The Elders Encourage All Parties in Myanmar to Advance National Reforms, Support Peace Accords

Concluding a three-day visit to Myanmar, the Elders offer their support to the people of Myanmar during this exciting period of transition. They also encourage decision-makers responsible for the implementation of the political reform process to make further progress. This was The Elders’ first visit to Myanmar as a group […]

Statement on the Situation of the Rohingya in Burma

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum today expressed its deep concern about the worsening situation of the Rohingya in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

Long considered one of the world’s most persecuted peoples, the Muslim Rohingya have no legal status in Burma and face severe discrimination, abuse, and escalating violence. Last year, violent attacks, fanned by a campaign of virulent anti-Muslim hate speech that continues today, destroyed numerous Rohingya communities and displaced well more than 100,000 people […]

BMA Press Release on Latest Anti-Muslim Violence in Burma

President U Thein Sein promised on his recent visit to the UK and France that there would be no tolerance for religious extremism and sectarian violence in Burma. Unfortunately, a number of serious incidents have taken place in recent days which raise questions about the government’s ability to prevent and take action against sectarian violence […]

Situation of Inter-Communal Violence in Myanmar is Perilous, Warn ASEAN Legislators

Myanmar is on the precipice of widespread inter-communal conflict and the authorities must immediately implement a comprehensive strategy that protects victims, holds perpetrators of violence accountable for their actions and also deals with the underlying tensions that are fueling conflicts between Buddhist and Muslim communities, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today […]

Burma Government Must Prevent Ongoing Communal and Religious Violence by Tackling Impunity

This week, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, reported that during his recent 10-day official mission to Burma his convoy was besieged by anti-Muslim protestors in Meikhtila, Mandalay Region, the scene of anti-Muslim violence in March of this year. However, the week’s unrest did not stop there: a few days later, Buddhist mobs burnt down dozens of shops and homes belonging to Muslims in Kantbalu, Sagaing Region, after a Muslim man was arrested for allegedly attempting to rape a Buddhist woman. Unfortunately, such incidents in Burma are nothing new: 2013 has seen outbreaks of religious and communal violence afflicting increasing numbers of towns across the country. Violence flared up most notably in Meikhtila on 20 March, lasting for more than a week, and also on 28 and 29 May in Lashio, Shan State, where one Muslim was killed and four Buddhists injured, and on 29 May in Mone, Kyauk Gyi Township, Pegu Region, where mobs destroyed a mosque and a madrasa. In addition, nearly 250,000 people, the majority of whom are Muslims, have been displaced by the violence across the country thus far […]

PHR Documents Systematic Patterns of Anti-Muslim Violence in Burma

New Report Shows Government’s Failure to Protect Muslims From Widespread Attacks

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today released a report documenting the recent wave of violence against Muslims throughout Burma, whose government has created a culture of impunity for the violators and has failed to protect the Muslim minority.

The report details a number of serious human rights violations that have taken place over the last two years, which have resulted in the displacement of nearly 250,000 people and the destruction of more than 10,000 homes, scores of mosques, and a dozen monasteries […]

Patterns of Anti-Muslim Violence in Burma: A Call for Accountability and Prevention

In this report, PHR documents how persecution of and violence against the Rohingya in Burma has spread to other Muslim communities throughout the country. PHR conducted eight separate investigations in Burma and the surrounding region between 2004 and 2013. PHR’s most recent field research in early 2013 indicates a need for renewed attention to violence against minorities and impunity for such crimes […]

Council Conclusions on the Comprehensive Framework for the European Union’s Policy and Support to Myanmar/Burma

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

“The Council welcomes and endorses the attached Comprehensive Framework consisting of priorities for the European Union’s policy and support in the next three years to the on-going reforms in Myanmar/Burma. This Framework sets forth EU’s goals and priorities geared towards building a lasting partnership and promoting closer engagement with the country as a whole […]

Thein Sein’s Words Must be Followed by Action

President Thein Sein completed his first visit to the UK and France on 18 July with more promises of reform and was prematurely rewarded with trade and investment discussions, military cooperation and a gloss of legitimacy. Although Prime Minister David Cameron, President François Hollande, as well President Thein Sein, paid lip-service to reform and human rights, this does not disguise the reality of a dire human rights situation, the stalled peace process, and the empty promises of reform that characterize Burma today.

One of the promises that Thein Sein made was that all political prisoners would be released by the end of the year. It has been over two years since Thein Sein assumed the office of President, and the amount of times that world leaders have pushed him on this issue has been countless. Yet there remain hundreds of people languishing in jail for their political activism, while the number of new political prisoners is increasing. On the very day that Thein Sein made this statement, a 74 year-old Rohingya human rights activist in Arakan State was arbitrarily arrested and detained. Just a few days later on 18 July, Daw Bawk Ja, a Kachin human rights activist and member of the National Democratic Force, was unlawfully detained on politically motivated charges […]

President Urges MNHRC, IFG to Work Together with Government to Protect Country’s Image

President U Thein Sein urged the Interfaith Friendship Group and Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to cooperate with the government and to take responsibility for image the country not to be tarnished as it is found that the conflict between the two communities in the country is being exaggerated as racial and religious conflict between the two communities and regional and international issues in an attempt to bring it to the UN […]