By Ona Coughlan

Target: Myanmar Government

Goal: Protect Myanmar’s forests from over-logging and exploitation

Over the past few years, the nation of Myanmar has made great strides in an effort to become more democratic.  The government has released political prisoners, made unionizing legal, and allowed more freedom of the press.  While there continue to be major human rights violations and election fraud, these problems are declining and citizen’s lives seem to slowly be improving. Unfortunately, the democratization of Myanmar also means the potential exploitation of the country’s vast natural resources.

South Asia Revealed

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, will undertake an official visit to the country from 11 to 21 August 2013. It will include visits to Rakhine State, Kachin State, Shan State, Chin State and Meikhtila in Mandalay Region.

“The Government’s agreement to provide me with such wide-ranging access to different parts of the country will give me an excellent opportunity to assess how the human rights situation is evolving as the reform agenda moves forward,” noted the rights expert, who visits Myanmar at the invitation of the Government.

RFA

Global rights advocate Human Rights Watch called Tuesday for an investigation into Myanmar’s bloody crackdown on a 1988 popular uprising as groups began marking the 25th anniversary of the pro-democracy movement.

The country’s former ruling military junta has not been held accountable for the deaths of thousands of protesters in the crackdown despite Myanmar’s transition to democratic rule over the past two years, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch HRW said.

It urged President Thein Sein to commit to investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the brutal suppression of the movement on Aug. 8, 1988.

“The mass killings 25 years ago in Burma are an unaddressed open wound that challenges the government’s rhetoric of reform,” said HRW’s Asia director Brad Adams, using the previous name of Myanmar.

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Wednesday extended a ban on imports of rubies and jade from Myanmar, reflecting worries about the powerful military’s continuing involvement in the murky industry based in conflict-wracked border regions.

Washington remains concerned about human rights abuses against ethnic minorities and the role of the army in Myanmar despite democratic reforms that have seen a shift from decades of authoritarian rule.

The reforms have led to a dramatic improvement in U.S. relations with the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, and the overall trend remains a positive one for the government of President Thein Sein.

IRIN

JOHANNESBURG, 5 August 2013 (IRIN) – Tents have long played an essential role in the emergency phase of humanitarian responses to refugee influxes. They are relatively light and cheap, and they can be stockpiled, flown in and erected in a short timeframe. But as anyone who has slept in one can attest, tents also have major shortcomings – they provide minimal protection from climatic extremes, offer little space or comfort, and deteriorate quickly.