Bangladesh might exile Rohingya refugees to remote island that the tide covers
Arakan News Agency Mohammed Islam is a Rohingya Muslim who has lived in a refugee camp in Bangladesh since he was nine, after his family fled religious tension in his home country of Myanmar. His life is one of uncertainty coupled with despair, which has deepened in recent weeks because of a Bangladesh government proposal […]
US highlights rights abuses in Myanmar
Arakan News Agency The United States on Thursday voiced concern about “significant human rights problems” in Myanmar, shining a light notably on persistent abuses against the minority Rohingya Muslims.… “Human rights abuses in Rakhine State remained a severely troubling counterpoint to the broader trend of progress since 2011, including the 2012 release of political prisoners, […]
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi is simply being pragmatic
Arakan News Agency As a human rights icon, former prisoner of conscience and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi holds a position of moral authority in her country and beyond. Understandably, her near silence at the plight of Rohingya Muslims and lack of public mention of jailed Chinese […]
Boat used to smuggle Rohingya to Langkawi owned by local man, say police
Arakan News Agency One of the two boats used to smuggle more than 1,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Langkawi last month, was owned by a local man, said Kedah police chief Datuk Zamri Yahya.… “It (the boat) is registered in the name of a Malaysian who is now under police custody.” He, […]
ARU Director General Appeals to the President for Special Session on Rohingya
Arakan News Agency Geneva. Delegations of Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arakan Rohingya Union meets with the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council Joachim Rücker at Palais des Nations in Geneva. The delegations were led by the Head of the Permanent Mission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the United Nations in […]
US willing to take limited number of Rohingyas
Arakan News Agency Pressure is mounting on the US to take leadership in resolving the humanitarian crisis created by innumerable Rohingyas illegally fleeing from Myanmar to escape continued political oppression there. Congressman Joseph Crowley, chairman of the Bangladesh caucus in the US Congress, told Prothom Alo, he welcomed the US initiative to rehabilitate Rohingya refugees […]
Meet Bangladesh’s people smugglers
Arakan News Agency Torture, rape, corruption, and ransom demands – the horror experienced by migrants has been allowed to flourish for decades, according to a source inside the Southeast Asian trafficking industry.… Each year thousands of Rohingya refugees flee from Myanmar to camps at Cox’s Bazar across the border in Bangladesh. Seeking to continue their […]
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expressed deep concern about Rohingya Muslims
Arakan News Agency The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expressed deep concern about the humanitarian tragedy that being experienced by Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and their recent plight of what is called the crisis of refugees boats in the South East Asia in this regard, it also expressed its appreciation to all States that have contributed […]
Myanmar returns 195 rescued Rohingya to Rakhine homes
Arakan News Agency Some 500 other migrants remain in border camp awaiting verification of their nationality Authorities in Rakhine state have returned almost 200 Rohingya migrants rescued at sea to their respective townships, an official said Tuesday. Khin Soe, an immigration officer based in the Rakhine capital Sittwe, said 195 Rohingya migrants were returned to […]
A story of survival and desperation, refugees say all they want is their basic rights
Arakan News Agency KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 ― He was forced to leave his wife and three children in the middle of the night, “kidnapped” by the soldiers to be their porter, along with other men from his village in the Myanmar state of Arakan. Dressed only in his pajamas ― a worn out T-shirt […]
Rohingya Activist Attends Annual White House Iftar Dinner
Arakan News Agency Wai Wai Nu, a young Rohingya activist based in Rangoon, was among the guests at a dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday night.… The dinner was an Iftar—the traditional breaking of the daily Ramadan fast at sunset—held in observance of the Muslim holy month of […]
Protesters in Bradford highlight plight of persecuted Rohingya
Arakan News Agency A protest has been held in Bradford city centre to highlight the persecution inflicted upon the Rohingya people.… Groups of activists gathered to call on the international community to aid the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim ethnic group living primarily in Rakhine State in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, who are not recognised as citizens by […]
Myanmar Buddhist group wants Islamic veil banned in schools
Arakan News Agency Buddhist nationalists are urging Myanmar’s government to prohibit students from wearing the burqa in public schools, saying “criminals” have used the Islamic veil to escape the authorities. Ma Ba Tha, one of the biggest hardline Buddhist groups in the country, made the recommendation at the end of its second annual conference on […]