UN Myanmar Expert: Fatal Shooting of Rohingya Women the Latest Product of Impunity

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, today said that the fatal shooting last week of three Rohingya women participating in a peaceful protest in Rakhine State is the latest shocking example of how law enforcement officials operate with complete impunity there […]

UN Myanmar Expert: Fatal Shooting of Rohingya Women the Latest Example of Impunity

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, today said that the fatal shooting last week of three Rohingya women participating in a peaceful protest in Rakhine State is the latest shocking example of how law enforcement officials operate with complete impunity there […]

Open Letter on the Treatment of Rohingya Asylum-Seekers and Migrants

Dear Minister,

I am writing on behalf of Amnesty International to express concerns about the treatment of asylum-seekers and migrants, in particular those from  Myanmar ’s Rohingya minority community, who have arrived or made attempts to arrive in Thailand by sea in recent months […]

UK Says Investigation Required Into Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya

Burma Campaign UK today welcomed a statement by Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi, that ‘independent investigative work’ is required ‘for an informed assessment as to whether ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have been committed.’ However, words need to be turned into action or they will simply amount […]

Thailand: End Inhumane Detention of Rohingya

Provide Asylum Seekers Access to UN Refugee Agency The Thai government should immediately end the detention under inhumane conditions of more than 1,700 ethnic Rohingya from Burma, Human Rights Watch said today. Rohingya asylum seekers should be transferred from overcrowded cells in immigration detention centers to get screening and protection from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees […]

Protecting Minority Rights Is Non-Negotiable

In its rush to normalize relations with Myanmar, the international community – particularly the United Nations – must not ignore the increase in abuses being committed against ethnic minorities in Rakhine and Kachin States, and it must take a stronger stance in defense of the human rights of affected populations. Ten months after violence forced them into displacement […]

UN Expert Urges Myanmar to Act on Local Regulations Targeting Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State

Myanmar must respond unambiguously to the revival of a local order limiting the number of children that Rohingya Muslims can have to two, or face fines and prison sentences under section 188 of the Myanmar Penal Code. The call comes from the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana […]

Burma: Revoke ‘Two-Child Policy’ For Rohingya

Burma’s government should publicly revoke a discriminatory population control regulation that restricts Rohingya Muslims to having two children. Implementation of this policy is consistent with the wider persecution of the largely stateless Rohingya, violating international human rights protections, and endangering women’s physical and mental health […]

Two-Child Policy in Arakan State: Latest Act of Ill-treatment, Unlikely to be the Last

Last week, Arakan State officials, following recommendations from the internationally-rejected 186-page report of a government-appointed commission, announced a mandatory two-child policy to ‘help ease tension’ in Buthidaung and Maungdaw provinces where the majority of the population is Muslim. A year after two bouts of violence in Arakan State, this two child policy, that applies predominantly to the Rohingya population, is perhaps the most obvious outline of potential ethnic cleansing that many have voiced their concerns about, most noticeably in the last Human Rights Watch report. “The state government is trying to use the Rakhine investigation recommendation, which is outrageous, to justify a policy of limiting births of Rohingya,” said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director of Human Rights Watch.

This policy announcement also marks the government’s first ‘official’ act of segregation since the outbreaks of violence that displaced as many as 125,000 Rohingya. From burning of mosques, targeted attacks on Rohingya families, denial of identity, and the implicit support of the 969 anti-Muslim campaign, now comes population control. It is unlikely to stop. This time it’s clearer than ever that the government is backing the agenda behind a campaign against the Muslims in Burma. Win Myaing, a Rakine State spokesperson said that the Rohingya population in the area is growing ten times faster than the Buddhist Arakanese and is one of the causes of the tension. Although population pressure on scarce socio-economic resources in the area should be taken into consideration, this policy serves only one purpose – defeat of the ‘unwanted’ Rohingya population […]

Myanmar: Official Report On Rakhine State Conflict Flawed

Following the communal violence that wracked the western parts of Myanmar near the border of Bangladesh in 2012, the country’s president established a commission of inquiry comprising of retired public servants, religious figures, politicians, academics and members of civil society. The commission handed down its findings on 22 April 2013. Despite high expectations, the 119-page report is gravely flawed […]