The Burmese regime continued on Wednesday with its program of sending newly convicted political dissidents to prisons in remote parts of the country. (more…)

Reported cases of landmine casualties in Burma skyrocketed during the course of 2007, with civilians accounting for the vast majority of those injured or killed, says a report by an international landmine watchdog. (more…)

A high-level roundtable of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Myanmar and the United Nations (U.N.) opened here Wednesday to review the post-Nargis relief and recovery efforts in the country. (more…)

Travelers on the Zemi river charge that delays enforced by a Karen National Union (KNU) checkpoint are designed to earn extra income for relatives of KNU members, while a KNU source says the delays are for travelers’ safety. (more…)

Additional forces have been deployed in the areas along the Mizoram’s porus border with Manipur in a run-up to December two Assembly elections to prevent any insurgent activity. (more…)

Myanmar’s gold market, like the global market for gold, has shown sharp fluctuations during the roller-coaster ride that commodity prices have experienced over the past few months. (more…)

Myanmar’s timber export market has apparently declined as international purchase power falls, triggered by the global economic crisis, reported the local Weekly Eleven News Tuesday (November 25, 2008). (more…)

Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt has said the international community needs to do more to bring about the release of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (more…)

The foreign minister of the Netherlands says he is outraged that Burma has sentenced a well-known comedian to 45 years in prison. (more…)

Burma is a multi-ethnic country. There are many ethnic nationalities such as Chin, Kachin, Karen, Mon, Arakanese, Shan and Burmese reside in Burma. Southern Part of Burma was occupied by the British in 1824, and the whole Burma was colonized by the British between 1885 to 1948. Burma gained independence in 1948, and until 1962, it was under the political framework of liberal democratic parliamentary system. General Ne Win took power in March 1962, and until 1988 General Ne Win under the political system of “Burmese Way to Socialism” led Burma. In 1988, People Power movements (known as 8888, 8 August, 1988) has successfully dismantled the one party rule of Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). (more…)

Burma and its political conditions are documented frequently in newspapers, websites and blogs across the world and the democratic movements in Burma are supported worldwide, yet despite all the social support, nothing concrete seems to be happening on the political front. An effective political and social agenda would be necessary for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the transfer of power to her political party. There are two possible options that could now be considered for the successful democratic transition in Burma. One is a political and international option of possible military action against the junta and the other is a social and regional option, a movement led by the Burmese people and these options don’t have to be mutually exclusive either.   (more…)

The situation for many people living with HIV in Myanmar is critical due to a severe lack of lifesaving antiretroviral treatment (ART). MSF currently provides ART to more than 11,000 people. That is the majority of all available treatment countrywide but only a small fraction of what is urgently needed. For five years MSF has continually developed its HIV/AIDS programme to respond to the extensive needs, whilst the response of both the Government of Myanmar and the international community has remained minimal. (more…)