Burma

Advocacy groups claim government’s mining decision derailing country’s democratic progress. The Molo Women Mining Watch Network (MWMWN) and the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) today strongly condemned the government of Burma’s decision to grant mining contracts inside Karenni State, an ongoing zone of conflict. The two advocacy groups said the decision highlighted how Burma’s reformist government, led by ex-general Thein…

The United States and Australia need to adopt a calibrated approach in extending military assistance to the new leadership in Myanmar. Without such a calculated framework, Washington’s efforts at building partner capacity will be much less effective. Since 2012 the United States, followed by Australia, has extended military assistance and relaxed restrictions on defence cooperation to Myanmar. Then Secretary of…

A Karen migrant worker died after falling from the sixth floor of Chiang Mai construction site on Monday, September 16. The dead worker was identified as 20-year-old, Saw Ye Tun Naing, who came to work in Chaing Mai from the Delta region of Burma. Saw Than Hlaing , a fellow migrant worker, told Karen News that Saw Ye Tun Naing…

British MP, Valerie Vaz delivered more than 2,000 letters from supporters of Burma Campaign UK on 12 September to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, calling for action to end sexual violence against women in Burma. Burma Campaign UK called on the British government to highlight Burma when Foreign Secretary William Hague travels to New York for a major meeting at…

Karen National Union (KNU) leaders based in southern Burma have called on the parliament speaker, Thura Shwe Mann, to help move forward the the ‘cease-fire code of conduct’ between the KNU and the government. P’doh Saw Beeler, Joint Secretary of KNU’s Mergui-Tavoy District, urged Thura Shwe Mann who visited southern Burma recently to urgently help get both sides to accept…

A Karen National Union (KNU) delegation led by its chairman General Mutu Say Poe met recently with Karen political parties in Hpa-an to discuss plans it has for amendments to Burma’s contentious 2008 Constitution. The KNU delegation met with the Phalon Sawaw Democratic Party (PSDP), the Karen People Party (KPP), Karen State Development Party (PSDP) and Karen Democratic Party (KDP)…

Human Rights Watch warns that Burma’s draft association law fails to meet international human rights norms and should be revised, warning that it permits “excessive government control” over civil society groups. Burma’s draft Law Relating to the Forming of Organizations, made public on July 27, 2013, threatens civil society groups, says HRW. The draft associations law contains a number of…

Burma’s government in a move to speed up trade and tourism between Thailand, announced yesterday, August 28, that it would allow foreigners holding its visa’s to travel into the country by any of the four entry points. The four border gates are between Myawaddy-Mae Sot, Tachileik-Mae Sai, Kawthaung-Ranong and Htee Khee-Sunaron. Speaking at the ceremony held to mark the opening…

Following on from his dramatic fact finding trip to Burma last week, when his car was attacked by religious fanatics, Mr Tomas Ojea Quintana, a United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, paid a visit to the Thai-Burma Border to meet with civil society groups. Mr. Quintana met with the border-based groups in the Thai town of Mae Sot to…

Labour rights groups, including the Migrant Worker Rights Network, Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, Human Rights and Development Foundation and State Enterprise Workers’ Relations Confederation of Thailand, have together expressed concern over a lack of clarity in Burma and Thailand’s migration policy as the two countries latest National Verification (NV) policy initiative expires. The NV process, despite being plagued by exorbitant…