China starts live-fire drills near Myanmar border

By Anthony Davis China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has begun a series of live-fire exercises close to the Myanmar border: a move that underscores the increasingly fractious relations between the two countries. Beginning with little prior notice on 2 June, the exercises have been reported in the Chinese media to involve both ground forces and […]

Myanmar is the Latest Destination for Fast Fashion Producers

As Myanmar opens up after decades of isolation, cheap labor is drawing a rush of garment manufacturers to the former pariah state. [This article was originally published by Glammonitor.] […]

Refugees Concerns Must be Address In Any Plans To Repatriate Them

A paper released last week by Burma Link and Burma Partnership claims the voices of refugees are ignored in Burma’s reforms. The joint paper, Voices of Refugees – Situation of Burma’s Refugees Along the Thailand-Burma Border, urges all the organisations responsible for refugees welfare to include them in the “planning and preparedness of their eventual return” to Burma […]

On Union Day, Views on Aung San

“General Aung San was a good citizen and a good leader. He was one in a million.

When I joined the army in 1944, he was already the war minister and commander-in-chief of the Burma Defense Army (later renamed the Burma National Army) […]

Factory owners seek to reassure worried Western investors

YANGON — Stung by international criticism of alleged “modern slavery” practices, Myanmar’s garment industry is trying to persuade potential Western customers that its factories are cleaning up their act […]

Kachin Community Mourns Slain Schoolteachers in Rangoon

By LAWI WENG RANGOON — A memorial has been held in downtown Rangoon for two Kachin women found murdered in the northern Shan State village of Kaung Kha earlier this week. Maran Lu Ra and Tangbau Hkawn Nan Tsin, two young teachers from Myitkyina, were found dead on Tuesday in the room they shared on […]

Mizzima News: ‘We want our return to be guaranteed by policy and law’

After the change of government in 2011, President U Thein Sein invited members of the Myanmar diaspora to return home. In August 2012, more than 2,000 people, including dissidents and foreign activists, were removed from a government blacklist. Many returnees hold foreign passports and have encountered difficulties caused mainly by unclear policy and visa application […]

The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Jan. 10, 2015)

By William Boot Burma Offshore Gas Project Faces Axe  One of Burma’s most promising offshore oil and gas projects is on an investment cancellation list drawn up by developer PTTEP if global oil prices continue their fall. The Thai state-owned oil company said its M3 Block in the Gulf of Martaban, where promising gas discoveries […]

Japan’s Misadventures in Burma

By RIN FUJIMATSU and ALEX MOODIE Japan has big plans for Burma. Through its overseas development assistance arm, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, it hopes to jump-start investment and development projects in one of Asia’s poorest countries. Yet haste and irresponsibility have so far undermined Japan’s reputation as a friendly regional neighbor and have the potential to […]

Exiled activists call for clearer policy on return

Myanmar exiles claim President U Thein Sein’s open-door promises to help exiles return have not been honored. This is the message that will be conveyed at a press conference by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners and Burma Partnership on December 18 at the Myanmar Media Library in Botataung Township, Yangon. The press conference will […]