No Where to Call Home but Bangladesh Wants to Send Back

Bangladesh Keen to Send Rohingya 'Home'
Irrawaddy news, 19 July 2012

Bangladesh reiterated calls for Burma to repatriate tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees on Wednesday by telling Naypyidaw they are Burmese citizens. "Rohingyas are your citizens and it is your concern to take them back to Myanmar from Bangladesh," Foreign Minister Dipu Moni was quoted by the Gulf Times. Official statistics show nearly 30,000 documented as well as the 450,000 undocumented Rohingya refugees have been due for repatriation to western Burma's Arakan State since a mass exodus to Bangladesh in early 1990s following state-sponsored persecution by the Burmese military junta.


Indian Protest to Highlight Rohingya Plight
Irrawaddy news, 19 July 2012
Indian Islamic organization Darsgah-e-Jihad-O-Shahadat is planning to hold a "dharna" protest in Hyderabad on Thursday to highlight the perceived slaughter of Muslim Rohingyas in Burma. "Hundreds of innocent Muslims are being tortured and killed in Burma. People across the globe should join hands to stop the excesses being committed in Burma," group president Mohammed Majid was quoted by The Times of India. The protest is due be staged near the Madina Circle in the Andhra Pradesh capital in India's south, but observers believe clashes with police are on the cards as official permission has not been obtained.


Pakistan Parties Urge Rohingya Intervention
Irrawaddy news, 19 July 2012
Religious parties in Pakistan on Wednesday urged all Islamic countries to intervene to prevent the persecution of Muslim Rohingya in Burma by insisting they were being victimized on religious grounds. The Jamaat-e-Islami, Sunni Tehreek, Tanzeem-e-Islami, Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam political groups demanded that Islamic countries, in particular Saudi Arabia, use diplomatic ties to stop future killings. The parties also asked the Pakistani media to highlight their appeal while alleging that the recent strife was not sectarian violence but rather state-supported ethnic cleansing.