European Union: Council Conclusions on EU strategy with Myanmar/Burma

1. The European Union has a strategic interest in strengthening its relationship with Myanmar/Burma and welcomes the peaceful transfer of power following credible and competitive elections in November 2015 […]

EU deploys Election Observation Mission to Myanmar

In response to an invitation by the Union Election Commission (UEC), the European Union has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Myanmar to observe the general elections scheduled for 8 November 2015. This is the first time that the European Union is observing elections in Myanmar. The Mission underscores the EU’s support for Myanmar’s democratic transition and its commitment to supporting credible, transparent and inclusive elections in the country […]

Joint Statement-Criminal Atrocities Increased Against Rohingya for Rejecting Green Card

European Rohingya organizations call on international community to pressure Myanmar government to stop excruciating and forcing the Rohingya community into accepting a new ID known as ‘green card’, valid for just two years, for national verification with Bengali identity. It is an ethnocide aims at making the Rohingya aliens and people of Bangladesh origin […]

Myanmar/Burma: Sustained EU Engagement at UN Critical to Support Human Rights Reforms

Amnesty International, FIDH (the International Federation for Human Rights), and its member organization, the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma) today call on the European Union (EU) and its member states to ensure continued international engagement on the human rights situation in Burma by again introducing a resolution on the country at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in October 2014. A failure to retain a robust UNGA resolution on Burma would endanger progress on human rights, which has increasingly come under threat this year […]

Reform of the Police and the Judiciary is a Matter of Urgency

Over recent weeks, there has been a spate of unprovoked attacks by the Burma Police Force on peaceful, innocent civilians. On 14 August, nearly 50 police personnel in Mandalay Region shot at a group of around 200 farmers from Nyaung Wine Village, Singu Township. According to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a 30-year-old mother of two, Ma San Kyin Nu, is allegedly one of the victims, and has been admitted to Mandalay General Hospital for urgent medical treatment as a result of her injuries. The farmers were protesting against the fact that over 6,000 acres of their land was confiscated in 1991 by the 121 Logistic Battalion of the Burma Army – without any compensation being provided – by continuing to plough their fields.

After the police violence, the protesting farmers prevented police from making any arrests; however, later, another 100 police arrived and blockaded the entire village. Local residents then took matters into their own hands and briefly detained about 40 police officers, angered at the brutal approach of the police to the land conflict. Although the policemen were eventually released after negotiations, the dangers and risks of uncontrolled police violence and impunity are evident: blood has been shed and anarchy has prevailed. Even if police allegations that the protestors were armed with slingshots is true, under no circumstances is the use of live ammunition by police or other state security forces on civilian protestors proportionate or justified.

Furthermore, on 14 May, All Burma Federation of Students Union (ABFSU) member Kaung Htet Kyaw was beaten by police during a suppression of a farmers’ protest in Thegon Township in Pegu Region. Kaung Htet Kyaw sustained severe head injuries. ABFSU responded by releasing a statement denouncing police mistreatment [..]

Communiqué by Heads of Missions of the European Union

1. The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the EU Delegation have just concluded a four-day mission to Northern Rakhine State. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Government of Myanmar for the excellent cooperation and hospitality extended to us during this mission, and notably to the Union Minister for Border Affairs, Lieutenant General Thet Naing Win, the Chief Minister of Rakhine State, U Hla Maung Tin, and the Deputy Minister of Immigration and Population, U Kyaw Kyaw Win, and their teams […]

Remarks by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton at the Press Conference at the End of the EU-Myanmar Task Force Meeting

“It has been a great privilege to be here for two days. We had over 600 people who participated in the Task Force including over 100 European Union business leaders, who have travelled here from all over to express their willingness and commitment to support this country on the journey […]

Aung San Suu Kyi and EU Parliament Urged to Place Human Rights, Anti-Muslim Violence at the Top of the Agenda of European Visit

Legislators from across Southeast Asia today called on Aung San Suu Kyi and European Parliamentarians and leaders to use the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader’s visit to Europe to secure greater commitments to tackle persistent human rights concerns in Myanmar, and draw particular focus on growing sectarian conflict and anti-Muslim violence there […]

EU-Myanmar: Embrace Civil Society!

The developing EU-Myanmar partnership must reflect commitments to civil society, said an alliance of human rights organizations ahead of the launch of the EU-Myanmar Joint Task Force. “We urge you to ensure substantive civil society participation in all areas of the task force,” the organizations wrote in a letter to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton […]

EU Must Highlight Ongoing Human Rights Abuses in UNGA Burma Resolution

Members of the European Burma Network welcome the decision of the European Union to continue with the annual United Nations General Assembly resolution on Burma.

We are concerned that despite the fact that the government of Burma has not met a single one of the twenty main demands made in last year’s resolution, the European Union had seriously considered discontinuing the resolution […]