Discussions relating to the release of political prisoners and the Burmese army’s human rights abuses in ethnic areas will be prioritized at an upcoming meeting between a UN human rights envoy and the opposition party, National League for Democracy (NLD), said party spokesman Nyan Win. (more…)

Burma’s ethnic armed groups say they are worried that recent moves by the country’s government to reach out to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and exiled Burmese dissidents could put ethnic conflicts on the back burner and create divisions between mainstream political players and long-marginalized minorities. (more…)

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) executive meeting yesterday spoke positively of the beginning of a co-operation process with the government. (more…)

A Vehicle convey carrying the Karen State Minister, Major General Zaw Min and Director of the People’s Militias and Border Forces Directorate Major General Maung Maung Ohn were ambushed on their way back from a Border Guard Force (BGF) one year anniversary celebration in Myawaddy township on 20 August. (more…)

Bangkok – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed talks between Myanmar’s president and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, calling on both sides to build on the tentative improvement in relations. (more…)

New Delhi – The dollar price fell to a record low of 680 kyat on Monday on the foreign currency exchange market, further hurting Burma’s export industry. (more…)

Chiang Mai – In reply to an MP’s question in the Burmese Lower House of Parliament, Health Minister Dr. Pe Thet Khin said that his department received a very small health budget––about 43 percent of its essential needs. (more…)

Many people from neighbouring countries, who believe that work in Thailand is the ticket to a better life, pay to be smuggled here, oblivious to the risks of human trafficking. (more…)

Washington—United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a top US lawmaker welcomed last week’s meeting between Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein and expressed hope that it would pave the way towards a real representative democracy in the country. (more…)

London – Rejected by the countries they call home and denied the most basic of rights, stateless people live in a shadowy limbo — in the words of one such person, like being “between the earth and the sky”. (more…)

On Friday in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw, Aung San Suu Kyi held a meeting with President Thein Sein of the military-controlled quasi-civilian government, under the portrait of her martyred father U Aung San  (How his portrait all of a sudden adorns the walls of Presidential office is a story for another day). At that time, the regime was also holding a three-day national workshop on poverty reduction. (more…)

Washington, D.C. – There are around 12 million people worldwide who lack citizenship and basic rights in the country in which they live. This stateless status often keeps children from attending school and condemns families to poverty. And it can be particularly hard on women – a fact that I had reinforced to me on a recent trip to Malaysia. (more…)

In her latest weekly conversation with listeners, Aung San Suu Kyi says mutual respect among Burmese ethnic groups is key to national unity. (more…)