The Stateless Rohingya Blog

By Monstersandcritics  Yangon - United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar arrived in the once-pariah state Tuesday on a six-day assessment mission that will include visits to rebel territories. 'This mission will take place at an important moment in the country's history,' Tomas Ojea Quintana said in Geneva prior to his departure. Myanmar, a pariah state among Western democracies for the past two decades, has taken dramatic steps towards reform in the past 10 months under President Thein Sein. Since coming to power in March, Thein Sein has opened a political dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, freed more than 600 political prisoners and initiated peace talks with four of the dozen insurgencies.

By THE IRRAWADDY Burma’s Parliament in session in the capital of Naypyidaw. (Photo: AP) Burma’s Minister of Finance and Revenue, U Hla Tun, formally presented the government’s budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year (FY) to Parliament on Tuesday. The budget reportedly allocates an increased percentage of spending to health and education and a decrease in percentage spending to the military. U Hla Tun visited Parliament on Tuesday and presented each MP with a copy of the FY 2012-13 budget for all of the government’s 34 ministries, as well as for “national projects.”