Burma

A Thai construction company began their works on a second Maesot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge project on the Thai side of the border in early June. Local residents on the Thai side of the River Moei that separates Burma from Thailand said large earth moving machinery began leveling the ground, surveyors measured land while concrete workers started on the bridge supports. A…

Khun Than Cho was worried when the school called to tell her, her daughter, Aye Aye was sick. “I was planting corn with my husband and older son when I got the call. I took time off to take my daughter to the clinic.” Khun Than Cho said the medic at the village clinic said Aye Aye had a high…

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia’s policy of pushing boats of asylum seekers from Burma is‘cold-hearted,’ Human Rights Watch said in a statement released to the media. The International Organization for Migration estimates that as many as 8,000 Rohingya asylum seekers and Bangladeshi migrants are in desperate need of aid and are believed to be stranded in the Andaman Ocean and Malacca…

Human Rights advocates, Fortify Rights urged the US State Department to “assign Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Bangladesh a tier-three ranking in its forthcoming Trafficking in Persons (TIP). Fortify Rights in a statement to the media said the tier-three ranking would “encourage more robust and effective action to combat human trafficking,” by the three Southeast Asian countries. Fortify Rights executive director…

To commemorate the first anniversary of the death of U Win Tin, 21 pro-democracy organizations called for Burma’s Prisoners of Conscience Affairs Committee to be reformed. In a statement the groups said that 21st April, “people around the world will be wearing a blue shirt or blue clothing in memory of U Win Tin, who served nearly 20 years in…

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) released a statement on 7 April, 2015, to make clear its position on the nationwide ceasefire agreement reached with the Burmese government on March 31. The UNFC statement pointed out that the document, its Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) signed on March 31, 2015, “was not the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA),…

An alliance of ethnic armed groups have said that they have reached an agreement with the government about a nationwide ceasefire but now need to take the draft wording to a summit for their leaders to ratify and sign the document. Naing Hong Sar, head of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) representing the ethnic armed organizations, told reporters at…

Burma’s new investment law fails to protect human rights or prevent environmental damage, New York based Human Rights Watch has warned. Jessica Evans, international financial institutions expert at HRW said the law , “will be a legal cornerstone of Burma’s efforts to reengage with the global economy and international investors,” but expressed concern that “the government’s public consultations have been…

A news bulletin released by the Karen Human Rights Group stating that a road planned by the Burma government with funding from the Asian Development Bank threatens villagers’ ability to earn a living. The Karen Human Rights Group claim that if the Asia Highway link between Eindu and Kawkareik goes ahead the “construction would result in the confiscation of villagers’…

The Karen Women Empowerment Group (KWEG), a community based group in Hpa-an ran a training for villagers to help them understand how to vote and what their rights are related to elections. The three-day training workshop was held from 24 to 26 of March at the KWEG office in Hpa-an. The training was attended by 20 villagers from Hpa-an, Kawkareik,…