Some Burmese refugees in Finland, insecure after a violent attack by a local mob are preparing to shift to other cities.
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Burmese political satire has taken a new turn recently. Over the past 18 years, Burmese citizens have regularly ridiculed their ruling generals for their greed, abuses and follies. Within the country, tales mocking the military junta’s failures and ignorance are relayed privately to trusted friends and relatives. Satirists living outside Burma poke fun at the junta’s backwardness at will.
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August 28: The Sittwe prison in Arakan state in Burma is a hell hole. Conditions in the prison are appalling and have been deteriorating by the day with prison wardens continuing to torture, maim and kill inmates. Prisoners are used as beasts of burden and made to plough paddy fields, cultivate and perform other forms of hard labour, according to prisoners who have escaped from the jail.
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August 28: Despite claims by both the Burmese junta and ethnic armed groups, that the use of child soldiers has been effectively controlled, child soldiers continue to exist in large numbers in both the camps, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers said.
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August 28: A Burmese civilian living at Maggin Monastery Street, Taungthukone Ward in Rangoon Insein Township died, on 16 August from the wounds he received from the savage beating of local authority and police members, according to his grieving family members.
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A township level court in Chin state in western Burma sentenced 20 Indian nationals, who were arrested in May for illegal logging, to over 10 years each in prison on August 26.
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Tham Hin Refugee Camp: Sixty-three ethnic Karen refugees from army-run Myanmar left their home of the last nine years on Tuesday, the first of thousands trading bamboo huts in the Thai jungle for a new life in the United States.
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Unabated heavy rains have caused outbreaks of pneumonia, bronchitis and malaria in the Three Pagodas Pass (TPP) Township along the Thailand-Burma border.
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August 28: One of Burma’s most famous singers sees no point in producing a new album, and an accomplished movie director says it’s nearly impossible to put together financing for a film.
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Military-ruled Myanmar plans to sell more than 1,300 lots of jade and gems this week in an auction that has become an important source of revenue for the junta, official media said Tuesday.
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Thailand plans to recruit a new batch of 10,000 workers from Myanmar to legally work mainly in industrial sector, according to Labour Minister Somsak Thepsuthin.
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The United States on Tuesday waived a law preventing thousands of ethnic Karen who fled fighting in Myanmar from being resettled in the United States, a US embassy official said.
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The proposed Asean Charter appears to be taking on a new, and certainly more refreshing, direction.
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August 26: The 1988 generation students have warned that the junta dailies’ undisciplined writings and allegations could pose a hindrance to attempts for national reconciliation. The Myanmar [Burma] Alin daily reported today that the 1988 generation students’ meeting with the British ambassador and their visit to Kale and Kalewa are attempts to incite public unrest. Ko Ko Gyi, one of the 1988 generation student leaders, issued this warning.
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August 25: Yangon: Min Ko Naing and Htay Kywe of the group under the name of “88” students and the British ambassador held discussions at the residence of the first secretary of the British embassy here yesterday evening.
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August 26: Local Burmese authorities have been pressuring and intimidating the Reverend Einthariya, a monk from Mahasi Yeiktha Monastery at Yenanggyaung, Magwe Division in central Burma, for providing help to HIV/AIDS victims.
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August 26: Leaders of Karen National Union (KNU) Central and one of its military wings, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade – 7, have sorted out their differences and decided to continue their still unfinished revolution, according to a statement issued by KNU today.
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August 23: Dhaka: Bangladesh on Wednesday sought international assistance, including from the United States, to help find a new home for thousands of refugees from Myanmar, saying it couldn’t afford to keep them any longer.
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Rangoon, Burma: A new measure to be introduced soon in Burma will prevent private companies doing business in the country from evading tax, a local weekly journal reported in this week’s issue.
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When more than 10,000 itinerant Burmese labourers gathered at the sports ground of the Royal Police Cadet Academy in Sam Pran, Nakhon Pathom, yesterday, they were looking forward to enjoying their annual traditional celebration.
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