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Rakhine sectarian violence - one year on

SITTWE, 13 June 2013 (IRIN) - One year after Myanmar's worst sectarian violence in decades, tension between the Buddhist ethnic Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities in the country's western Rakhine State remains high. full report

Analysis: Keeping human rights on the agenda in Myanmar

 BANGKOK, 6 June 2013 (IRIN) - As hundreds of representatives from 55 countries, including world leaders, business chiefs and media people meet in Myanmar for the World Economic Forum on East Asia, activists are warning the international community not to forget human rights. full report

Kachin conflict boosts trafficking, report says

 BANGKOK, 5 June 2013 (IRIN) - Women in Myanmar’s northern Kachin State are increasingly susceptible to human trafficking, said a new report released on 5 June by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT). “Thousands of young women are at risk,” KWAT spokesperson Julia Marip told IRIN. full report

Briefing: Fresh hopes for peace in Myanmar's Kachin State

 KACHIN STATE, 3 June 2013 (IRIN) - The UN and others have welcomed recent peace talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Myanmar's conflict-affected Kachin State, but building trust will take time, say experts. full report

Limited health options for Myanmar’s Rohingya IDPs

 SITTWE, 31 May 2013 (IRIN) - Aid workers are calling for better health access for an estimated 140,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, most of them Rohingya Muslims. full report

Flood misery looms for IDPs in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

 SITTWE, 29 May 2013 (IRIN) - With monsoon rains having just started, life is set to become even more miserable for an estimated 140,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) spread across 80 camps and sites in Mynamar’s Rakhine State. Flooding is predicted to be particularly serious in 13 camps, and urgent action is needed, say aid workers. full report

Pho Thein Aung, Rakhine IDP: “Our story isn’t being told”

 SITTWE, 27 May 2013 (IRIN) - Pho Thein Aung, 67, a father of three, recalls in vivid detail the day an angry mob of Rohingya Muslims gathered outside his home during last year’s sectarian violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State. Today he is one of more than 1,200 ethnic Rakhine internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Set Yone Su camp outside Sittwe, the provincial capital. full report

Helping displaced children in rebel-held parts of Kachin

 KACHIN STATE, 23 May 2013 (IRIN) - Children's laughter rings out from bamboo huts along the perimeter of the Lana Zup Ja camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in a part of Myanmar’s Kachin State controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA): A group of pre-schoolers are playing in a plywood hut, seemingly oblivious to the squalid conditions surrounding them. full report

Evacuation volunteers fan out in Bangladesh

 DHAKA, 16 May 2013 (IRIN) - Some 50,000 volunteers in coastal communities across southern Bangladesh are out and about warning people to move to higher ground ahead of Cyclone Mahasen. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated so far. full report

Landmine casualties rising in Kachin, Myanmar

 LAIZA, 15 May 2013 (IRIN) - Former rebel fighter Lahpai Hkam has been in pain every day since a landmine destroyed his lower right leg during a battle with government soldiers 18 months ago in Myanmar’s northern Kachin State. full report

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