DFID Should Conduct Inquiry Into Burma Census Funding

Burma Campaign UK is calling on Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development, to conduct an inquiry into the decision making process which led to the Department for International Development (DFID) giving the government of Burma £10m ($16m) of British aid money for Burma’s controversial census […]

Karen Worldwide Call for Burma’s Census to be Postponed

28 Karen community organisations from 11 countries are writing to the United Nations Population Fund and their respective governments, expressing deep concern over Burma’s upcoming census, and calling for it to be postponed […]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar was established pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/58 and was recently extended by Human Rights Council resolution 22/14. The present report, submitted pursuant to Council resolution 22/14 and General Assembly resolution 68/242, covers human rights developments in Myanmar since the previous report of the Special Rapporteur to the Council in March 2013 (A/HRC/22/58) and to the Assembly in October 2013 (A/68/397). The present report to the Council is the last by the current mandate holder before the end of his six-year term in May 2014 […]

UN Human Rights Council Burma Resolution must not Drop Demands for Action

The content of the next United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution on Burma is currently being discussed by the European Union. Members of the European Burma Network call upon European Union members to ensure the Resolution continues to highlight ongoing human rights abuses in Burma, and continues to call for action by the government of Burma to end these abuses […]

MSF Concerned about the Fate of Thousands of Patients in Myanmar after Being Ordered to Cease Activities

AMSTERDAM – Médecins Sans Frontières Holland (MSF) has been ordered by the Union Government of Myanmar to cease all activities in the country. MSF is deeply shocked by this unilateral decision and extremely concerned about the fate of tens of thousands of patients currently under our care across the country […]

MYANMAR: ABOLISH ABUSIVE RESTRICTIONS & PRACTICES AGAINST ROHINGYA MUSLIMS

The 79-page report, Policies of Persecution: Ending Abusive State Policies Against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, produced by Fortify Rights is based primarily on the analysis of 12 leaked official documents and a review of public records, as well as interviews with Rohingya and others in Myanmar and Thailand. The documents published in the report reveal restrictions that deny Rohingya basic human rights, including the rights to nondiscrimination, freedom of movement, marriage, family, health, and privacy. All of the restrictions and enforcement methods described in the report appear to be in effect at the time of writing.

“Regional Order 1/2005,” obtained by Fortify Rights, lays the foundation for a two-child policy enforced in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, requiring Rohingya “who have permission to marry” to “limit the number of children, in order to control the birth rate so that there is enough food and shelter.” This order—which in practice translates to a strict two-child policy— also prohibits Rohingya from having children out of wedlock […]

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 […]

Statement From Members Of The European Burma Network

Members of the European Burma Network express their deep concern at reports of further massacres of members of the Rohingya ethnic group in Burma. The report by the United Nations that at least 48 Rohingya men women and children have been killed, and that police were involved, provides yet more evidence that the current approach by both the government of Burma and the European Union to address ongoing abuses against the Rohingya is failing […]

Burma Refuses To Sign Sexual Violence Declaration

On Tuesday 24th September 115 countries signed a new declaration of commitment to end sexual violence in conflict. Despite high level lobbying by the British government, the government of Burma failed to support the declaration.

The declaration of commitment to end sexual violence in conflict was launched by British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Zainab Hawa Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, at the United Nations in New York […]

Myanmar Prepares for ASEAN Chairmanship in 2014

As Myanmar continues preparations to assume the role of chair of ASEAN for the first time in 2014, a U.S.-supported event brought Government officials together with senior officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia and Indonesia, and officials from the ASEAN Secretariat, to present Myanmar with an opportunity to learn from past ASEAN chairs […]