BANGKOK — Despite Burma’s political opening in recent years, most of the roughly 130,000 Burmese refugees in Thailand are not expecting to return any time soon. A first-of-its kind U.N. survey of refugees indicates that many remain wary of heading back across the border. A pilot socioeconomic sur...

MOULMEIN — Burma’s ethnic minorities will not attempt to secede from the union if granted equal rights, according to the ethnic Mon pro-democracy leader Min Ko Naing, who spoke during a landmark Mon peace conference over the weekend. Min Ko Naing, who was born in Mudon Township, Mon State, made t...

The newly formed Land Utilization Management Central Committee led by Vice President U Nyan Tun has vowed to settle all complains of seized land reported to the committee, within a year. The announcement was made at a press conference, held at the Ingyin Hall of the Ministry of Environmental Rese...

CHIBA – Four families from Myanmar arrived Friday night in Tokyo on a pilot U.N. refugee resettlement program introduced in fiscal 2010. The families are from ethnic minorities in Myanmar and had been living in a refugee camp in Thailand, across the border. After a 180-day vocational and Japanese...

Nine out of 10 refugees on the Thai-Burma border would prefer to resettle in third countries or stay in Thailand instead of being repatriated to Burma, according to a recent survey by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. More than 120,000 refugees have been living outside Burma in camps on the ...

Advocacy groups claim government’s mining decision derailing country’s democratic progress. The Molo Women Mining Watch Network (MWMWN) and the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) today strongly condemned the government of Burma’s decision to grant mining contracts inside Karenni State, an ongoing...

The head of Burma’s military met with members of the Karen armed resistance in the country’s capital to discuss how the ceasefire between the two could be progressed. The meeting is seen by ethnic leaders as a move by the government to acknowledge the Karen National Union (KNU) as a necessary com...

The Karen National Union (KNU) is ready to sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement, according to one of its most prominent central executive committee members, Mahn Nyein Maung, who spoke to DVB in an interview on Monday. “The KNU is looking to find solutions to all political issues through a natio...

Myanmar’s government and the political wing of the country’s armed ethnic Kachin rebels resumed peace talks Tuesday, with Naypyidaw expressing optimism they would lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities resulting in an overall nationwide cease-fire and political dialogue with ethnic groups. ...

Myanmar's president pardoned 56 political prisoners Tuesday, an amnesty apparently timed to highlight the government's reforms ahead of a regional summit as well as important negotiations with a rebel group at home. President Thein Sein ordered the prisoners' release just ahead of a forum in Brun...