Dear Snr-Gen:

I write this letter to highlight the fact that our country needs a break. (more…)

Part I demonstrated how in Burma peripheral state agents engage in fragile bargains with local societies, resulting in space at the margins for civil society activity. Juxtaposed with this somewhat optimistic reading, we also saw how these bargains only hold because ordinary Burmese have been trained to be silent – and thus civil society space is not capitalized upon to impel political changes. This is largely a result of despotic power deployed by the military-state aggressively dominating the political realm, foreclosing on political organizing and preventing mass political consciousness from developing. (more…)

Commander of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army’s (DKBA) 907 brigade Gen. Na Kham Mwe’s refusal to sign up to the junta’s Border Guard Force (BGF) proposal, that will see ethnic armies assimilated into the Burmese army, has led to a rise in tensions as the SPDC is reported to be moving artillery near to Walay in preparation for an offensive against dissenting DKBA forces. (more…)

Bangkok – The Japanese government will allow 32 ethnic minority Myanmar refugees living in Thailand to resettle in Japan, sources told Kyodo News on Monday. (more…)

Chiang Mai – Burmese migrant workers responded with cautious optimism to the words of Burma’s Deputy Foreign Minister yesterday, in which he urged the Thai Labor Minister not to arrest and prosecute Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. (more…)

Yangon – State-controlled companies from Myanmar and China have inked a deal to build a 1,055-megawatt hydropower plant on the Ngawchanka river in Kachin province, news reports said Sunday. (more…)

Hanoi – Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win left last week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s (ASEAN) summit meeting before a key regional security forum that likely would have raised the topic of his country’s alleged nuclear ambitions. His early departure underscored the lack of leverage the 10-member grouping has in pushing military-run Myanmar towards more transparency and democracy. (more…)

Delhi – Burma’s military leader, Than Shwe, arrived in India today for a controversial five-day visit aimed at deepening ties between the neighbouring countries and gaining international legitimacy for elections he is expected to call in less than three months. (more…)

Chiang Mai – As Burmese military leader Senior General Than Shwe continues his five-day state visit to India, pressure is mounting on New Delhi to supplant near-term economic and military interests with support for Burma’s pro-democracy opposition. (more…)

Burma’s military junta is enjoying being a media celebrity in the build-up to elections it previously announced would be held at the end of this year in an attempt to “guide flourishing democracy”. With the people of Burma lacking freedom for five decades and experiencing so many wrongs since 1990, the mere advertisement of an election would seem an easy sell. But the fundamental question is – when will the generals hand over power to a fairly elected government? The logical answer appears to be not any time soon. (more…)

Prevailing current opinion is that Burma’s elections this year will be a charade and the opposition is right to condemn them. Burma, commentators say, is a totalitarian state controlled by a military clique that has ruled the country for nearly half a century. But the myth of totalitarianism should be challenged, as should the assumption that there is no potential for meaningful social change to exist around the election process. Because while the conditions for politics in Burma are hardly ideal, a legitimate opportunity for reconnecting with average people – and opposing the military’s march toward pseudo-normalcy – exists in this year’s elections. (more…)

?A former CIA-trained Burmese intelligence officer suggests that Burmese junta supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe will only release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and some political prisoners as a last tactic before the election if he faces strong international pressure. (more…)

With the input of North Korean advisers, the Burmese military junta has modernized its Tatmadaw (armed forces) by upgrading its strategic motor vehicle forces, forming a Missile Force and improving the operation of the people’s militias operating under its People’s War Strategy, according to information leaked by military sources to The Irrawaddy.   (more…)

A new group formed to accommodate the 20 million-odd members of the recently-disbanded Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) will operate under the pretext of propagating Buddhist doctrine. (more…)

Despite being under tremendous pressure from within the fold and the Burmese military junta, Col. Saw Lar Pwel (Bo Nauk Kham Mwe), commander of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) Brigade 5, has refused to meet Gen. Ye Myint on the contentious issue of transforming to the Border Guard Force (BGF), according to his juniors. (more…)

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Forced to flee their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs and seek shelter in Burma’s dense jungles, Karen villagers trying to escape Burmese government military offensives are being exposed to malaria carrying mosquitoes at an alarming rate. (more…)

Hanoi — The United States told an Asian security forum Friday it was “deeply concerned” about oppression in Myanmar, calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to attacks against ethnic minorities. (more…)

Washington — The US Congress on Thursday renewed a ban on imports from Myanmar for another year, seeking to pressure the military regime over human rights and democracy as well as alleged ties to North Korea. (more…)

Hanoi – More study is needed into allegations that Myanmar is developing nuclear weapons, diplomats from Russia and the European Union said Friday in Hanoi. (more…)

With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attending the ASEAN Regional Forum this week, it is an opportune moment to examine U.S. efforts to engage with Burma (also known as Myanmar). When President Obama was inaugurated, many in the international community were particularly enthusiastic about a return to U.S. multilateralism to address global problems. Nowhere was this more necessary than in the case of Burma, where a brutal military dictatorship has for decades both oppressed its people and failed to yield power, despite losing democratic elections in a landslide in 1990. (more…)