U.S. to downgrade Myanmar in annual human trafficking report
The United States has decided to place Myanmar on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country’s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labor. The reprimand of Myanmar comes despite U.S. […]
Burma Votes for Change: The New Configuration of Power
The Burmese military’s decision to abide by the outcome of the November 2015 general elections, which saw a landslide by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, shows that the country’s emerging institutions—the constitution, parliament, and the party and election systems that were activated only during the political opening in […]
Myanmar court convicts man over penis tattoo poem
Maung Saung Kha is one of the first political activists sentenced since Aung San Suu Kyi took power in April. A court in Myanmar has sentenced a young poet to six months in jail for defaming former president Thein Sein, making him one of the first political activists sentenced since Nobel peace prize laureate Aung […]
A Southern Adventure in the Myeik Islands
KAWTHAUNG, Tanintharyi Division—The rumors we had heard that the remote Myeik archipelago was a difficult place to visit meant that we almost didn’t go. That would have been a big mistake. Getting to the departure point for our five day trip through some of the area’s 800-plus islands was just a plane ride from Yangon […]
Myanmar kids prep for homecoming in Thailand’s ‘Little Burma’
In a Thai port dubbed ‘Little Burma’ the children of Myanmar migrant workers peer at white boards carrying the distinctive looping characters of their parents’ language. Enrolment at the school, the first in the fishing hub of Samut Sakhon to offer a Myanmar curriculum including reading and writing, is surging as migrants wearied by the […]
Aung San Suu Kyi Asks U.S. Not to Refer to ‘Rohingya’
BANGKOK — Myanmar recognizes 135 ethnic groups within its borders. But the people who constitute No. 136? They are the people-who-must-not-be-named. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s first democratically elected government since 1962, embraced that view last week when she advised the United States ambassador against using the term “Rohingya” to describe […]
Talking trash: Cleaning up Bagan
The mystic lure of the ancient pagodas in Bagan attracts thousands of visitors every year. And with Burma’s tourist figures set to increase dramatically in the near future, steps must be taken to ensure the historical site is conserved and protected. Such an influx of tourists inevitably means tons of garbage: plastic bags, bottles, food […]
Obama to Relax U.S. Sanctions Against Myanmar
WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials on Tuesday said they would lift a broad array of sanctions on Myanmar, removing restrictions on state-owned banks and businesses as they seek to reward a historic move toward democracy in a country dominated for decades by brutal military rule. The moves, to take effect on Wednesday, will allow American […]
Myanmar’s Deep Fissures Make Explosive Powder Keg
A tenuous civilian-military dance. Simmering Burman Buddhist nationalism. An impatient populace that is struggling with rising prices and power cuts, amid record-high GDP growth. A popular but inexperienced political leadership inching toward what some call “liberal authoritarianism”.
Norwegian Minister Indulges in the Myth of a Democratizing Middle Class
The relationship between Burma and Norway has transformed in recent years; one of the most devout supporters of Burma’s democratic opposition movement has warmed considerably to the quasi-civilian government that assumed power in 2011, largely made up of members of a former military regime. The friendship has proven to be mutually beneficial, as Norway has […]
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Dragon’s Lady
YANGON, Myanmar — When in November Sai Win Myat Oo, a candidate from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, ran for a seat in the Parliament of Shan State, in southern Myanmar, he was confident in his chances of being re-elected. The people of his constituency had consistently voted for the local Shan party in […]
Dalai Lama to Suu Kyi: ease tensions in Arakan
Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has a moral responsibility to try to ease tensions between majority Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims, her fellow Nobel laureate, the Dalai Lama, said on Monday. The Tibetan spiritual leader said he had stressed the issue in meetings with Suu Kyi, who came to power in April in the […]