The Burmese military junta has been interrogating political prisoners since early June about their opinions of the upcoming election and their intentions for future political activity, according to the families of political prisoners. (more…)

The Wa army in northeastern Burma will one day have to join with the ruling military government because a country with more than one army is unacceptable, the junta has warned the group. (more…)

Brussels – Burmese migrants hoping to return to their homeland after elections this year should be given retraining first, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya says. (more…)

Events have conspired to create a shortfall in funding for a prominent Thailand border aid group, meaning that food supplies to Burmese refugees in camps along the border is to be reduced. (more…)

Burmese authorities will double the airport tax for foreigners and increase it six times for Burmese citizens, two months after a new visa on-arrival was unveiled to boost tourism. (more…)

Yangon – In northeastern Shan State, opium farmers have a special welcome for visitors. (more…)

New Delhi – Burmese activists in Australia are not expecting any big foreign policy shifts on Burma, they said, after Julia Gillard was sworn in as the country’s first woman prime minister, vowing to bring changes to the government on the domestic front. (more…)

BANGKOK – Elections slated for later this year in Myanmar seem increasingly unlikely to democratically empower the country’s various ethnic minority groups, which combined account for over 30% of the population. (more…)

Chiang Mai – When Myanmar military dictator General Ne Win was still alive, foreign pundits often postulated that the country would change for the better once he passed from the scene. The country would still be ruled by the military, they predicted, but by a younger generation of more reform-minded officers that would bring Myanmar, also known as Burma, out of the Dark Ages. (more…)

Date: 27 June 2010 (Sunday)
Time: 1 pm to 5 pm.
Venue: Aoyama Gakuin University, Building No. (6), Shubuya 4?4?25, Tokyo, Japan (opposite of UN office) (more…)