Aung San Suu Kyi News Archives

A prominent US senator called on China and India to "do more" to persuade Myanmar's junta to speed up the pace of international aid entering the cyclone-devastated country Friday.

The UN is a hindrance in tackling rogue states. We should try America's latest big idea Rosemary Righter Yesterday Amnesty International issued its annual report.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That's a maxim of any competitive endeavor - sports, business, even politics.

RELIEF workers slowly moved into Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged delta after the junta started to open access, as the United Nations reported on Thursday that all its visa requests had been approved.

The donor conference held on Sunday in Rangoon allowed the international community and the Burmese junta to get acquainted and adjusted to each other's styles and substance.

YANGON * The party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi denounced the extension of her house arrest and said yesterday it would launch an appeal, while foreign donors said aid for cyclone victims in the ...

By Michael Gerson "Things on the ground," e-mailed a friend from a groaning Zimbabwe, "are absolutely shocking -- systematic violence, abductions, brutal murders.

But more than sympathy is needed, because the Burmese military junta's incompetence and brutal oppression are further aggravating the tragic consequences of this natural disaster.

Myanmar's military regime on Tuesday extended the house arrest of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, refusing to bow to international pressure of the sort that persuaded the generals to let in foreign help ...

In this May 7, 2002, file photo, Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at party headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar.

SINGAPORE: East Timor hopes to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2012 but not as a "basket case" which might embarrass Myanmar, President Jose Ramos-Horta said.

Foreign aid workers were heading for the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy delta on Monday to see whether army-ruled Myanmar will honour a promise made by its top general to give them freedom of movement.

The UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, said today he hoped Burma had reached "a turning point" in getting help to its cyclone survivors after an international aid conference pledged million of pounds in assistance.

BANGKOK, Thailand : Efforts in recent years by the United Nations to achieve democratic reform and end human rights abuses in Myanmar have been punctuated by frustration, false hopes and failure: 1974: ...

Representatives of more than 45 governments will meet in Rangoon today to pledge money to help Burma's cyclone survivors, but with tough conditions attached - particularly that the country's military rulers ...

Myanmar's junta agreed on Friday to admit cyclone aid workers "regardless of nationalities" to the hardest-hit Irrawaddy Delta, a breakthrough for delivering help to survivors, U.N. officials said.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi must be freed this weekend in accordance with the country's laws, a US lawyer announced Friday.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon headed Friday to the crucial meeting of his Myanmar mission, hoping to persuade the country's inflexible junta leader to fully open up to international aid for 2.5 million cyclone ...

Video is part of a 30-Day Video Campaign for Burma by Holly wood Celebrities, Musicians, and Athletes Legendary soccer star Diego Maradona, one of the greatest footballer in history, will release a video online ...

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was headed on Wednesday for Myanmar, looking to convince the generals who have snubbed his phone calls to accept a full-scale relief operation for Cyclone Nargis.

Burma's military junta has brushed off and dismissed all criticism towards the voting of the referendum to its new constitution.

As the death toll mounts from the cyclone that struck a densely populated area of Burma stretching from the Irrawaddy Delta to the capital city of Rangoon, the country's military dictatorship is pressing ahead ... via Today's Zaman

“Asean moves gradually and by consensus”

Sunday, May 18, 2008 Myanmar's mishandling of cyclone disaster deals latest blow to Asean MANILA -- Myanmar, long a thorn in the side of its Southeast Asian allies, has again made them a target of criticism ... via Sun-Star Cagayan de Oro

“They forced the people to vote Yes - and did not allow ballots to be cast in secret”

MS Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party Saturday rejected the Myanmar junta's claim that more than 92 per cent of voters approved a military-backed constitution in the first round of a referendum last week. via The Straits Times

“Then you get dysentery, malaria, skin infections. If it tips over the edge into cholera and typhoid, then it really is lethal in ... a population already weak and frail.”

Burma is in shock. The death toll is now believed to be 150,000. In the area hit by the cyclone around 1.5-million people are in desperate need of emergency aid -- especially clean water, food, and medicine. via National Post

“They are controlling almost everything: civil life, economy, everything. People are really helpless. On the other hand, almost the whole country is against them.”

On the eve of a weekend visit to the Bay Area, exiled Burmese opposition leader Sein Win pledged that the Burmese immigrant community in the United States will use "people-to-people" connections to get cyclone ... via Inside Bay Area

As the death toll mounts from the cyclone that struck a densely populated area of Myanmar stretching from the Irrawaddy Delta to Yangon, the country's military dictatorship is pressing ahead with efforts to ... via The Daily Star

“Half the people displaced aren't in actual buildings”

Myanmar's military regime dug in its heels Thursday two weeks after a deadly cyclone, saying it would not bow to pressure to let in foreign aid workers as the United Nations called an emergency summit. via The Age

“The main thing that is emphasised is that this is a humanitarian issue and it should not be politicised, and that is the view of everyone”

The state-run media in Burma is reporting that a new constitution that will entrench military control of the country has been overwhelmingly approved by voters in last weekend's referendum. via Australian Broadcasting Corporation

“To everyone in the delta _ in the 47 effected townships where the vote is being delayed _ this is basically saying you might as well not turn out”

Myanmar announced Thursday that a constitution won massive support in a referendum _ a claim slammed by a leading rights group as an insult to the country's people.

The document, which critics say will cement nearly four decades of military rule, was approved by 92.4 percent of the 22 million eligible voters last Saturday, said Aung Toe, head of the Referendum Holding Committee on state radio. He put voter turnout at more than 99 percent.

The vote has also come under fire for being held while the country responds to a massive cyclone that has killed tens of thousands of people. Read more

“We're working around the clock to get permission to use materials we believe would be helpful”

Military authorities in Burma have agreed to let 160 aid workers from four Asian countries assist its struggling cyclone relief effort, aid officials said yesterday, the government's first acknowledgment that ... via Boston Globe

“We work for the government, what can we do?”

Monks here have traditionally been at the center of major pro-democracy protests against the ruling junta, most notably in a large uprising in 1988 and again during huge protests last September. via The Dispatch

“Traditionally, they try to benefit from every crisis”

Myanmar's generals are ruled by paranoia To the outside world, the reaction of Myanmar's military regime to last week's devastating cyclone seems not just obscene, but inexplicable. via ScrippsNews

“I therefore call in the most strenuous terms on the government of Myanmar to put its people's lives first. It must do all it can to prevent this disaster from becoming even more serious.”

Myanmar's military rulers on Tuesday rejected growing international pressure to accept aid workers, insisting against all the evidence that it had the emergency cyclone relief effort under control. via ABS-CBN News

“And after the trees fell, it's so hot.”

The shady streets of Yangon, one of Asia's greenest cities, could have been changed forever by Cyclone Nargis, which knocked down many of its 100-year-old trees. via Hindustan Times

“It's clear that the government's capacity to deal with the situation is catastrophic.”

By J.T. Nguyen, New York, May 10 : It took a natural disaster the size of Cyclone Nargis for the UN to find that it cannot work easily with an authoritarian regime like Myanmar, which has not warmly welcomed ... via Newkerala.com

“Death was the least that she deserved”

Until recently, all that was popularly known of the mute military regime that has ruled Myanmar for 56 years was its aversion to civil rights and outside scrutiny, evidenced by the long confinement of the ... via The New Zealand Herald

“We would like to call on the United Nations to make more active intervention”

Providing cyclone relief must be conducted without 'alarming' the military junta, he says Kyodo News Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has told a U.S. newspaper that he expects the United Nations to "more actively ... via The Japan Times

“The referendum was held successfully ... with massive turnout of the citizens”

Myanmar's Senior General Than Shwe casts his ballot at a polling station in the new capital Nay Pyi Taw, about 390kmnorth of Yangon YANGON: Myanmar's ruling generals said yesterday there was "massive turnout" ... via Gulf Times

It is over a week since Cyclone Nargis brought devastation to Burma, and its people are in mourning - although there has been no official condolence from the ruling junta. via Guardian Unlimited

“But at present Myanmar is giving priority to receiving relief aid and distributing them to the storm-hit regions with its own resources”

"Myanmar is not in a position to receive rescue and information teams from foreign countries at the moment," said a Foreign Ministry statement carried in the official Myanma Ahlin newspaper. via The Globe and Mail

“These are injuries we have never seen before”

Even if they manage to find food and shelter, the 1.5 million destitute survivors of Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis still face a major risk from infected wounds, chronic diarrhoea and malaria or dengue. via SABC News

“We've never experienced this kind of thing before, so people are afraid”

YANGON, Myanmar - In this cyclone-ravaged country where most people have more important things on their minds, such as the daily struggle for fresh water, food and shelter, Myanmar's ruling generals sent ... via Chicago Tribune

“The government says vote, so we vote”

The military junta forged ahead yesterday with a constitutional referendum intended to cement its power after a campaign of arm-twisting and intimidation, even as it continued to restrict foreign aid shipments ... via Boston Globe

“The authorities are putting in place many kinds of restrictions on international assistance, including the United Nations, so the death toll is increasing day by day”

Burmese opposition pleads to UN for help Ruling party impounds more aid Grinding relief effort means more will die BURMA'S pro-democracy opposition says the cyclone death toll is rising daily because of the ... via News.com.au

“I don't want to politicize this.”

As Myanmar's aid crisis deepens, the Bush administration is facing criticism that its denunciations of the military regime may have contributed to its resistance to allowing foreign aid workers to enter the ... via Los Angeles Times

“We have received nothing so far”

Myanmar News.Net Saturday 10th May, 2008 The military junta ruling Myanmar has imposed a vacation ban for all officials, but not for the reason that every last person can be available to assist survivors of the ... via Myanmar News.net

“They are more concerned with control and maintaining an omniscience in front of their people than saving lives.”

In the eyes of Myanmar's military rulers, everyone is a potential enemy. Even foreign aid workers. via KMSB-TV Tucson

There is very little chance of Than Shwe losing the referendum Perhaps the most baffling aspect of Burma's response to Cyclone Nargis is its insistence that the referendum on a new constitution will go ahead as ... via BBC

Despite the terrible cyclone death toll, Burma's military junta is pushing ahead with its spurious constitutional referendum The devastating cyclone which ripped through lower Burma last week hasn't dented the ... via New Statesman

“My children were crying all night. There is not enough food. There will be no food this evening”

Myanmar's military regime allowed in the first major international aid shipment Thursday, but it snubbed a U.S. offer to help cyclone victims struggling to recover from a tragedy of unimaginable scale.

Five days after the storm, the junta continued to stall on visas for U.N. teams and other foreign aid workers anxious to deliver food, water and medicine to survivors amid fears the death toll could hit 100,000.

Among those stranded in Thailand were 10 members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. Air Force transport planes and helicopters packed with supplies also sat waiting for a greenlight. Read more

“If you are patriotic and you love your nation you must give an affirmative vote”

MYANMAR'S junta urged citizens on Friday to do their patriotic duty and vote for an army-drafted constitution, without mentioning the 1.5 million people clinging to survival a week after a devastating cyclone. via The Straits Times

“We had to tick marks on the ballots where U Than Shein(an election official) showed us with his finger”

It was just a few months ago that the world was transfixed by Buddhist monks facing down the army in Burma's cities, fleetingly raising the hopes of a long-suffering people that decades of iron-fisted military ... via The National

“This area is of less priority, so they seemed to have ignored us for the time being”

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is living in virtual darkness after the devastating cyclone that struck the country blew the roof off her house, a neighbor said Thursday.

It was not clear if Suu Kyi was injured and whether she has enough food and water.

The neighbor said the electricity connection to Suu Kyi's dilapidated lakeside bungalow was snapped in Saturday's cyclone. He said he sees candles being lit at night in the house.

'She has no generator in her house. I felt pity for her. It seems no one cares for her,' said the neighbor, who was contacted by telephone from Bangkok. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Read more

“It is imperative at this point that they do open up and allow a major international relief effort to get under way”

Relief supplies from the United Nations began arriving in Myanmar Thursday, but U.S. military planes loaded with aid for cyclone victims were still denied access by the country's isolationist regime.The junta ... via KansasCity.com

“The storm victims are in urgent need of emergency assistance from the international agencies, including the UN”

LABUTTA, Myanmar: Thousands of shell-shocked survivors of the Myanmar cyclone emerged from remote areas on Wednesday, desperate for food and water after trekking for days through flood waters littered with the ... via The Daily Star

“We estimate that upwards of 1 million people are currently in need of shelter and life-saving assistance”

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Wednesday May 07 2008. It was last updated at 13:35 on May 07 2008. via Guardian Unlimited

It is not often that there is fair warning of a comprehensive abuse of political rights. via Burmanet

“The government misled people. They could have warned us about the severity of the coming cyclone so we could be better prepared.”

Initial assessments of the scale of death and destruction caused by the cyclone that tore into Myanmar on Saturday already signal that it is the worst natural disaster to strike South East Asia since the 2004 ... via The Post and Courier

“Even though prisoners requested prison guards to open the doors and move them to safety, the authorities ignored their request. Some prisoners set fire to the prison hall and a riot ensued.”

Thirty-six prisoners in a jail described by former inmates as "the darkest hell-hole in Burma" were reportedly shot dead in the chaotic aftermath of the cyclone and four others tortured to death. via The Belfast Telegraph

“It took the worst possible path in terms of sustaining strength. ... The interaction of water and land lying right at sea level allowed the tidal surge to deliver maximum penetration of seawater over land.”

The number of dead and missing in the Myanmar cyclone soared past 60,000 Tuesday amid signs the toll will rise even higher, as much of the disaster zone remained flooded by seawater, threatened by disease and ... via The Spokesman-Review

Myanmar's death toll from the weekend cyclone rose to at least 22,000 today as the nation's military rulers accepted only a trickle of the aid being offered by the rest of the world. via Bloomberg Business News

MRS. BUSH: Thank you, everybody, for coming out. I just want to make a few comments about Burma. via Earth Times

“Although they were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path”

Myanmar's military rulers were under fire Tuesday after revealing more than 10,000 people died in the cyclone that battered the secretive and impoverished nation, with thousands more missing. via The Age

“We're leaders in the world and we invite the international community to follow suit”

Canada granted honorary citizenship to Burma's detained dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday in recognition of her struggle for human rights and democracy in the Southeast Asian country. via CBC

“The president will sign the legislation tomorrow, the congressional legislation that awards Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Medal of Honor”

US President George W. Bush on Tuesday will sign legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, First Lady Laura Bush said Monday. via Raw Story

“They should come out in full force and help clean up the areas and restore electricity.”

A powerful cyclone killed more than 350 people and destroyed thousands of homes, state-run media said Sunday. Some dissident groups worried that the military junta running Myanmar would be reluctant to ask for international help.

Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit at a delicate time for the junta, less than a week ahead of a crucial referendum on a new constitution. Should the junta be seen as failing disaster victims, voters who already blame the regime for ruining the economy and squashing democracy could take out their frustrations at the ballot box. Read more

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to vote in the upcoming referendum on the country's military-backed draft constitution, according to an official voting list released Friday. via The Boston Globe

“That's partly because the international community does not have the capacity to quickly implement and follow through on peace agreements when they are reached.”

The Security Council today stressed the need for the upcoming referendum and elections in Myanmar to include the full participation of all political actors and respect for fundamental political freedoms. via United Nations

“A military coup could be implemented in Burma by constitutional means”

When Burmese vote in a May 10 referendum on the country's new constitution, they will be getting a bitter foretaste of the "discipline-flourishing democracy" the military has in store for them. via Bangkok Post

“I believe it's a good statement”

The U.N. Security Council on Friday called on Myanmar's military government to ensure that "fundamental political freedoms" are respected in this month's referendum on a new constitution. via Newsday.com

Hollywood stars including Jennifer Aniston, Will Ferrell and Ellen Page have joined forces to kick off a campaign calling for the release of imprisoned Myanmar activist Aung San Suu Kyi. via The Post Chronicle

“They said those who wanted to vote 'no' had to hand in their resignation”

Hundreds of government workers in Myanmar have been forced to vote in favor of an army-drafted constitution in non-secret ballots held more than a week before a May 10 referendum, some of the workers said. via Boston.com

“The proposed constitution mentions very little about the rights of workers and farmers”

YANGON, Myanmar : Myanmar's junta chief urged workers Thursday to approve a draft constitution in an upcoming referendum while the main opposition party implored them to reject the document, which critics call ... via International Herald Tribune

“We've imposed visa bans on the junta's generals and their families and their cronies, trying to send a clear message, and we hope the rest of the world follows as well.”

President Bush on Thursday froze the assets of state-owned companies in Myanmar that prop up the nation's military junta, which has been condemned by the international community for suppressing pro-democracy ... via The Oregonian