After real life drama, Rohingya refugees find solace on stage
Arakan News Agency During two decades of living in the shadows in Malaysia, Rohingya refugee Syaedah Bi had no outlet to speak of her day-to-day struggles. Without the legal right to work or access to public schools, the 21-year-old – who was smuggled out of Myanmar as a baby to escape persecution – passed her […]
Government of Canada to match donations to Rohingya refugee crisis
Arakan News Agency The Government of Canada will match donations from individual Canadians in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh through its new Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund. The announcement was made October 31 in Ottawa by the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development. “Bangladesh is now hosting the world’s biggest refugee camp […]
Seven Rohingya refugees drown as crossing to Bangladesh ends in grief
Arakan News Agency Four Rohingya Muslims, a man, woman and two children, drowned when a small wooden fishing boat carrying dozens of refugees fleeing ethnic violence in Myanmar capsized off the Bangladesh coast on Tuesday, police said. Residents of the coastal strip south of the Bangladesh port of Cox’s Bazar fished 37 survivors out of […]
U.N. picks Norwegian for Myanmar role as tensions simmer over Rohingya crisis
Arakan News Agency The United Nations named a new interim U.N. resident coordinator for Myanmar on Tuesday, appointing Knut Ostby of Norway to take over the humanitarian role at a time of growing strains with the Myanmar government over the handling of the Rohingya crisis. The appointment of a temporary placeholder was expected after Myanmar […]
Dhaka urges UN to identify Rohingya cleansing culprits
Arakan News Agency Dhaka has urged the international community, including United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to identify the responsible behind the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. “UNHCR High Commissioner termed the violence in Arakan state of Myanmar as the ‘text book example of ethnic cleaning’, international community including the UNSC has the duty to identify the […]
Rohingya crisis sparks more than $300M in donations for 800,000 homeless war victims
Arakan News Agency The numbers vary from 600,000-900,000 but the horror and seeming hopelessness of the situation is the same: Muslim refugees from the region of Rohingya have fled their homes across the boundaries of Bangladesh to escape what the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations have described as “ethnic cleansing” from the Myanmar […]
350,000 Rohingyas registered in 50 days
Arakan News Agency The Department of Immigration and Passports in 50 days till Monday completed registrations of 350,000 Rohingyas entering Bangladesh to flee violence and persecution in their motherland Arakan State of Myanmar. Department officials said that they could not confirm when the registration process would be completed as the influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh […]
Strong diplomatic efforts a must for Rohingya return
Arakan News Agency Stating that it is not possible for Bangladesh to bear the burden of Rohingyas for a long time, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Tuesday said strong diplomatic efforts and discussions with Myanmar can pave the path for repatriating these displaced people ensuring their security and citizenship. She also urged the government and […]
Agencies rush to aid Rohingya refugees as winter bites
Arakan News Agency As Rohingya Muslim refugees continue to flood into Bangladesh to escape persecution in Arakan, Myanmar, aid workers are warning of an escalation in disease as the weather turns colder. “The total number of Rohingya refugees has now reached 607,000,” says Mohammed Nikarujjaman, the commissioner of Ukhia sub-district, in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, told […]
Rohingya new arrivals now 607,000: IOM
Arakan News Agency Some 607,000 new arrivals are reported as of 28 October, according to IOM Needs and Population Monitoring, UNHCR and other field reports released on Monday. Since the last situation report on 26 October, there have been 2,000 new arrivals, said the reports. According to the IOM, the government has registered 325,660 people […]
U.N. rejects Myanmar claim that it agreed to help build housing for refugees
Arakan News Agency A UN settlement program, UN-Habitat in Myanmar, on Thursday rejected a state media report that it had agreed to help build housing for people fleeing violence in the northern Myanmar state of Arakan, where an army operation has displaced hundreds of thousands. The development underscores tension between Myanmar and the United Nations, […]
Myanmar says Bangladesh dragging feet over repatriating Rohingya
Arakan News Agency Myanmar has blamed Bangladesh for delaying the start of a repatriation process for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees, saying it feared Dhaka could be stalling until it receives multi-million dollars of international aid money. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled predominantly Buddhist Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since late August to […]
Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis ‘spinning out of control’ – aid officials
Arakan News Agency A combination of escalating violence, worsening health and poor access to conflict zones in Myanmar’s Arakan state is fueling a humanitarian crisis that is “spinning out of control”, senior aid officials said on Thursday. “We’ve seen a massive increase in violence not just between armed actors but also civilians, which is tearing […]