The peace process and land rights

A recent report from the international NGO Displacement Solutions warns that the housing, land and property rights of Burma’s displaced ethnic people have been largely ignored during the ongoing peace process involving the central government and various armed ethnic rebel groups […]

Copper mine activists face prison for ‘insulting’ police

Burmese authorities have issued arrest warrants against three local activists, who recently told reporters in central Burma that an emergency decree, which hands sweeping powers to the military near a controversial copper mine project, should be revoked.

The trio has been accused of “insulting” local police and face charges of “inciting unrest”, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison […]

Refugee return must be voluntary, insists UNHCR

As international funding for the refugee camps in Thailand starts to decline, UN refugee officials have repeated assurances that any return to Myanmar must be voluntary, based on each individual’s informed decision, and must take place in safety and dignity […]

Forced to Flee, Women from Burma Now Pressured to Return

Working outside Burma for positive changes inside is a fundamental and imperative aspect of effective documentation and campaigning. But now, many members of the exile community — including staff of Women’s League of Burma and other women’s organizations […]

Uncertainty clouds Myanmar refugee plan: NGO

More than 160,000 Myanmar refugees living in border areas in Thailand are reportedly set to return home but information about their resettlement in their homeland remains murky, NGOs say.

The Thai and Myanmar governments are working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in preparing to resettle 3200 refugee households from nine camps in Thailand near the border […]

Will Myanmar’s War Refugees be Forced Home Against their Will?

They can’t live like this forever. Many of the 160,000 refugees evading conflict in eastern Myanmar inhabit a purgatory of thatch-roofed shanties across the river border in Thailand. Life in the United Nations-monitored camps is dreary and monotonous […]

Talk of Repatriation Spurs Tension in Border Camps

News about the construction of an alleged “resettlement” site in Karen State and claims that a dozen other sites have been earmarked for refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have led to heightened tension in the nine border camps.

The increase in anxiety among the 140,000-plus refugees was the subject of an 18-minute video report shown recently at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok […]

3 Brave Women Who Risk Their Lives for Justice

Despite death threats, exile and violence, activists remain undeterred.

Activists challenging the status quo here in the United States frequently put their bodies on the line by risking arrest or police brutality. But around the world, the simple act of speaking up for basic human rights, whether it’s pushing for an end to genocide, fighting impunity for crimes, or supporting the dignity and rights of women, all types of nonviolent resistance can risk death threats, torture, violence, harassment and exile […]

International condemnation for Monywa crackdown

Voices from around the world condemned Thursday’s crackdown on peaceful protesters by riot police at Monywa copper mine in Sagaing Division and called for a Burmese government response to the violence.

“A hospital ward full of horribly burned Buddhist monks and other protesters deserve to know who attacked them while they were sleeping and what the government is going to do about it,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The crackdown at the Letpadaung mine is a fundamental test case for the government’s commitment to peaceful assembly and willingness to demand accountability for abuses” […]

Video: Khin Ohmar’s Burma Trip Conclusion (Interview)

Khin Ohmar talks to Radio Free Asia’s Reporter at the conclusion of her first Burma visit in 24 years.