Myanmar’s Rohingya Face “Permanent Segregation”, Activists Warn
Following sectarian violence in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in June, human rights researchers are now warning that the government appears to be attempting to permanently house parts of the...
View ArticleMyanmar Accused of Dragging Feet on Rakhine Violence
With a new surge in sectarian violence in western Myanmar estimated to have killed more than a hundred people in recent days, top officials in the United Nations are criticising the Myanmar government...
View ArticleDrug-Resistant Malaria Pushes Rural Thailand to Shoulder Global Role
As Thailand braces itself to combat drug-resistant malaria, a spread of small, nondescript buildings scattered close to corn and rice fields along its hilly, western border are being cast into a...
View ArticleU.S. Urged to Stem Broader Ethnic Violence in Myanmar
Worried over the possibility of further escalation of armed conflict in Myanmar, activists here are calling on Washington to take stronger action to condemn state forces for aerial bombardment of...
View ArticleIFC to Fund Major New Microfinance Institution in Myanmar
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group arm that focuses on the private sector, announced Wednesday that it would be backing a new microfinance institution in Myanmar aimed at...
View ArticleDebt Relief Package for Myanmar Unusually Generous
Nearly 20 of the world’s largest creditor countries have announced that they would be cutting nearly half of Myanmar’s total foreign debt, worth some six billion dollars. Those countries, which include...
View ArticleMyanmar Report on Anti-Rohingya Violence Skewed Toward Security
A long-awaited official report on last year’s sectarian violence in western Myanmar is being heavily disparaged by human rights and advocacy groups here, who say a government-backed commission has...
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Myanmar’s President Makes Historic, Divisive Visit to White House
Obama meets with Myanmar's President Thein Sein during his November 2012 trip to Asia. Credit: White House Photo/Pete SouzaMyanmar’s President Thein Sein on Monday became the first leader of that...
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Q&A: “The U.N. Is Too Slow to Respond to Crisis”
As the situation in Myanmar deteriorates, thousands of Rohingyas have fled the country in search of a safe haven. Courtesy of Wakar Uddin Reports continue to emerge depicting inhuman and squalid...
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Thailand Brings Same-Sex Marriage Debate to Asia
Thai laws ban transgender women from changing their names and gender on their identity cards. Credit: Sutthida Malikaew/IPS A draft law being readied for parliament that seeks to offer lesbian, gay,...
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Burmese Hinge Hopes on Free, Fair Polls
By Larry JaganBANGKOK, Feb 21 2012 (IPS) As campaigning for the Apr. 1 poll in Burma (also Myanmar) gets into full-swing, there are misgivings on whether the National League for Democracy (NLD) party...
View ArticleCommunal Violence Threatens Democratic Change in Myanmar
By Jim LobeWASHINGTON, Jun 13 2012 (IPS) The outbreak over the past week of communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine State seriously threatens the ongoing reform process in Myanmar,...
View ArticleU.S. Opens Investment in Myanmar Oil and Gas, Over Suu Kyi’s Advice
By Carey L. BironWASHINGTON, Jul 12 2012 (IPS) Following on a May announcement, the U.S. government on Wednesday moved to implement its most significant rollback in longstanding sanctions on Burma,...
View ArticleMicrofinance Brings Hope to Myanmar’s Farmers
By Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Sep 10 2012 (IPS) After decades of grinding poverty under successive military dictatorships, Myanmar’s rice farmers have a chance at a better future through rural...
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Mob Violence Continues Against Myanmar’s Rohingya
By Becky BergdahlUNITED NATIONS, Sep 17 2012 (IPS) Myanmar, also known as Burma, has taken important steps towards democracy and greater respect for human rights during the last months with one...
View ArticleSuu Kyi Backs Lifting of Final U.S. Sanctions on Myanmar
By Carey L. BironWASHINGTON, Sep 18 2012 (IPS) Speaking on Tuesday at her first public address in the United States, Myanmar’s opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said that she supported the lifting...
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After Persecution, Rohingyas Face Erasure
Border guards in Bangladesh refuse entry to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in November 2012. Credit: Anurup Titu/IPSBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Oct 3 2013 (IPS) An exiled leader of the Rohingyas, a...
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Meet the 10 Women Who Will Stop at Nothing
Seven of the ten recipients of the 2015 U.S. Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award pose together with Richard Stengel, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public...
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Water Security Critical for World Fastest-Growing Economy
Water tanks and pots are used to store water all over Myanmar. Credit: Sara Perria/IPSBy an IPS CorrespondentYANGON, Myanmar, May 24 2016 (IPS)Lack of water management and limited access to data risk...
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Water Woes Put a Damper on Myanmar’s Surging Economy
People fetch water from the new well in the village of Htita, Myanmar. It is 600 feet deep and was built thanks to private donations. Credit: Sara Perria/IPSBy Sara PerriaHTITA, Myanmar, May 25 2016...
View ArticleBURMA: Military Plays a Civilian-Looking Game
Analysis by Larry JaganBy Larry JaganBANGKOK, Apr 10 2011 (IPS) A new quasi-civilian government has taken over in Burma, but diplomats, analysts and pro-democracy activists are dismissing it as nothing...
View ArticlePolio Threatens Burma
Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Apr 22 2011 (IPS) A small army of volunteers from local non-governmental organisations has fanned out across Burma to inoculate 3.4 million children...
View ArticleTHAILAND: Malaria Spreads Amidst Insurgency in South
Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Apr 25 2011 (IPS) A raging insurgency in Thailand’s southernmost provinces has become a breeding ground for another potential killer – the...
View ArticleAsian Allies Back Burma Uneasily
Analysis by Larry JaganBy Larry JaganBANGKOK, Apr 25 2011 (IPS) Already Burma’s new civilian government poses problems for its Asian allies as it tries to woo the international community. The month-old...
View ArticleSOUTHEAST ASIA: ASEAN in Quandary over Burma’s Request to Head Bloc
Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, May 10 2011 (IPS) The new Burmese government’s request to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2014 has given its neighbours a...
View ArticleMcCain Cold to Warmer U.S.-Burma Ties
Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Jun 5 2011 (IPS) If Burma’s quasi-civilian government was hoping for warmer ties with the U.S. government, Senator John McCain’s visit to this...
View ArticleBurmese Convict Brutality Spurs Calls for International Probe
Lily HoughBy IPS CorrespondentsWASHINGTON, Jul 13 2011 (IPS) Burmese convicts forced into military service have endured mistreatment that warrants a U.N. investigation into war crimes in the country,...
View ArticleBURMA: ‘Civilian’ Govt Eases Iron Grip
Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Sep 14 2011 (IPS) With Burma’s quasi-civilian government relaxing the iron grip on power maintained for half-a century by military juntas, the big...
View ArticleWestern Sanctions Look Fussy in Burma
Analysis By Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Oct 13 2011 (IPS) On the face of it, the sudden release of political prisoners in Burma would appear a triumph for the sanctions regime...
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FILM: Political Prisoners Are Burma’s Unsung Heroes
Christian PapeschBy Christian PapeschNEW YORK, Oct 27 2011 (IPS) In a move that highlighted its sub-par human rights record, the government of Burma announced Oct. 11 that it would release 6,359...
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The Screen Speaks for Suu Kyi
A poster of "The Lady". Credit: IPS.By A. D. McKenziePARIS, Nov 24 2011 (IPS) Twenty years after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and a year after being released from house arrest, Burmese opposition...
View ArticleBOOK-BURMA: On the New Road to Mandalay
Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Dec 5 2011 (IPS) Condemned for decades as an international pariah, Burma is enjoying a diplomatic spring with droves of former critics heading...
View ArticleBURMA: Rape Used as Military Weapon
By Preethi NalluBANGKOK, Dec 9 2011 (IPS) The Burmese army has been following a policy of systematically raping women and girls to subjugate the country’s rebellious ethnic minorities, according to a...
View ArticleBURMA: Kachin Refugees Get UN Relief, Finally
Marwaan Macan-MarkarBy Marwaan Macan-MarkarBANGKOK, Dec 16 2011 (IPS) Six months after fighting erupted between Burmese troops and ethnic Kachin separatists, international relief is finally trickling...
View ArticleEU Moves on Myanmar Questioned
By Timothy SpenceBRUSSELS, Feb 19 2012 (IPS) Extraordinary political changes in the year since former army general Thein Sein came to power in Myanmar have prompted European powers to ease restrictions...
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