Exiles Want More Change Before Burma Given Asean Chair

Recent reforms by the Burmese government are not enough to warrant the country’s taking the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2014, say long-time opposition exiles.

The Burmese government is pressing to head the ten-state regional bloc, after being refused its turn to hold the rotating Asean chair in 2006. Incumbent Indonesia is sending Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to Burma to discuss the matter, prior to an upcoming Asean summit in Bali scheduled for Nov 17 […]

Opium Cultivation Surging in Constituency of Burma’s New Ruling Party

A new briefing paper by the Palaung Women’s Organization (PWO) exposes a dramatic increase in opium cultivation in Burma’s northern Shan State in the constituency of a drug lord elected into the new military-backed parliament […]

Kachin Churches Attacked, Women Raped and Civilians Killed by Military While Regime Talks of Reform

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is deeply concerned by reports that the Burma Army are directly attacking churches in Kachin State, beating pastors and church members, setting homes alight and raping, torturing and killing civilians.

According to CSW’s sources, on 16 October soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 438 seized control of a Roman Catholic Church in Namsan Yang village, Waimaw township, where 23 worshippers, mostly women and elderly people, had gathered for the 8am Sunday service […]

Civil Society Responds to Indonesia: Burma is Not Ready to Chair ASEAN

On 18 October, the Task Force on ASEAN and Burma (TFAB), a network of Burma’s exiled civil society groups, sent an open letter to Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to call on ASEAN to delay its decision regarding Burma’s bid for the bloc’s chairmanship in […]

RI to assess development in Myanmar

Along with the government, the House of Representatives will assess the latest developments in Myanmar before deciding on whether to accept Myanmar’s bid for the chairmanship of ASEAN at the Bali Summit next month.

Deputy Chairman of the House’s Commission I on foreign affairs, TB Hasanuddin, said that his commission had set a meeting with the Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, in order to assess the situation in Myanmar, including the progress that the country had made in terms of democratization […]

Open Letter to Indonesian Government as the Chair of ASEAN on Gross Human Rights Violations in Burma

Your Excellency,

We, members of the Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy (SAPA, a network of Asian civil society organisations engaged intergovernmental processes at the sub-regional, regional and international level, working on various issues of public interest), write to you today, in view of the fact that Indonesia is currently serving as the Chair of ASEAN, to share our continued concern about gross human rights violations in Burma/Myanmar ahead of your mission to the country on 26 October 2011 […]

RI told to delay ASEAN decision on Myanmar chair bid

The ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) called on current ASEAN chair Indonesia to delay agreeing on Myanmar becoming ASEAN chair in 2014 until the country showed real progress in democratization.

Observers and stakeholders are speculating that during the ASEAN summit in Bali next month, ASEAN leaders will agree to grant Myanmar the grouping’s chair […]

Burma: Army Committing Abuses in Kachin State

Burma’s armed forces have committed serious abuses against ethnic Kachin civilians in renewed fighting in Kachin State, Human Rights Watch said today. Since hostilities began over five months ago against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Burmese armed forces have […]

Letter to the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa

We write today, on behalf of the Task Force on ASEAN and Burma (TFAB), in response to your 19 September statement that you would “be keen to listen and to hear the voice of civil society” on whether Burma should be granted the chairmanship of ASEAN. We thank you for […]

An Open Letter in Support of the President of Myanmar’s Decision on the Suspension of the Myitsone Dam Project and a Call for a Review of the Hatgyi Dam Project in Kayin (Karen) State

We, the members of Karen Rivers Watch wish to express our appreciation of your government’s decision on the suspension of the Myitsone Dam project in Kachin State . Karen Rivers Watch sees this decision as an important step towards […]