Montreal — Inspired by people-power revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, Myanmar’s long-suffering opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she wants to join other pro-democracy activists by using Twitter and Facebook. (more…)

Farmers in central Burma have filed a complaint to the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) after troops there confiscated more than 30,000 acres of arable land. (more…)

Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), is stepping up its efforts to assist political prisoners, calling on Burmese living abroad to sponsor detainees serving long sentences for their political beliefs in the country’s notorious prisons. (more…)

Bangkok – The European Union’s human rights commissioner plans to visit Thailand next month for an update on EU-financed refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, officials said Monday. (more…)

Chiang Mai – About 500 Burmese and Thai homosexual activists staged a protest against discrimination against gays and lesbians in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Sunday. (more…)

Yangon, Myanmar – China, already Myanmar’s closest diplomatic ally, is now also the country’s largest foreign investor, a report said Monday. (more…)

Travellers are poised to return after Aung San Suu Kyi’s release. (more…)

Yangon — Myanmar is planning a mass polio vaccination after a seven-month-old baby was diagnosed with the virus, the country’s first case in three years, according to the the United Nations Children’s Fund. (more…)

Legal experts have accused the Burmese junta of submitting a “fictional” report to the UN that details a superficially rosy picture of its human rights record. (more…)

Fort Wanye, Ind. — When Burmese refugee Ko Maung, 46, arrived here with his family after 10 years in a refugee camp, he thought it was a strange place. (more…)

During an undercover visit to Myanmar, Mark MacKinnon concludes that sanctions policies like Canada’s do more harm than good. This isn’t apartheid. The authoritarian regime it most resembles is China, where at least foreign investment gives the poor a chance. (more…)

On a visit to Burma years ago, I was so inspired I wrote a book of poetry dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi. (more…)

Bangkok, Thailand — Three months after her release from house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi is back in the spotlight in Burma (Myanmar) over her support for Western sanctions, a stance that is increasing tensions between her political party and the military government. (more…)

The Burmese military junta knows extremely well how to use foreigners. Ross Dunkley was one high-profile personality who ventured into Burma, thinking he could take advantage of the generals, who badly needed outside help. As such, he was pretty smart in undertaking such an unwanted enterprise as investing in an English-language newspaper, The Myanmar Times, in 2000. At the time, the regime wanted a polished propaganda tool to counter opposition groups and active media in exile. (more…)

Members of the European Burma Network (EBN) met in Prague, Czech Republic, on 12th and 13th February, 2011. The European Burma Network brings together organizations promoting human rights and democracy in Burma, and works in solidarity with Burma’s democracy movement. (more…)