Fewer than 30% of people in Burma have access to electricity, and investment is vital. But the danger is this will come at the expense of the poor U Mya Hlaing sits on a bamboo floor in his rural home an hour down the river from Yangon, explaining how in a short time, he expects to lose it in the name of development. His fields of paddy rice, along with those of his village and neighbours, have been...
Prominent journalist and campaigner for democracy, imprisoned in Burma Held in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison for nearly 20 years, Win Tin was Burma's longest-serving political prisoner, and remained an outspoken critic of the military regime until his death from kidney failure, aged 85. A journalist and editor who was self-opinionated and unbowed by authority, he was a leading figure in Burma's...
My friend and colleague Josie Buxton, who has died aged 52 of pancreatic cancer, made the world a better place. Except for short periods in Oxfam's UK headquarters, she spent most of her life working for the charity in Sierra Leone, Kenya, Mozambique and Burma, usually in charge of humanitarian programmes. In Kenya, she led the development of an ambitious programme for pastoralist communities in the...
Last ethnic insurgent group fighting Burma government asks US to guarantee future minority rights in peace settlement The last ethnic insurgent group still fighting Burma's government has called on the US to become involved in peace efforts to guarantee future minority rights. General Gun Maw, deputy commander in chief of the Kachin Independence Army and a member of the insurgents' main political committee,...
Officials say that attacks on Rohingya Muslims and foreign aid groups threaten the thaw in relations with Washington American officials are warning that attacks on minority Muslims and foreign aid groups in Burma are threatening the nascent thaw in relations between Washington and this former pariah state. The Obama administration counts Burma's transition from military rule as a major foreign policy...
Reforms begin to stall ahead of next year's vote that could see National League for Democracy gain outright victory Three years after power was handed over to a civilian government, made up of retired military who served under the dictatorship, the reform process in Burma seems to be petering out. President Thein Sein introduced a series of measures reflecting his determination to turn over a new leaf...
Former newspaper editor and close aide of Aung San Suu Kyi was the country's longest-serving political prisoner Win Tin, a prominent journalist who became Burma's longest-serving political prisoner after challenging military rule, has died aged 85. A former newspaper editor and close aide of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, he had been hospitalised with respiratory problems since March and died...
Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathien charged for using excerpts from Reuters' Pulitzer prize-winning reports on people trafficking The Thai authorities have charged two journalists with defaming the country's navy in a news report about the trafficking of refugees from Burma, amid concerns about press freedom in the country. Phuketwan, an English-language news website , posted a story last July containing...
Alan Morison, who faces up to seven years in jail over story on human trafficking, says authorities aim to shut down his website An Australian journalist set to face a Thai court on charges of criminal defamation and computer crimes says the Royal Thai Navy aims to shut down his website over its reporting on human trafficking and alleged ties to Thai security forces. Alan Morison, 66, formerly of...
Several Burmese newspapers printed black-bordered front pages today in protest at the recent arrests and jailing of journalists - a clear sign the country's media climate is worsening. The papers also carried a message inside the border saying: "Journalism is not a crime." Continue reading... ...
One journalist was imprisoned for 'disturbing a civil servant' and trespassing after attempting to interview an education official Burmese newspapers printed black front pages on Friday in protest against the recent arrests and sentencing of journalists, in the latest sign the country's media climate is worsening. It came as Reporters Without Borders said it was outraged by the imprisonment of a Burmese...
International development secretary says system must be overhauled to ensure that more is done to prepare for disasters The global humanitarian aid system is being "stretched to breaking point" by climate change, war, population growth and extremism, and must be overhauled to ensure that more is done to prepare for disasters rather than merely relieve them, the British government will warn...
Poy Sang Long is a Buddhist novice ordination ceremony of the Shan people or Tai Yai, an ethnic group in Shan state in Burma and northern Thailand. Young boys between seven and 14 are ordained as novices to learn the Buddhist doctrines. It is thought their ordination will afford prestige to the boys' parents Continue reading... ...
UN Population Fund says Burmese government has gone back on promises by excluding persecuted group from count The UN agency helping Burma conduct its first census in decades has said it is deeply concerned that members of the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim population are not being counted, accusing the government of going back on its word. In the violence-scarred state of Rakhine, census workers were...
Burma's first census in over 30 years has been overshadowed by disputes centring on ethnicity. The country's minority Rohingya Muslims have expressed their grief at not being allowed to classify themselves as 'Rohingya' on census forms, while Buddhists in Rakhine state threatened to boycott the census if the term was permitted. The United Nations, which has helped Burma carry out the census, said all...
WHO certifies 11 countries polio free after three years without reporting single new case India and 10 other Asian countries have been declared free of polio, meaning the disease has been eradicated in 80% of the world. The World Health Organisation certified the south-east Asian region which includes India but excludes Afghanistan and Pakistan polio-free after three years without a single new case...
Somi Guha's lawyers complain to BBC that use of the word 'slope' is the kind of casual racism 'constantly brushed aside' The BBC has received a formal complaint over an allegedly racist remark made by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson during one of the show's Burma specials. A law firm acting on behalf of actor Somi Guha, who appeared in 2006 sci-fi film Children of Men, has written to the BBC claiming...
Angry Buddhist protesters rampage through streets as country's first census for 30 years opens up ethnic tensions Burma's first census for 30 years is at risk of being derailed before it has even started, as renewed unrest in the country's west threatens to send foreign aid workers fleeing, making conditions impossible for counters. The government is planning a 12-day marathon operation from Sunday...
Rights groups call for repeal of rarely used colonial-era code in country where stigmatised gay men remain hidden A law criminalising "unnatural" sex is reinforcing the stigma that leaves gay men in Burma hidden, silenced and shamed, hindering efforts to contain HIV/Aids, claim experts and activists. Monks, lawyers and the police are calling for the rarely enforced law – section 377 of the penal code,...
MPs recommend 40% aid increase to drive through reforms that could 'improve living standards for thousands of people' Britain should seize the opportunity to improve the lives of people in Burma by increasing aid from £60m to £100m, MPs said on Wednesday. As Burma sheds its pariah status after decades of military dictatorship, the international development committee (IDC) urged the Department for...