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          Buddhist Mob Attacks International Aid Group Office in Burma

   Burmese officials say a Buddhist mob has attacked the offices of an
   international relief group in the volatile western state of Rakhine.
   Police say hundreds of people surrounded and threw stones at the
   offices of Malteser International late Wednesday in the town of Sittwe.
   Officials say when efforts to disperse the crowd failed, police fired
   warning shots into the air. No one was reported to be injured.
   Residents said the unrest continued Thursday, with the mob attacking
   homes and other properties housing members of the aid group.
   Several Malteser International aid workers remain under police
   protection.
   Police say the mob was angry because of reports someone in the
   Germany-based relief group removed a Buddhist flag in front of the
   facility.
   Buddhists have placed flags in the village as part of a protest against
   the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority group.
   Members of the ethnic Rakhine majority have carried out a series of
   deadly attacks on Rohingya over the past several years.
   Up to 280 people have died in the violence, and 140,000 people have
   fled their homes.
   It is feared that tensions between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya
   Muslims will rise ahead of a nationwide census beginning Sunday.
   Many fear the count could marginalize minorities such as the Rohingya
   or other ethnic groups living in one of the many conflict areas in
   Burma, also known as Myanmar.
   The predominantly Buddhist nation is recovering from decades of harsh,
   direct military rule.
   Last month, the government tossed the international medical aid group
   Doctors Without Borders from Rakhine state.
   Government officials accused the group of stoking tensions by hiring
   Rohingya and providing more aid to Muslims than Buddhists.
   The government denies the Rohingya many basic rights, including
   citizenship. It views them as immigrants from Bangladesh.
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   d-group-office-in-burma/1880259.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/buddhist-mob-attacks-international-aid-group-office-in-burma/1880259.html