Arakanese Take to the Streets to Demand Gas be Used for Arakan Electricity

Today over 250 Arakanese took to the streets in the state capital of Sittwe and across two townships, wearing t-shirts, pasting stickers and posters, demanding that natural gas from Arakan coastal waters be used to generate 24-hour electricity throughout the state before any is exported to China […]

Shwe Gas Project Operator Daewoo Must Listen to the Local People’s Voices

Arakan people call for 24 hours of electricity from the Shwe Gas Project in Burma’s Arakan State

Arakanese anger is increasing and actions demanding 24 hours of electricity from the Daewoo- led Shwe Gas project have sparked throughout Arakan cities and rural areas in recent months.  Local campaigns featuring t-shirts, posters, stickers, and calendars bearing the message “24 Hours of Electricity Now; We Have the Right to Use Our Gas,” have sprung up in local cities across the state […]

Rally in Chiang Mai draws several prominent ethnic activists, international media

The rally at the U.S. Consulate in Chiang Mai this morning attracted a large crowd, including international media and several prominent ethnic activists.

Organized by The Best Friend and We Are Burma to coincide with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Burma, the highest-level diplomatic exchange between the U.S. and Burma in 55 years, the purpose of the rally was to propel ethnic and political prisoner issues to the top of the agenda for all nations increasing engagement with the new regime in Burma […]

Mandalay Peace Protest – Sangha under pressure

Since yesterday we have been unable to contact any of the five monks who led the peaceful protest in Mandalay calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to the civil wars in Burma.

The last information that we could confirm was that the five monks had been ordered to return to their hometowns with transportation arranged by the authorities this afternoon (Friday 18 November). Two local journalists today confirmed with us that all five monks arrived in Monywa in Sagaing Division. However, the local Sangha decided not to allow them to stay at local monasteries, possibly fearing repercussions from the authorities […]

Mandalay Peace Protest – Police have surrounded the monastery

On Wednesday the senior monks requested that they once again move, this time to the Old Masoeyein Monastery. After the first public speech, which was attended by around 1200 listeners, the senior monks told Ashin Sopaka and his friends that they could not give them permission to speak any more and that they now would have to move again, this time to the smaller “Water Monastery” near Mahamuni Paya.

They have permission to stay at the “Water Monastery” for only one night. On Thursday they have to move to another place. Which place that will be is still unclear. The monastery compound has since been blocked by police. No civilians are allowed to enter and talk with the monks […]

We call on all monks, people of Burma and people outside of Burma to join Ashin Sopaka

In the past several months people around the world have been asking us “Where is Ashin Sopaka?” Now everyone knows.

On 15 November at 5 a.m., Ashin Sopaka and four other Buddhist monks locked themselves in a building on the compound of Mahamuni Paya, which is one of the most revered places in Burma. They unfurled banners in English and Burmese reading: “We want freedom”, “Free all political prisoners”, and “Stop civil war now”.

This is the first public protest by monks since the mass demonstrations in 2007 […]

Monks in Mandalay begin protest for peace in Burma and the world

Local Buddhist monks in Mandalay, Burma, protested for peace and freedom inside the Maha Buddhavam Museum of the Mahamuni Buddha Image which is located in southern part of the town. They were led by five monks probably including one from Germany and the protest began around 5 o’clock in the morning […]

Burmese Activists in India Demonstrate During President Thein Sein’s Visit to India

Today about 200 hundreds India-based Burmese activists staged a demonstration during Burmese President Thein Sein visit to India from 12 to 15 October 2011.

The demonstrators demand for release of all political prisoners and to stop civil wars by shouting slogans […]

Activists Demand Real Change in Burma Rather than the Regime’s “Charm Offensive”

In September 2007, the world witnessed Burma regime’s violent crackdown on the thousands of monks and people from Burma peacefully demonstrating for change in Burma. Four years later, 2,000 political prisoners including 222 monks remain behind bars. Those responsible for the brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in 2007 are still in power behind a democratic façade thanks to the sham elections in 2010. They continue to run the country with impunity, free to continue committing serious human rights violations, especially in ethnic areas.

To remember those who sacrificed their lives for their country and to remind the world to keep an eye on what’s happening in Burma, as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi asked this week, groups inside Burma and around the world are hosting events calling on the international community to maintain pressure on Burma’s regime until it carries out genuine democratic transition, beginning with the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and bringing an end to impunity for human rights abusers […]

23rd 8888 Anniversary Protest in front of Burmese Consulate in New York (Photos)

About 100 Burmese activists protested in front of Burmese Consulate in New York on Aug 8 to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of 8888 uprising. Protests was led by 88 generation students and joined by other democracy supporters […]