The Rohingya, the Citizenship Law, Temporary Registration, and Implementation of the Rakhine State Action Plan

In February 2015 around a million people, ethnic Rohingya lost their right to vote in Burma’s upcoming election. The British government said nothing about the massive blow both to the rights of the Rohingya and the credibility of the election. The British government is still talking about the election as a critical moment in Burma’s transition to democracy […]

Following Vicious Student Crackdowns, EU Must Stop Training Thugs

Burma has once again been in the international headlines for all the wrong reasons. Rather than making headlines for, say, realizing a sustainable peace settlement between the Burma authorities and the country’s various ethnic nationalities, or blazing a trail with genuine political reforms in the lead-up to supposedly historic and seminal general elections, Burma has reverted to type. On 10 March 2015 police launched a violent and cold-blooded crackdown on student activists in Letpadan, Bago Region, brutally assaulting students, monks, ambulance workers and journalists, and arresting scores more. Their “crime” – protesting against the undemocratic National Education Law. The same day, another group of protestors was forcibly dispersed in Rangoon. Their “crime” – protesting against the violence in Letpadan.

The grim details tell a shocking story of callousness, cruelty and chaos: medical workers beaten by police through the open doors of ambulances as they attended to the wounded; journalists attacked and arrested for recording police violence, despite wearing press badges to identify themselves; students hit with batons and stamped upon even after they had been detained; monks arrested merely for supporting the student protestors and giving them sanctuary in the Aungmyay Beikman monastery in Letpadan; and protestors dragged out of houses where they had been sheltering from the violence and arrested by police going around the local area door-to-door […]

Burma Crackdown on Students: EU, UK & USA Have Questions To Answer

Burma Campaign UK condemns the violent attacks on and arrests of protesting students in Letpadan yesterday. More than 100 students were arrested and a similar number believed injured […]

British Parliament Debates Rohingya of Burma

Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK welcomes the debate on the Rohingya held in the British Parliament on Wednesday 14th January. We are disappointed however, by the response of Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP, who failed to accept that his approach has failed to influence the Burmese government, and failed to announce any new initiatives to try to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis faced by the Rohingya in Burma […]

Finnwatch Researcher Andy Hall Trial in Thailand: Charge is Dismissed due to Unlawful Interrogation Process

The Prakanong Court in Bangkok dismissed defamation charge brought against Andy Hall by Natural Fruit Company Ltd, a pineapple export factory. Natural Fruit has launched multiple criminal and civil prosecution against the researcher and activist since February 2013 as a result of his contribution to a Finnwatch report published in 2013. The report revealed serious human rights violations at Natural Fruit’s pineapple juice production facilities […]

The Shell Starts to Crack? Real Owners of Myanmar’s Oil and Gas Come Forward

Overview

Corrupt politicians all over the world use companies and trusts with hidden ownership to seize public property worth billions of dollars. This deprives ordinary citizens of money that should be spent on development and empowers unaccountable elites, often helping them gain and maintain power at the expense of democracy, human rights and peace.

Revealing the real people behind companies is critical to achieving genuine reform in Myanmar, where military families and crony tycoons have long benefited from control of natural resources like gas and gemstones. This is a critical time—in July 2014, Myanmar became a candidate member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global transparency standard which recommends that the
identities of individuals who own and control oil, gas and mining companies are published. If Myanmar can meet the standard, it will go a long way to addressing the question of who really owns the companies that control the country’s most valuable natural assets […]

Protesters Call for Fair Trial of Myanmar Suspects in Murder of British Tourists

A small crowd of protesters took to the streets of Yangon on the occasion of the Thai premier’s visit to demonstrate on behalf of the two Myanmar migrant workers accused of murdering two British tourists on the Thai holiday island of Koh Tao.

Nay Myo Zin, a former military captain and political prisoner organized the demonstration in front of Yangon City Hall between 8 and 9 am October 10 to call for a free and fair trial by the Thai authorities of Myanmar nationals Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 21 […]

Smattering of Rangoon Protesters Greet Thai PM Over Koh Tao Murder Case

RANGOON — A smattering of Burmese activists held two days of protests against the arrest of a pair of Burmese migrants accused of murdering two tourists on southern Thailand’s Koh Tao island last month, as Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrived in Rangoon on Friday for the second day of his first overseas trip since taking the helm of the military-ruled country.

A group of about 20 Burmese led by the Movement for Democracy Current Force held a protest and prayer vigil at downtown Rangoon’s Sule Pagoda on Thursday evening, holding placards that urged the former general turned prime minister “to let the accused two Burmese receive the benefit of the doubt.” […]

Myanmar Takes Global Lead on Company Ownership Transparency

25 oil and gas companies in Myanmar have set a global precedent by publishing who their real owners are, said Global Witness in a new report published today.

“People need to know who is buying up their most valuable assets – this is a global first in one of the places you might least expect it,” said […]

Case Against Labour Rights Defender Draws International Outcry – Nearly 100 International Rights Groups Demand Industry Action

Today (8 August), nearly 100 international and national labor and human rights groups and NGOs sent a joint-letter to members of the Thai Pineapple Industry Association (TPIA), calling on them to to urge TPIA member Natural Fruit to drop the criminal and civil charges it leveled against researcher and labor rights activist Andy Hall. Signatories to the letter include representatives of more than 20 countries, as well as global organizations including the International Trade Union Confederation, European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) and Human Rights Watch […]