Thursday, August 31st, 2006


Government-run newspaper the New Light of Myanmar Thursday charged the U.S. Embassy and the British Embassy with interfering in Myanmar’s internal affairs through conducting courses. The newspaper considered some courses such as the English proficiency course, international relations course and the global information course conducted by the two western embassies as illegal ones.
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August 30: Rangoon Division National League for Democracy (NLD) memers have been holding a 4-day long annual meeting in order to consolidate unity within the party, receive new members and make preparations for the coming NLD national meeting.
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A recent spate of expulsions in Burma’s University of Computer Studies outside Rangoon has led to growing hostility within the student body, according to student activists in the former capital. Some 300 students were expelled last week for having poor attendance records. Students are required to maintain a 75 percent attendance rate.
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Vladimir Villegas, a special envoy of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has made a rare diplomatic visit to Burma on behalf of the South American country, meeting with Prime Minister Soe Win and Foreign Minister Nyan Win in Naypyidaw, state-run The New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.
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Thailand, which has offered asylum to millions of refugees from its less-well-off neighbours over the past three decades, agreed on Thursday to a “new vision” that would see its refugee population closely incorporated into the economy.
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Myanmar (Burma) has agreed to issue “temporary passports” for citizens working illegally in Thailand, Thai National Security Council chief General Winai Pattiyakul said on August 28, The Nation reports.
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Among Chin refugees settled illegally in Camaron Highland (CHL), about 30 miles from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 900 have got registration and 700 the UNHCR card.
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A waiver in the US’s tough anti-terrorist legislation will allow tens-of-thousands of Karen refugees in Thailand to become eligible for resettlement in the US in coming years, a senior US official said on Thursday.
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As he prepared for a new life in the United States, A Ngar Nyunt was a little disappointed to learn he would have to give up chewing betel nuts, a traditional habit in his native Myanmar. The teeth-staining nuts aren’t available in America one of the things the 38-year-old refugee learned in a course about his homeland-to-be. But A Ngar Nyunt said it was a small sacrifice for getting his wife and 8-year-old son out of the overcrowded camp where they have lived for years. The goldsmith is among 2,600 Myanmar refugees scheduled for resettlement under a U.N. program to alleviate the hardships of mostly ethnic minorities who fled persecution only to languish in fetid camps just over the Thailand border.
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They may not be household names, but they exact a world of pain
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Montreal: Burma ‘s Su Su Nway, who courageously challenged the ruling military junta’s use of forced labour and won a historic court ruling against the regime last year, is the winner of Rights & Democracy’s 2006 John Humphrey Freedom Award.
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