Kilaidaung), in Arakan State. (Read Details:http://www.rvisiontv.com/breaking-news-the-violence-hit-rohingya-village-duchiradan-set-ablaze/, http://www.rvisiontv.com/conspiracy-myanmar-authority-set-rohingya-homes-on-fire-at-violence-hit-rohingya-village-to-mislead-foreign-observers/) As the security force and police set Rohingya homes on fire, 18 houses were burnt into ashes, while many other houses remained hal-burnt. The houses that got totally turned into ashes were owened by the following people.

Genocide And Ethnic Cleansing of the Rohingya People in Myanmar

Displacement and discrimination continue to affect Rohingya (Evangelos Petratos EU/ECHO January 2013)

by Sufyan bin Uzayr

January 30, 2014

A few days back, I read about yet another vicious attack on Myanmar’s helpless and persecuted Rohingya minority. This time, the venue was Du Chee Ya Tan village in the Rakhine state, which lies pretty close to Bangladesh. Just in case you are thinking that the rioters shamelessly justified their misdeeds by claiming that the victims were illegal Bengalis trying to sneak into Myanmar—yeah, you’re right.

Conspiracy: Myanmar Authority Set Rohingya Homes on Fire at Violence-Hit Duchiradan Village to Mislead Foreign Observers

Written by M.S. Anwar

29th January 2014 | Maungdaw, Arakan

rvisiontv.com

Around 8:30PM yesterday (i.e. on 28th January 2014), Rohingya homes at the west-hamlet of the violence-hit village, Duchiradan (Kilaidaung), southern Maungdaw, were set ablaze. Consequently, 17 Rohingya homes burnt into ashes. Initially, locals were unsure of how the fire started. Now, they have confirmed that it was a conspiracy by Maungdaw Police and Hlun Hteins (Security Force) and possibly by the instruction of higher officials from the central government of Myanmar like U Ye Htut.

Govt Rejects Call for Int’l Investigation Into Alleged Rohingya Killings

Police stand guard in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, in this June 2012 photo, after communal violence saw houses torched and residents driven from their homes. (Photo: Reuters)

January 29-2014

RANGOON — Burma has publicly rejected calls by the US government for the involvement of international officials in an investigation into the alleged massacre of dozens of Rohingya Muslim villagers in Arakan State’s Maungdaw District.

Myanmar Police Burn down Rohingya Homes in Rakhine State

January 29-2014

Burmese police set fire to at least 70 Rohingya homes in the village of Du Char Yar Tan, where at least 48 Muslims were said to have been killed by a Buddhist mob amid renewed sectarian violence, it has been claimed.

Breaking News: The Violence-Hit Rohingya Village, Duchiradan, Set Ablaze

By M.S. Anwar | 28th January 2014

rvisiontv.com

The west-hamlet of the village of Duchiradan (Kilaindaung) in southern Maungdaw is on fire now. The fire caught Rohingya houses at around 9PM on 28th January 2014 (MyanmarStandard Time-MST).How the fire started in the village is unknown yet. Neither Rohingya from any other village is allowed to go the village nor many locals of the village live there because of the fear of becoming the victims of violence again. Those who were living in the village are believed to have fled to their nearby village as soon as the fire started.

Myanmar in denial over Rohingya massacre

The Nation January 28, 2014 1:00 am

The latest incident of anti-Muslim violence shows the hollowness of authorities' commitment to reform and reconciliation

Myanmar authorities have responded to credible reports of a massacre of Rohingya villagers with denials and indignation. Far from helping to resolve the chronic ethno-religious conflict raging in the northwest state of Rakhine, this response will only further undermine the country's ongoing reform process.

Muslims in Myanmar 'Treated Like Animals', Says Rohingya Activist

A Muslim woman sits near a mosque in Yangon

January 28-2014

Unprecedented political reforms in Myanmar have been widely celebrated, but these achievements are marred by increasing religious extremism and horrific levels of violence aimed at the region's Muslims.

About 90% of the country's population of 55 million are Buddhist, with Muslims making up between 4% and 8%. Despite tensions, the Buddhist majority has lived largely peacefully along with the Muslims for the past decades. But over the last two years, several violent episodes against Muslims led by angry Buddhist mobs have tainted the picture of a progressive Myanmar painted by president Thein Sein.

Why Single Out the Case of the Rohingya Vis-A-Vis Other Unfolding Atrocities Around the World?

ASIA & THE PACIFIC, 27 January 2014

by Maung Zarni – TRANSCEND Media Service

Today world is a violence-soaked place. A glance at Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, parts of Africa, and so on speaks volume about the nature of the current world order without a rudder or a moral compass, or inspiring revolutionary humanism.

Thai police rescue hundreds of Rohingya in raid on suspected traffickers' camp

January 27-2014

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Andrew R.C. Marshall

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police have rescued hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from a remote camp in a raid prompted by a Reuters investigation into human trafficking, police officials said on Monday.

Patterns of impunity and deceit in Myanmar

The Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar continues to suffer from violent attacks [Reuters]

January 27-2014

A UN supervised investigation is needed before more atrocities are committed against the Rohingya Muslims.

Yet another deadly attack on Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya minority made the news recently, this time taking place in the village of Du Chee Ya Tan, Rakhine state, not far from the border with Bangladesh. It is the latest in a series of incidents over the past 18 months in which the nation's Muslim community in general, and the predominantly Muslim Rohingya in particular, have experienced violence at the hands of Buddhist mobs.

New Attacks on Muslim Villagers in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

A man walks out from a destroyed mosque that was burnt down in recent violence at Thapyuchai village, outside of Thandwe, in the Rakhine state, October 3, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

January 27-2014

By Anagha Neelakantan (@anaghaneel)

Since 2012, Myanmar has seen outbreaks of inter-communal and anti-Muslim violence, first in Rakhine State, where there is a large population of Rohingya Muslims as well as other Muslim communities such as the Kaman.

Instances of Myanmar Regime’s Recent Crimes against Innocent Rohingya People

By M.S. Anwar based on the report by MYARF

26th January 2014

Maungdaw, Arakan State

We learnt how Myanmar Military and Security Force (Hlun Hteins) resurrected the violence against Rohingya people by making a full-fledged assault on a Rohingya village called Duchiradan (Kilaidaung) in southern Maungdaw, Arakan State, on 14th January 2014. They mutiliated and killed around 50 innocent people. They raped women/girls. Rohingyas’ homes were destroyed and their properties were looted by Rakhine extremists. They arbitrarily arrested many people. More than 300 people are still missing. People believe they were also massacred by the military and the secuity force in cooperation with Rakhine terrorists.

The Plight of the Rohingya Has Anything But Ended

January 26-2014

To anyone not familiar with the Rohingya people of Myanmar, commonly known by its former name Burma, here's a quick primer.

The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnicity living in a predominantly Buddhist state.

Myanmar’s Rohingya, stateless and unwanted

25 January 2014 

 Fatal clashes between security forces and Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have uprooted over 110,000 people in Buddhist-Muslim violence in the past 18 months.

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people, has been grappling with sectarian violence for nearly two years.

UN urges Burma to investigate Rohingya deaths after latest violence

Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights. She said: 'By responding to these incidents quickly, the Burmese government has an opportunity to show transparency and accountability.' Photograph: Salvatore Di Nolfi/AP
January 24-2014
UN human rights agency says it has information of 48 Muslims killed in Rakhine by Buddhist mobs, the deadliest in a year

At least 48 Muslims were killed when Buddhist mobs attacked a village in an isolated corner of western Burma earlier this month, the United Nations has said, calling on the government to carry out a swift, impartial investigation and to hold those responsible accountable.

Britain trains Burmese army despite rape, rights violations

January 24-2014

By Mark Inkey

The British army provided training to Burmese armed forces personnel this month despite the Southeast Asian nation’s refusal to sign the UN Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) and fresh reports of rape of ethnic women by Burmese soldiers.

Another Rohingya massacre, another media problem for Burma

January 24-2014

As more details emerge of the massacre on January 13 of at least 40 Rohingya men, women and children in western Burma, the government predictably has gone on the defensive. The UN is now claiming that police in the remote village of Du Chee Yar Tan, northern Arakan state, were among the mob of Arakanese who attacked and killed villagers, allegedly in response to the slaying of a policemen following an earlier bout of violence  in January that left at least eight dead. Even though the death toll is likely a conservative one, it stands as the deadliest single incident in Arakan state since October 2012.

Myanmar mobs killed at least 40 Muslims: Rights group

January 23-2014

YANGON: Buddhist mobs killed at least 40Muslims when they stormed a village in western Myanmar last week, hunting down residents with knives, a human rights group said, citingwitness testimony and a wide network of local sources. 

Burma mobs 'kill 30 Rohingyas'

The attacks were said to have taken place near the town of Maungdaw

January 23-2014
More than 30 Rohingya Muslims were killed in attacks by Buddhists last week in Burma's Rakhine state, the BBC has been told.

Two international aid officials who were granted access to the area in the far west of the country said they had found evidence of a mass killing.

Myanmar: Buddhist Authorities Order Mass Arrests of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State

Reuters

A Muslim woman, whose home was burnt down during recent violence, cries in Pauktaw village, outside of Thandwe in the Rakhine state, October 3, 2013

January 23- 2014

Buddhist authorities have allegedly ordered a round-up of all male Rohingya, including children over the age of ten, in areas surrounding the Myanmar village of Du Char Yar Tan (Duchidaran) where at least 40 Muslims were killed and several hundred displaced in renewed sectarian violence.

Rights group says Muslims massacred in Myanmar amid official denials

January 23-2014

(Reuters) - Security forces in western Myanmar massacred at least 40 Rohingya Muslims last week, including women and children, a human rights group said on Thursday, quoting witness accounts, despite official denials of the killings.