Rohingya Discrimination Is Myanmar Policy, Report Says

By Shibani Mahtani

Feb. 25, 2014 12:35 a.m. ET

Rohingya Muslim women look out from their home in Sittwe, Myanmar. Reuters

YANGON—A report released Tuesday alleges that the Myanmar government has in place official policies that deny Rohingya Muslims the same rights as others in the country, including population control measures and restrictions on their movements. 

Released by Fortify Rights, a Southeast Asia-based human rights organization, the report also highlights other discriminatory policies applied to the Rohingya, including restrictions on marriage, childbirth and construction of places of worship. The group said the 79-page report, "Policies of Persecution," is based primarily on 12 leaked official documents and a review of public records.

Full Report

Download the full report from Fortify Rights.

Rights Group: Burma's Rohingya Policies May be 'Crimes Against Humanity'

VOA News

February 25, 2014 

FILE - An internally displaced Rohingya woman holds her newborn baby surrounded by children in the foreground of makeshift tents at a camp for Rohingya people in Sittwe, northwestern Rakhine State, Burma.

A rights group has claimed that Burmese authorities are committing crimes against humanity by enforcing discriminatory policies against Rohingya Muslims, tens of thousands of whom have fled the Southeast Asian country.

Myanmar: Abolish Abusive Restrictions & Practices Against Rohingya Muslims

Leaked Documents Implicate Government Actors in Crimes Against Humanity 

(Bangkok, February 25, 2014)— Leaked government documents reveal severe violations of human rights of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, including restrictions on the freedom of movement, marriage, childbirth, and other aspects of daily life in northern Rakhine State, Fortify Rights said in a new report released today. The report implicates state and central government officials as perpetrators of the crime against humanity of persecution. Crimes against humanity are among the most serious crimes under international law.     

“The impacts of these restrictions are severe and have been well-documented for decades, but the official orders have been kept out of the public domain until now,” said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. “This architecture of abuse contributes to political instability and violence and must be lifted immediately.”   

Weak and hungry victims of human trafficking rescued in police raids

by embun majid AND tan sin chow

Help at last: The four Myanmar men who were found chained together in a room.

SUNGAI PETANI: When the four Myanmar men were finally rescued, they were weak, hungry and stripped of all dignity as human traffickers had chained them together like slaves.