SIXTY-EIGHT years ago to this day 3,000 Hungarian Roma were massacred in the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camps during the holocaust. Today experts warn that their discrimination is being perpetuated with the ill treatment of Roma (Gypsies) in Europe escalating.

The independent experts on minority issues insisted that Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2^nd of August, should be marked with “commitment to confronting modern-day hatred, violence and discrimination against Roma and find real solutions to their persistent exclusion.”

Restless Beings has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 2010 to raise awareness for victims of non consensual Ala Kachuu (bride kidnapping)

This film charts two emotional stories of girls who were kidnapped and forced to marry against their will and eventually ended up committing suicide. In-depth interviews with their families as well as the thoughts of the youth of Kyrgyzstan are...

The following is an update from our sources in Arakan, Burma.

UN special rapporteur Tomas Quintana visited Maungdaw on 1st of August. He met with some Maungdaw locals amidst other Government officials. The local Rohingya Muslims could not have a chance to explain their grievances but Quintana told them that he understood the sentiments hidden inside. He may have possibly talked to two UNHCR local employees in Alay Thangyaw sub-town,12 miles south of Maungdaw and they could have explained a lot of what has actually happened.

Restless Beings is an international human rights organisation that has been championing the human rights of the Rohingya for the last couple of years. Recent weeks of violence and systematic attacks against the Rohingya have highlighted the decades of abuse and marginalisation they have faced by the Burmese state. Despite being described by the UN to be ‘one of the most persecuted communities in the world’, the majority know little of their struggle.

Our sources have updated us with information that Northern Arakan has been made into a concentration camp where Rohingya are kept and cut off from all the other regions. Upon hearing of the UN visit, preparations are being made to ensure that the Rohingya are seen to be free, but in fact the control over them is just increasing, with further reports of police and state authority attacks against them. In areas where there are a great number of military personnel, the Rohingyas are given a little more freedom to move freely and are able to purchase some food goods, however at an extortionate price which of course is unaffordable.

As apartheid gathered steam in the late 1960’s, South Africa was expelled from the International Olympic Committee and did not appear at another Olympic Games for more than three decades. The international Sporting boycott of South Africa is often quoted as one of the key drivers behind South Africa ending its abhorrent racial policies.

Fast forward 40 years, July 28, 2012 the day after a spectacular opening ceremony and with the world’s eyes on London, Restless Beings held a peaceful, vibrant demo outside London’s Excel centre where several Burmese athletes were competing. The aim was simple, to raise awareness for the discrimination, barbaric human rights abuses and state sponsored ethnic cleansing being inflicted upon the Rohingya communities by the Burmese government.

Meetings were held in Maungdaw and Buthidaung central monasteries where Buddhist monks and Rakhine civil society members attended to discuss how to the Muslims from getting daily food supplies, mainly rice. It was agreed that all food supply lines for the Rohingya Muslims should be cut. To achieve such objectives, Buddhist monks are playing a leading role to block the flow of rice and other food items to the Rohingya community.

This film has been created by Restless Beings using its extensive network of sources on the ground in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Malaysia and was filmed between 16th-22nd July 2012.

Until now, the mainstream media has failed to report on this issue from inside Myanmar as there are security concerns of filming there.  Restless Beings has put together this film to demonstrate the type of harsh treatment the Rohingya are subjected to in Arakan state of Burma.  The second objective of the film is to show the international media community that it is possible to obtain footage and report fairly without bias.

Amidst the recent violence in Arakan in Burma, Restless Beings called a Press Conference to bring to light the human stories behind the relatively unheard and unseen Rohingya community.

The evening started with an introduction from the Restless Beings Co Founding Directors- Mabrur Ahmed and Rahima Begum about the Stateless Rohingya project which was launched in 2010 and the recent campaign to raise awareness in this state of emergency since last month.