Burma’s government on Monday pardoned more than 500 prisoners, among them political detainees and some foreigners. An official announcement described the move as an effort to “bring tranquillity and perpetual peace” to the country. The move comes a week before Burmese President Thein Sein is set to travel to the United States to attend the […]
Burma Pardons 500 Political Prisoners
Posted September 17th, 2012 at 4:05 pm (UTC-5)
Leave a comment
Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi to Get US Congress’ Highest Honor
Posted September 16th, 2012 at 9:55 pm (UTC-5)
Nobel Prize-winning Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Monday begins a two-week tour of the United States, where she is to receive Congress’ highest honor. Aung San Suu Kyi will spend the first four days of her visit in Washington — meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. […]
Rights Watchdog Slams Thai Refugee Policies
Posted September 13th, 2012 at 4:45 am (UTC-5)
Human Rights Watch is blasting what it calls Thailand’s “arbitrary” policies toward refugees that it says leave thousands vulnerable to arrest and deportation. In a report Thursday, the rights monitoring group documented Thailand’s treatment of the estimated 140,000 refugees bunched in camps along Thailand’s border with Burma. The report said refugees living within the remote […]
Burmese Lawmakers Approve Foreign Investment Law
Posted September 7th, 2012 at 9:05 am (UTC-5)
The Burmese parliament has passed a long-awaited foreign investment law that it hopes will lead to a flood of investment in the long-isolated state. The new law allows foreign investors to own up to a 50 percent stake in joint ventures with Burmese business partners. Lawmakers dropped a previous plan requiring a minimum investment of […]
Rights Group Slams China for Forcibly Returning Burma Refugees
Posted September 6th, 2012 at 1:30 am (UTC-5)
Human Rights Watch has sent a letter to China accusing it of violating international law by forcing thousands of Burmese to return to their conflict-torn homeland. The group says Beijing recently returned at least 4,000 ethnic Kachins who had fled to China’s Yunnan province. It said they were sent home in late August after the […]
Burma Releases 42 Child Soldiers, Vows to End Practice
Posted September 3rd, 2012 at 11:20 pm (UTC-5)
The Burmese military has released 42 child soldiers from its ranks, as part of efforts to end the recruitment of underage fighters in the Southeast Asian country. The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper says army officials handed the children over to their parents and guardians at a ceremony in Rangoon on Monday. The paper […]
Exiled Activist Returns to Burma
Posted September 1st, 2012 at 1:15 pm (UTC-5)
A prominent Burmese activist who had been sentenced to life in prison in absentia, has returned to his homeland after his name was removed from a government blacklist. Moe Thee Zun was cheered by supporters as he arrived at the Rangoon airport on Saturday. He had been living in exile in the United States. Moe […]
Burma Releases Partial List of Names Trimmed from Blacklist
Posted August 31st, 2012 at 8:20 am (UTC-5)
Burma this week said it would remove more than 2,000 people from a controversial government blacklist long used by the country’s former military rulers to keep out critics, activists, and others deemed a threat. On Thursday, the government went a step further, releasing the names of over 1,000 people who had been trimmed from the […]
US Waives Visa Restrictions For Burma’s Leader
Posted August 29th, 2012 at 7:55 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. President Barack Obama has waived visa restrictions for Burma’s president, Thein Sein, to allow him to visit the United States during next month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. President Obama Wednesday ordered an exception in a visa ban to let Thein Sein travel freely during the U.N. General Assembly. Otherwise, Thein Sein […]
Burma’s President Pardons 2 UN Staff, 3rd Aid Worker
Posted August 28th, 2012 at 3:20 pm (UTC-5)
Burmese President Thein Sein has pardoned two U.N. personnel and a third aid worker who were sentenced to prison last week for alleged involvement in a deadly outbreak of Buddhist-Muslim violence in June. The Burmese presidential office said Tuesday Mr. Thein Sein granted the pardon to the three aid workers employed by the U.N.’s World […]
