The Nation

As ethnic and religious conflicts continue, activists and ordinary people ask what the government is doing to bring reconciliation to the country as part of its much-publicised reform programme

A march on International Day for Peace in Yangon over the weekend was a good sign that positive changes in Myanmar are continuing, but it won’t be enough to bring genuine peace and reconciliation to the country, where many layers of conflict remain unresolved.

Hundreds of people joined the rally on Saturday in the country’s former capital, calling for an end to conflict between armed ethnic groups and government forces, and between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine State. At the same time they praised the government for allowing the march to take place.

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If you were planning a trip to Myanmar, one of the first things you would do would be to read up on the country, right?  Go onto Amazon and see how many books there are on Myanmar now.   Thanks to renewed interest in the country, the list is growing monthly.  Now have look at the authors’ names and see how many of those books were written by a Myanmar author.

There are an estimated 3 million foreign migrant workers in Thailand, over 80% originating from Myanmar. Since the late 1980s, these workers have irregularly crossed borders to work in mostly dirty, dangerous and demanding jobs in Thailand thereby significantly contributing to Thailand’s economy and providing billions of dollars in remittances to support relatives in origin countries. These workers continue to face significant exploitation and confusing piecemeal government migration policies.

By CR

Activist-musician Jason Mraz spoke out against human slavery and played a concert in Burma/Myanmar on March 8, 2013, and the crowd and concert was huge and electrifying. It was all recorded in HD and is now airing on VH1 Palladia, check your local listings. The concert was in one of the most inaccessible places on the planet, near the 2,600-year-old Shwedagon Pagoda, in the People’s Park in Burma, or Myanmar. Myanmar’s military government does not allow freedom of expression and thought, so this was extraordinary. The concert was meant to be a huge statement against human trafficking, or slavery, which is a terrible scourge in Asia and around the world. Jason Mraz came out on stage with a “Slavery Sucks” t-shirt and also filmed a PSA speaking out against slavery, and is trying to raise awareness on this issue so we can eradicate this horrible practice.