Imprisoned leaders of the 88 Generation Students group have pledged their continued support for pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi but warned she should treat her new friendly relationship with the Burmese government with caution. (more…)

Rangoon — A number of high-ranking Burmese government officials, including cabinet ministers and  military generals, are involved in smuggling cars into Burma and illegally registering them in the country, according to sources within the government. (more…)

A proposal in the People’s Parliament made by Thingangyun township’s representative Thein Nyunt to revoke the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act has been rejected by a vote in parliament yesterday. (more…)

Yangon — The hardships and oppression of living in this authoritarian country all but vanish at the gates of its soccer stadiums. Or so say the fans, who swarm into the grandstands for a carnival of drunken revelry that would never be tolerated outside the stadium walls. (more…)

Officials from the National Human Rights Committee on Land and Forest will travel to Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi to get first-hand information on disputes between authorities and a group of Karen people. (more…)

Mahn Nyein Maung, a leading member of the Karen National Union (KNU) who once escaped from Burma’s most notorious penal colony, is again in the hands of the Burmese authorities after being sent to Rangoon by Chinese officials, according to family members. (more…)

China has become Burma’s biggest business partner in terms of trading value, replacing Thailand, and is likely to benefit from the open-market policy the most, said Burmese and Thai businesspeople as well as the Thai Board of Investment (BoI). (more…)

Officials from Russian state run gas company, Gazprom visited Burma’s capital Naypyidaw earlier this month, according to the International Oil Daily. (more…)

Finally the Indian Parliament has bowed down to listen to people’s voice on corruption and resolved to frame a strong anti-corruption legislation. Following a massive protest spread across the sub continent led by Gandhian Anna Hazare, both houses of Indian Parliament have now agreed to go for an effective Lokpal (ombudsman) to check corruption in every level of the populous country. (more…)

The High Court in Australia ruled Wednesday that the country cannot send asylum seekers to Malaysia. (more…)

The recent meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, the new dictator of Burma, has given many in Burma some hope that there may be a chance of political progress at last. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma also reflected this hope in comments after his visit to Burma at the end of August. But he was also cautious, talking about the potential for change, not actual change, and the fact that serious human rights abuses continue to be committed. (more…)

Desperate for international legitimacy, Burma’s new president has been keen to give the impression of change in the country. ASEAN shouldn’t be fooled. (more…)

CHIANG MAI – Myanmar’s new civilian government is making big efforts to show its legitimacy as a democratic regime. With little concrete action to back up government pronouncements, questions remain whether the world is simply seeing a repeat of the smoke and mirrors practiced by the military junta it has supposedly replaced. (more…)

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) welcomes the efforts of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, to ensure that justice and accountability measures are introduced to address human rights violations and build peace in Myanmar. We call on the European Union and ASEAN to support Mr. Quintana’s call. (more…)

Burmese President Thein Sein recently encouraged Burmese exiles to return home. One of his presidential advisers  says Parliament will pass a bill to implement the offer. Mizzima correspondent Tun Tun asked Ko Ko Hlaing, a presidential adviser, how the amnesty offer will work. Ko Ko Hlaing explained that all exiles could return and no one would be punished except people who have committed criminal offenses, and he described other aspects of the bill to be introduced in Parliament. (more…)