The deafening silence from the international community on the incidents of last week displays a worrying underpinning weakness in its understanding of the Myanmar context.

For the first time since independence, government forces and most Ethnic Armed Groups have stopped fighting. This is an historic achievement in peace-making. However, the ceasefire process has yet to be transformed into a substantial and sustainable phase of peace-building.

If the production of refugees was an industry, Myanmar would be among the world’s market leaders. And of all its products the Rohingya would be one of the most lucrative. A niche but growing market of global proportions, the culmination of decades of tireless endeavour to hone a specialist craft.

It seems probable – and entirely reasonable - that it will take several years to build trust in a ‘new’ Myanmar that is safe to return to. But in a context of perpetual fear and insecurity, how will refugees in Malaysia survive until then? 

Ethnic Chin refugee women and children from Burma are the hidden victims of pervasive sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in New Delhi, India.  Lacking confidence in the current peace process in Burma and unwilling to return home, the prospect of staying in New Delhi is both bleak and terrifying.  

For refugees in camps on the Thailand Burma border to be able to return to Burma, two main issues need to be addressed, the political situation, and the technical arrangements. Neither are even close to being addressed.

Individual posts in this week’s feature have provided a snapshot into a single issue. Collectively, they explore a crucial question: if Myanmar is undergoing a national ‘transition’ to democracy, what does this mean for a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, regional refugee situation?  

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her political party the NLD and minority Muslims are being maliciously targeted through Facebook in Burma.

Military and crony interests remain closely aligned with large-scale extractive projects in Burma. As the country emerges from junta rule and economic isolation, Burma is treading a rocky developmental path.

Far right religious nationalism is growing in South Asia. Fuelled by the experience of colonialism, the resulting internal tensions since independence, and powerful civil society movements.

Expecting new global powers to promote human rights abroad via the United Nations assumes that they will play by the old rules and - if such pressure is to be effective - that human rights factors will condition their bilateral relationships; neither is likely. A contribution to the openGlobalRights debate on Emerging Powers and Human Rights. Español.

One year on from the violence of June 2012, new empirical evidence about the treatment of the Rohingya in Rakhine State, Burma, has taken the issue from the realms of international human rights and humanitarian law to that of international criminal law, says Amal de Chickera.

Trying to create a Myanmar divided along ethnic or religious lines will only lead to conflict. For the country to survive, the authorities need to create an 'imagined political community'. But as internal tension grows, this won't be an easy task.

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority from Rakhine State in Burma, are among the most persecuted minorities in the world. Hamid sends a letter detailing the violence and exclusion his community continues to face. 

In order to understand how the ‘Rohingya crisis’ has come to pass we need to consider the narrative built by three groupings of international actors - the Burmese government, host countries for Rohingya who have fled and the international community at large.

Now, the US, the European Union (EU) and others close their eyes to the plight of Rohingyas with the excuse that any intervention may thwart the process of democratization 

The by-election victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in Burma (Myanmar) raises the question of whether the country is at last on an irreversible path towards democracy. A detailed analysis of the context suggests seven reasons for caution, says Joakim Kreutz.

The tragic early death of the scholar, consultant, researcher and teacher, has elicited a series of tributes and testimonies to the life of a remarkable man.

N Korea food crisis set to continue. Turkey and Iran to collaborate against Kurdish rebels. Southeast Asia flooding kills hundreds, displaces thousands. Obama announces US troop withdrawals from Iraq. All this in today’s security briefing...

The presidents of Vietnam and Myanmar visit New Delhi to strengthen cooperation with India. Kenya launches military operations against al-Shabab in Somalia following the kidnapping of aid workers. The US sends advisors to help fight the Lord's Resistance Army, and a recent poll reveals the Afghan population's perception of the situation in its country. All this in today's security briefing.