Burma

A coalition of Shan community-based-organisations released a statement calling on the President of the United States, Barack Obama, to raise the issue of ongoing military offensives by the Burmese government in ethnic areas during his visit to the country. The statement, issued on behalf of 12 community-based-organisations, including the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women’s Action Network, said…

A report by Fortify Rights, an international human rights organization based in Southeast Asia, has accused members of Burma’s authorities of being involved in human trafficking. Burma’s security forces are part of a transnational crime syndicate collecting payments from ethnic Rohingya asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Burma by boats – with authorities going as far as to even escort the…

The Rangoon based Kayin People’s Party (KPP) is focused on winning five ethnic Karen nationalities affair seats in the upcoming 2015 national election. The five constituencies are in the State and Regions outside of the designated Karen State, but where large populations of Karen people live. The Burma 2008 Constitution reserved one ethnic based minister’s seat for ethnic nationalities that…

An international human rights organisation claims in a statement released 6th November that the Burma Army is committing human rights abuses with impunity in conflict areas. The statement, released by South East Asia based Fortify Rights, stated that the Burma Army was deliberately attacking and killing civilians. Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, said that the government claims of…

It is no secret that there is division within the Karen nation about how we should respond to the political changes that have incurred in our country since 2011. Some see the ceasefire process as a genuine opportunity to start negotiations that could give the Karen people guaranteed rights. Others see it as a trap, designed to neutralise Karen resistance…

Human Rights Watch has called on the World Bank Group to pressure Burma’s government to stop ongoing human rights abuses. The New York based human rights organisation acknowledged that Burma had undergone significant reforms since a flawed 2011 election propelled a nominally civilian government into power, led by President and ex-general U Thein Sein. Yet HRW also warned that despite…

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) criticized the Burma government for failing to keep it’s promise to release all political prisoners, expressing concerns that the number of political prisoners in Burma, following a Presidential amnesty in 2012, is now on the increase. “President U thein Sein announced that he would release all political prisoners in Burma but in reality…

The New York based Human Rights Watch has issued a media statement urging the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to use his forthcoming visit to Burma to pressure the government to put the “country’s deteriorating rights situation” back on its reform agenda. HRW said in its statement released to the media on 7th August that it had serious concerns…

A Human rights organization has called for the release of a Rohingya activist and politician, Kyaw Hla Aung, 74, who has been detained by authorities for 13 months. Fortify Rights, based in South East Asia, urged Burma’s government to “immediately and unconditionally” release Kyaw Hla Aung and criticized the detention because the prosecution had “repeatedly failed to produce witnesses’ in…

When Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha announced on July 11 that the Thai refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border would be emptied, many wondered if there really is new resolve by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to repatriate the 130,000 Myanmar refugees who have been living in Thailand for many years. Gen Prayuth cited national security as the reason…