Latest Myanmar News
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Democratic Voice of Burma Monks protest in Shan capital after officials demolish monastery
Monks marched through the streets of Shan state's capital Taunggyi on Wednesday to protest a decision by the authorities to demolish a Buddhist monastery that had allegedly been built on government ...
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Agence France Presse Abe heads to Myanmar on sales mission
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flies to Myanmar Friday bearing almost $1 billion in development aid and a plan for a nationwide electricity grid as Japan tries to grab the box seats in the country's quickening ...
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The Irrawaddy Burmese migrant workers’ group receives international award
A Burmese migrant labor activist group has been honored with the International Labor Rights Award for its contribution to the labor rights movement and exposing work-related rights ...
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KIC People in ‘authority’ approve land theft
Saw Albert, the field director of the Karen Human Rights Group, in an exclusive interview with Karen News, said that since Burma's 2010 election, changes in the government's administration has allowed a lot of business and development projects to come into the country that are stealing land from ethnic ...
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Inter Press Service Remittances buoy up Myanmar’s economy
She has been on her feet in this laundromat in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai since seven in the morning and had been hoping to call it a day when two more customers walked in. She is not in a position to turn anyone away: "I need the money. My family needs me to work," she tells IPS, her voice tinged with desperation as she begins yet another load. Six do-it-yourself washing ...
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The Irrawaddy NGOs step up pressure on firms bidding to exploit Burma’s resources
In the past few weeks alone, Burma's business dealings have come under close scrutiny from several international organizations, even urging some foreign companies to reconsider doing business in Burma at all until conditions improve. And most of these organizations are based in the United States, where President Thein Sein has just become the first Burmese leader to visit the White House ...
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Agence France Presse Myanmar’s “goldrush” luring foreigners in droves
From seasoned investors to recent graduates armed with little more than hastily-made business cards and dreams of striking it rich, foreigners are pouring into Myanmar to stake a claim as it opens ...
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NPR As Myanmar reforms Indonesia offers some lessons – Anthony Kuhn
Many countries making the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy have faced similar ethnic and sectarian conflicts, from Iraq to the former Yugoslavia. But for Myanmar, perhaps the most compelling case study is also the closest. Fifteen years ago this week, a deepening economic crisis and weeks of political unrest in Indonesia forced military dictator Suharto to resign after 30 years ...
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The Irrawaddy US to upgrade Burma’s transportation infrastructure
The assistance comes as a result of Burmese President Thein Sein's meeting with US President Barack Obama during his recent official visit to the United States. It is part of a broader development aid package the United States will provide to Burma. Repair of the Rangoon-Mandalay highway, a strategic road for much of Southeast and South Asia, is included in the plan. "We are also ...
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The Jakarta Globe Police arrest alleged Myanmar embassy bombing plot mastermind
The National Police anti-terror unit Densus 88 arrested late on Wednesday a man believed to be the mastermind behind the Myanmar embassy bombing ...
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Mizzima News Prisoners of Mae Sot
A little over a week ago, a young Myanmar friend of mine, let’s call him Myo, found himself hiding in some farm fields, avoiding the Thai police while being smuggled from Mae Sot to Bangkok. Unlike many other undocumented migrants who get smuggled--and sometimes arrested--in this way, Myo had applied for a passport and work permit through Thailand’s legal registration process. ...
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Japan told to lean on Myanmar
The Japanese government needs to ensure it's getting a return on its investments in Myanmar by making human rights a priority, Human Rights Watch said. Japanese Prime ...
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Hutchison establishes PoP in Myanmar
Hutchison Global Communications (HGC), the fixed line division of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings, has unveiled its first Point of Presence (PoP) in Myanmar, established in cooperation with Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), as part of a strategy to boost data and voice connectivity between Hong Kong and Myanmar, enabling international carriers and content providers from ...
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Buddhists from Bangladesh resettle in Myanmar Rohingya Muslims cry foul
Minority Rohingya Muslims who have long alleged persecution by the Buddhists in Myanmar, say Buddhist families from Bangladesh are now being resettled on their ...
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Abe on 1st trip to Myanmar by Japan PM in 36 years
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is traveling to Myanmar on the first visit to the country by a Japanese leader in 36 years, as Tokyo bids to reassert its position as a top economic partner after decades of frosty relations with the previous military ...
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U.S. requires transparency from Myanmar
The U.S. government said it imposed requirements on U.S. investors who do more than $500,000 worth of business in the energy sector of Myanmar. The Office of Management and Budget announced that U.S. entities that have new net investments of more than $500,000 need to report on policies and procedures in Myanmar by July 1. The reporting requirements extend to human rights, corruption and any ...
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Burma Kachin people wish for international observers in peace talks
A series of skirmishes took place in Kachin and northern Shan State despite government officials declaring that war has been stopped between government troops and ethnic armies. Local sources reported that reinforcement of government troops and transportation of military supplies to frontline areas has continued in the recent weeks. Subsequent to the government used jetfighters for airstrikes ...
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Myanmar president makes landmark US visit
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar President, U Thein Sein, has gone to the United States for a landmark visit. It is the first official visit to the US by the country's head of state in 47 years. U Thein Sein will meet US President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday to discuss democracy building in the Southeast Asian country. Two agreements on trade and investment are expected ...
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Neo-Nazi denial in Myanmar
if you are interested in contributing. Myanmar has a newly registered Nazi party, the Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP), created ceremoniously in the wake of last year's anti-Muslim ethnic cleansing in western Rakhine State. Naypyidaw has incubated the party, while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has wined and dined publicly with ...
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White House welcomes Burmese president as new ally in “pivot to Asia”
A meeting between US President Barack Obama and Burmese President Thein Sein in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday signalled Washington's embrace of the Burmese military-dominated government, as part of its efforts to strategically encircle China. Thein Sein is the first Burmese leader to be hosted in the White House since former junta leader General Ne Win's visit in 1966. ...
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Myanmars kyat currency slumps to a low as imports flood in
A woman counts Myanmar Kyats at a money changer in Yangon on May 23, 2013. Myanmar's currency has plunged more than 7 per cent over the past month to the lowest since it was floated last year, raising concern about economic stability in Asia's newest democracy. -- FILE PHOTO: ...
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Can This Man Bring Silicon Valley To Yangon
Nay Aung is the founder of Oway, a tech startup in Yangon, Myanmar. He used Taste Cafe as his unofficial office when he started his company -- in part because it was one of the few places in Myanmar with a stable Internet ...
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Boat carrying 100 Rohingyas capsizes off Myanmar
A boat carrying some 100 Rohingyas has reportedly capsized off the Myanmar coast while evacuating people ahead of the incoming Cyclone Mahasen which is expected to touch land within two ...
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Japanese PM leaves for Myanmar on ties
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday left for Myanmar in an effort to promote bilateral ties and improve Japan's economic cooperation with the Southeast Asian country. During the three-day visit, the first trip made by a Japanese prime minister to Myanmar in 36 years, Abe is expected to hold talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein and other senior officials. "Japan will ...
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Reflecting on Myanmar’s religious strifes on Good Friday
Although there are reasons to be hopeful about Myanmar now, events of the past ten days have cast a dark shadow over the country. The violence against Muslims in Meiktila, which then spread to Naypyitaw, Bago and threatened Yangon, is so serious it has drawn the attention of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. If it spreads and is not stopped, it could result in the Good Friday ...
Myanmar Focus
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Foreign couple's novel approach to helping Burmese village
The political situation in Myanmar is well-known throughout the world, but often overshadows the circumstances of local people and our rich culture. A couple overseas have combined the two to create an unusual approach to helping the people of one village in the country.
Myanmar is one of the most politically and socially isolated countries in the world, much bad press is leveled at our country for decisions made and actions taken that the people are not responsible for and while attention focuses on the political dynamic of the country, the plight of many Burmese such as poverty, lack of access to water and education, become overshadowed. One family in the United States has taken a novel approach to giving back to a country that has stolen their hearts. Read more
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