Burma

NAY PYI TAW (Myanmar Now) – Myanmar’s new parliament nominated four presidential candidates on Thursday, with Htin Kyaw, a nominee from the National League for Democracy (NLD), tipped to be president. One name was notably absent – Nobel peace laureate and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi who did not attend the event. Despite a landslide election victory for the…

High profile women, including actress Dame Judi Dench and actress Gillian Anderson, have put their names to a document calling on action to stop the sexual assault and rape of women in Burma. The pledge, which was released to mark International Women’s Day, called for: 1. An investigation into rape and sexual violence by the Burmese military against ethnic women…

A report by the Asian Human Rights Commission warns of a rise in the number of politically motivated arrests. The AHRC welcomed the prospect of the newly elected NLD led civilian government, but pointed to Burma’s ongoing human rights violations. “Despite the historic election having taken place, peaceful protestors have continued to be subject to rights violations,” The AHRC said…

For dozens of elected representatives and losing candidates, as well as the Union Election Commission, the election process is far from over. NAYPYITAW (Myanmar Now) – On a recent February morning, just after Myanmar’s new, democratically-elected parliament convened amid near-universal praise, the office of the Union Election Commission (UEC), situated in a remote corner of the vast capital, was abuzz…

New executive members of the Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) have called for the new NLD government to put the issue of refugee repatriation on its agenda. The KRC executive said the new government had to ensure refugees could ireturn in safety and with dignity when the time came. The KRC call was made following the election of the new Karen…

In an exclusive interview with Karen News, Padoh Kwe Htoo Win, general secretary of the Karen National Union, explains that the Burma’s new government priorities are to change the Constitution and to begin political dialogue with the country’s ethnic armed groups. Padoh Kwe Htoo Win, points out that political dialogue has been on the KNU’s agenda for more than 60…

As part of its preparation for the upcoming political talks with the newly elected National League of Democracy government, representatives of the Karen National Union held a meeting with civil society organizations to exchange views. The meeting was held in Hpa-an at the office of the Research Institute for Social Events (RISE), on February 4, 2016. At the meeting, Padoh…

A Karen National Union delegation met with the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) in Cambodia last week to discuss about cooperation in the peace building process in Burma. The four-member-delegation led by Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, the KNU secretary, visited Cambodia from the 2nd to the 4th February, 2016 and met with CPSC officials to talk about…

Burma community based groups working on child protection issues met to press the new government to recognize birth registrations recorded on the Thai Burma border and among migrant communities in Thailand. The Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Child Rights (CPPCR), a community group working on child protection issues hosted a workshop on 1st February in the Thai border…

Burma’s new parliament held its first sitting today – with Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party making up the majority of the ranks of parliamentarians present. The NLD won 77 % of the vote in nationwide elections on November 8 last year – including significant support in ethnic areas. Aung San Suu Kyi is widely respected by…