Southeast Asia
Burma sanctions lifted amid ethnic cleansing
Villages are in flames and hundreds displaced in a new army crackdown on supposed Rohingya militants—days after President Obama lifted all sanctions on Burma.
Tag: Burma
The Andes
Bolivia tilting back to prohibitionist stance?
Bolivia broached legislation that would impose criminal penalties for illict coca cultivation—just as the government has turned to Russia for military and anti-narcotics aid.
Southeast Asia
UN sees ‘crimes against humanity’ in Burma
Human rights abuses against the Rohingya in Burma may amount to crimes against humanity, according to a new report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Southeast Asia
Burmese opium farmers protest eradication
As ethnic insurgencies continue, opium-growers in Burma's northern mountains issued a statement demanding a halt to eradication programs as essential to any peace deal.
Southeast Asia
Anti-drug vigilantes heat up Burma’s opium zone
With poppy harvest season approaching, tensions are high in Burma's Kachin state following clashes between opium-growing peasants and a citizen anti-drug movement.
Southeast Asia
Burma: will ceasefire wind down opium war?
Burma’s regime signs a "national ceasefire" with ethnic rebels in the opium-producing north ahead of historic elections—but the biggest rebel armies didn’t sign on.
South Asia
India: Naga rebels divided over peace deal
Rival factions of India's longest running ethnic insurgency are divided on whether to accept a peace deal with the government—as Delhi turns up military heat on the hold-outs.
Southeast Asia
Burma: Dalai Lama challenges Suu Kyi on Rohingya
The Dalai Lama appealed to Burma's Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to speak up for the country's persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority amid a worsening refugee crisis.
Southeast Asia
Burma passes restrictive population control bill
Burma enacted a new law requiring mothers in designated areas to space the births of their children three years apart—a measure clearly aimed at the Muslim minority.
Southeast Asia
Burma opium war spills into China
After weeks of escalating tensions along the remote mountain border, a Burmese MiG-29 fighter jet carried out an air-strike on Chinese territory, killing four farm workers.
Southeast Asia
Will Burma opium war draw in China?
The latest fighting in Burma's opium-producing hinterlands involves a Han Chinese ethnic group, the Kokang. Some 50,000 have fled across the border into China.
South Asia
Arunachal Pradesh: pawn in the new Great Game
A new diplomatic flare-up over contested Arunachal Pradesh immediately follows the US-India nuclear deal—seen by China as part of an encirclement strategy.