Myanmar is heading towards a humanitarian crisis due to neglect and economic mismanagement, the US warned in a new report condemning the military-ruled nation for "severe" human rights abuses.
In a damning report, the State Department said the junta's "dismal economic policies" and "chronic economic mismanagement" led to widespread poverty, shrinking trade, a poor business and investment climate and flight of most foreign investors.
"We remain concerned that the junta's neglect and economic mismanagement are leading to a humanitarian crisis in Burma," warned the report, a six-monthly review of conditions in Myanmar and US policy toward the southeast Asian nation.
It attacked Myanmar for allegedly allowing forced labor and "egregious abuses," including rape, of ethnic minority women by the military.
The gloomy report overshadowed the government's guarded welcome on Tuesday over the release from house arrest of two senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
NLD chairman Aung Shwe and secretary U Lwin were freed by the junta after nearly a year in detention.
"We welcome these releases," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, but he added that it should lead to greater national reconciliation.
He called for the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and another key NLD leader Tin Oo, both of whom are under house arrest following political unrest last May which triggered a crackdown on the party.
Boucher said Washington remained "concerned" that the military rulers had refused its request to see Suu Kyi and Oo.
"We also remain concerned about the continued detention of the hundreds of others imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs and we reiterate our call for their immediate and unconditional release," he said.
The State Department report charged that the State Peace and Development Council, the official name of the junta, "continued to abuse severely the human rights of its citizens.
"Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and association remain greatly restricted."
It said Washington would maintain sanctions against Myanmar "until there is significant progress toward political transition and genuine respect for human rights or until a democratically elected government in [Myanmar] requests that they be lifted.
The US Congress will formally consider renewing the sanctions against Yangon in the next few weeks.
Many legislators have called for a sanctions renewal.
The sanctions include an arms embargo, bans on new investment and imports, an asset freeze and a prohibition on the export of financial services to Myanmar or the provision of financial assistance to the government.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
A grieving mother has ended her life at a clinic in Switzerland four years after the death of her only child. Wendy Duffy, 56, a physically healthy woman, died at the Pegasos clinic in Basel after struggling to cope with the death of her 23-year-old son, Marcus. The former care worker, from the West Midlands, England, had previously attempted to take her own life. The case comes as assisted dying would not become law in England and Wales after proposed legislation, branded “hopelessly flawed” by opponents, ran out of time. Ruedi Habegger, the founder of Pegasos, described Duffy’s death as
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
RSS