US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, Kurt Campbell, has spearheaded the US government’s shift towards engagement with the Burmese regime, and is one of only a handful of foreign diplomats to have met with Aung San Suu Kyi since 2003. (more…)
The Irrawaddy recently interviewed Tin Oo, 83, the vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) who was recently released from almost seven years under house arrest. (more…)
Chiang Mai, Thailand – Women who fled conflict and oppression in military-ruled Burma have become a potent political force during their lives in exile, says a leading women’s rights activist from the South-east Asian country’s Shan ethnic minority. (more…)
DVB were one of the first to interview the National League for Democracy (NLD) deputy, Tin Oo after his release from 6-years under house arrest.
Democratic Voice of Burma Reports and images from the anti-government protests in Burma in 2007 brought the plight of citizens, journalists and free speech in the country to the world’s attention. (more…)
Finnish-born Kari Tapiola is the executive director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and has been with the Geneva-based group since 1996. Last week, he paid a visit to Burma’s administrative capital Naypyidaw to renew a one-year agreement which allows the United Nations to monitor complaints of forced labor. (more…)
In 1989 he was sentenced to prison, without any proof of having committed a crime. He was released almost 20 years later, in September 2008, though he does not see it that way himself. He did not want to be released out of pity for his old age, but only on the basis of the charges against him. This is one of the reasons why he still wears his blue prison shirt. He may be outside the prison walls, but he still is not free to do as he wants in his country. (more…)
U Thu Wai, the chairman of the Rangoon-based Democratic Party, newly formed to participate in this year’s election, talks about the military government, the election and his party’s activities. The party was jointly formed in September 2009 with Daw Than Than Nu, Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein and Daw Nay Yee Ba Swe, the daughters U Nu, U Kyaw Nyein and U Ba Swe, Burma’s late prime ministers during the parliamentary era. U Thu Wai led the Democracy Party and stood for election in the 1990 general election. (more…)
Chiang Mai, Thailand – He talks with his hands. They are in constant motion as he expresses a view, makes a joke, mumbles. (more…)
The following interview was given by Qiu Shanhe, a Kokang expert close to the leadership that was overthrown by the Burma Army in August. (more…)
Bangkok, Thailand – AMBASSADOR MARCIEL: Thank you very much, and thank you all for coming. Assistant Secretary Campbell and I just returned last night from a two-day visit to Burma. It was an exploratory mission. The main purpose of the visit was really to explain to the key parties there, and I don’t just mean political parties, but the stakeholders in the country – government, political parties, opposition, ethnic minority groups, et cetera – to kind of explain the context of our recently concluded policy review, but also to hear from them, their views and their ideas. (more…)
Freelance journalist Myint Shwe recently met Manam Tu Ja in Laiza on the Chinese border, where they discussed possible implications of the volatile situation in Burma and his brand-new Kachin State Progressive Party. (more…)
Tom Parry speaks with U Win Tin, a senior member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) who spent 19 years in prison until his release last year.
Tom Parry: What has kept you going for so long, considering all your years in prison? (more…)
Burma’s exiled prime minister explains how Aung San Suu Kyi is dealing with her sentence—and argues that, as long as the junta is around, Burma has no hope. (more…)
The following are the questions raised by the attendees and answers given by Chief of the Myanmar Police Force in the press conference on clarification of measures for State security and the rule of law. (more…)
The United States and China will convene the first annual joint Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Washington on July 27-28, 2009. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will lead the U.S. delegation. Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo will lead the PRC delegation. (more…)
Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General will visit Burma on Friday. And during his two-day stay, Ban has sought a meeting with Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling junta’s military Chief Senior General Than Shwe. (more…)
Relations between Burma and North Korea have attracted intense attention in recent weeks, as suspicions grow that the two pariah states are joining forces in a bid to thwart international sanctions against them. (more…)
Haseenah Koyakutty, a freelance Southeast Asia correspondent, spoke recently with the Prime Minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejajjiva. The exclusive interview dealt largely with how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should handle the junta in Myanmar in the wake of the recent trial of Nobel laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Mr. Abhisit is the current chairman of Asean, which advocates engagement with the Myanmar regime. Below are excerpts of the interview. (more…)
Khin Ohmar is a secretary of Forum for Democracy in Burma and a spokesperson for a campaign calling for the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. The campaign started on March 13, Burma’s Human Rights Day. On May 26, the campaign announced that it collected more than 650,000 signatures from more than 150 countries around the world. Ohmar spoke to The Irrawaddy regarding the trial of Suu Kyi. (more…)