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27
Nov
2012
7:04pm, EST
Rohingyas crowd IDP camps in Myanmar after sectarian violence
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
A Rohingya girl carries water to her tent at an IDP (internally displaced peoples) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 24, 2012.

Paula Bronstein, Getty Images — In Myanmar an estimated 111,000 people were displaced by sectarian violence in June and October. The violence affected mostly the ethnic Rohingya people who now live in crowded IDP camps racially segregated from the Rakhine Buddhists in order to maintain stability. Around 89 lives were lost during a week of violence in October, the worst in decades. As of 2012, 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar. The Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, according to the United Nations.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Images made available to NBC News on Nov. 27
Kyaw Tin examines a woman named Mumtaz at a government-run medical clinic on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25. Mumtaz was later taken to a local hospital.
A pregnant woman suffers from labor pains as foreign medical teams try to assist Rohingya in need at a makeshift medical clinic on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25.
A worker builds new housing aimed at offering the Rohingya an alternative to tented IDP (internally displaced peoples) camps on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25.
Aaisha sits with her 11-month-old baby Bibi at an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 23.
Rohingya pray inside a makeshift mosque during Friday prayer at an IDP (internally displaced peoples) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 23.
Gulzar looks out from her tent at a crowded IDP (internally displaced peoples) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar, Nov. 25.
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1 comment
What is the big deal about Rohingyas? These Rohingyas are Muslims first and Burmese last like in other non-Muslim nations. There are Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Syrians in Turkey, Paki minority tribes ones in Pakistan itself and the list is endless due to primarily Sunni Islamic religious madness. …
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Explore related topics: religion, muslims, myanmar, buddhism, sectarian-violence, rohingyas, sittwe
10
Jun
2012
11:30pm, EDT
Fighting breaks out between Muslim and Buddhist groups in northwest Myanmar
Reuters
An ethnic Rakhine man holds homemade weapons as he walks in front of houses that were burnt during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe on Sunday. Northwest Myanmar was tense on Monday after sectarian violence engulfed its largest city at the weekend, with Reuters witnessing rival mobs of Muslims and Buddhists torching houses and police firing into the air to disperse crowds.
Reuters
Policemen move towards burning houses during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe on Sunday. Northwest Myanmar was tense on Monday after sectarian violence engulfed its largest city at the weekend, with Reuters witnessing rival mobs of Muslims and Buddhists torching houses and police firing into the air to disperse crowds.
Reuters
Ethnic Rakhine people get water from a firefighter truck to extinguish fire set to their houses during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe.
Reuters
An ethnic Rakhine woman carries her belongings and a sharpened bamboo stick for protection during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe on Sunday.
Staff / Reuters
A Buddhist monk looks from the window behind a policeman during fighting between Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in Sittwe.
Reuters reports that at least seven people were killed in fighting in northwest Myanmar:

The unrest undermines the image of ethnic unity and stability that helped persuade the United States and Europe to suspend economic sanctions this year, while increasing curfews could threaten tourism and foreign investment - rewards for emerging from nearly half a century of army rule.

It might also force reformist President Thein Sein, a former general, to confront an issue that human rights groups have criticized for years: the plight of thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims who live along Myanmar's border with Bangladesh in abject conditions and are despised by many ethnic Rakhine, members of Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist majority.

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A state of emergency in Myanmar after rival mobs of Buddhists and Muslims terrorize towns and burn homes. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
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146 comments
Seems like where there are Muslims , there's trouble .... I hope the Buddhist kick there butts ....
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7
Jun
2012
6:33pm, EDT
Amid simmering unrest, China bans foreigners' travel to Tibet
© Jacky Chen / Reuters / REUTERS
Policemen take pictures of the unfolding of a giant thangka, a religious silk embroidery or painting unique to Tibet, during the Shoton Festival at Drepung Monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region August 29, 2011.
By Kari Huus, msnbc.com
Beijing has banned foreign tourists from traveling to Tibet, reports from the region said Thursday. The news comes amid growing unrest in the Chinese-ruled region, including self-immolations by ethnic Tibetans.

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Travel agents have been told that the Himalayan region is off-limits to foreign travelers, the Voice of America and other news services reported on Thursday. They said there was no word on when the ban might be lifted.
The ban comes at the start of the Saga Dawa festival celebrating the birth of Buddha, an event on the Tibetan calendar that traditionally prompts a large influx of Buddhist pilgrims and tourists to Tibet.

This year, foreigners are unable to obtain permits to travel there during the celebration, according to the reports.
"It was halted in late May. People said it was because of the ... festival," an employee at the Tibet China Travel Service told AFP.
Long-simmering unrest among China's ethnic Tibetan population erupted into large-scale protests in Tibet in March 2008, and the government responded with a crackdown. Tibet was closed to foreign tourists for more than a year, and security remains tight.
CCTV VIA APTN file
A video image from Llasa in March 2008, when Tibetan unrest erupted into the largest and most violent protests against Chinese rule of Tibet in nearly two decades. The protests were crushed by Chinese military forces, foreign travel to the region was banned for about a year and security has remained tight.
Since March of 2011, more than 30 people are known to have set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese rule, alleged human rights violations and massive immigration to Tibet by Han Chinese, according to the pro-independence advocacy group Free Tibet, which has documented cases of self-immolation.
The group said two people set themselves on fire in front of the iconic Jokhang Temple in Llasa in late May — the first reported self-immolation cases in Tibet’s capital city.
Increasingly, Tibetans have risked arrest to circulate videos of immolations and other protests for independence or greater self-determination, the group said.
Foreigners traveling to Tibet generally face more restrictions than when traveling in China, and the Chinese government rarely issues permits for foreign journalists to visit the region.
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22 comments
And the Chinese Empire sinks their bloody fangs in even further. Give Tibet BACK to the Tibetans and get your hired killers out.
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Explore related topics: human-rights, china, protest, buddhism, tibet, llasa, kari-huus