By Daniel Otis • Jun 03, 2013
The Rohingya question and ethnic cleansing in northwestern Myanmar

By Daniel Otis • Jun 02, 2013
By Daniel Otis Myanmar’s voice of democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been decidedly silent about human rights abuses since winning a seat in parliament last year.  She was criticised in March for backing the expansion of a Chinese-financed copper mine that would lead to the forced…

By Daniel Otis • Jun 01, 2013
By Daniel Otis The Burmese conquest of Arakan in 1784 led to the death and displacement of thousands of ethnic Arakanese. In 1824, a British invasion caused even more carnage. Under both Burmese and British rule, the Arakanese remained resentful and rebellious. As the Imperial Japanese…

By Daniel Otis • Jun 01, 2013
By Daniel Otis The ‘Rohingya question’ lies at the heart of the issue in Rakhine state. Groups such as the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) state that the moniker was adopted by Bangladeshi immigrants in the 1950s. Rakhine state’s Muslims claim that they have lived in the…