The fanfare surrounding the series recent Martyrs’ Day ceremonies in Burma attended by high-profile opposition figureheads has taken on a more sombre tone following the arrest of a National League for Democracy (NLD) member. (more…)

Laiza, Kachin State – “When we were young, we stepped on jade stones when we walked, found gold nuggets when we panned the rivers and saw tall teak trees when we passed by the forests,” said the Rev Lazum Tuja, a middle-aged ethnic Kachin and Christian priest, in a March sermon. (more…)

Kutupalong, Bangladesh: Three refugees from the unregistered Kutupalong camp were seriously injured in an accident near the camp early this morning, said Alam, a refugee elder. (more…)

Promises of economic development and pro-business reforms from Myanmar’s new civilian government ring hollow for entrepreneur Tin Maung, a fisheries exporter whose once-thriving firm is now on the brink of bankruptcy. (more…)

Chinese businessmen are currently the richest in Burma—a fact that obviously doesn’t sit well with the Burmese business community.
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Rangoon– A Rangoon Region Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) official said that the USDP would grant loans, totaling 10 billion kyat, to people in Rangoon Region. To qualify for a loan, a person must be a USDP member. (more…)

New Delhi–  An order by the Burmese government is preventing gold traders from speculating despite record high prices on the global market, gold merchants in Rangoon said. (more…)

More than five million people in South and Southeast Asia will die from viral hepatitis over the next decade as experts warn of a rampant epidemic that has already taken more lives than malaria, dengue and HIV/AIDS combined in the past 10 years. (more…)

Bali, Indonesia — US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says Burma will lose the trust of the international community unless it releases its political prisoners and opens dialogue with the opposition.
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The vast majority of Thais and Malaysians surveyed recently by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) say that illegal migrants in their country should not be entitled to any rights at work.
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New Delhi, Myanmarese residing in New Delhi staged a demonstration on Friday to express their displeasure over India’s decision to supply arms to defence forces of Myanmar. (more…)

In the north, troops are approaching the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Located on the Chinese border, the KIA can quickly move their operation across the border. But once in China, the KIA will have to avoid appearing to be using China as a base for operations in Burma. Otherwise, the Chinese will be obliged to come after the KIA, despite the rugged terrain along the border. China tolerates all sorts of odd characters along the border, as long as there is no violence or interferences with the government. The KIA is holding five Burmese soldiers seized during a firefight last week, and over 20,000 Kachins have fled into China to avoid the violence. Hundreds of Kachin women and children have been killed or injured by army operations.  This includes frequent cases of rape by Burmese soldiers. This sort of thing is not uncommon, as the ethnic Burmese from down south have always looked down on the northern tribes. (more…)

The catalog of documented war crimes in Burma is growing. Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) released a damning 70-page report documenting how ordinary Burmese convicts are brutally forced by the state to carry heavy munitions and supplies for the Burma Army, acting as human shields and enduring other ruthless abuses in the country’s eastern war zones. (more…)

In a recent case that encapsulates the corrupt state of play in Burma’s courts today, Than Oo and four other farmers were returning home by motorbike late on the evening on March 21 when they were stopped at the entrance to their village in Magwe Region of central Burma by a mob of about 20 construction workers from the site of a chemical factory. (more…)

Burmese army commanders have been ordered to embark on a seemingly rapacious recruitment drive that will see more than 25,000 troops added to its already formidable manpower each year. (more…)

A column of Burmese soldiers have reportedly reached a village close to the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in a sign that the group’s grip on its territory in northern Burma may be weakening. (more…)

A Burmese Army deputy battalion commander and three troops were killed today during morning fighting with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Manje Township, in Manmaw District, in Kachin State, northern Burma, KIA officials said. (more…)

Chiang Mai– Artillery attacks by Burmese government troops moved close to Myawaddy on the Thai-Burmese border as they fired heavy weapons into the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) area in Karen State on Tuesday and Wednesday. (more…)

Chiang Mai– Thailand currently has more than 1.45 million legal Burmese migrant workers, but an estimated 500,000 illegal Burmese workers did not register for work permits in the recent round that has just concluded, according to experts. (more…)

Yangon, Myanmar — The main commuter rail service providing cheap transport in Myanmar’s biggest city is to be privatized, according to a notice published Thursday. (more…)