2015 Elections Chin Lead Story News Opinion Politics
As journalists descended on Naypyidaw to discover who will be the next president, a little-known Chin nominee’s name was butchered in the Western media.
Analysis Contributor Lead Story News Peace Process
A controversial Burmese peace initiative backed by the Norwegian government is likely to end in the coming months, less than two years after it was launched, a spokesperson has confirmed, although he insisted that it had been a “success”.
Burma has made enormous strides in addressing its HIV epidemic, slashing infection rates by 72 percent in little over a decade, but vulnerable groups including sex workers and gay men remain at risk, the UN warned on Tuesday.
The Burmese government on Friday released another 69 political prisoners, including prominent anti-mine activist Naw Ohn Hla, marking the country’s latest efforts to appease western governments.
The European Union could be breaching its embargo against Burma by providing riot gear to the Burmese police force as part of a new training programme, campaigners have warned.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has slammed the “politicisation” of humanitarian aid in Burma’s Arakan state, after an outburst of local protests reportedly forced the group to suspend some of its operations.
Violence against the Rohingya minority in Arakan state has fuelled a wider campaign of anti-Muslim hostility in Burma which threatens to derail the country’s fragile democratic reform process, a UN envoy has warned.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected allegations that an “ethnic cleansing” of Muslims is taking place in Burma.
The Burmese government is responsible for fuelling a “profound crisis” in Arakan state, where several bouts of Muslim-Buddhist clashes have claimed hundreds of lives since last year, according to a new UN report.
China defended its human rights record before a panel of UN experts in Geneva on Tuesday, amid accusations of “systematic” abuses against minority populations, including refugees from Burma.
The British government has defended its plans to offer military training to the Burmese army, despite revelations that the course may cover the “art and science of war” and “border security” management.
A draft of Burma’s highly-anticipated broadcasting law, which will pave the way for private enterprises including DVB to broadcast legally in the country for the first time, contains several troubling provisions that could restrict press freedom, media analysts have warned.
President Thein Sein has accused “outsiders” of orchestrating this week’s outbreak of communal violence in Sandoway in western Burma, suggesting it was a premeditated attack intended to undermine his visit to the region.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has sought to downplay Indonesian concerns about his controversial new asylum policy during a diplomatic visit to Jakarta this week.
The controversial China-backed Shwe Gas project sets a bad example for future investments in Burma’s extractive industries and should be suspended pending genuine regulatory reforms, a new report said on Monday.
Western demand for Thai-produced shrimps is fuelling an epidemic of abuses, including child and forced labour, among Burmese migrants working in the poorly-regulated industry, a new report warned on Thursday.
Australia is set to deport over 100 Rohingya asylum-seekers to detention centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the coming weeks, in spite of accusations that the move would breach international human rights law.
The UN has been allowed to deliver humanitarian aid to the Kachin rebel headquarters in northern Burma for the first time since December 2011, but a spokesperson warned that it will not be enough.
The Chinese company pushing to restart the controversial Myitsone dam in Kachin state is confident that Burma’s new democratic leadership, including Aung San Suu Kyi, will back the project.
The US vows to strengthen its military relationship with Burma, shortly after issuing another warning to Naypyidaw that it must sever its defence ties with North Korea.
Two US-based journalists have been blacklisted by the Burmese government after they visited conflict-struck western Arakan state to cover the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Human Rights Watch says Association Law would force NGOs to register with a military-backed body that can arbitrarily reject applications, leaving activists vulnerable to arrest and prosecution.
Burma’s ethnic Rohingya continue to face heavy persecution in northern Arakan state, despite the dissolution of a controversial border guard force.
Presidential spokesman Ye Htut defends Meikhtila police and says the UN envoy’s allegation that his convoy was attacked is totally wrong.
The Burmese government has exhibited an “unacceptable measure of support” for a systematic campaign of violence against the country’s Muslim minority, says New York-based Physicians for Human Rights.
Burma’s armed ethnic groups have fallen out over how to develop a federal union in the former military dictatorship, resulting in two rival conferences to discuss plans to end decades of civil conflict
The British government has denied breaching the EU arms embargo for Burma, after a parliamentary report revealed that it has eight active arms export licences for the former military dictatorship
The British government has approved arms export licences worth over US$5 million (£3.3 million) to Burma, even though it is considered a country of “serious human rights” concern and continues to be the subject of an EU arms embargo
An influx of foreign investment in Burma’s extractive industries is likely to fuel human rights abuses and environmental degradation across the country, a new report warned on Wednesday
President Thein Sein announced that Burma has abolished the notorious Arakan security force that has been implicated in serious human rights violations against the stateless Rohingya minority
