More than 500,000 displaced people in eastern Burma were living in relocation camps or in hiding at the end of 2004, according to a report issued by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

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It has been three years since the report ”License to Rape” exposed to the world how troops of the Burmese military regime have been committing systematic sexual violence against women in Shan state, one of the ethnic regions of Burma where civil war has been continuing for more than four decades. The report, by the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women’s Action Network, documented the rape of more than 600 women by Burmese troops.

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The head of the Burma Office in Japan, Dr Min Nyo, charged Tuesday that a Japanese aid donation to Burma would have little chance of being used for the benefit of the Burmese people.  

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A former Burmese ambassador to China on Monday accused China and Russia of acting in their own interests at the UN Security Council meeting in New York. The two countries objected to a discussion on Burma’s military regime, raised by the US, because the issue was not on the official agenda.  

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Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith has voiced support for Aung San Suu Kyi as many world leaders have called for Myanmar’s opposition leader to be released on her 60th birthday this week. Khieu, who is also a spokesman of the Cambodian government, said “Cambodia is the first among ASEAN countries to ask Myanmar to elaborate on the issue”.  

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A coalition of rights groups on Tuesday urged Malaysia to release 68 Myanmar pro-democracy activists arrested last week outside the Myanmar embassy here for protesting the detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  

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Migrant workers from Burma were the cheap labor that built Thai resorts where 2,000 foreign tourists died in the tsunami. Now, they’re rebuilding bungalows and hotels on this splendid beach to lure back tourists.  

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June 2: Cox’sbazar: Burmese military personals in western Burma are keeping a close watch on Onn kyunt Island, Known as St. Martin’s Island, in southern Bangladesh bordering Burma. The watch resulted from a rumour spreading in the border area that an American naval base is being built at Onn Kyunt Island.  

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A million-dollar tsunami warning system is to be built in Burma within three years, a semi-official newspaper reported on Sunday. The Myanmar Times quoted the head of Burma’s meteorology department, San Hla Thaw, as saying that the department will expand the existing communication network and generate public warnings at times of natural disaster.

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June 27: Responsible people and fund-providers for National Reconciliation Programme (NRP) in Burma met with exiled pro-democracy activists during a meeting at an unidentified location on the Thai-Burma border on 22 June.   (more…)

June 27: Residents of Pegu town, situated east of Burma’s capital, Rangoon, have been forced to launch town security patrols instead of soldiers and militias, according to the residents. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) township authorities force them to patrol “at least one time per month.  

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Army battalions under the Northeastern Region Command have been using brokers for conscripting people into the ranks as they were forced to recruit 72 new soldiers every year, said a local man.

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