India: Rohingya Muslims have ‘terror’ ties
India’s government said on Monday it has evidence showing some Rohingya Muslims in the country have ties to “terror organisations” and pose a security threat that justifies a mass deportation of the ethnic group. India’s home ministry said it would confidentially share intelligence information with the Supreme Court showing Rohingya links with Pakistan-based armed groups, […]
Why Is Myanmar Refusing A UN Probe If There Is No Rohingya Genocide?
If Myanmar has nothing to hide, why isn’t the country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, allowing U.N. investigators to visit the country? When Myanmar transitioned from military rule to civilian democracy, many hoped the new government would make efforts to resolve the Rohingya Muslim crisis that […]
The Rohingya crisis and the role of the OIC
The latest United Nations report on the Rohingya minority shocked the world yet again with descriptions of the kind of atrocities that the Myanmar security forces are perpetrating. From children cut to death, to women raped and whole villages burned, these brutal acts have been justifiably characterised as most likely amounting to crimes against humanity. […]
UN Rights Chief Urges Myanmar Leader to Ease Plight of Rohingya
The U.N.’s top human rights official, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, is urging Myanmar’s leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, to use her moral authority to ease the plight of the country’s disenfranchised Rohingya community. Aung San Suu Kyi has come under mounting criticism from the international community for her failure to speak out on […]
Myanmar: Who Are the Rohingya?
More than 65,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar since a bloody military campaign against purported militants began in October, according to a U.N. report. Most are living in makeshift camps and refugee centers. The Rohingya have endured a decades-long plight and are routinely described by human rights organizations as the “most oppressed people […]
Myanmar says it will act against police after video shows beating of Rohingya Muslims
Myanmar’s government said Monday that it would take action against police officers who were shown in a video beating villagers in western Rakhine state, where tens of thousands of minority Muslims are fleeing a military crackdown. The statement was a rare official acknowledgment of abuses in Rakhine, home to a large Muslim population known as […]
Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Vow Never to Return to Myanmar
Authorities in Dhaka have demanded that Myanmar repatriate tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who crossed the border to escape what they say is persecution, and are now living illegally in Bangladesh. Myanmar says it will accept a small fraction of the refugee population now in Bangladesh, but the Rohingya themselves say they are unwilling […]
Rohingya in Rakhine state suffer government retaliation
When Faizul* fled the smouldering remains of his village in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state, he barely noticed the shards of wood that punctured every extremity of his body. He just wanted to escape the bullets raining down from a helicopter above. But by the time he reached Bangladesh, a shrapnel wound on his right leg […]
Myanmar state media alludes to Rohingya Muslims as ‘human fleas’
Myanmar is beset by “human fleas.” So says the nation’s most widely known state newspaper, now operating under the democratically elected government helmed by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. This “morally bad” group of people are “loathe for their stench and for sucking our blood,” says the Global New Light of Myanmar. And […]
Myanmar to Probe Allegations of Abuse Against Rohingya
The Myanmar government is to set up a “national level committee” to investigate conditions and allegations of abuses amid international pressure from rising violence and a humanitarian crisis in northern Rakhine state. Myanmar’s state counselor and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has faced growing criticism for failing to tackle the violence, as a military […]