Two pregnant Myanmar women were deported after being smuggled to China and sold as surrogate mothers, the China Daily said on Wednesday, citing police in a border town in Yunnan province. (more…)

Police in India’s Mizoram state have arrested three Burmese nationals near the Burmese border on suspicion of smuggling rocket launchers into India. (more…)

The European Union will wait until next month before deciding whether to extend sanctions against Myanmar, a special envoy said on Tuesday, although another EU official saw little prospect of them being lifted. (more…)

Talks to forge a free trade deal between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have hit a deadlock, with the scope of the pact and inclusion of military-ruled Myanmar as sticking points, trade negotiators from both camps yesterday said. (more…)

An offer by Thailand to act as an intermediary between Burma’s military government and the ethnic-Karen armed group the Karen National Union is being cautiously welcomed by the rebels and rights activists. Analysts have raised doubts of a complete cease-fire unless Burma’s military government modifies the constitution before 2010 national elections. (more…)

An 11-year-old girl was the youngest victim of human trafficking crimes that were found mostly in Chaing Rai, Samut Sakhon, Songkhla and Pattani while immigrant workers were continuously lured to serve on fishing boats, as there was a 10,000 position labour shortage in the industry. (more…)

El Grupo de Trabajo sobre la Detención Arbitraria de Naciones Unidas calificó ayer de ilegal le arresto de la líder del principal partido opositor de Birmania, la Liga Nacional para la Democracia (LND), Aung San Suu Kyi, que ha pasado más de 13 de los últimos 19 años bajo arresto. (more…)

El Grupo de Trabajo sobre la Detención Arbitraria de Naciones Unidas calificó ayer de ilegal le arresto de la líder del principal partido opositor de Birmania, la Liga Nacional para la Democracia (LND), Aung San Suu Kyi, que ha pasado más de 13 de los últimos 19 años bajo arresto. (more…)

Myanmar schendt niet enkel internationale regels, maar ook zijn eigen wetten, zeggen de VN. (more…)

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is to kick off a new campaign against illegal drugs next week. And there is good reason for the new impetus on the “war on drugs”. (more…)

Earlier this year, a brief news item mentioned that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was concerned about the fate of 126 Burmese refugees being held at an undisclosed Thai location. The boat people are members of Burma’s (renamed “Myanmar,” another traditional name for the country, by the ruling military junta in 1989) Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority. (more…)

In an apparent warning to Burmese citizens and a snub to the international community, the Burmese military government has sentenced 13 more dissidents-a signal that it was playing hardball on the issue of political prisoners. (more…)

Burmese political coalition group the Forum for Democracy in Burma has stated that it opposes the planned 2010 elections and will educate Burmese people about the problems with the election. (more…)

The National League for Democracy’s Central Executive Committee has called on the junta to let them meet with party Vice-Chairman Tin Oo and General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi. (more…)

The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political arm of the Shan State Army (SSA) South, is keen to hold talk with the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to resolve all political problems of the country by peaceful means if Thailand would facilitate them, according to Sai Hseng Merng, Deputy Spokesman of the group. (more…)

Myanmar has earned more than 140 million euros, or $191 million, from sales of jade at its latest government-sponsored gem auction, despite a U.S. ban on their import, a merchant said. (more…)

The Burmese military has monopolized the country’s economy, especially heavy industries, mining and the import-export sector, since the military seized state power in September, 1988. (more…)

Number of Internet cafes in Myanmar has jumped 11 percent in less than three months, a local weekly paper reported in its latest issue. (more…)

Southeast Asian nations are expected to reach a “political compromise” on the powers and functions of a regional human rights body, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said Tuesday. In a statement to parliament, he said the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members remain divided on the details but the human rights watchdog should be launched by the group’s leaders in October. (more…)

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received newly-appointed Myanmar ambassador Khin Maung Soe in Hanoi on March 23. The Vietnamese PM expressed his pleasure at the development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially in economics, trade and investment.  (more…)