21 October 2011, KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein defended the detainee swap deal with Burma and clarified that the first badge of 1,000 Burma national detainees who will be sent back to their country are not asylum seekers or refugees.
20 October 2011: U Hung Ngai, Chief Minister of Chin State, has claimed that work is now underway to halve poverty rate in Burma’s poorest state, according to the official New Light of Myanmar yesterday.
20 October 2011: Grave concern has been raised over five Karenni villagers who were arrested in Daw Tanaw village in Prusoe Township, Karenni State by Burma Army soldiers last Tuesday.
19 October 2011: As many as 300 Chin leaders based in Rangoon, Burma have been invited to a seminar entitled ‘Chin Future’ to discuss about the future of Chin State to be held in the former capital on Thursday.
19 October 2011 – KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia and Burma have agreed in principle to exchange detainees, a move that immediately sparked ‘shock’ and concerns among human rights groups.
18 October 2011: Dr. Myint Thein, Ministry of Social Affairs and Saw Tun Aung Myint, Minister of Karen National Race Affairs, attended the second Gospel Music Festival (GMF) at the Thuwanna National Stadium in Rangoon last weekend.
16 October 2011: Over 6,00 people yesterday attended the 19th celebration of ‘Fanger’ festival held at the Judson Memorial Hall of Myanmar Baptist Convention in Rangoon, Burma.
16 October 2011: In the wake of President Thein Sein’s recent amnesty to free prisoners, the ‘brotherhood of five ethnic parties’ urged for the immediate and ‘unconditional’ release of ethnic leaders as well as political prisoners in Burma.
15 October 2011 – KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government is planning to deploy more than four million strong enforcement officers and volunteers to detain and expel undocumented foreign workers nationwide as soon as the country’s amnesty program is over by the end of this year.
14 October 2011: A Chin refugee young man, Simon Lian Uk, was knifed to death last night by two unknown thugs who appeared to be of South Asian origin, near Time Square Shopping Center in Kuala Lumpur around 8:20pm.
