The dispute over a fence going up on the Myanmar border continues. As the fence is erected, Bangladesh border troops are being deployed to the common border. This has an effect on the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority from Myanmar, because they cross this border fleeing rape, forced labor, and property confiscation seeking refuge...
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Author Archive
Dispute Continues Between Bangladesh and Myanmar
Tensions Rise on Burma-Bangladesh Border
There are long-existing points of tension between Bangladesh and Burma such as disputes over maritime boundaries and the movement of illegal goods. One of the most sensitive issued has been the cross-border trafficking of drugs and the migration of refugees from Burma to Bangladesh. In the last couple of weeks tensions have been mounting...
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Old News Shouldn’t Be Forgotten
We all hear stories that capture us — news stories so shocking that we’re sometimes moved to take action — but eventually the story fades or some other shocking release takes its place. The problem is that this isn’t always the case for the news subjects. Often we’ve moved on to new stories...
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Be Cautious, Be Very Cautious…
In an earlier blog I wrote about the leaders in Bangladesh and Thailand that were beginning to put pressure on the Government of Burma to discuss the out-migration of the Rohingya to Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia. It seems now that we may be beyond that point. Business Day recently reported that the...
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Resettled Refugees and the Recession
The U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program doesn’t get much attention in the news, and many that have heard about the program are lost in the complicated process of resettlement. A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor provides a bit of background on the program by following a Congolese-Rwandan family that was resettled in Clarkston,...
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The Tipping Point
The Government of Bangladesh may have reached its tipping point hosting the Rohingya refugees in the southeastern part of the country. In a recent report in Reuters, the Governments of Bangladesh and Thailand are reaching out to the Government of Burma to discuss the flow of the Muslim minority Rohingya into neighboring countries. While...
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The Rescue of Maine
Newsweek recently published an article about Lewiston, Maine, a town that once had high job losses and heavy out-migration. But now, things have turned around thanks to an unlikely source – an influx of Somali immigrants. “Increasingly, there’s an acceptance that immigration is associated with good economic growth,” says urban-studies specialist Richard...
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UNHCR Releases Refugee Statistics
UNHCR just published its statistical yearbook for 2007. This includes statistics on: populations and trends, durable solutions, displacement, asylum, living conditions for refugees, and case studies. This includes updated data on displaced and refugee populations, which rose to 25.1 million during UNHCR’s reporting period of January – December 2007. There are also figures on...
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No Place for Refuge
Photo via CNN
Facing persecution as a minority ethnic group in Myanmar, the Rohingya refugees have been fleeing their homeland since the 1970s. Some have ventured to Bangladesh, languishing in refugee camps for over 17 years. Still others have taken the riskier route to refuge traveling by sea to Thailand and Malaysia. ...
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The Bangladeshi General Elections in Context
Often international pressure is placed on countries to move toward a more democratic state and possess the associated qualities like freedom and liberty. Two weeks ago, Bangladesh celebrated a new milestone, the return to democratic rule. After election preparations in 2006 were shut down and emergency rule imposed, many on-lookers cast doubt...
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