February 2010 - Burma Campaign Japan

US lawmaker seeks to punish Myanmar on Suu Kyi

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(AFP) – The United States on Friday criticized Myanmar's Supreme Court for not releasing Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, with one lawmaker saying the time had come to tighten sanctions. The military-ruled nation's highest court rejected an appeal by the democracy champion to be freed from house arrest.

The verdict comes ahead of elections which have raised deep suspicions among the opposition and overseas.
"We condemn the Supreme Court's decision," a State Department official said, saying that Aung San Suu Kyi was being held under house arrest "for purely political reasons." The official, who by protocol could not be named, said that the United States "strongly" urged Myanmar to free other political prisoners and allow them to participate fully in the political process. Representative Joe Crowley, a Democrat who has long championed Aung San Suu Kyi, said the time had come for the United States to implement tighter sanctions that target military leader Than Shwe's regime. "Aung San Suu Kyi's 14-year imprisonment has been a sham from day one," Crowley said. "The cruel military junta must face consequences for violating the human rights of the Burmese people," he said, using Myanmar's former name of Burma. The United States last year opened dialogue with Myanmar as part of the Obama administration's policy of reaching out to adversarial regimes. The Obama administration argued that the previous tactic of isolating Myanmar had failed, although it said it would only ease sanctions in return for progress on democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades since her National League for Democracy swept 1990 elections. The junta plans to hold fresh elections later this year. The opposition leader had her incarceration lengthened by 18 months in August after being convicted over a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home.

Myanmar court rejects Suu Kyi's appeal for release

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The highest court in military-ruled Myanmar dismissed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest bid for freedom Friday, turning down an appeal to end 14 years of house arrest, her lawyer said. The Supreme Court's decision had been expected since legal rulings in Myanmar rarely favor opposition activists, and the junta appears determined to keep Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, detained through elections planned later this year. Defense lawyer Nyan Win told reporters he would launch one final "special appeal" before the court after determining why the recent appeal had been rejected.
"The court order did not mention any reasons," he said. "Although the decision comes as no surprise, it is deeply disappointing," said British Ambassador Andrew Heyn, who attended the court session along with diplomats from Australia, France and the United States. "We continue to believe that (Suu Kyi) should be released immediately along with the other 2,000 and more other prisoners of conscience." French Ambassador Jean Pierre Lafosse said Suu Kyi was "the victim of a sham trial." Suu Kyi's lawyers appealed to the court last November after a lower court a month earlier upheld a decision to sentence her to 18 months of house arrest. She was convicted last August of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home. The 64-year-old democracy icon was initially sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor in a trial that drew global condemnation, but that sentence was commuted to 18 months of house arrest by junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe. Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 years. Her National League for Democracy won elections in 1990 by a landslide, but the military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, refused to cede power. The junta has announced it will hold elections some time this year under a constitution that allows the military to maintain substantial power. It effectively bars Suu Kyi from participating in the polls, the first general elections since 1990. Suu Kyi's party has not announced whether it will contest the elections. If the vote goes ahead as planned and Suu Kyi serves out her latest 18-month sentence, she would still be in detention during the elections. The court ruling also denied freedom to two female companions who share Suu Kyi's house arrest. It comes nearly two weeks after the junta released Tin Oo, the 82-year-old deputy leader of Suu Kyi's party, from nearly seven years in detention. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been widely criticized for its continued violation of human rights, including atrocities committed by its military against ethnic minority groups. Human rights groups say the junta holds 2,100 political prisoners. The Singapore government, which normally refrains from criticizing the junta, said "it is of course very disappointing that her appeal did not succeed." It said a dialogue among the junta, Suu Kyi and all other political groups ahead of this year's elections "offers the best prospects for national reconciliation and the long-term political stability of Myanmar." "We thus hope that the Myanmar authorities will, in their own interests, allow her to participate in the political process in a meaningful way as soon as possible," it said in a statement. During a meeting with her lawyers Thursday, Suu Kyi jokingly asked them if she had been behaving well, as junta chief Than Shwe had said she could receive amnesty if she serves her time according to the prescribed regulations. "Than Shwe already made the verdict for (Suu Kyi) and no judge will have the nerve to change it," said Aung Din, executive director of the U.S.-based U.S. Campaign for Burma, a lobby group. "The judiciary system in Burma is just a part of the regime's oppressive mechanism," he said. "The only way to make the release of (Suu Kyi) and all political prisoners in Burma is to keep putting maximum pressure on Than Shwe and his cronies until they feel the heat."

Suu Kyi loses appeal in Myanmar

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Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court in military-ruled Myanmar Friday rejected opposition and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal against her house detention. A diplomat who attended the court hearing told CNN the appeal was unsuccessful. The report said she still has one more appeal left to a special court in Naypyidaw, or Abode of Kings, the new capital of the country formerly called Burma. The capital is being built about 300 miles north of the current capital Yangon, formerly called Rangoon. Suu Kyi, 64, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has spent most of the past 20 years in detention.
In August, another 18 months were added to her house arrest after the military junta accused her of violating her detention rules in an incident involving John Yettaw, an American who stayed at her lakeside home without her invitation. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a huge victory in elections in 1990 but the military rulers never accepted the results. New elections were promised for this year but the junta but no dates have been set. Suu Kyi, however, won't be allowed to contest in the elections on grounds she had married a foreigner, CNN reported.

S.Korea firm sign billion dollar Myanmar gas deal

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(AFP) – Hyundai Heavy Industries said it signed a 1.4 billion dollar deal Tuesday with another South Korean firm to develop a huge natural gasfield in military-ruled Myanmar. Hyundai Heavy, the world's largest shipyard, signed the contract with trading company Daewoo International to build offshore and onshore plant at the Shwe project off northwest Myanmar by March 2013. Daewoo International has agreed to supply gas from the field from May of the same year through
a pipeline to China. The project will produce 500 million cubic feet (15 million cubic metres) of gas per day for between 25 and 30 years. The field is estimated to hold between 4.5 trillion and 7.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Hyundai Heavy will build a 40,000-ton offshore gas platform, a subsea production system, pipelines, an onshore gas terminal, a jetty and a supply base. "The project will help to enhance the partnership between Hyundai Heavy and Daewooo International," Hyundai Heavy CEO Oh Byung-Wook said in a statement, adding his company expects additional orders in Myanmar. Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, is under economic sanctions by the United States and Europe because of its human rights record and long-running detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But their impact has been weakened as neighbours such as China, India and Thailand spend billions of dollars for a share of its oil and gas reserves. A report by rights groups last June said South Korea's government was failing to hold its corporations to account for abuses linked to natural gas development in Myanmar. The report, by EarthRights International and the Shwe Gas Movement, said the gas project had already been linked to forced relocations and other human rights violations. Local people who criticised the work faced arbitrary arrest and detention, it said.

S.Korea firm sign billion dollar Myanmar gas deal

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/skorea-firm-sign-billion-dollar-myanmar_23.html [/postlink] (AFP) – Hyundai Heavy Industries said it signed a 1.4 billion dollar deal Tuesday with another South Korean firm to develop a huge natural gasfield in military-ruled Myanmar.
Hyundai Heavy, the world's largest shipyard, signed the contract with trading company Daewoo International to build offshore and onshore plant at the Shwe project off northwest Myanmar by March 2013. Daewoo International has agreed to supply gas from the field from May of the same year through a pipeline to China. The project will produce 500 million cubic feet (15 million cubic metres) of gas per day for between 25 and 30 years. The field is estimated to hold between 4.5 trillion and 7.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Hyundai Heavy will build a 40,000-ton offshore gas platform, a subsea production system, pipelines, an onshore gas terminal, a jetty and a supply base. "The project will help to enhance the partnership between Hyundai Heavy and Daewooo International," Hyundai Heavy CEO Oh Byung-Wook said in a statement, adding his company expects additional orders in Myanmar. Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, is under economic sanctions by the United States and Europe because of its human rights record and long-running detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But their impact has been weakened as neighbours such as China, India and Thailand spend billions of dollars for a share of its oil and gas reserves. A report by rights groups last June said South Korea's government was failing to hold its corporations to account for abuses linked to natural gas development in Myanmar. The report, by EarthRights International and the Shwe Gas Movement, said the gas project had already been linked to forced relocations and other human rights violations. Local people who criticised the work faced arbitrary arrest and detention, it said.

UN envoy leaves Burma with very modest gains

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Sun Feb 21, 2:12 pm ET Bangkok, Thailand – A United Nations special envoy to military-ruled Burma (Myanmar) ended a five-day visit Friday to monitor human rights there without being allowed to meet its most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Tomas Ojea Quintana said he “deeply regretted” not being allowed to see the detained opposition leader. He also said the junta had given him no indication on the timing or framework of parliamentary elections that it plans to hold this year, the first since a 1990 poll won by Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and annulled by the military. Observers swiftly criticized the snub of a UN envoy, the first to visit since two senior US diplomats traveled there in November. The US mission was part of a shift by the Obama administration towards engagement with Burma after decades of sanctions and arms-length diplomacy. But human rights activists and Western diplomats argue that Mr. Quintana wasn’t expected to wrest major political concessions from the prickly junta. Instead, he went to meet prisoners of conscience, whose ranks swelled after a violent 2007 suppression of Buddhist monk-led protests. On the eve of his visit, Tin Oo, a senior NLD leader, was released after seven years of house arrest, an apparent sop to the UN visit. However, the NLD has argued that any elections won’t be credible unless the junta releases Suu Kyi and more than 2,100 other political detainees and restores freedom of speech and assembly. In addition, Quintana also tried to shine a spotlight on human rights in Burma’s ethnic minority areas, which have been largely overshadowed by the international focus on Suu Kyi. He traveled to Rakhine in western Burma to investigate the treatment of detainees held there, including minorities. Rakhine is home to the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, whom Burma doesn’t recognize as citizens, leaving them effectively stateless. Getting access to Rakhine “is a bit of a coup because [Quintana] has requested access before and been denied,” says Benjamin Zawacki, a researcher in Bangkok for Amnesty International. “It’s a high-value visit.” The Argentine diplomat has previously raised the issue of the Rohingya at the UN Human Rights Council. He is due to address the council again in March. Activists say a firsthand report should strengthen the UN’s hand in advocating for increased protection for this and other ethnicities in Burma, where about one-third of the roughly 50 million population belong to 135 recognized minorities. The Rohingya, who aren’t in this category, are estimated to number about 700,000, though no reliable census exists. Over the past two decades, many have sought sanctuary across the border in neighboring Bangladesh and in other parts of Southeast Asia. On Thursday, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, said thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh faced sickness and even starvation after being driven out of their homes in recent months. Most have moved to slums on the outskirts of UN-run refugee camps but aren’t eligible for food aid and run the risk of being forced back to Burma, the medical charity said. Paul Critchley, MSF chief in Bangladesh, said more than 6,000 refugees had arrived since October at an unofficial camp of nearly 30,000 where the charity runs a clinic. Many reported harassment and beatings by security forces and neighbors, part of an apparent political campaign against an estimated 200,000 Rohingya who live illegally in Bangladesh. The abuses meted out to refugees included being pushed into a river separating the two countries and told to swim back to Burma, say MSF officials. Those who make it to the camps have no means of making a living, and women who go outside to collect firewood have been raped. “The only thing that they can legally do in Bangladesh is starve. This is not acceptable,” Mr. Critchley told a press conference in Bangkok. Last year Thailand’s military was accused of forcing hundreds of Rohingya boatpeople back out to sea after they arrived from Bangladesh and Burma. Some later drowned or were rescued in neighboring countries. This crackdown led to a drop in sailings, says Chris Lewa, who runs The Arakan Project, a human rights group focused on Rohingya. But the renewed harassment in Bangladesh is spurring more refugees to consider fleeing by boat, despite the hazardous journey and risk of reprisals. Ms. Lewa says the anti-Rohingya campaign seems aimed at deterring new arrivals from Burma. But the upcoming election could be the trigger for another exodus, if the tensions aren’t handled properly by authorities. “There is mounting tension that could develop into communal violence,” she warns. --- Follow us in Twitter and Facebook.

UN envoy meets Suu Kyi party aides in Myanmar

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(AFP) – The freed deputy of Aung San Suu Kyi's party met a UN rights envoy in military-ruled Myanmar Thursday and said the release of the Nobel Peace laureate was vital before elections, the opposition said.UN special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana held talks in the former capital Yangon with Tin Oo, the elderly vice chairman of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), and six other leading party members.

Myanmar's ruling junta freed 83-year-old Tin Oo from house arrest at the weekend. He was detained along with Suu Kyi in 2003 after a pro-regime mob attacked their motorcade, killing dozens of people."We had a free discussion with him for one hour. We discussed the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," Khin Maung Swe, one of those who attended the meeting with Quintana, told AFP. Daw is a Burmese-language term of respect.
"We also said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should be involved in the future politics and pointed out that (she) should participate in national reconciliation," he said.
Quintana told the NLD members that he had asked to meet Suu Kyi but had had no answer yet from the junta, Khin Maung Swe said.
"He asked us about the election and we said that there was no election law and we haven't met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi so we haven't decided anything yet," he added.
Myanmar's generals have promised to hold elections this year but have not yet set a date, adding to international fears that the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the regime's hold on power.The NLD won by a landslide in Myanmar's last national polls in 1990 but the military prevented them from taking power. The latest elections are part of a "roadmap to democracy" announced by the junta.
Suu Kyi has been detained for mostof the last two decades and her house arrest was extended by 18 months in August after an incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside house.
Among the other NLD members who also attended the meeting with Quintana was Win Tin,a dissident journalist who was Myanmar's longest serving prisoner until his release in September 2008.

The Argentinian diplomat arrived in Yangon Thursday from the northwestern town of Sittwe and went to the notorious Insein Prison, where dozens of dissidents are held.

On Wednesday, Quintana travelled to a prison in Rakhine state on the northwestern border with Bangladesh and met several political prisoners, sources said.

They included Htay Kywe, a prominent student activist serving a 65-year jail sentence for his role in mass protests led by Buddhist monks against the regime in 2007
Myanmar's generals have also continued a crackdown on dissent launed after the protests three years ago. The United Nations says there are around 2,100 political detainees in the country.Quintana is set to travel to the remote new capital Naypyidaw on Friday, the final day of his five-day trip, to meet Foreign Minister Nyan Win and other officials.
The UN envoy is not, however, scheduled to meet reclusive junta leader Than Shwe.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

Myanmar Videos - Myanmar Video Clips, Countries Videos, Burma Videos : searchforvideo

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UN Human Rights Envoy Visits Myanmar as Opposition Leader Freed

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/un-human-rights-envoy-visits-myanmar-as.html [/postlink] Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations sent its human rights envoy to Myanmar for talks on elections scheduled for this year that would be the first in two decades as the military government released an opposition leader from house arrest.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the special envoy for human rights in the country formerly known as Burma, begins a four-day visit today and says he wants to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, who remains in detention.
The junta two days ago freed Tin Oo, the 82-year-old vice chairman of the NLD, ago after seven years in detention. “It is not enough to release me alone,” Agence France-Presse cited him as saying in Yangon yesterday when he visited a Buddhist temple.
Myanmar’s military, which has ruled the country since 1962, plans to hold elections this year under a new constitution. The U.S. and UN are leading calls on the junta to make progress toward democracy and ensure the ballot is not used as a way for the military to maintain power.
This year is “a critical time for the people of Myanmar,” Quintana said last week. “These elections should be fair and transparent. Freedom of speech, movement and association should be guaranteed” and all prisoners of conscience should be released before the ballot, he said. The U.S. says an estimated 2,100 political prisoners in Maynmar should be released before the election.
Suu Kyi, 64, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, had her house arrest order extended for 18 months in August after a court found her guilty of violating her detention terms, a decision that would ensure her being excluded from this year’s elections.
Myanmar’s Supreme Court is currently considering whether to overturn a lower court ruling in October that upheld the extension order.
The authorities allowed Suu Kyi to meet with three senior members of the NLD in December to discuss the elections, the party said at the time. The NLD hasn’t decided whether to take part in the ballot, AFP reported yesterday.
U.S. President Barack Obama is pursuing a policy of engaging with the military leaders while maintaining trade and financial sanctions that are aimed at pressing the junta to make democratic changes in the country of more than 48 million people.
Myanmar has turned to China as an economic partner in recent years with trade between the countries increasing in 2008 by 28 percent to $2.6 billion, 240 times more than the $10.8 million with the U.S. China National Petroleum Corp., the nation’s largest oil company, has started building a 771- kilometer (480 miles) pipeline from Myanmar to Southwest China. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, is exploring for oil in Myanmar.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: February 14, 2010 19:21 EST

UN rights envoy visits Myanmar

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/un-rights-envoy-visits-myanmar.html [/postlink] YANGON (AFP) – A UN envoy arrived in military-ruled Myanmar Monday to examine its progress on human rights ahead of elections, days after the junta freed a key aide to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Tomas Ojea Quintana expects to meet Foreign Minister Nyan Win but not reclusive junta head Than Shwe during his five-day trip, the third he has made to the isolated Southeast Asian nation since his appointment in 2008.
Quintana has said he also wants to meet Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi, who has been detained for most of the past 20 years, but the ruling generals have not said if they will allow the Argentine diplomat to do so.
He arrived by commercial flight at Yangon airport and was taken to his hotel before meeting with UN staff, a Myanmar official said on condition of anonymity.
The junta has so far agreed to a meeting between Quintana and four lawyers from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, according to an official and NLD party spokesman, also called Nyan Win.
"We four lawyers will meet with Mr Quintana this evening.... We do not know the reason. It's their proposal. I still do not know yet whether the envoy will meet with the NLD party," Nyan Win said.
Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Yangon but the junta on Saturday freed Tin Oo, the elderly vice chairman of her National League for Democracy party, who had been detained for the past seven years.
In a statement issued last week ahead of his five-day visit, Quintana said 2010 was "a critical time for the people of Myanmar."
"It would be important for me to meet with political party leaders in the context of this year's landmark elections," he said. "I hope that my request to the government to meet with... Aung San Suu Kyi will be granted this time."
Myanmar officials said Quintana would go outside the former capital Yangon and fly Monday to Sittwe, in Western Rakhine state, near the country's border with Bangladesh.
Quintana had meant to visit Myanmar back in November but his visit was repeatedly pushed back. He was appointed to his human rights role in May 2008 in the wake of a cyclone that left around 138,000 people dead.
On Thursday the envoy is due to return to Yangon to visit the country's notorious Insein prison where dozens of political dissidents are held, and later meet with representatives of ethnic groups.
Some ethnic groups along Myanmar's eastern border continue to wage armed opposition to the government.Quintana will go to the remote capital Naypyidaw to meet with senior government officials on Friday before leaving the country.
His trip comes as the junta sends out mixed signals to the international community, by responding to US efforts at engagement while at the same time continuing a crackdown on dissent ahead of this year's promised polls.
The junta has in the recent past exercised strict controls on all UN officials visiting the country, including Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last year, who was refused access to Suu Kyi.
US officials have by contrast received a warm welcome since President Barack Obama's administration announced that it would pursue a dual track of engagement alongside sanctions.
Tin Oo, 83, said his release from seven years of detention at the weekend meant nothing without the freedom of Suu Kyi and the other 2,100 political detainees that the UN says are behind bars in Myanmar.
NLD leaders are yet to decide whether the party will take part in the elections.
The junta has not yet announced a date or issued laws for the polls, the first in Myanmar since elections in 1990 that were won by the NLD in a landslide but not recognised by the military government.
Suu Kyi's house arrest was extended in August by 18 months when she was convicted over an incident in which an American man swam to her house, effectively ruling her out of participation in the polls and sparking international outrage.

UN rights envoy visits Myanmar

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Myanmar frees defiant Suu Kyi deputy from house arrest

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/myanmar-frees-defiant-suu-kyi-deputy.html [/postlink] (AFP) – Myanmar's junta freed the deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party from house arrest Saturday, prompting him to vow to resume his political activities ahead of elections later this year.

Myanmar frees major opposition leader

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Myanmar's ruling junta released the deputy leader of the country's pro-democracy party from nearly seven years in detention, but offered no indication that he or still-detained party leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed to take part in this year's elections.

Australia to boost Myanmar aid but keep sanctions

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Australia (AP) -- Australia will inject more humanitarian aid into Myanmar but maintain sanctions until the Southeast Asian nation's military junta significantly improves how it treats its people, a top official said Monday.

Burmese-American Awaits Verdict in Myanmar Case

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BANGKOK — At last count there were more than 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar, according to human rights groups that track the opaque workings of the penal system in that country, formerly known as Burma. Among them is Nyi Nyi Aung, who spent years campaigning for Burmese democracy in exile before obtaining American citizenship.

Philippine FS urges Myanmar to release Suu Kyi

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/philippine-fs-urges-myanmar-to-release.html [/postlink] (AP) -- The Philippine foreign secretary says Myanmar should free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a sign that the military-ruled country is serious about holding credible elections this year.

Ghana rejects 'unwholesome' Myanmar rice

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/ghana-rejects-myanmar-rice.html [/postlink]
Yangon - Ghana's rejection last month of 15,000 bags of "unwholesome" rice from Myanmar has sparked calls for improved quality controls for the commodity, one of the country's key export items, media reports said Sunday. Ghana's Food and Drugs Board last month rejected a shipment of Myanmar rice "for being unwholesome for human consumption," as it was infested with weevils and gave off an offensive smell, the Myanmar Times reported.

U.S. citizen faces years in Myanmar prison

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/us-citizen-faces-years-in-myanmar-prison.html [/postlink] (UPI) -- A naturalized U.S. citizen who returned to his native Myanmar faces 12 years imprisonment if convicted by a Myanmar court, said human rights activists.

Philippines sees Myanmar vote 'farce' in September

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/philippines-sees-myanmar-vote-in.html [/postlink] (AFP) – Myanmar is likely to hold elections around September but they are shaping up to be a "farce" with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi unable to run, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Friday.

Myanmar may free Suu Kyi during polls: Thailand

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/myanmar-may-free-suu-kyi-during-polls.html [/postlink] (AFP) – Aung San Suu Kyi may be freed during the national elections in Myanmar, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Tuesday, predicting the polls could be held during the second half of 2010.

Now Open: Burma Superstar's Eats, a Breakfast and Lunch Joint

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/now-open-burma-superstar-eats-breakfast.html [/postlink] Richmond District diner Eats reopened last week under the management of the folks behind nearby Burma Superstar. When the takeover was first hinted at late last year by the Richmond District of San Francisco blog

Thailand says Karens to be returned to Myanmar on voluntary basis

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/thailand-says-karens-to-be-returned-to.html [/postlink] The Thai government and military on Friday insisted that 1,700 refugees from the Karen ethnic minority would only be repatriated to neighbouring Myanmar on a voluntary basis. Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307644,thailand-says-karens-to-be-returned-to-myanmar-on-voluntary-basis.html#ixzz0efw6ajgX

Myanmar jails another video reporter

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/myanmar-jails-another-video-reporter.html [/postlink] Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association, run by exiled Myanmar journalists based in Thailand, said the 13-year jail sentence passed on Ngwe Soe Lin shows the junta's "phobia of uncontrolled video reporting."

Myanmar Open to return to Asian Tour in April

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/myanmar-open-to-return-to-asian-tour-in.html [/postlink] (Reuters) – The Myanmar Open will return to this season's Asian Tour schedule in April following a four-year absence, officials said Tuesday.

Myanmar may free Suu Kyi during polls: Thailand

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/myanmar-may-free-suu-kyi-during-polls_2.html [/postlink] (AFP) – Aung San Suu Kyi may be freed during the national elections in Myanmar, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Tuesday, predicting the polls could be held during the second half of 2010.

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