Myanmar

Voir aussi la fiche ressource de Ritimo sur la Birmanie

Mekong Media Forum 2009

Some 225 participants, the bulk of them journalists from Mekong countries, are set to discuss, debate and take stock of their media environment against a backdrop of changing and often quite different news cultures at the Mekong Media Forum, which starts here Dec. 9. The four-day media conference brings together a mix of participants, from print, television journalists and photojournalists to civil society, academics and developments, who will be discussing a menu of issues such as changes (...) read

Neither War Nor Peace

> The Future Of The Cease-Fire Agreements In Burma

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the first cease-fire agreements in Burma, which put a stop to decades of fighting between the military government and a wide range of ethnic armed opposition groups. These groups had taken up arms against the government in search of more autonomy and ethnic rights. The military government has so far failed to address the main grievances and aspirations of the cease-fire groups. The regime now wants them to disarm or become Border Guard Forces. (...) read

Burma, victim of the ’War on Terror’

When I phoned Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in Rangoon yesterday, I imagined the path to her door that looks down on Inya Lake. Through ragged palms, a trip-wire is visible, a reminder that this is the prison of a woman whose party was elected by a landslide in 1990, a democratic act extinguished by men in ludicrous uniforms. Her phone rang and rang; I doubt if it is connected now. Once, in response to my “How are you?” she laughed about her piano’s need of tuning. She also spoke about lying awake, (...) read

Regime-quakes in Burma and China

> Alternatives International

When news arrived of the catastrophic earthquake in Sichuan, my mind turned to Zheng Sun Man, an up-and-coming security executive I met on a recent trip to China. Zheng heads Aebell Electrical Technology, a Guangzhou-based company that makes surveillance cameras and public address systems and sells them to the government. Read more read

Myanmar : Aid in a tight space

Myanmar (formerly Burma), with a population of some 52 million, is one of the poorest countries in Asia, yet international aid had been negligible until recently. Aid flows are rising, despite the isolation of the regime, a tense political environment and limited humanitarian space, according to the former top UN official in the country. In September 2007, peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks were followed by a government crackdown attracting major international (...) read

What to do about Myanmar

> The London Review of Books, Vol. 29 n° 3, 8 February 2007

There is an enduring myth that in 1948, when it achieved independence from Britain, Burma (Myanmar) was a rich country with every reason to expect a bright future and that the policies and practices of the military government are alone to blame for today’s miseries. It is beyond dispute that many of these policies and practices have been disastrous. But there is a deeper history of misfortune which needs to be understood. At independence, Burma was a country devastated by war, with a (...) read