Librarian's Choice
အဓိကအကြောင်းအရာ
Description/subject:
News:
Young women leading
community development
projects;
Torture and ill-treatment
in Burma: Findings from
the Human Rights Network
report;
Mon farmers to bring
lawsuit against Zaykabar
Company;
Children at highest risk
for malaria in Tavoy
Township...
Brief Report:
Absent ruleoflaw
and human rights abuses
in Three Pagodas Pass
border town...
Analysis:
Examination and Critique
of the 2012 Farmland Bill [The title used the term "Bill" though this is clearly an alnalysis of the Act or Law]:
Analyzing the Pyi Daung Su Hluttaw Law No.11, 2012;
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
Date of publication:
2012-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-12
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
"The Mon Forum" (English)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
674.51 KB
Local URL:
MF2012-02-red.pdf
MF2012-02-red.pdf more
Description/subject:
Summary:
"This report provides an update of atrocities committed by the Burma Army against civilians since it broke its 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) one year ago. It highlights the particular suffering of women during the conflict, who have been forced to be porters, used as sex slaves, gang-raped and killed.
Since the start of the conflict, there has been a huge deployment of Burmese troops into Kachin State and northern Shan State. Currently about 150 battalions are being used to crush the KIA, tripling the number of Burmese troops in the area. These troops have deliberately targeted civilians for abuse, causing villagers to flee in terror, leaving large swathes of countryside depopulated.
There is strong evidence that Burmese troops have used rape systematically as a weapon of war. In the past year, KWAT has documented the rape or sexual assault of at least 43 women and girls, of whom 21 were killed. The rapes have been widespread, occurred in thirteen townships, by ten different battalions. Women have been openly kept as sex slaves by military officers, and gang-raped in church.
There has been complete impunity for these crimes. When the husband of a Kachin woman abducted by the Burmese military tried to press charges, the Naypyidaw Supreme Court dismissed the case without even hearing his evidence.
The continued abuse against civilians has swelled the numbers of internally displaced persons in Kachin State to over 75,000, most of whom are sheltering in makeshift camps along the China border, where little international aid has reached them.
KWAT is calling on the international community to denounce the ongoing human rights abuses, and maintain pressure on the Burmese government to immediately implement a nationwide ceasefire, pull back Burma Army troops from ethnic areas and start dialogue with the United Nationalities Federal Council towards a process of genuine political reform."
Source/publisher:
Kachin Women?s Association Thailand (KWAT)
Date of publication:
2012-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-11
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Kachin State - human rights violations, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Discrimination against the Karen, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.45 MB
Local URL:
Ongoing_impunity-red.pdf
Ongoing_impunity-red.pdf more
Description/subject:
• In the past year, the Tatmadaw has deployed nearly 25% of its battalions to Kachin
State, escalating its war with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and bringing
further suffering to civilian populations in Kachin State and Northern Shan State.
• Tatmadaw soldiers have constantly targeted civilians in Kachin State and Northern
Shan States as part of their military operations against the KIA. Human rights abuses
have included extrajudicial killings, rape of women, arbitrary arrests, torture, forced
displacement, the use of human shields, forced labor, and the confiscation and
destruction of property. All of these systematic abuses would be considered war
crimes and/or crimes against humanity under international law.
• The ongoing conflict has displaced about 75,000 people, including at least 10,000
refugees who crossed the border into China. Despite the severity of the situation, the
regime has frustrated relief efforts, severely restricting humanitarian access to local
and international organizations.
• The KIA?s political leadership, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), has made
repeated attempts to negotiate a lasting peace in Kachin State. However, the regime
has rejected the KIO?s request to discuss long-term political solutions prior to a
ceasefire agreement.
BACKGROUND: 2008 constitution, 2010 elections, BGF, energy projects, and human
rights abuses
Source/publisher:
ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication:
2012-06-08
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-09
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ALTSEAN-Burma archive, Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles, Armed conflict in Kachin State - displacement and the humanitarian situation, Armed conflict in Kachin State - hostilities, Armed conflict in Kachin State - human rights violations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description/subject:
"In a written statement during its September 2011 session, the Asian Legal Resource Centre alerted the Human Rights Council to the dangers posed to the rights of people in Myanmar by the convergence of military, business and administrative interests in new projects aimed at displacing cultivators and residents from their farms and homes. At that time, the Centre wrote that whereas seizure of land has long been practiced in Myanmar, in recent years its dynamics have changed, from direct seizure by army units and government departments, to seizure by army-owned companies, joint ventures and other economically and politically powerful operations with connections to the military..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC)
Date of publication:
2012-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-06
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
101.26 KB
Local URL:
ALRC-HRC20-Myanmar-land-grabbing.pdf
ALRC-HRC20-Myanmar-land-grabbing.pdf more
Description/subject:
Conclusions and Recommendations:
"* After decades of division in national
politics, the recent steps towards reconciliation
and democratic reform by the Thein
Sein government are welcome. The participation
of the National League for
Democracy in the April by-elections, new
ceasefires with armed ethnic opposition
groups and prioritization of economic
reforms are all initiatives that can contribute
to the establishment of peace and
democracy.
* The momentum for reform must now
continue. Remaining political prisoners
must be released; a sustainable ceasefire
achieved with the Kachin Independence
Organisation and other armed opposition
groups; and the provision of humanitarian
aid to internally displaced persons and
other vulnerable peoples needs to be
accelerated.
* The 2015 general election is likely to
mark the next major milestone in national
politics. In the meantime, it is vital that
processes are established by which political
reform and ethnic peace can be inclusively
developed. Burma is at the beginning of
change – not at the end.
* The international community should
support policies that encourage reconciliation
and reform, and which do not cause
new divisions. Burma?s needs are many,
but local and national organisations are
ready to respond. Aid priority should be
given to health, education, poverty alleviation,
displaced persons and other humanitarian
concerns."
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute, Burma Centrum Nederland (Burma Policy Briefing Nr 9)
Date of publication:
2012-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-06
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dialogue/reform/transition in Burma/Myanmar - analyses and statements, TNI-BCN Project on Ethnic Conflict in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
278.9 KB
Local URL:
TNI-Burma_at_the_Crossroads-red.pdf
TNI-Burma_at_the_Crossroads-red.pdf more
Title: NO RIGHTS TO KNOW: The Collective Voices of Local People from the Dawei Special Economic Zone
Description/subject:
"...The Dawei Special Economic Zone (Dawei SEZ) will be implemented with a joint venture between Thai
companies and Burmese companies and business cronies close to the regime. Accordingly to the source from
Rangoon (Yangon), one of the regime?s closest cronies, Max Myanmar Company headed by Zaw Zaw, have
already been awarded huge contracts related to the Dawei project along with Italia-Thai company. Zaw Zaw
also accompanied with Burma?s top generals on a tour of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone
in China in 2011...The Tavoy deep seaport and special industries lie in Yebyu township and is between Tavoy town in the south and
Yatana pipeline in the north. 213.7 square meters comprises two town quarters in Yebyu Town, 11 village tracks
in Yebyu Township and one village track in eastern part of project site in Long-lon Township.
In the project site, a population of 30,000 will be directly affected, comprising of 21 communities and about 5,500
families. In order to go ahead with the project the Burmese government authorities and the companies will
move the communities out to make way for the project site. The ethnic Tavoyan people are the majority affected
population in coastal areas and many Karen communities in the eastern part of project site will be seriously
affected by the dam construction and road construction to Thailand.
However, when the Dawei Project Watch?s (DPW) field workers (reporters) traveled to the area and conducted
interviews especially with the Tavoyan and Mon villagers they found that the villagers had no idea what would
happen to them..."
Source/publisher:
Dawei Project Watch
Date of publication:
2012-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-05
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dawei (Tavoy) Special Economic Zone
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
8.87 MB 10.94 MB
more
Description/subject:
A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental
organisation with general consultative status.....
The Asian Legal Resource Centre has in numerous previous written statements submitted to the Human
Rights Council and to its predecessor described how the politicization and decrepitude of Myanmar?s
courts, policing and prosecution agencies are major obstacles to the enjoyment of basic human rights in
the country. In the last year, as political conditions have begun to change, many organizations and
concerned individuals have in turn begun to appreciate the extent to which the country?s justice system
is indeed a heavy barrier to the realization of human rights. In particular, many people have begun to
take seriously calls to study and develop responses to the pervasive corruption in the system.
Meanwhile, public debate about corruption has steadily increased.
Source/publisher:
Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC)
Date of publication:
2012-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-04
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
106.75 KB
Local URL:
AHRC-justice-HRC20.pdf
AHRC-justice-HRC20.pdf more
Description/subject:
KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
"While ceasefire negotiations are taking place in some ethnic areas, attacks continue in Kachin State, Northern Burma. The Burma Army is pressing its attacks in Kachin State with over 100 battalions deployed. There are over 50,000 Kachin people displaced, over 60 Kachin civilians killed and 100 Kachin soldiers killed. Burma Army casualties are unknown, but estimated at 1,000 wounded and killed. Along with the KIO, WPN, Partners and other organizations, the Kachin FBR teams are helping those in need"
Source/publisher:
Free Burma Rangers (FBR)
Date of publication:
2012-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-03
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Kachin State - displacement and the humanitarian situation, Internal displacement/forced migration of Kachin, Armed conflict in Kachin State - hostilities
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description/subject:
အဆုံးသတ်ကောက်ချက်မြန်မာအစိုးရသစ် အာဏာရယူပြီး တစ်နှစ်အကြာတွင် သတိထား မိလောက်အောင် မြန်ဆန်သော အသွင်ကူးပြောင်းမှု စတင်ဖြစ်ပေါ် နေပြီဖြစ်သည်။ သမ္မတကလည်း ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုကို အရှိန်မြှင့်ရန်၊ စီးပွားရေး ပြန်လည်တည်ဆောက်ရန်၊ တိုင်းရင်းသား ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး အစီအစဉ်ကို အားပေးမြှင့်တင်ရန်၊ တရားသော ဥပဒေစိုးမိုးမှု တိုးတက် စေရန်နှင့် အတိတ်က ခါးသီးသော ဒဏ်ရာ ဒဏ်ချက်များ အနာကျက်စေရန် အတွက် များစွာ ပိုမို လုပ်ဆောင်သွားရန် ရည်ရွယ်ထားကြောင်း ရှင်းရှင်းလင်းလင်း အသိပေးထားသည်။ ဧပြီ ၁ရက်တွင် ကျင်းပခဲ့သော ကြားဖြတ်ရွေးကောက်ပွဲများသည် သိသိသာသာ လွတ်လပ်၊ မျှတမှုရှိခဲ့ပြီး အတိုက်အခံ NLD ပါတီ အပြတ်အသတ် အနိုင်ရရှိကာ၊ ကျင်းပနေရာ ၄၅ နေရာ အနက် ၄၃ နေရာ အနိုင်ရရှိခဲ့သည်။ ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်သည်လည်း သူမ၏ မဲဆန္ဒနယ်တွင် မဲအများစု အသာဖြင့် အနိုင်ရရှိသည်။ အဆိုပါ ရလဒ်များသည် လွှတ်တော်အတွင်းမှ သြဇာအာဏာ ဟန်ချက်ကို ပြောင်းလဲစေမည် မဟုတ်သော်လည်း NLD ပါတီကို အင်အားအကြီးဆုံး အတိုက်အခံ ပါတီ ဖြစ်လာစေပြီး လွှတ်တော်တွင်း၌ လူထုအကြိုက် အယူအဆကို ပြောရေးဆိုခွင့် ရှိသော ပါတီအဖြစ် အင်အားကြီး အခွင့်အာဏာကို ရရှိစေသည်။
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ အခြေခံကျကျ ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲရန် လိုအပ်နေခြင်းကို နိုင်ငံရေးအာဏာရ အလွှာ အကြား ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် သဘောတူညီမှု ရရှိထားသည်။ ထို့အတွက်ကြောင့် နောက်ပြန်ဆုတ်မည့် အန္တရာယ်ကို သိသိသာသာ အားနည်း သွားစေသည်။ သို့သော်ငြားလည်း ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲရေး လုပ်ငန်းစဉ် အနေဖြင့် မူဝါဒ ရေးဆွဲမှုနှင့် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက် အကောင်အထည်ဖော်မှုတွင် နည်းပညာဆိုင်ရာ၊ အင်စတီကျူးရှင်းဆိုင်ရာ စွမ်းဆောင်ရည် ချို့တဲ့နေခြင်း၊ လူနေမှု အဆင့် သိသိသာသာ တိုးတက်လိုသည့် မျှော်လင့်ချက်များ ကြီးထွားလာခြင်းကို လိုက်မီအောင် ဖြည့်ဆည်းရခြင်းနှင့် ချွတ်ခြုံကျ စီးပွားရေးကို ပြန်လည် တည်ဆောက်ရခြင်း၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားဒေသများတွင် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး ခိုင်မာအောင်တည်ဆောက်ရခြင်း စသည်တို့ အပါအဝင် စိန်ခေါ်မှု မြောက်များစွာနှင့် ရင်ဆိုင်နေရသည်။ ကြားဖြတ်ရွေးကောက်ပွဲမှ NLD ပါတီ၏ အောင်ပွဲသည် ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုကို ထပ်မံ၍ အရှိန်တင် ပေးနိုင်သော်လည်း၊ ပြည်ခိုင်ဖြိုးပါတီ၏ ရှုံးနိမ့်မှုကြောင့် နိုင်ငံရေးအာဏာရ အသိုင်းအဝိုင်းထဲမှ ပုဂ္ဂိုလ်များစွာကို တပ်လှန့်လိုက်သလို ဖြစ်သွားနိုင်ပါသည်။ ဤအချက်ကြောင့် သမ္မတအား ပါတီတွင်း ပြင်းထန်စွာ ဝေဖန်မှု ဖြစ်ပေါ်နိုင်ပြီး၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီ ဆက်လက်ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲခြင်း အပေါ် ခုခံငြင်းဆန်မှု ပိုမို မာကြောလာနိုင်သည်။ နိုင်ငံတကာ အသိုင်းအဝိုင်း သည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ၏ ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုကို ထောက်ခံ အားပေးရာတွင် အရေးကြီးသော ကဏ္ဍမှ ပါဝင်နေသည်။ ဤနေရာတွင် နည်းပညာ အကြံဉာဏ်နှင့် အကူအညီပေးခြင်းအပြင် အစိုးရ၏ ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲရေး ကြိုးပမ်းမှု ကို နိုင်ငံရေးအရ အားပေးထောက်ခံရန် လိုအပ် သည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ သည် နှစ်ပေါင်း ၅၀ အာဏာရှင်အုပ်ချုပ်မှု စနစ် နှင့် လမ်းခွဲကာ နိုင်ငံရေး၊ လူမှုရေး၊ စီးပွားရေး ကြီးကြီးမားမား ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှု လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်ကို စတင်လျက်ရှိသည်။ ယင်းကဲ့သို့ အပြောင်းအလဲများကို အစဉ်တစိုက် တောင်းဆိုခဲ့သော အနောက်အုပ်စု အနေဖြင့် ယခုအချိန်တွင် သူတို့တတ်နိုင်သမျှ အရာအားလုံးကို ကူညီပံ့ပိုး ကြရလိမ့်မည်။ အရေးကြီးဆုံး ခြေလှမ်းမှာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအပေါ် ချမှတ်ထားသော အရေးယူဒဏ်ခတ်မှု sanctions များကို နှောင့်နှေးခြင်းမရှိ ရုတ်သိမ်းပေးရန်ပင် ဖြစ်သည်။ ထိုသို့ ပြုလုပ်ရန် ပျက်ကွက်ခြင်းသည် နိုင်ငံတွင်းမှ အပြောင်းအလဲ ငြင်းဆန်သူ??
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (ICG) - Asia Briefing N?136
Date of publication:
2012-04-11
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-01
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
722.61 KB 605.29 KB
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Description/subject:
Governing Body conclusions...: (11) Decides to place on the agenda of the 101st Session of the International Labour Conference (June 2012) an additional item enabling a review of measures previously adopted by the Conference to secure compliance by Myanmar with the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.
(12) Finally it requests the Officers of the Governing Body to undertake a mission to Myanmar and to report to the Conference on all relevant issues with a view to assisting its consideration of that review..."
Source/publisher:
International Labour Office
Date of publication:
2012-03-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-31
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description/subject:
Submission to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for consideration at the International Labour Conference 2012....
"...Despite the reform agenda pursued by the Government of Myanmar and the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the ILO and the Government aiming at the elimination of forced labour by 2015, there has been little progress toward this objective in North Arakan and no effective measures have been implemented there to eradicate forced labour.
Forced labour continues to be widely and systematically practiced in North Arakan and little has changed for the Rohingya population. A decrease in forced labour has been observed in certain areas, where Garrison Engineers took control of some infrastructure projects and employs paid labour. However, villagers in other areas continue to receive regular orders to work on road construction, in NaSaKa and Army camps, as sentries and porters, without remuneration and facing penalties if they do not comply, as in past years.
Myanmar has yet to take concrete steps to implement two recommendations of the 1998 ILO Commission of Inquiry and to translate formal commitments into realities on the ground in all regions of the country. In the view of the Arakan Project, it would therefore be premature for the ILO to lift the measures imposed under Article 33 of its Constitution.
It is also too early for governments in the region to consider initiating a repatriation programme of Rohingya refugees as long as forced labour remains a major cause for flight..."
Source/publisher:
The Arakan Project
Date of publication:
2012-05-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-30
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
714.33 KB
Local URL:
AP-Forced_Labour_prevails.pdf
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Description/subject:
"At its 313th Session (March 2012), the Governing Body requested its Officers to undertake a mission (the ?Mission?) to Myanmar and to report to the International Labour Conference at its 101st Session (2012) on all relevant issues, with a view to assisting the Conference?s consideration of a review of the measures previously adopted by the Conference 1 to secure compliance by Myanmar with the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry that had been established to examine the observance by Myanmar of its obligation in respect of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)..."... Report of the Officers of the Governing Body: Action on forced labour...The Mission?s evaluation of the current situation...Appendix I
List of persons with whom the Mission held meetings...Appendix II
Resolution on the widespread use of forced labour in Myanmar, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 87th Session (June 1999)...Appendix III
Resolution concerning the measures recommended by the Governing Body under article 33 of the ILO Constitution on the subject of Myanmar, adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 88th Session (May–June 2000)...
Source/publisher:
International Labour Office (PR 2-2)
Date of publication:
2012-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-30
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
Record of proceedings 15 May 2012...Additional agenda item:
Review of measures previously adopted by the International Labour Conference to secure compliance by Myanmar with the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.....
I. Background to the present report...
II. Brief history of developments...
III. Recent developments...
IV. Final remark
Source/publisher:
International Labour Office (PR No.2-1)
Date of publication:
2012-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-30
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
Review of measures previously adopted by the Conference to secure compliance by Myanmar with the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry.
"In accordance with a decision taken by the Governing Body of the ILO at its 313th Session (March 2012) to include an item to this effect on the agenda of the 101st Session of the International Labour Conference (May?June 2012). The Conference will decide on the manner in which it will deal with this additional agenda item".....Reports to the Conference:
PR No. 2-1 Review of measures previously adopted by the International Labour Conference to secure compliance by Myanmar with the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry
PR No. 2-1(Add.) - Additional agenda item - Further information: Policy of other international
PR No. 2-2 Additional agenda item, Report of the Officers of the Governing Body
At its 313th Session (March 2012), the Governing Body requested its Officers to undertake a mission (the ?mission”) to Myanmar and to report to the International Labour Conference at its 101st Session (2012) on all relevant issues, with a view to assisting the Conference?s consideration of a review of the measures previously adopted by the Conference to secure compliance by Myanmar with the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry that had been established to examine the observance by Myanmar of its obligation in respect of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)......Video of the highlights of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s address to the Conference plus photos and videos by other actors.
Source/publisher:
International Labour Office
Date of publication:
2012-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-30
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
Mission statement:-
Mission:
The Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) is a health service provider and training centre, established to contribute and promote accessible quality health care among displaced Burmese and ethnic people along the Thai-Burma border. In addition to the comprehensive services provided at its onsite facilities, MTC also promotes general health through partnerships with other community based organisations. We work together to implement and advocate for social and legal services, as well as access to education for people living along the border...
Vision:
The future vision for MTC is to continue providing quality health and social services. MTC is endeavouring to further promote health education, and improve access to and utilisation of its health services. MTC will also advocate for improved access to quality education for migrant children in the Mae Sot area and work to strengthen the child rights and child protection network among local and international human rights institutions. MTC serves a broader role as a community centre and centre for advocacy with respect to issues related to Burma and the displaced community...
Mae Tao Clinic Objectives:
*To improve health status among target communities along the border
*To improve quality of service of MTC through trained workers
*To provide quality education and livelihood for displaced children
*To improve the relationship between MTC and NGOs, GOs and CBOs
*To monitor the quality of health services
Source/publisher:
Mao Tao Clinic
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-29
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
Mae Tao Clinic Position on the Current Political Situation...Mae Tao Clinic?s Role During the Transition Period...Recommendations to the Burmese Government and Other Actors
Engaged in Local and National Dialogue...Mae Tao Clinic?s Recommendations to the International Community.....Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) is cautiously optimistic about the positive developments made
by the Burmese government in the past year. While the political reforms and
tentative ceasefire agreements bring a degree of hope, the chronic humanitarian
crisis facing the ethnic displaced and rural populations has yet to be addressed. The
following points demonstrate that the recent political changes have yet to deliver
positive change in the economic, political, social and health status of
disadvantaged ethnic groups assisted by MTC:
1. The patient caseload at MTC continues to rise despite euphoria over the
reforms; MTC still experienced a 5% increase between 2010 and 2011,
receiving almost 117,000 cases last year. One sign of genuine commitment by
the Burmese government not only to positive political reform, but also to
advance the welfare of the entire population, would be a substantial
decrease in patient numbers at MTC and an equivalent rise at the nearby
government-run hospital across the border in Myawaddy, Burma. This has yet
to happen; Myawaddy Hospital continues to refer cases to Thailand due to
their poor facilities. Last year over 3,000 babies were born at MTC, in
comparison to the 1,200 born at Myawaddy Hospital. Furthermore, MTC
continues to receive patients from Burma with malaria, tuberculosis and HIV,
despite the fact that government hospitals, such as that at Myawaddy, are
supposed to have specific programmes to treat these conditions. Until we see
more patients opting for treatment at government facilities, we cannot yet
assert that the political developments are enabling better access to quality,
affordable public services. It will take much time and investment to
strengthen the healthcare system, particularly in ethnic areas, after decades
of neglect by the Burmese government.
2. There has also been a 30% increase between 2010 and 2011 in the number of
unaccompanied children supported by MTC who have crossed the border to
seek protection and education in Thailand. MTC now supports almost 3,000
displaced children, many of whom have been sent to Thailand to escape
conflict and the risk of being recruited as child soldiers or child labourers. A
lack of opportunity to access education beyond primary level, as well as a
lack of means for families to pay for education also remain key push factors.
May 2012 1
P.O. Box 67, Mae Sot, Tak 63110, Thailand.
865 Moo 1, Intarakiri Rd., Tha Sai Luad, Mae Sot, Tak Province 63110
Fax: (055) 544-655, email: [email protected]
Despite recent political dialogue, the situation for ethnic and rural children
remains poor in Burma and no decrease in enrollment rates at migrant
schools is anticipated for the upcoming academic year..."
Source/publisher:
Mao Tao Clinic
Date of publication:
2012-05-22
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-29
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Source/publisher:
Government of the Union of Burma
Date of publication:
1861-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-28
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The Penal Code, Burma/Myanmar laws which have been used in political cases and are in need of amendment (texts)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
84.38 KB 784.6 KB
Local URL:
Penal_Code-articles.pdf, MYANMAR_PENAL_CODE-corr.1.pdf
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Description/subject:
Executive Summary:
"This report documents the Government of Burma?s torture and ill treatment against
its own people since the 2010 elections. This report demonstrates that the Burmese
government continues to commit these abuses despite being bound to international
human rights treaties and norms. Furthermore, the lack of domestic legislation
prohibiting torture, the absence of an independent judiciary, and an ineffective
Human Rights Commission contribute to a climate where torture and ill treatment
are perpetrated with impunity.
From January to December 2011 alone, ND-Burma?s member organizations
documented 371 cases of human rights violation across the country of which 83
cases, or 22 percent constitute torture and ill treatment. Torture and ill treatment
in Burma takes place in two distinct places: (1) in detention centers where political
prisoners are interrogated and held, and (2) in ethnic nationality areas where the
Burmese military is present.
Torture of political prisoners generally takes place shortly after an individual is
arrested during interrogations. It can, along with ill treatment, continue for years –
even decades – while political prisoners serve inordinately long sentences.
In ethnic nationality areas torture seldom takes place in formal detention centers
but is meted out in military bases or remote rural villages. Shan State and Kachin
State are particularly hard hit. Evidence gathered by ND-Burma shows that torture
and ill-treatment in ethnic areas often takes place within the context of other
human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, forced labor, forced portering,
confi scation of property, restriction of movement, and sexual violence.
The report makes a number of recommendations to the Government of Burma
and the international community. Chief among these are calls for the adoption
of legislation guaranteeing basic rights for the people of Burma, particularly the
internationally recognized right to be free from torture and ill-treatment, and
laws that ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes face justice. There are also
calls for more education, training and public awareness about torture in order to
prevent future violations as well as calls to institute safeguards and programs that
guarantee that victims have available, credible, accessible remedies to deal with
torture should it take place. This report also raises concerns regarding the new
National Human Rights Commission, including its lack of full independence, its
inability to investigate crimes committed by the military, and its failure to comply
fully with best practices for national human rights commissions as described in the
Paris Principles.
Torture and ill treatment have a ripple effect, with potentially long lasting negative
consequences for individuals, families and society as a whole. This report serves
as a reminder to the Government of Burma and the international community that
significant hurdles remain for Burma to emerge as a functioning democracy that
respects the Rule of Law and the rights of the people of Burma, particularly ethnic
nationalities."
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma)
Date of publication:
2012-05-28
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-28
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English (Burmese press release and video)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.53 MB 135.22 KB
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Description/subject:
Key charts and summaries
Source/publisher:
HIV & AIDS Data Hub for Asia and the Pacific
Date of publication:
2011-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-26
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
HIV/AIDS - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.43 MB
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Description/subject:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
"Burma?s government is headed by President Thein Sein; the military-run State Peace and Development Council was officially dissolved in 2011, although former and active military officers continued to wield authority at each level of government. In November 2010 the then-military regime held the country?s first parliamentary elections since 1990, which were neither free nor fair. The government?s main party, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), claimed an overwhelming majority of seats in the national parliament and state/regional assemblies. Military security forces report to military channels, and civilian security forces, such as the police, report to a nominally civilian ministry headed by an active-duty military general.
Significant developments during the year included the emergence of a legislature that allowed opposition parties to contribute substantively to debates; democratic reforms such as the amendment of laws allowing opposition parties to register and Aung San Suu Kyi to announce her bid for Parliament; the release of hundreds of political prisoners; the relaxation of a number of censorship controls, the opening of some space in society for the expression of dissent; and an easing of restrictions on some internal and foreign travel for citizens.
Significant human rights problems in the country persisted, including military attacks against ethnic minorities in border states, which resulted in civilian deaths, forced relocations, sexual violence, and other serious abuses. The government also continued to detain hundreds of political prisoners. Abuses of prisoners continued, including the alleged transfer of civilian prisoners to military units. These units reportedly were often engaged in armed conflict in the border areas where they were forced to carry supplies, clear mines, and serve as human shields.
Government security forces were responsible for extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture. The government detained civic activists indefinitely and without charges. The government abused some prisoners and detainees, held persons in harsh and life-threatening conditions, routinely used incommunicado detention, and imprisoned citizens arbitrarily for political motives. The government infringed on citizens? privacy and restricted freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, religion, and movement. The government impeded the work of many domestic human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). International NGOs continued to encounter a difficult--although somewhat improved--environment. Recruitment of child soldiers, discrimination against ethnic minorities, and trafficking in persons--particularly of women and girls--continued. Forced labor, including that of children, persisted.
The government generally did not take action to prosecute or punish those responsible for human rights abuses, with a few isolated exceptions. Abuses continued with impunity. Rampant corruption and the absence of due process undermined the rule of law.
Ethnic armed groups also committed human rights abuses, including forced labor and recruitment of child soldiers.
Source/publisher:
US Department of State (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor)
Date of publication:
2012-05-25
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-25
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
193.26 KB
Local URL:
USDOS-Country-rep2011-3-Burma.pdf
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Description/subject:
"Amid myriad changes taking place in Myanmar, Amnesty International concluded its first official visit to the country in nearly a decade on May 23.
Our two-week mission consisted of a diverse collection of 49 meetings with government officials, political parties and their members of parliament; members of the diplomatic community; lawyers and other civil society actors; ethnic minority activists; former political prisoners as well as the families of current political prisoners; and a representative of the National Human Rights Commission.
The mission provided a preliminary opportunity to assess Myanmar?s current human-rights situation, which Amnesty International has monitored for the past 25 years. What has improved since the new government came into power a little more than a year ago? What human rights violations have persisted or even worsened? And what new human-rights challenges have the country?s recent reform efforts engendered or brought to the fore?...Our delegation was sometimes reminded that "Rome wasn?t built in a day". To the extent that the only thing less desirable than a lack of legal reform is legal reform poorly done, this reminder was well-received. The same is true to varying degrees on matters of accountability; the full realization of social, economic, and cultural rights; and the determination of who is a political prisoner and who is not. Capacity is limited and the development of certain "human-rights infrastructure" is advisable before particular changes are made.
But insofar as prisoners of conscience can be readily identified and set free, and as attacks against civilians can stop in response to clear orders, it takes less than a day to undertake some important human-rights changes. Myanmar should continue to improve its human-rights record accordingly."
Benjamin Zawacki, Donna Jean Guest
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International via "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication:
2012-05-25
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-25
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
68.58 KB
Local URL:
Ben+Donna-report-2012-05-23.pdf
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Description/subject:
Abstract: "Fishermen depend on Lake Inle in Myanmar for their livelihood. However, the lake has been undergoing environmental degradation over the years. Adding to the long-term decrease in the catch because of this degradation, these fishermen faced extremely low water levels in 20 I 0, which they had previously not experienced. Based on field surveys, this paper aims to reveal how fishermen adapted and coped with the changing environment as well as the sudden shock of the abnormally low water levels"....Keywords: coping, adaptation, resource, fishermen
Ikuko Okamoto
Source/publisher:
Institute for Developing Economies (IDE DISCUSSION PAPER No. 329
Date of publication:
2012-02-29
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-25
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
"The government enacted limited political and economic reforms, but human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in ethnic minority areas increased during the year. Some of these amounted to crimes against humanity or war crimes. Forced displacement reached its highest level in a decade, and reports of forced labour their highest level in several years. Authorities maintained restrictions on freedom of religion and belief, and perpetrators of human rights violations went unpunished. Despite releasing at least 313 political prisoners during the year, authorities continued to arrest such people, further violating their rights by subjecting them to ill-treatment and poor prison conditions..."....Background....Internal armed conflict ....Forced displacement and refugees....Forced labour....Freedom of religion or belief....Impunity....International scrutiny
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2012-05-24
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-25
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
"Despite recent ceasefire agreements and talk of reform in Burma, since January 2012 ethnic Ta?ang areas of northern Burma have experienced increasing militarization and conflict. Fierce battles have broken out in areas that have not seen fighting for over 20 years. Soldiers from the Burma Army have moved from their main bases to live in villages and now regularly patrol local areas, increasing abuses against local populations including killings, beatings, forced labor, and extortion.
The military expansion is directly linked to securing Chinese mega projects. Pipelines that will take oil and gas from Burma to China are currently being built in Ta?ang areas. China is also building two mega dams on the Shweli, the most important river for the Ta?ang, while loggers are cutting down precious teak forests in Ta?ang areas to export timber to China.
Control over natural resources and abuses by the Burma Army are at the heart of local grievances in both Kachin and Shan states where conflict has erupted. in July 2011, a new army, the Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), was formed under the Palaung state Liberation Front (PSLF) to protect the Ta?ang people. in March this year, pro-government militias in Mantong were given Burma Army weapons to fight the TNLA, using a divide and rule tactic which creates conflict among the Ta?ang people.
As fighting and abuses increase, local people are fleeing for their safety. Since December 2011, over 1,000 have become internally displaced, sheltering in Nam Kham and Mantong. Many have also fled to China, particularly young men avoiding forced conscription and portering. This has had devastating impacts on the annual tea harvest, a critical economic activity for the Ta?ang.
People in northern Shan State, especially in rural areas, have failed to benefit from the much talked about reform in central Burma. Investments are increasing conflict and abuses while not providing benefit to local people.
Source/publisher:
Ta?ang Students and Youth Organization
Date of publication:
2012-05-22
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-23
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.16 MB 1.26 MB
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Description/subject:
"Analysis of KHRG?s field information gathered between January 2011 and May 2012 in seven geographic research areas indicates that, during that period, new landmines were deployed by government and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in all seven research areas. Ongoing mine contamination in eastern Burma continues to put civilians? lives and livelihoods at risk and undermines their efforts to protect against other forms of abuse. There is an urgent need for humanitarian mine action that accords primacy to local protection priorities and builds on the strategies villagers themselves already employ in response to the threat of landmines. In the cases where civilians view landmines as a potential source of protection, there is an equally urgent need for viable alternatives that expand self-protection options beyond reliance on the use of mines. Key findings in this report were drawn based upon analysis of seven themes, including: New use of landmines; Movement restrictions resulting from landmines; Marking and removal of landmines; Forced labour entailing increased landmine risks; Human mine sweeping, forced mine clearance and human shields; Landmine-related death or injury; and Use of landmines for self-protection."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2012-05-21
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-21
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.93 MB
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Source/publisher:
President?s Office
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-19
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Language:
Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
"Burma?s government is using the promise of development as a key component in its current peace negotiations with armed ethnic organizations, proposing ceasefire first, then development, and finally a national political agreement. This process has been tried before in Kachin State with disastrous consequences.
This report summarizes findings from seven years of research and demonstrates that the Kachin experience should serve as a warning to other ethnic groups attempting peace through a similar process. Without a political resolution first, there can be no just or sustainable development of Burma..."
Source/publisher:
Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG)
Date of publication:
2012-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-17
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Development and the civil war, Armed conflict in Kachin State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks
Language:
English, Kachin, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
1 MB 770.32 KB 872.98 KB
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Description/subject:
"Myanmar has a widely underestimated array of home-grown business families who are likely to provide the foundation of the country?s future capitalist class - and a bulwark against any attack on the core privileges of the military-linked elite.
In the excitement over the opening of the "biggest emerging market opportunity since China", commentaries have portrayed Myanmar in words and images akin to those used in describing America?s 19th century Wild West.
The Economist Intelligence Unit recently espied "vast untapped natural resources and land". The International Monetary Fund
Dilbert
says the country could be "the next economic frontier in Asia". Local pundits agree: "Myanmar is the last resourceful investment destination in the Southeast Asian region," said Thinn Htut Thidar, a Yangon-based consultant.
There is undoubtedly truth in these words but they overlook the local tycoons, often disparaged as cronies of the regime, as well as myriad lesser entrepreneurs, whose businesses fill out the space left by the military?s own large economic presence..."
William Barnes
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times Online"
Date of publication:
2012-05-17
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-16
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
76.36 KB
Local URL:
A_capitalist_class_emerges_in_Burma.pdf
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Description/subject:
"While foreign governments heap praise on the Burmese government?s liberal tilt, land theft appears to be increasing as state agencies and powerfully placed domestic firms position themselves to welcome foreign investment.
Farmers across the country are being muscled out of their fields with little hope of appeal to the law. This is because despite all the trumpeting in the West about President Thein Sein?s ?reforms,” the rule of law in Burma is closer to 12th Century Europe than the 21st Century.
In medieval Europe, land ownership was determined by sharp swords and private armies. In present-day Burma, powerful businesses linked to the army do much the same.
Land confiscation is being reported near the south coast, in the Rangoon region, around Mandalay and in northern areas close to the border with China.
Farmers and their families are being forcibly moved for major projects, such as the oil and gas pipelines being built through the country from the Bay of Bengal to the Chinese border, and for smaller industrial projects by firms with long crony links to the military.
Even where the local authorities have sided with expelled farmers, big businesses feel confident enough to ignore them. Just last week, The Irrawaddy reported how industrial firm Zay Kabar has continued to bulldoze snatched land despite a stop order issued by the administrative office of the Rangoon area?s Mingaladon Township..."
William Boot
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2012-05-15
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-16
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
အစီရင်ခံစာအကျဉ်းချုပ်
ရှမ်းပြည်နယ် အရှေ့ပိုင်း တာချီလိတ်မြို ၏့ မြောက်ဖက် တောင်တန်းဒေများတွင် ဒေသခံများကို ထိခိုကေ် စသည့်
ရွှေဖြူတူးဖော်ခြင်းလုပ်ငန်းကို ၂၀၀၇ခုနှစ်မှ စတင်ခဲ့ကာ ယင်းကြောင့် လားဟူ၊ အာခါနှင့် ရှမ်းရွာ ၈ရွာမှာ လူပေါင်း ၂၀၀၀ကျော်ကို
ထိခိုက်စေခဲ့သည်။ ရွှေဖြူတူးဖော်မှုကို မြန်မာကုမ္ပဏီများက ဆောင်ရွက်နေပြီး တရုတ်နှင့် ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံသို့ တင်ပို့လျှက်ရှိသည်။
တာချလီ တိ ြ်မို့ မြောကဖ် က ် ၁၃ကလီ မို တီ ာအကွာရ ှိအားရဲခေါ် အာခါရွာအနီးတငွ ်ကမု ဏ္ပ ၅ီ ခကု လပု င် န်း လပု က် ငို လ် ျှကရ် သှိ ည။်
ထကို မု ဏ္ပ မီ ျားက ရွာသားများပငို ဆ် ငို သ် ည့်ပစည္စ ်းများနငှ့် မြေယာများက ိုအတင်းအကျပဖ် အိ ားပေး၍ ဈေးနမှိ ်ရောင်းချစေသကသဲ့ ို
မြေယာအချို က့ ို လျှော်ကြေးမပေးဘဲ အဓမ္မသိမ်း ယူ ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထောင်ပေါင်းများစွာသော စိုက်ပျိုးမြေဧကများနှင့်
သစ်တောများကို ကုမ္ပဏီက သိမ်းယူနေပြီး အချို့သောမြေယာများသည် သတ္တုတွင်းမှ အညစ်အကြေးများစွန့်ပစ်သောကြောင့်
ပျကဆ် ီးလျှကရ် သှိ ည။် ရွာသရူ ွာသားများ အသုံးပြုသည့်အဝေးပြေးလမ်းသ့ိုသွားရောကရ် ာလမ်းမှာလည်း သတု္တတူးဖောသ် ည့်
ကုန်တင်ကားများ၊ စက်ယန္တယားကြီးများ ဖြတ်သန်းသွားခြင်းကြောင့် ပျက်ဆီးကြရသည်။
သတု္တတူးဖောြ်ခင်းကြောင့် ရွာသားများ အဓကိ အသုံးပြုနေသော ရေအရင်းအမြစ ်ညစည် မ်းလျှကရ် ြှိပီး ရေစီးကြောင်းများလည်း
ပြောင်းလဲကုန်သည်။ ယင်းအခြေအနေများက ဒေသခံအမျိုးသမီးများကို ကြီးမားသော အခက်အခဲများဖြစ်ပေါ်စေသည်။
အကြောင်းမှာ ရေရရှိရန်အတွက် အလွန်ဝေးကွာသောခရီးကို ခြေလျင် လမ်းလျှောက်သွားရသောကြောင့် ဖြစ်သည်။
ထို့အတူ သတ္တုတူးဖော်ရာလုပ်ငန်းသို့ အမျိုးသားရွှေ့ပြောင်းအလုပ်သမားများ အစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက် ရောက်ရှိ လာခြင်းကြောင့်
ထိုနေရာတဝိုက်တွင်နေထိုင်သည့် အမျိုးသမီးများ၏ လုံခြုံရေးမှာ အန္တရာယ် ကျရောက် လျှက်ရှိသည်။ စိုက်ခင်းသို့
သွားသည့်အမျိုးသမီးများမှာ လိင်ပိုင်းဆိုင်ရာ ထိပါးနှောင့်ယှက်မှုများကို ကြုံတွေ့ နေရသည်။ အမျိုးသမီးငယ်များမှာ
သတ္တုတွင်းအလုပ်သမားများ၏ မယားငယ်များအဖြစ် သိမ်းယူခံရသကဲ့သို့ အချို့ အမျိုးသမီးငယ်များမှာ ပြည့်တန်ဆာများ
ဖြစ်ကြရသည်။ သတ္တုတွင်းဝန်ထမ်းများက ဒေသခံ အမျိုးသမီးငယ်များကို လူကုန်ကူးရာတွင် ပါဝင်ပတ်သက်နေကြသည်။
ရွာသ၊ူ ရွာသားများ၏ အခငွ အ့် ရေးက ိုကာကွယ်ပေးသည့် ဥပဒေစိုးမိုးမလှု ည်း ကင်းမဲ့နေသည။် မြနမ် ာစစတ် ပမ် ှအရာရမှိ ျားအား
လာဘ်ထိုးခြင်းအားဖြင့် သတ္တုတူးဖော်သည့် ကုမ္ပဏီများသည် လူမှုရေးနှင့် သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ဆိုင်ရာ စံသတ်မှတ်ချက်များကို
လိုက်နာရန်မလိုဘဲ လုပ်ငန်းလုပ်ကိုင်နိုင်ကြသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် သတ္တုတူးဖော်သည့်ကုမ္ပဏီများနှင့် အိမ်နီးချင်းနိုင်ငံမှ
ရွှေဖြူဝယ်ယူသူတို့သည် လူမှုရေးနှင့် သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင် ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးဆိုင်ရာ တာဝန်များကို ရှောင်ရှားခြင်းဖြင့်
သတ္တုတူးဖော်ခြင်း လုပ်ငန်းမှ အမြတ်ငွေ များနိုင်သမျှ များများရအောင် ဆောင်ရွက်နေကြသည်။
ထို့ကြောင့် လားဟူ အမျိုးသမီးအဖွဲ့က ဒေသတွင်းဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်မှုကို မဖြစ်စေဘဲ ဆင်းရဲမွဲတေမှုနှင့် သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်
ပျက်ဆီးမှုကိုသာဖြစ်စေသည့် သတ္တုတူးဖော်ခြင်းလုပ်ငန်းကို ချက်ချင်း ရပ်တန့်ရန် မြန်မာအစိုးရအား တောင်းဆိုသည်။
Source/publisher:
Lahu Women?s Organization
Date of publication:
2012-05-08
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-14
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.81 MB 44.89 KB
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Description/subject:
Burmese and Chinese companies are pushing aside Akha, Lahu and Shan villagers
in eastern Shan State in a grab for platinum (?white gold” in Burmese). Women are
facing particular hardship due to the loss of livelihood and the contamination of water
sources. The Lahu Women Organization is calling for an immediate halt to these
damaging mining operations....Summary
Since 2007, destructive platinum mining has been taking place in the hills north of
Tachilek, eastern Shan State, impacting about 2,000 people from eight Lahu, Akha
and Shan villages. The platinum is being extracted by Burmese mining companies and
exported to China and Thailand.
Five companies are currently operating around the Akha village of Ah Yeh, 13 kilometers
north of Tachilek. They have forced villagers to sell property and land at cheap prices,
and confiscated other lands without compensation. Hundreds of acres of farms and
forestland have been seized, or destroyed by dumping of mining waste. The villagers?
access road to the main highway has been ruined by the passage of heavy mining trucks
and machinery.
The main water source for local villagers has been diverted and contaminated by
the mining, causing tremendous hardship for local women, who must now walk long
distances to do their washing.
Women are also facing increased security risks from the influx of migrant male miners
into the area. There is regular sexual harassment of women going to their fields. Young
women are being taken as minor wives by the miners; some are also becoming sex
workers. Mining staff have also been involved in trafficking of local women.
There is no rule of law protecting the rights of the local villagers. By paying off the local
Burmese military, mining companies are able to carry out operations without adhering
to any social or environmental standards. The companies and platinum buyers in
neighbouring countries are therefore maximizing profits by avoiding responsibility for
the social and environmental costs of the mines.
The Lahu Women?s Organisation therefore calls on the Burmese government to put an
immediate stop to these destructive mining operations, which are not contributing to
local development, but are causing poverty and environmental degradation..."
Source/publisher:
Lahu Women?s Organization
Date of publication:
2012-05-08
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-14
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.81 MB
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Description/subject:
15 images of landmine victims..."Myanmar, or Burma, is home to one of the world?s longest running civil wars. Conflict has occurred since the country gained independence in 1947.
Mine warfare has been a feature of the conflict throughout that time.
Mines are thought to be used by all parties to the conflict. No one knows how many people have been killed or maimed by mines.
This photo exhibit provides a glimpse into the lives of a few of those who survived their mine injury and now live tenuous lives near the border with Thailand..."
This exhibition has been co-sponsored by DanChurchAid (DCA) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Photo: Giovanni Diffidenti; Art installation: Laura Morelli; Text: Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan
Source/publisher:
Giovanni Diffidenti, Photojournalist
Date of publication:
2010-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-13
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Photographs and other images of Burma, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
"The periodic report of the Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma) documents the human rights situation in Burma from March 2011 - March 2012 the period marking President Thein Sein and his government being in office. The ND-Burma periodic report provides up-to-date information on human rights violations (HRVs) and highlights pressing issues and trends within the country. The information gathered covers 16 categories of human rights violations (HRV?s), documented in all 14 states and regions across Burma...There is still a serious concern for the human rights situation in Burma. The ongoing civil war in ethnic areas has directly resulted in killings, land confiscation, forced labour, child soldiers, forced relocation, torture and ill treatment. Fighting in Karen State intensified after the 2010 election, until a ceasefire agreement was reached between the KNU and the government?s peace negotiation team in January 2012. The Burmese armed forces continue to launch offensives against the Shan State Army (south) and the Shan State Army (North) even though a ceasefire agreement was signed more than four months ago. Finally, a seventeen year ceasefire agreement between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese armed forces fell apart when the military attacked a strategic KIA post on June 9 2011, despite President Thein Sein ordering the army to haft offensives in Kachin State..."
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma)
Date of publication:
2012-02-29
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-11
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
382.07 KB 1.59 MB
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Description/subject:
Downloadable reports relating to migrant health in Thailand in English and/or Thai:
"HIV Triangulation Report" (English)- June 2010..."Migrant Health Program Model" (Thai)- June 2010..."Migration and HIV/AIDS in Thailand: A desk review of Migrant Labour Sectors" (English)- September 2008..."Healthy Migrants, Healthy Thailand: A Migrant Health Programme Model" (English) - September 2009..."Assessment of Mobility and HIV Vulnerability among Myanmar Migrant sex workers and factory workers in Mae Sot District, Tak Province, Thailand" Assessment of Mobility and HIV Vulnerability among Myanmar Migrant sex workers and factory workers in Mae Sot District, Tak Province, Thailand, 2007 (English) - September 2009..."Financing Healthcare for Migrants: A case Study from Thailand" (English) - September 2009..." Avian and Human Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan in 4 Piloted Districts of Chiang Rai Province, 2008" (English, Thai) เตรียมพร้อมรับการระบาดใหญ่ของโรคไข้หวัดนก
และโรคไข้หวัดใหญ่สายพันธุ์ใหม่
ใน 4 อำเภอนำร่อง จังหวัดเชียงราย พ.ศ. 2551..."Activity Manual for Immigration Officers and Relevant Persons in Migrant Health Care, 2008" (English)... คู่มือกิจกรรมการพัฒนาบทบาท
ของเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจตรวจคนเข้าเมืองและผู้ที่เกี่ยวข้อง
ในการดูแลสุขภาพผู้ย้ายถิ่น (Thai)
Source/publisher:
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-11
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Health of Burmese refugees and migrants
Language:
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
IOM has published Migrant Information Notes in Burmese, English and Thai since June 2009. If the latest issue is not yet online at this web-page, it can be accessed via the Online Burma/Myanmar Library at http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=2552&lo=d&sl=0 From June 2007 to March 2009, IOM published "Migrant News" as a bimonthly and quarterly newsletter. The archive is [maybe] online at this web-page.
Source/publisher:
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-11
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Language:
Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ English, Thai, Lao, Khmer
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
"This issue of the IOM Migrant Information Note (MIN) details the latest developments in the nationality verification procedures for Cambodian, Lao and Myanmar/Burmese migrant workers in Thailand and specifically addresses their access to the social security system and health care. in addition, it discusses the recent increase in minimum wage standards implemented nationwide, offers the latest available statistics on migrants with work permits in Thailand, and outlines progress made by government agencies in terms of anti-human trafficking, migrant education, social wellbeing and quality of life."
Source/publisher:
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Date of publication:
2012-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-11
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
66.54 KB
Local URL:
IOM-Migrant_Info_Note_No_15-2(en).pdf
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Description/subject:
"While the Burmese Government continues to seek peace with the various ethnic resistance movements individually at the local levels, the United Nationalities Federal Council ? Union of Burma (UNFC) is working in the political process to ensure that any state-level talks are held through a common framework. However, there remain a number of concerns to be addressed by member organisations in recognizing a common policy that will benefit all relevant ethnic actors..."
Source/publisher:
Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies (Briefing Paper No. 6 )
Date of publication:
2012-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-11
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Centre for Development and Ethnic Studies (CDES), United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), Searches, reports and other documents about the UNFC
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
526.11 KB
Local URL:
BCES-BP-No.6(en)-red.pdf
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Description/subject:
"In mid-2012, with reforms taking hold in central Burma, war raging in the north, and a possible peace process in the east, little attention is being paid to Burma?s western regions, including the homelands of the indigenous peoples known as the Chins. A group of culturally similar, but linguistically diverse ethnic peoples associated with highland lifestyles (although many live in river valleys), the people who have been called "Chins" in Burma have historically lived in Chin State, Sagaing Division, and far northern Arakan. These areas of residence are known as Chinland, particularly in indigenous-rights contexts. Some of these people prefer to be called Zo, and regional/tribal/linguistic names are often used in addition to "Chin" or instead of "Chin." Some of them who live in other countries use "Burmese" to describe their origins, or are described that way by others. Total population estimates of the "Chin" people of Burma, including residents outside of Burma, come to around 1.5 million.
This update report is composed of interviews with people who identify themselves as Chin or Zo. The interviews took place in March-April 2012 in India: Delhi and Mizoram State (which borders Burma?s Chin State). The interviews contain information on the current situation within Chinland and on the conditions for refugees and migrants in India. Of particular interest are Chin opinions on what the benchmarks would be for safe return to their homeland. A range of responses to change in Burma are observable. Some Chin refugees have already returned, some have gone back to visit for the first time in decades, and the majority apparently do not trust Burma?s military/government and express a "wait and see" viewpoint..."
Source/publisher:
Project Maje
Date of publication:
2012-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-11
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
"Myanmar is winning more foreign friends while international criticism of the current and previous government?s abysmal human rights records has all but ceased. Old adversaries in the United States and European Union have scrapped - or are planning to scrap - economic sanctions against the regime, and big-time multinational companies are preparing to lunge into what many seems to believe is Asia?s last investment frontier.
A nearly unanimous Western world has heaped praise on President Thein Sein?s supposed moves towards "democratic reform" and "national reconciliation". But what has actually changed and what?s behind the hype?..."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times Online
Date of publication:
2012-02-10
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-06
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description/subject:
INTRODUCTION:
"Norway has supported cross-border assistance to the Back Pack Health Worker Team since 1998 and Thailand-based humanitarian assistance to the Mae Tao Clinic since 2005. Such support has been consistent with Norway?s commitments to advance humanitarian principles in conflict and disasters and to ensure that people in need receive necessary protection and assistance.
In 2010, Norway decided to cut cross-border assistance citing accountability concerns and difficulties of monitoring such assistance. In 2012, NCA was informed by MFA of an impending cut in all cross-border and Thailand- based assistance, due to positive political changes in Burma/Myanmar and improved access from Yangon to border areas of Eastern Burma/Myanmar.
NCA is concerned about the impact of such a decision. NCA therefore hired a consultant in order to verify the impact of a cut in assistance on access to services for rights holders in border areas and for local peace building efforts, and to assess whether such a cut stands at risk of violating humanitarian principles of Do No Harm. NCA further notes that other concerned parties, most recently the European Parliament, have instead called on the Burmese government to allow cross-border assistance to take place. NCA also has reason to believe that an abrupt cut in assistance to refugees, internally displaced people and migrants at this stage
1
would not be conducive to the ongoing peace making efforts of the Burmese government and ethnic armed groups in the country.
Over a period of three weeks in April 2012, the consultant conducted 35 single interviews and/or group interviews with respondents in four locations (four in Bangkok, 18 in Yangon, seven in Mae Sot and six in Chiang Mai). Two additional sources were contacted by email. The respondents belonged to the following categories: (1) Representatives of the UN system in Burma/Myanmar, including the UN Resident Coordinator; (2) Representatives of INGOs working in Burma/Myanmar and/or along the border; (3) Representatives of national and local NGOs in Burma/Myanmar; (4) Representatives of FBOs/CBOS in Burma/Myanmar and along the border; (5) Representatives of ethnic health authorities in border areas; (6) Three medical doctors with experience working with border-based health providers including two doctors from the Thai healthcare system, and (7) One independent evaluator of one border-based health provider. The consultant also attended one meeting of the Coordinating Committee for Stateless and Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT) and one press conference on the situation in Kachin State organized by Human Rights Watch, both in Bangkok1.
This report is a case study focusing primarily on the provision of healthcare services. However, NCA believes that many of the considerations and concerns raised in the report also apply to other service deliveries and that the potential consequences of a cut as described in this report would also apply to other sectors.
By seeking to gain better understanding of current dynamics of aid in the political and peace reforms in Burma/Myanmar, NCA hopes this report will contribute to the transition towards peace and reconciliation for local communities in Burma/Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)
Date of publication:
2012-04-27
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-06
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
175.06 KB
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