Burma

Cha Khan villagers in Nabule area of Yephyu Township, Tenasserim Division who had their homes bulldozed by the Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD) to make way for the Dawei deep-sea project are facing difficulties to make a living. Local sources said villagers from Cha Khan were force to leave their homes to make way for construction work related to the Dawei…

A report released by the Dutch think-tank, the Transnational Institute, expressed concern at the prospect of massive development projects in conflict-ridden parts of Burma. As Burma is emerges from decades of military rule, it is attracting foreign investors – especially in the resource sector. “Burma has entered a pivotal stage in its political and economic development,” the report said, “The…

The Karen National Union has requested that the Burmese government include members of its military elite in future ‘peace talks’ between the two sides. In a meeting held yesterday, in the Burma border town of Myawaddy, the KNU chairman General Saw Mutu Say Poe met with Burma’s Vice-President, Sai Mauk Kham. According to a KNU source, General Mutu, the heads…

Despite the lifting of sanctions, experts predict that Burma’s long-term economic outlook is full of risks for potential investors, as military-linked companies continue to hold sway over the economy. It is boom time for Burma. The impoverished but resource rich country, once isolated under a military dictatorship, has seen a series of political reforms under its President U Thien Sien…

After half a century of isolation, Burma is experiencing reforms, which could lead to new development and foreign investment. However, the weakness of Burma’s civilian institutions, the stranglehold on power by the military, fade out voice from opposition needs to be solved for the betterment of the country’s future. If this does not get solved, Burma will fail to move…

Burma’s recent reforms have failed to improve the country’s human rights situation, say rights groups. Over the past year, Burma’s civilian government has released nearly 400 political prisoners, relaxed media censorship, and permitted opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party to assume 43 parliamentary seats it won in a 2012 by-election. Human rights groups…

Community workers flew from Rangoon on Saturday 19 January, to Colombo, Sri Lanka to meet with and learn from the experiences of civil society organisations who had experienced years of conflict. Ma Thiri Myat Htin, the organiser and the Program Manager of the Intensive Asia Program, spoke to Karen News. Ma Thiri Myat Htin said that the people in the…

Following the release of four protesters last week, an international advocacy group, Burma Campaign UK, called on the Burma government to stop using vague and undemocratic laws to jail its opponents. Burma’s military-backed government released four political prisoners on Friday, 18th of January. The prisoners released were Aung Hmine San, Than Htike, Min Naing Lwin and Thein Aung Myint. They…

In an exclusive interview with Karen News, Ko Bo Kyi, a founding member and joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), outlined his concerns over Burma’s on going reform process and the treatment of current and former political prisoners inside Burmese prisons. According to the AAPP in the last two years around 1,000 political prisoners have been released,…

International and local human rights groups have demanded the USA and UK pressure Thein Sein’s government to stop the Burma Army’s use of air and artillery bombardments against the Kachin. In the most recent attack on the Kachin town of Laiza the Burma Army fired heavy artillery into civilian areas – killing three and wounding a number of people. British…