The Rohingya Crisis and the Risk of Atrocities in Myanmar: An ASEAN Challenge and Call to Action

Executive Summary

The longstanding persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar has led to the highest outflow of asylum seekers by sea since the U.S. war in Vietnam. Human rights violations against Rohingya have resulted in a regional human trafficking epidemic, and there have been further abuses against Rohingya upon their arrival in other Southeast Asian countries […]

Parliamentarians Call on ASEAN Leaders to Address the Rohingya Crisis and the Escalating Risk of Atrocity Crimes in Myanmar

KUALA LUMPUR — ASEAN leaders must urgently respond to the escalating crisis situation for Rohingya Muslims and other vulnerable minorities in Myanmar, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today in a public call on regional governments on the eve of the 26th ASEAN Summit […]

The Rohingya, the Citizenship Law, Temporary Registration, and Implementation of the Rakhine State Action Plan

In February 2015 around a million people, ethnic Rohingya lost their right to vote in Burma’s upcoming election. The British government said nothing about the massive blow both to the rights of the Rohingya and the credibility of the election. The British government is still talking about the election as a critical moment in Burma’s transition to democracy […]

Rohingya Denied Right to Vote – New briefing on ‘White Card’ Withdrawal

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK today publishes a new briefing paper the escalation of repression of the Rohingya by President Thein Sein by withdrawing their right to vote […]

Myanmar: Free Prisoners of Conscience in Rakhine State End Ongoing Persecution of Rohingya

(SITTWE—March 14, 2015) The government of Myanmar should immediately and unconditionally release a group of five Rohingya prisoners of conscience being held in Sittwe prison, Rakhine State, Fortify Rights said today. The group includes three prominent Rohingya community leaders imprisoned earlier this week […]

Myanmar “Needs Urgently to Get Back on Track”

GENEVA (25 February 2015) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein today warned that Myanmar “seems headed in the wrong direction and needs urgently to get back on track” in a crucial year for the country’s democratic transition and long-term reconciliation […]

Amnesty International Annual Report – Myanmar Chapter

Despite ongoing political, legal and economic reforms, progress on human rights stalled, with some backward steps in key areas. The situation of the Rohingya deteriorated, with ongoing discrimination in law and practice exacerbated by a dire humanitarian situation. Anti-Muslim violence persisted, with the authorities failing to hold suspected perpetrators to account. Reports of abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law in areas of armed conflict persisted. Freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly remained severely restricted, with scores of human rights defenders, journalists and political activists arrested and imprisoned. Impunity persisted for past crimes […]

WORLD REPORT 2015

Burma

The reform process in Burma experienced significant slowdowns and in some cases reversals of basic freedoms and democratic progress in 2014. The government continued to pass laws with significant human rights limitations, failed to address calls for constitutional reform ahead of the 2015 elections, and increased arrests of peaceful critics, including land protesters and journalists […]

Burma: Rights Heading in Wrong Direction

(Bangkok, January 29, 2015) – Burma’s human rights situation declined in 2014, setting back progress made since the reform process began three years ago, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2015. Donors and influential governments have done little to pressure the army and government to keep reforms on track.

A Briefing by Burmese Rohingya Organization UK: International Investigation Urgently Needed into Human Rights Abuses Against the Rohingya

The Rohingya Muslim minority in Burma are the most persecuted ethnic minority in Burma, subject to policies of oppression which are applied almost exclusively to them. Government policies target Rohingya on the basis of their ethnicity and religion. The Rohingya are widely viewed in Burma as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite the fact that Rohingya people have lived in Burma for centuries […]