The United Nations special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, says there have been no tangible results from his recent visit. (more…)

Burmese Buddhist monks will take part in a broadly based boycott of state-run examinations which are scheduled to start on March 24, according to monks inside Burma. (more…)

Burmese are not easily taken in by misinformation spread by their military rulers, but when it comes to the Internet, many are just beginning to learn the perils of putting too much faith in what they read. (more…)

Several grassroots members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), elected members of parliament and the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) have openly rejected the constitutional referendum to be held in May, according to Aye Thar Aung, secretary of the CRPP. (more…)

Till last September, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) office in military-ruled Burma had received few complaints about children being forced to join the army. But that is no longer the case. (more…)

Burmese Military Inteligence Unit arrested on 17 March Kyaw Ko Ko, the leader of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, taken away from his hiding place. Earlier, with the help of supporters, Kyaw Ko Ko twice had escaped arrest. Nyan Linn Aung, another ABFSU leader, was also arrested together with Kyaw Ko Ko. It is not known where they were taken. (more…)

All-Burmese Monks Alliance leader U Gambira has been put in solitary confinement in Insein prison, where he is currently being held, according to family members. (more…)

About 1600 signatures have been collected from the people of Arakan state for a complaint letter to the International Labour Organization about the government’s increased harassment of labour right activists. (more…)

Thai jewellers are buying highly coveted rubies and jade at an official auction this week in Myanmar, who supplies stones for the kingdom’s booming multi-billion dollars jewellery industry. (more…)

Bean farmers in Tharawaddy township in Bago division have suffered losses due to low bean prices and a poor harvest caused by unseasonal rains. (more…)

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was attacked by critics yesterday after making favourable comments about the ruling Burmese junta and indicating the government plans to focus on making economic gains from Burma. (more…)

PERSISTENT efforts by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to encourage political change in Myanmar seem to have had some impact, but the further outcome is uncertain. In recent months, Gambari has visited Myanmar three times to try to persuade the ruling junta to be flexible towards Aung San Suu Kyi, thereby opening the way to democracy. (more…)

United States lawmakers on Friday proposed a Congressional resolution urging the President to call on the United Nations to reject the Burmese military junta’s constitution and not to recognize its efforts to legitimize it through a referendum in May. (more…)

The UN special envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, met the UN General Assembly president, Srgjan Kerim, on Monday and briefed him on his recent trip to Burma and the progress of his efforts to nudge the country towards a restoration of democracy and protection of human rights. (more…)

“Burma is a Buddhist country. Burma’s leaders meditate.” Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej brought that information out of Burma last week after an official goodwill visit. Nothing about his statement is wrong, and I personally believe it’s true: The generals meditate. (more…)

We are here today to offer voice to all of the peoples of Burma, especially the Buddhist monks, who have been silenced by a cruel military dictatorship.  Today in Burma, the most fundamental human rights – the right to speech, the right to assembly, and for us monks, the right to vote, are denied. As the Special Rapportuer said in his statement to the Human Rights Council on March 14, “…between 3,000 and 4,000 people had been arrested in September and October 2007…many remain unlawfully detained including a number of monks.” (more…)

The U.S. Campaign for Burma, a Washington DC-based organization mobilizing international support for freedom and democracy in Burma, today welcomes and supports the introducing of Congressional resolution, H. Con. Res. 317, calling for the President to call for the United Nations Security Council to not accept or recognize the state constitution, unilaterally written by the Burmese military junta, and the outcome of the upcoming referendum, scheduled for May this year. (more…)