The Pall of Silence Around Myanmar’s Fictitious Democracy

By Giacomo Tognini On March 27 this year, Myanmar Times editor-in-chief Ross Dunkley sent out an unsettling e-mail to his editors and staff. Citing “a considerable amount of pressure from different quarters” and “a number of forces from the president’s office downwards,” Dunkley instructed journalists to unequivocally avoid any reporting on matters regarding the “Rohinga […]

Experts Urge Transparency in Burma’s Businesses

Most companies operating in Burma and Southeast Asia fail to meet international standards for transparency, according to a survey by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC).

The London-based organisation, with offices and research fellows in 180 countries, deals with about 5,000 companies with both positive and negative images on human rights. One of its main goals is to obtain responses about misconduct allegations made by civil-society groups […]

Unity Journalists’ Lawyer objects to Court Procedure

An eighth court hearing for the CEO and four reporters of Unity Weekly news journal took place at a court in the town of Pakokku on Monday morning.

The five were arrested after Unity published a report on 25 January alleging that a factory in Magwe Division was in fact secretly manufacturing chemical weapons. CEO Tint San and four reporters – Sithu Soe, Paing Thet Kyaw, Yazar Oo and Lu Maw Naing – were subsequently charged with violating the State Secrets Act […]

Ethnic Leaders Discuss Ceasefire in Chiang Mai

Leaders of several of Burma’s ethnic armed groups are convening this week in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the lead-up to bilateral ceasefire talks.

The Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), a 13-member coalition of ethnic leaders created to liaise with government peace negotiators, began the two-day conference in the Northern Thai city on Monday […]

Health Crisis in Arakan after Aid Groups Forced Out

KYEIN NI PYIN CAMP, Arakan State — As three-month-old Asoma Khatu approached her final, labored breaths, her neighbor Elia, a 50-year-old former farmer, dug through the strongbox holding some of the last medicines in this camp for Burma’s displaced Rohingya […]

Condolences on the Death of U Win Tin

U Win Tin was a hero of Burma’s democracy movement. He was never intimidated, never lost hope, and never stopped working for a genuinely democratic Burma […]

People of ASEAN Stand Up To Be Counted

The ASEAN Civil Society Conference / ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) 2014, held in Yangon, Myanmar, on 21-23 March, and coorganised by long-standing Myanmar advocates to ASEAN, namely Burma Partnership, Task Force on ASEAN and Burma, and Women’s League of Burma, together with 80 other civil society organizations (CSOs) and community based organizations (CBOs),can be hailed […]

Why donors should insist the census be postponed

The upcoming national census, scheduled to start on March 30, is proving to be one of the most divisive issues on Myanmar’s agenda. Representatives of the country’s many ethnic nationalities, as well as smaller ethnic sub-groups, are raising vociferous objections. Many feel that it violates their right to identity. Such objections generally work in two […]

Refugees on the Thai-Burma border: ready for return?

  At the current time, talk of any kind of imminent return for refugees in camps on the Thailand Burma border is not only premature, it is also cruel and unfair, as it adds further stress and uncertainty to the lives of refugees who have already suffered so much. Current peace process I can’t call […]

Myanmar’s Chance to Set a Positive Benchmark for ASEAN Civil Society

On 21-23 March, the 2014 ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC), otherwise known as the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF), will take place in Yangon, Myanmar. The ACSC/APF is held annually by the ASEAN Chair country – currently Myanmar – in advance of and parallel to the official ASEAN Summit, which will be held in May and […]