The real sign of development and democracy is how a country respects, protects and promotes freedoms and human rights. The biggest challenge of our times is the increasing gap between the promises and performance of states and governments in relation to the protection of the freedoms and human rights of their people. This is most evident in many countries in Asia, with the shrinking of freedom and democratic spaces resulting in increasing attacks on human rights defenders.
Category: Myanmar
Official speaks out against coal power
If the people say “no” to coal, so do we, say government officials. In an interview with The Myanmar Times this week, a deputy permanent secretary of the Electricity and Energy Department has confirmed that the government has no plans to pursue coal-based energy.
Our River…, Our Life…
Plans to build dams on the Salween River by the Burma government, China and Thailand threatens millions of villagers and animals that depend on the free flowing river for their living, food sources and as a vital transport link.
Powerful new documentary looks at lives threatened by Salween dams
A powerful new documentary produced by Karen News profiles people who may be affected by a string of planned hydropower dams on Myanmar’s Salween River. “Our River…, Our Life” takes viewers along one of the world’s longest undammed rivers.
“It gives voice to the people currently missing from the debate on the dams,” said Karen News. The film goes “deeper into the impacts of those policies/events on the people most affected – the villagers.”
Can Myanmar’s hydropower study truly be for the people?
In recent weeks, violent clashes in Kayin State have further disrupted Myanmar’s fragile peace process. Fighting between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the government-sponsored Border Guard Force (BGF) in Mae Tha Waw areas of Hlaingbwe township, and more recently near Kawkareik township, has displaced over a thousand people. Entire families have fled their homes and are left stranded with limited access to food and assistance, producing nothing short of a humanitarian crisis. Across the border in Thailand, nearly 60,000 people remain in refugee camps, having fled ongoing conflict over the past two decades.
Mining will be regulated: Kachin State MP
Kachin State MP Kyaw Kyaw Win said on Sunday that the state parliament would enact regional laws to control the mining industry. He spoke at a meeting organised by the Myanmar Green Network in Myitkyina Township.
Southeast Asia’s last major undammed river in crisis
From the snow-capped mountains of Tibet, the Salween rushes through steep gorges in Yunnan Province and flows through four of Myanmar’s ethnic states before emptying into the Andaman Sea.
With dams on hold upstream, Yunnan’s provincial chief Li Jiheng expressed support in 2016 for a national park to stimulate this region’s tourism in the upper Salween (the Nu River) which already attracts many visitors to the ‘Three Parallel Rivers’ World Heritage site. Although Li Jiheng was recently replaced by Chen Hao, it is hoped that the dams will remain suspended.
Myanmar to consider becoming full member of Mekong River Commission: president
Visiting Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw said Wednesday that his country agreed to consider becoming full member of the Mekong River Commission (MRC).
U Htin Kyaw made the remark while holding talks with Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi during his state visit to Vietnam, reported the state-run news agency VNA.
Activist group opposes all dams on Thanlwin River
The Thanlwin River Watch Alliance said it will oppose any dam project on the Thanlwin River at a forum held on Monday in Taunggyi Township, Shan State. The alliance is composed of residents of Shan, Kayah, Kayin and Mon states and monitors projects on the river, which flows through the four states. Ethnic minority representatives and members of civil society organisations attended the forum. The group also launched a nationwide signature campaign that day.
Report reveals a big dependence on freshwater fish for global food security
Freshwater fish play a surprisingly crucial role in feeding some of the world’s most vulnerable people, according to a study published Monday (Oct. 24) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“It was eye-opening just how many people are deeply dependent on freshwater fisheries as sources of protein,” says Pete McIntyre, a lead co-author of the study and professor of zoology in the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “Many people in poor nations do not get much animal protein to eat, and freshwater fish provide protein for the nutritional equivalent of 158 million people around the world.”