The news of the ill treatment of Rohingya refugees at the hands of Thai authorities is horrific and lamentable, but not surprising. The visualization of desperate people seeking peace being pushed back to their death with the message of “leave us alone”, strikes at the core of politicians, journalists, and civilians all over the world. I appreciate the action of Prime Minister Abhisit to investigate the situation, but it is time that Thailand and the rest of Asian nations look at their policy of treatment of migrants, but also there is a necessity to deeply investigate the overarching blindness and inhumanity of regional politicians towards the people of Burma. (more…)

Prime Minister General Thein Sein, accompanied by Lt-Gen Khin Zaw of the Ministry of Defence, the ministers, the deputy ministers, the director-general of the Government Office and departmental heads, left Yangon on 24 January. They arrived in Sittway at 10:15 a.m. (more…)

There are more than 100,000 refugees from Burma living in camps strung along the Thai border. This year, US officials say they’re planning to resettle around 14,000 refugees as they did in 2008. Some say that when the chance comes, they’ll be heading straight for the US Army’s recruitment office. (more…)

Burma’s military government should end human rights abuses against the ethnic Chin population in Burma’s western Chin state, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch also called on the Indian government and newly elected Mizoram state government to extend protection to Chin who have fled to neighboring India to escape ongoing abuses and severe repression in Burma. (more…)

Burmese opposition politicians and commentators view with skepticism the news that UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari is to return to Burma at the end of this month. (more…)

A senior leader of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) said, the United Nations (UN) envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari should push the ruling junta to hold free and fair elections in 2010, during his visit to the country soon. (more…)

Burma’s No 2 leader, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, has promised the Thai military supreme commander during an official visit to Burma that authorities will try to stem the flow of Rohingya refugees who try to reach neighboring countries illegally, according to the Thai News Agency (TNA). (more…)

The fortnightly lecture on Law Affairs was held this afternoon at the National League for Democracy (NLD) HQ in Rangoon. (more…)

A representative of the International Labour Organisation has the ILO is concerned by the recent sentencing of labour activist Zaw Htay after he helped farmers in Magwe file a report to the organisation. (more…)

Myanmar has started building a national wildlife park in its northern Chin state of Putao to undertake conservation work with wild animals, sources with the Ministry of Forestry said on Tuesday. (more…)

The Thai Navy arrested some 78 Rohingya boat people off the coast of Thailand’s southern province of Ranong Tuesday. (more…)

They work as farmhands, waiters, on building sites and in the fishing industry. Their “wage” varies from 0.25 to 0.85 US dollars a day. According to Save the Children over 400 children have abandoned school. (more…)

A course on health research information and methodologies organized by Medical Research Department (Central Myanmar) and WHO, was opened at the Medical Research Department (Central Myanmar) here at 9 a.m. today. Deputy Minister for Health Dr Paing Soe spoke on the occasion. (more…)

A crab exporter from Irrawaddy division’s Bogalay township was arrested yesterday for smuggling heroin aboard a container ship, according to a witness to the arrest. (more…)

A scandalous trade in Burmese migrant labor involving Malaysian officials and international human traffickers is now coming to light, investigators say. (more…)

BURMA IS in crisis, its exiled prime minister said in Dublin yesterday. Dr Sein Win, who was re-elected prime minister of the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) last week, said repression under the military regime has worsened. (more…)

Britain said Tuesday it was “deeply concerned” by allegations that the Thai navy abandoned hundreds of boat people from Myanmar and left them to die. (more…)

Rahima Begum holds a crumpled sheet in her hands that seems to have been folded and looked at dozens of times. (more…)

Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi has spent about 12 years under house arrest in Myanmar. These days, however, she can be seen on European TV as the star of a public-service announcement that doubles as an ad for Fiat’s Lancia Delta car. (more…)

A constitution which guarantees the rights of the people and restricts the powers of the government is a crucial foundation in the building of a country. (more…)