Fleeing countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar, refugees are risking their lives on a new smugglers route through Asia in search of a better life.

Tags: Australia, Burma, Malaysia, Myanmar, Refugees, Sri Lanka, UNHCR

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Amnesty International have announced that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is being awarded its most prestigious honour – the “Ambassador of Conscience” Award for 2009.
This year’s award will be announced in Dublin by Amnesty International and the Irish rock band U2, previous recipients of the award and long-time supporters of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
“This [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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“This film BURMA VJ is comprised largely by material shot by undercover reporters in Burma. Some elements of the film have been reconstructed in close collaboration with the actual persons involved, just as some names, places, and other recognizable facts have been altered for security reasons and in order to protect individuals.”
Winner of the Movies [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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Burma’s military government has used the country’s legal mechanisms to intimidate political prisoners and to deny them access to justice. In a crackdown that started in October 2008, Burma’s courts have sentenced over 200 political and labour activists, internet bloggers, journalists, and Buddhist monks and nuns to lengthy jail terms.
With the Association of Southeast Asian [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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Draconian Laws Invoked Against September 2007 Protestors
Burma’s military government should immediately exonerate and free about 70 activists who are being tried by unfair courts for their peaceful participation in the protests in September 2007, Human Rights Watch said today. A court inside Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison today sentenced 14 of them to 65-year prison terms.
In [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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Today’s sentencing of at least 14 dissidents who took part in the 2007 anti-government demonstrations to 65 years’ imprisonment each is a powerful reminder that Myanmar’s military government is ignoring calls by the international community to clean up its human rights record, Amnesty International said.
“In the midst of its so-called ‘Roadmap to Democracy’, the government [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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US Measure Tightening Sanctions Has Gone Into Effect
Consumers should support a new US law banning Burmese gems by refusing to buy from jewelers unless they ensure their gems are not from Burma, Human Rights Watch said today.
The US government began enforcement on October 27, 2008, of a law that strictly bans the import of rubies [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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UN Should Press Military Leaders to Keep Their Promises
The international community should demand accountability from the Burmese military government for the brutal crackdown in September 2007 on monks, activists, and other civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Repression in Burma has increased and the military government has failed to deliver on promises it made a [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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Amnesty International welcomes the release of at least seven prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, including U Win Tin who had been imprisoned for 19 years and was one of the longest-serving prisoners of conscience in the country. The fate of the other estimated 2,100 political prisoners who are still behind bars in Myanmar remains, however, [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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An anti-government activist leader in Myanmar remains at risk of torture following her arrest last Wednesday.
Nilar Thein went into hiding more than a year ago after leading some of the initial anti-government protests in August 2007.  She was taken to Aung Tha Pyay Detention Centre in Yangon (Rangoon, Myanmar’s largest city) for interrogation after her [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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