• Burmese
Thursday, July 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Buddhists Leaving Bangladesh Welcomed in West Burma

Nyein Nyein by Nyein Nyein
February 1, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Buddhists Leaving Bangladesh Welcomed in West Burma

A Buddhist temple burnt by Muslim rioters in Cox’s Bazar in September. (Photo: Reuters)

13.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

After a year that saw Buddhist and Muslim communities in Burma’s Arakan State engage in numerous bloody clashes, the state government has now taken the step of welcoming Buddhist Arakanese from neighboring Bangladesh. But it is resettling them in violence-wracked northern parts of the state.

Arakan State government spokesperson Win Myaing said in recent months local authorities had welcomed “hundreds” of Buddhist people, such as ethnic Arakanese, Maramagyi and Thet, who wanted to leave southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District in Chittagong Division.

“We have not set how many we will accept, but if they come, we will help them,” he said by telephone.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

Myanmar Junta’s Power Transfer Looms, but Real Control to Remain With Regime Boss

July 17, 2025
371
Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

Belarus Universities Teach Myanmar Junta How to Kill: JFM

July 17, 2025
196
Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

July 17, 2025
409

More than a dozen Buddhist temples and 45 houses were set ablaze after hundreds of Muslim protesters ran riot in Cox’s Bazar on Sept. 29 last year. Following the violence some Buddhist groups have begun leaving Bangladesh for western Burma’s Arakan State.

There are some 300,000 Arakanese and other Buddhist minority groups living in southeastern Bangladesh, according to some estimates.

The tensions in Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar District seemed to be a spillover of the inter-communal violence in Burma’s neighboring Arakan State, where Arakanese Buddhist and Muslim Rohingya clashed repeatedly after an outbreak of violence since June last year.

During waves of religious communal violence that swept over Arakan State scores of people were killed, villages were burned down and some 115,000 people—mostly Muslim Rohingya—fled their homes.

According to a local social worker, “two or three” Buddhist families from Bangladesh were crossing into Maungdaw Township in northern Arakan State daily since December.

“We have to help them because they are fellow [Arakanese] ethnic group,” said the worker, who preferred not to be named.

State official Win Myaing said the local government had decided to settle these new arrivals in Maungdaw Township, where it had begun to create guarded and government-supported “model villages” for them.

“So far we have provided for 44 households in our ethnic villages in Maungdaw,” he said. “We provide homes and 2 acres of farmland to each household.”

Newcomers, he explained, were first being settled at Baho Buddhist monastery in Maungdaw town, where they would receive assistance before being transported to the “model villages” located about 10 to 15 km from central Maungdaw town.

Win Myaing said the newly-arrived Arakanese would be provided with security by Maungdaw township authorities and Burma Border Securtiy Force, who they could contact for protection in case of local communal tensions.

“We take care of their security and there is no need to worry about it,” he claimed.

Maungdaw Township in northern Arakan State was one of the scenes of bloody clashes between Muslim Rohingya’s and Buddhist Arakanese last year.

Buddhist and Muslim communities live in close proximity of each other in parts of Arakan State. In most parts, Buddhist communities outnumber Muslims.

In Maungdaw Township the Rohingya are present in greater numbers and the Buddhist villagers who did live there, fled after last year’s outburst of violence, leaving for Sittwe Township and other areas further south.

A Maungdaw resident said that tensions there had come down and the security situation was “stable,” although people felt “fear in their minds.”

He said that it made sense to settle Buddhist arrivals in the area, as there so few of them left. “We have 600,000 Muslims here, but only 20,000 Buddhists,” claimed the resident, who preferred not be named.

It remained unclear on Friday, whether the families who had left Bangladesh were aware of the fact that they were being settled in an area that was the scene of recent inter-communal violence.

Arakan State’s Buddhist leaders have been accused by international human rights groups of being complicit in last year’s violence. State authorities allegedly offered little support to Muslim Rohingya communities that were being attacked, while the communities were being encouraged to leave.

Your Thoughts …
Nyein Nyein

Nyein Nyein

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.5k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
90.4k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87.1k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
47k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.8k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
At Laiza Schools

At Laiza Schools, a Longing for Normalcy

Burma Business Roundup (Saturday, Feb. 2)

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

2 days ago
1.2k
‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

6 days ago
801

Most Read

  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Rakhine Fighters Close In on Myanmar Junta’s Naval Base

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Behind the Scenes: China’s Hand in Myanmar’s Election

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Recaptures Nawnghkio After Months-Long Counteroffensive

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s Recapture of Nawnghkio Shows Strategic Missteps by TNLA

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.