PHOTO: Thai PBS 65 Rohingya were discovered yesterday on Koh Rawi off the coast of Satun province, north-west of Malaysia’s Langkawi island, after their boat’s engine broke down on its way, presumably to Malaysia. One Thai national was identified amongst the group
PHOTO: Desperate Rohingyas try to flee Bangladesh on flimsy rafts – UNHCR Bangladeshi police say that they’ve stopped dozens of Rohingya Muslims from being trafficked to Malaysia by boat.
PHOTO: The Straits Times “The refugees are not willing to return now.” This, from the Refugee Commissioner at the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh as the first wave of Rohingya refugees refused to repatriate in a program that was meant to start on Thursday. People, due to head back to their original homes in Rhakine State this week, disappeared in the sprawling refugee camps to avoid being sent back. Other joined a large demonstrations against the repatriation.
PHOTO: Dhaka Tribune “A genocide is still underway against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims.” A UN fact-find mission on the Rohingya ‘situation’ in Myanmar, says it has presented a report at the Security Council calling for the matter to be referred to the International Criminal Court.
The Fortify Rights report is out. It names names and specifies responsibilities for the ongoing persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya.
PHOTO: Major General Maung Maung Soe amd defacto Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar is accused of a crackdown in Rakhine state that has, so far, forced 700,000 Rohingya to flee. The UN and major western powers describe the crackdown as “ethnic cleansing”. In response, Myanmar’s military now says it’s sacked a top general who was named in fresh EU sanctions against security officials accused of serious rights violations in the Rohingya crisis, including killings and sexual violence
The 56 Rohingya boat people, including 19 men, 18 women, 8 boys and 11 girls, were brought by Royal Thai Navy Officers Area 3 and police to Sirilanta Bridge, the bridge linking Koh Lanta Noi and Koh Lanta Yai, for investigation after they were found at Koh Ha early on Sunday morning. After checking that they weren’t involved in any human trafficking activity the officers escorted them back to their boat to continue their voyage to Malaysia
Reuters have released a report on ethnic killings in Myanmar, detailing research done by two of its reporters currently jailed in Myanmar.
The plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya continues to be parlous despite aid agencies and the UN getting more access to the region and the flood of refugees flowing over the border into Bangladesh. But Rohingya Muslims, now in Bangladesh, remain sceptical about their chances of ever going back to Myanmar, even though the government there is offering assurances it will accept people verified as refugees
PHOTO: Voice of America A significant regional humanitarian crisis is underway only a few thousand kilometres from our tropical island. Whilst the situation for the Rohingya has been parlous for decades, it’s only recently become acute after a group calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked several Myanmar Army outposts on August 25 – the Myanmar Army has been fighting back, hard, and going further by forcing the remaining Rohingya north and across the Bangladesh border. In their wake villages have been burned, woman and children killed and mass graves discovered