AT the top of Gon Kha hill on the border between Thailand and Burma, the rebels of the Shan State Army shelter inside sandbagged wooden fortifications and dug-outs.

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May 30: About 500 Shan refugees will have to return to Shan State on Tuesday, the deadline set by the Thai Army by which the group must be escorted back across the Thai-Burmese border.

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May 30: Calling for a halt to the Salween dam project along the Thai-Burma border, the local people have embarked on a mass petition campaign under the banner of Karen social and environment group. Karen Rivers Watch (KRW), a coalition of Karen social and community organisations, has been collecting signatures of individuals since April one opposing construction of the dam.

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Malaysia’s government will not block a motion seeking to deny Myanmar the ASEAN chairmanship when parliament reconvenes next month, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Tuesday.

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The word crisis in Chinese has two characters: The first means “danger,” and the second “opportunity.” This is how the issue of Myanmar’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should be dealt with, given Rangoon’s obstinate posture on human rights, freedom and democracy.

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Myanmar is keen on bringing India closer to the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and has said that it would use the Bimstec agreement, currently being negotiated between Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan, to achieve the purpose.

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Thai authorities have issued a deadline of June 30 for all migrant workers in Thailand to register for work permits. The registration period begins on June 1, and any migrant worker who fails to comply by the deadline will face arrest and deportation.

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Forced labor will be the focus of the 177-nation International Labor Conference starting Tuesday, with the situation in Myanmar at the top of the agenda.

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May 30: May is a month for anniversaries in Southeast Asia. Last week, we celebrated the seventh anniversary of Indonesian democracy that followed the collapse of the Suharto regime and three decades of military rule after the reformasi uprising in 1998.

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May 26: Thailand Must Admit Civilians Forcibly Displaced

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May 30: Finding George Orwell in Burma – Emma Larkin The Penguin Press

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