Myanmar

  • World News

    Rohingya refugee repatriation – FAIL

    PHOTO: The Straits Times “The refugees are not willing to return now.” This, from the Refugee Commissioner at the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh as the first wave of Rohingya refugees refused to repatriate in a program that was meant to start on Thursday. People, due to head back to their original homes in Rhakine State this week,…

  • World News

    Thailand pushes for bigger ASEAN role in Rohingya crisis

    by Supalak Ganjanakhundee, Singapore South East Asia’s leaders have been meeting in Singapore this week in the lead up to the next ASEAN Summit. The Rohingya crisis has been the main talking point. Thailand says it wants to take on a greater ASEAN role in resolving the Rakhine crisis, as the group grapples with the plight of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims…

  • World News

    Aung San Suu Kyi stripped of prestigious peace award

    Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of Amnesty International’s most prestigious human rights prize, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, which she was awarded whilst still in detention in 2009. Amnesty is calling out the defacto Burmese leader and accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Once hailed…

  • World News

    The ‘war on drugs’ is a complete failure

    Authorities are losing the war against methamphetamines – pills and crystal meth. The demand for both crystal meth and ‘yaba’ is escalating as is the production to meet the increasing demand. The much-publicised ‘Wars on Drugs’ being waged from time to time in south east asian countries are doing little dent the rising popularity and production of the drugs, whilst…

  • World News

    “A genocide is still underway” – UN report

    PHOTO: Dhaka Tribune “A genocide is still underway against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims.” A UN fact-find mission on the Rohingya ‘situation’ in Myanmar, says it has presented a report at the Security Council calling for the matter to be referred to the International Criminal Court. The Chair of the committee, Marzuki Darusman, says, “Beyond the reported mass killings, the conflict included the…

  • Thailand News

    Nine Burmese migrants die in van crash inferno

    Nine Burmese labourers have died this morning (Sunday) when the passenger van carrying them smashed into a roadside tree and caught fire in Kamphaeng Phet, in the central-west of Thailand. Six others on board, including the Thai van driver, were injured. Firefighters extinguished the fire that engulfed the van on Paholyothin Road in Khlong Khlung district, only to find the…

  • World News

    Myanmar rebukes UN over Rhakine genocide report

    By Khine Kyaw , Yangon Myanmar has responded to the UNs Fact Finding Mission that concluded genocide had been committed in Rakhine, saying the Myanmar Government did not recognise the mission and accused the writers of the report of intending to create a rift between the civilian government and the military. “We have already dissociated ourselves from the resolution of…

  • World News

    The mystery of Myanmar’s missing airlines

    PHOTO: Asian Wings Airways Any trip on a local airline usually means planes either full or mostly full. But some of Myanmar’s smaller local airlines have been struggling through this year’s wet season along with a drop in tourism to the country of around 6% for the past 12 months. At least three airlines appear to have thrown in the…