It is not often a 23-year-old human rights activist gets the opportunity to meet US President George Bush. But Charm Tong, an ethnic Shan from Burma, is not your average 20-something young woman.
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In a surprise move, and at extremely short notice, Burma’s generals have relocated the government’s ministries almost 400 km north of Rangoon to Pyinmana, central Burma. The order to move came late on Saturday, leaving shocked officials little time to pack and say their goodbyes before departing early the next morning.
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The US State Department has criticised the Burmese military’s continued abuse of the right to freedom of religion in a report released yesterday.
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Labour Minister Somsak Thepsuthin will ask the Foreign Labour Management Committee to allow 500,000 migrant workers from neighbouring Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar to meet the labour shortage in Thailand’s agricultural and industrial sectors.
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Campaign groups in the Philippines are currently pushing their government to back a final push for the Burma question to be placed on the UN Security Council’s agenda, the movement Initiatives for International Dialogue said today.
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The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions on Tuesday updated its list of foreign companies operating in Burma in an apparent attempt to draw attention to their activities as the International Labour Organization prepares to hold crucial discussions on how to deal with the Burmese junta.
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Japan has agreed to donate US $3.8 million to UNICEF to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and immunization programs, it was announced today.
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The Myanmar health authorities and a French non-governmental organization (NGO) have agreed to cooperate in prevention against HIV/AIDS, outlining tasks to be implemented in three townships in Yangon, a local weekly reported Monday.
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The International Labour Organization’s representative in Rangoon today denied reports he is being forced to leave Burma after receiving 21 death threats earlier this year. The London-based Sunday Times yesterday reported Richard Horsey had decided to leave the country because of the intimidation campaign.
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The sentencing of Shan leaders including Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) chairman Khun Htun Oo and secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin to lengthy prison terms, could jeopardise the national unity and reconciliation of Burma, the Committee for Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) said.
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Burmese veteran politicians in Rangoon are preparing to issue a statement demanding the release of Shan leaders including Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) chairman Khun Htun Oo and secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin who were given lengthy prison terms by the ruling junta.
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