Thomson Reuters Foundation

Waiting for Grid to Arrive, Myanmar Villages Switch on Solar

April 22, 2017 by thiha

NYAUNG KONE, Myanmar, March 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – For generations, residents of this farming village in central Myanmar had a set rhythm to their day – waking up with the sunrise and going to sleep after dark. Diesel generators and batteries were for the privileged few, while the candles used by most were a […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: ADB, Asian Development Bank, Chris Greacen, GIZ, Half of Nyaung Kone, Japanese Government, Kone in Myanmar Central Dry Zone, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar Department of Rural Development, Myanmar Energy Master Plan, Myint Maung, NYAUNG KONE, REAM, Renewable Energy Association of Myanmar, Sunil Kumar Khosla, Thailand, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Vietnam, World Bank

Amid Peace and Prosperity, Myanmar Farmers Fall Prey to Land Seizures

November 9, 2016 by thiha

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Land conflicts in Myanmar have escalated in recent years, with military and armed groups driving people from their land, and new laws failing to protect farmers, a rights watchdog said on Thursday. Land disputes are a longstanding problem in Myanmar, but researchers from New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Bangkok, Hlaingbwe Township, HRW, Human Rights Watch, Karen State, Kayin State, Land Acquisition Act, New Ahtet Kawyin Village, New York, Thailand, The Farmer Becomes, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Yangon

Myanmar’s New Economic Zone Attracts Foreign Interest But Local Ire

October 20, 2016 by thiha

YANGON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Looking north from Myint Win’s farm, across rice paddies and past bamboo huts, a massive new industrial development on the outskirts of Myanmar’s biggest city gleams in the distance. The buildings sprang up during the first phase of developing the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a 6,200 acre (2,500-hectare) industrial […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Aye Khaing Win, China, Daw Sanda, Earth Rights Internationa, Japan, JICA, Katherine McDonnell, Malaysia, MJTD, Myan Yar Thar, Myanmar, Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, Myanmar Eleven Media Group, Myanmar-Japan Thilawa Development, Myint Win, National League for Democracy, NLD, Panama, singapore, South Korea, Southeast Asian, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, thilawa, Thilawa SEZ Management Committee, Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Thomson Reuters Foundation, Vicky Bowman, Yangon

From village to victim, Myanmar women fear foreign maid work ban puts them at risk

June 10, 2016 by thiha

The ban on women going abroad to find such employment was initiated in September 2014, following a number of high profile cases of worker abuse. Biak and her older sister Van Hnem left to find work as maids in Singapore with few job opportunities in their remote village in Chin State, the poorest region of Myanmar where 73 per […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: aung san suu kyi, Biak, Chin State, China, Department for Labour, Employment Agencies Federation, Guangzhou, Hnem, home, Hong Kong, Humanitarian Organisation, Jolovan Wham, Kayin State, Melody, Migration Economics, MOEAF, Myanmar, Sagaing Region, Saudi Arabia, Sian Men Mawi, singapore, The Anti Trafficking in Persons Police Division, The Thomson Reuters Foundation, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Van Hnem, Win Tun, Zawgnte

Almost US$20 billion in dirty money left Myanmar in five decades – researchers

September 11, 2015 by Thiha

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Almost US$20 billion (13 billion pounds) in dirty money linked to corruption, crime and tax evasion has left Myanmar in the past five decades, slashing government revenue and driving a thriving underground economy, a money-laundering watchdog said on Wednesday. Fraudulent invoicing of trade deals and physical smuggling of drugs, […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: financial transparency, General Elections, Global Financial Integrity, Joseph Spanjers, Kuala Lumpur, money laundering, Myanmar's tax, Thomson Reuters Foundation, underground economy

Business, military, government seize land for rubber in Myanmar: rights group

March 30, 2015 by thiha

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Businesses in Myanmar have colluded with military and government officials to seize vast tracts of farmland from ethnic minority villagers in the northeast, using much of the land for rubber plantations, a UK-based rights group said. Over the past decade, 5.3 million acres (2.1 million hectares) has been leased to […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Bangkok, business, China, Global Witness, Josie Cohen, Kachin, Military, Myanmar, Palaung, Rights group, Rubber, Sein Wut Hmon, Shan, Shan State, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Beauty pageants expose dreams and dangers in modern Myanmar

September 29, 2014 by thiha

YANGON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sparkling in a red, sequined dress, Htet Htet Htun spins around the stage rehearsing a traditional Burmese dance that she hopes will make her stand out from 18 other young hopefuls competing in the first Miss Myanmar World pageant this month. Beauty pageants are thriving in Myanmar after being banned […]