Monday, August 26, 2013

Rioters torch Muslim homes in Myanmar

Updated 26 August 2013, 7:26 AEST

About 1,000 anti-Muslim rioters burned shops and homes in a fresh outbreak of communal unrest in Myanmar, officials said.

Buddhists in Myanmar Torch Muslim Homes and Shops

Members of a 1,000-strong Buddhist mob torched dozens of homes and shops in northwestern Myanmar following rumors that a Muslim man tried to sexually assault a young woman, officials and witnesses said, as the country was once again gripped by sectarian violence.

The rioters, who sang the country's national anthem as they rampaged, dispersed after security forces arrived early Sunday, shooting into the air. No injuries were reported.

The hours-long riot in Htan Gone village, located 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of the town of Kantbalu in the region of Sagaing, began late Saturday after a crowd surrounded a police station, demanding that the suspect in the attempted assault be handed over, a police officer told The Associated Press. The officer requested anonymity because he did not have the authority to speak to reporters.

Burma violence: Rioters burn Muslim homes and shops

Rioters have burnt Muslim-owned houses and shops in an outbreak of apparent sectarian violence in Burma (also known as Myanmar).
Burma mapThe trouble broke out overnight around the central town of Kanbalu, when police refused to hand over a Muslim man accused of raping a Buddhist woman.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on the Muslim community that police have failed to control. 

The state government has sent reinforcements to the area.

The violence is a stark reminder of how much anti-Muslim sentiment there is in Myanmar and how little the authorities are doing to contain it, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok.

Earlier this week, a car carrying UN human rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana was attacked by a crowd in the central town of Meiktila as he tried to investigate sectarian attacks there in March.

He has accused the country's government of failing to protect him when his convoy came under attack as some 200 people surrounded his car, punching the doors and windows.
A woman with a child walks past a damaged mosque in Meiktila. Photo: June 2013  
Thousands of Muslims were left homeless after the clashes in Meiktila

At least 43 people - most of them from Burma's small Muslim community - died in the violence that erupted after an argument at a Muslim-owned shop.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Buddhists in Myanmar torch Muslim homes and shops

The Associated Press
YANGON, Myanmar Fresh sectarian violence struck northwestern Myanmar early Sunday when a 1,000-strong Buddhist mob burned down dozens of Islamic homes and shops following rumors that a young woman had been sexually assaulted by a Muslim man, police said. There were no reports of injuries.

A crowd surrounded the police station late Saturday and then went on an hours-long rampage after authorities refused to hand over the assault suspect, a police officer from the area told The Associated Press.

Police move to detain Rohingya at purpose-built regional shelters

PHUKET: The Royal Thai Police are lobbying Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to build regional detention centers to house Rohingya refugees across Southern Thailand.

Migrant solution needed urgently



The Thai government should quickly decide on temporary shelters for displaced Rohingya people until practical longer-term solutions are reached, says a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Dr Niran Pitakwatchara said he was concerned that the Rohingya refugees were being deprived of basic rights while under temporary care in Thailand.

After drifting at the sea and being towed into various islands in southern Thailand since early this year, the migrants have been kept in scattered shelters and detention centres nationwide.

NHRC urges govt to act on Rohingya

The government must decide quickly on temporary shelters for displaced Rohingya until more permanent solutions are found, a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says. NHRC commissioner...


Bangkok Post

Mobs raid homes of Muslims in Myanmar


Some 1,000 Buddhists have reportedly attacked properties belonging to the Muslim community in northwestern Myanmar.


The rampage broke out shortly before Saturday midnight in the town of Kanbalu. Seven Muslim-owned shops and 15 houses were destroyed by the Buddhist mob.

The mob demanded that Myanmar’s police hand over a man suspected of attempting to rape a Buddhist woman.

Witnesses say police tried to disperse the angry crowd but failed to prevent the destruction.

Muslims are regularly targeted by riots in Myanmar. In 2012, similar violence in the western state of Rakhine left nearly 200 people - mostly Rohingya Muslims - dead.

The Saturday attack comes four days after the UN human rights envoy to Myanmar came under an attack by a group of Buddhists in central Myanmar.

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Tomas Ojea Quintana said on August 21 that 200 angry Buddhists mobbed his car after he landed in the central town of Meikhtila to investigate attacks on Rohingya Muslims in the region.

Buddhist mobs burn down Rohingya Muslim homes in Myanmar

Violence breaks out after rumours a Muslim man sexually assaulted a Buddhist woman
 Sunday, 25 August, 2013 [Updated: 4:10PM]
Anti-Muslim rioters burned shops and homes in a fresh outbreak of communal unrest in Myanmar, police said on Sunday, as the former army-ruled nation grapples with destabilising religious violence.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Thailand: Release and Protect Rohingya ‘Boat People’

23-Aug-2013 15:52:56 GMT
 
(Bangkok) – Thailand’s government should release ethnic Rohingya from Burma who are detained under inhumane and unsafe conditions, and ensure their protection needs are met.

On August 13, 2013, the Thai cabinet considered a plan to transfer 1,839 Rohingya who have been held in immigration detention facilities and social welfare shelters across Thailand to refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border.

“Some senior Thai officials have recognized the Rohingya’s plight but they are still considering proposals that would keep them detained,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The Thai government needs to end the inhumane detention of Rohingya and ensure the United Nations refugee agency and other international organizations have full access to provide much needed protection and assistance.”

Hunt launched for 10 escaped Rohingya

TEN ROHINGYA detainees escaped at dawn yesterday from a detention facility of the Ranong Immigration Office.

It is the latest in a series of Rohingya escapes from various facilities in the past few months. The 10 escapees were part of a group of 118 Rohingya detainees at the facility.

The Ranong Immigration Office has begun a manhunt for the 10 runaway Rohingya.

"We have handed out their photos to motorcycle-taxi riders, community leaders and local people in a bid to track them down," office chief Ekkorn Bussababordin said, adding that he believed the 10 escapees were still in Ranong.

Ekkorn said that he would step up security measures at the detention facility to prevent further escapes.

Ten more Rohingya escape Thai Immigration, this time from Ranong again



Ten Rohingya refugees escaped the Ranong Immigration detention center in a dawn breakout yesterday. Photo: Gazette file
Ten Rohingya refugees escaped the Ranong Immigration detention center in a dawn breakout yesterday. Photo: Gazette file
PHUKET: Ten Rohingya detainees escaped at dawn yesterday from a detention facility at the Immigration Office in Ranong, the popular visa run destination for many expats and tourists in Phuket.

The incident is the latest in a series of Rohingya escapes from various facilities in the past few months. The 10 escapees were part of a group of 118 Rohingya detainees at the facility.

Rohingya flee as guards sleep

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN – A total of 34 Rohingya migrants remain at large after 37 of them escaped from a detention centre in Muang district early yesterday.
The detention centre in Prachuap Khiri Khan houses 119 Rohingya.

The escape took place around 2am Saturday at the centre in tambon Klongwan, which has two buildings housing 119 Rohingya who were transferred from Phangnga in January. The site is approximately 10 kilometres away from the Sing Khon temporary checkpoint with Myanmar.