The Rohingya remain one of the region’s most neglected ethnic minorities
FOR years, the plight of the Rohingya—a Muslim ethnic minority from the Burma-Bangladesh border—had been fading from world attention.
Then, earlier this year, it abruptly reemerged in the public eye following reports that the Royal Thai Navy had towed more than a thousand Rohingya boat people out to sea in engineless boats with little food or water.
IN February, The Irrawaddy launched a new online feature, enabling users of our Web site www.irrawaddy.org to post comments on stories of particular interest to them. One subject has attracted far more attention than any other: the status of the Rohingya in Burma. Every news item and commentary on this topic elicited numerous responses; taken together, they give a sense of the range of opinions on this issue.
The Hon Stephen Smith MP AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
15 April 2009
Australia will provide $3.2 million in humanitarian aid to the Rohingya people living in Burma's northern Rakhine State to improve their living conditions and provide them with better economic opportunities.
