Burma: Continued Use of Military-issued Instructions Denies Rights

Much has been made in recent times of the continued use in Burma of antiquated and anti-human rights laws from the country’s decades of military rule, as well as from the colonial era. While legislators discuss the amendment or revocation of some laws […]

Burma: Continued Violations of Fundamental Freedoms and New Forms of Control Expose the Empty Façade of Reforms

Human rights protection in Burma will remain illusory if fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association are not properly safeguarded in the current legal reforms in Burma, warned the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development […]

ASEAN: Postpone Deeply Flawed ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

The idea that all human rights are to be ‘balanced’ against individual responsibilities contradicts the very idea of human rights agreed upon in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was affirmed by all States, including ASEAN Member States, in 1993 in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,” said Wilder Tayler, Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists.

Violence and Threats Block Access to Medical Care in Rakhine State

In the past few days MSF teams, working together with the government and other international and national humanitarian organizations, have assessed the medical needs of thousands of people newly displaced by violence near the city of Sittwe and the surrounding townships. These joint teams provided some food, water, and emergency health assistance, but the displaced people remain extremely vulnerable due to the loss of their homes and other resources.

UN Refugee Agency Urges Calm Amid Latest Violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

The United Nations refugee agency has called for an immediate return to calm in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where ongoing inter-communal violence has uprooted more than 35,000 people […]

US Campaign for Burma’s Statement on the Situation in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma

United States Campaign for Burma today expresses its concern over the ongoing violence in Rakhine (Arakan) State in the western part of Burma, also known as Myanmar, between the Rakhine Buddhist community and the Muslim community, known as the Rohingya. Violence has erupted between the two communities since May of this year and continued to this day with the great loss of hundreds of lives, thousands of houses and properties, and more than one hundred thousand peoples displaced […]

International Observers Needed In Rakhine State, Burma

Burma Campaign UK today called on the British government to work for UN mandated international observers to be stationed in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma, following almost five months of violence, arrests, and restrictions on humanitarian assistance to Burma’s ethnic Rohingya minority […]

CSW Calls for International Action to End Violence in Arakan State, Burma

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling on the international community to invoke the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ principle, in light of the Burmese Government’s failure to end the conflict in Arakan State, western Burma, between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims.

Under the principle of ‘Responsibility to Protect’, which is aimed at halting Mass Atrocity Crimes such as ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, the international community has a responsibility to help states fulfil their responsibility to protect their citizens […]

Myanmar Urged to End Violence and Protect Vulnerable Communities in Rakhine State – UN Experts

“The Government has an obligation to protect all of those affected by recent violence, including the Muslim Rohingya community which is particularly vulnerable, to guarantee their safety and respond urgently to their needs, including shelter, food and medical care,” said the UN Independent Expert on minority issues, Rita Izsák. “It must act rapidly to ensure that this situation does not deteriorate leading to further loss of life and displacement of communities.”

Signs of Hope in South East Myanmar

A significant decrease in forced displacement has been documented by community‐based organisations in South East Myanmar after a series of ceasefire agreements were negotiated earlier this year. While armed conflict continues in Kachin State and communal […]