China: Refugees Forcibly Returned to Burma

Thousands of Kachin at Risk From Conflict, Abuses, Aid Shortages 

China should stop its forced returns of thousands of ethnic Kachin refugees to northern Burma, where they are at risk from armed hostilities, Burmese army abuses, and lack of aid […]

Burma: Rights Lawyer’s Passport Confiscated, AHRC Writes to Govt

The Asian Human Rights Commission on Thursday wrote to the government of Burma calling for a human rights lawyer to have his confiscated passport returned.

In a letter to home affairs minister U Hla Min, the AHRC executive director Wong Kai Shing said that U Aung Thein had had his license confiscated at the airport on return from a meeting in Hong Kong at the end of July […]

Bangladesh: Assist, Protect Rohingya Refugees

Humanitarian Aid Desperately Needed; Crisis Situation in Burma Continues

The government of Bangladesh should immediately cease its punitive restrictions on international organizations providing lifesaving humanitarian aid to the more than 200,000 Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also open its borders to Rohingya fleeing sectarian violence and abuses by Burmese security forces in Arakan State in western Burma […]

UN Commission of Inquiry will be the Credible Investigation on Arakan Violence

We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations welcome the formation of the Commission of inquiry to investigate on the violence of Arakan State by the President of Burma. At the same time we feel this investigation will not be credible and truly independent because […]

Freedom House Encouraged by Nascent Press Freedom Reform in Burma

Freedom House welcomes the announcement by the Burmese Government that it has ended pre-publication censorship and views it as another positive step in opening up the space for free expression. However, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board (PSRD) has not been dismantled and highly restrictive media restrictions still remain firmly in place […]

Statement of ASEAN Foreign Ministers on the Recent Developments in the Rakhine State, Myanmar

ASEAN Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their strong support for the ongoing democratization process in Myanmar. Within the context of such positive progress, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers are following closely recent developments in the Rakhine State […]

Two Armed Non-State Actors Become the First Signatories of Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment for the Protection of Children from the Effects of Armed Conflict

The Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army (KNPP/KA) and the New Mon State Party/Mon National Liberation Army (NMSP/MNLA) from Burma/Myanmar are the first to sign this instrument. The signings took place on 2 August 2012 in Geneva […]

No Political Activists Must Remain in Burma’s Jails: Free Zaw Zaw Aung

Burma Campaign UK today repeated its call to Jeremy Browne MP, British Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Burma, to pressure Burma’s military backed government to agree to the formation of a joint domestic and international board with the involvement of the UN, to investigate how many political prisoners remain in Burma’s jails, and secure their release […]

Statement of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar

I have just concluded my six-day mission to Myanmar – my sixth visit to the country since I was appointed Special Rapporteur in March 2008. I would like to express my appreciation to the Government of Myanmar for its invitation, and for the cooperation and flexibility shown during my visit, in particular for my visit to Rakhine State […]

Burma: AHRC Welcomes Release of Phyo Wai Aung; Calls for Redress

The Asian Human Rights Commission has welcomed the release from prison on an amnesty today of Phyo Wai Aung, a young man falsely accused, tortured and imprisoned over the April 2010 bombing, and has called for him and other freed victims of gross abuses of human rights in Burma to receive rehabilitation and redress […]