August 6: Lawyer Aye Myint from Pegu in lower central Burma who was imprisoned for reporting the woes of local farmers to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), met with renowned 88 Generation Students led by Min Ko Naing, on Thursday.
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An armed ethnic Shan rebel faction which recently defected to the military government is reported to have reneged on the deal and headed back to the jungle.
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August 5: Yangon: Myanmar authorities have exposed 748 human trafficking cases since the work committee for human trafficking prevention was formed in July 2002 to June 2006, according to Saturday’s official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.
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The International Centre for Prison Studies of King’s College London in a new report on “World female imprisonment list” released today, said Burma has the second highest percentage of women prisoners in the world.
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Bangkok: Signs of new oil and gas deposits have been discovered off Myanmar’s coast, the Myanmar Times newspaper reported Monday, raising the prospect of further foreign investment in the military-run country.
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August 5: Yangon: Myanmar is deliberating to lease land to foreigners for the development of three proposed industrial zones to be jointly implemented by Myanmar and Thailand to mainly attract foreign investment into the projects, the local Khit Myanmar reported on Saturday.
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Burma’s problems should be treated not just as a regional issue but an international one, with a unified stance towards democratisation of the junta-ruled country, a former top diplomat said yesterday.
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Manila: Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Monday he would press Myanmar to move rapidly toward democracy during a visit this week to the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation.
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Thailand’s military chief left Monday for a three-day visit to neighboring military-ruled Myanmar, the second trip there by top Thai officials in less than a week.
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August 5: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has criticised caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand’s candidate to be the next United Nations secretary-general, for failing to influence Burma’s military regime.
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Gender-based sexual violence obstructs peace and development, particularly when it is a weapon used by military dictatorships against their own peoples. Burma is now permeated by such state-sponsored violence.
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August 5: PM’s visit flies in the face of national interests and undoes Asean’s progress in pushing the junta for reforms
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August 6: Even critics of Thaksin Shinawatra have to grudgingly admire his audacity and public-relations stunts. Still, as caretaker prime minister, his stealth diplomacy – with an abrupt half-day visit to Burma on Wednesday – surely more than raised eyebrows.
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Recent weeks have seen the continuing purge of the Customs Department in Burma. Sources in Rangoon suggest the Bureau for Special Investigations has been heavily occupied with interrogations, working continuously for up to 24 hours at times to get through all those arrested. Some Rangoon business owners have gone underground to evade arrest, hiding out inside Burma or fleeing to Thailand, China or India.
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