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Country of Origin Information Report Burma (Union of Myanmar)

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Country of Origin Information Report Burma (Union of Myanmar) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT BURMA (UNION OF MYANMAR) 23 JULY 2010 UK Border Agency COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE SYRIA 31 OCTOBER 2008 Contents Please note: Information which has been updated since the last edition of this document is indicated by the use of grey highlighting. A version of the report without highlighting is available from the RDS website. Preface LATEST NEWS EVENTS IN BURMA FROM 2 JULY TO 23 JULY 2010 Useful sources for further information Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................1.01 Map...............................................................................................1.07 2. ECONOMY ..............................................................................................2.01 3. POLITICAL SYSTEM ...................................................................................3.01 National Convention....................................................................3.07 The Constitution..........................................................................3.09 4. HISTORY – 1948 TO MAY 2008 ............................................................... 4.0 1 1948 – 2007 ..................................................................................4.01 Pro-democracy protests: 2007....................................................4.03 Cyclone Nargis: May 2008...........................................................4.07 Constitutional referendum: May 2008........................................4.08 5. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS – MAY 2009 TO MAY 2010 .................................... 5.0 1 Build-up to 2010 elections...........................................................5.04 Human Rights 6. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................6.01 7. SECURITY FORCES ....................................................................................7.01 Police............................................................................................7.02 Armed forces................................................................................7.05 Human rights violations by the Security Forces.......................7.08 Abuses by the armed forces......................................................7.08 Arbitrary arrest and detention....................................................7.12 Torture.......................................................................................7.15 Extrajudicial killings & ‘disappearances’....................................7.20 Other Government forces............................................................7.23 Intelligence agencies.................................................................7.25 People’s militia..........................................................................7.28 Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).......7.32 Swan Arr Shin.......................................................................7.37 8. MILITARY SERVICE ....................................................................................8.01 9. JUDICIARY ..............................................................................................9.01 2 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 1 July 2010. Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 23 July 2010. BURMA 23 JULY 2010 Organisation.................................................................................9.01 Independence...............................................................................9.02 Fair trial.........................................................................................9.07 Penal code and code of Criminal Procedure.............................9.13 10. ARREST & DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS ......................................................10.01 Arrest warrants............................................................................10.06 11. PRISON CONDITIONS .................................................................................11.01 12. DEATH PENALTY .....................................................................................12.01 13. POLITICAL AFFILIATION .............................................................................13.01 Freedom of political expression.................................................13.01 Political prisoners......................................................................13.05 Freedom of association and assembly......................................13.11 Demonstrations outside of Burma.............................................13.13 Opposition groups and political activists..................................13.18 National League for Democracy (NLD)......................................13.21 All Burma Monks Alliance..........................................................13.30 88 Generation Students group (88 GSG)..................................13.32 Generation Wave......................................................................13.35 All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU)....................13.38 14. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA................................................................14.01 15. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS AND ACTIVISTS..................................................15.01 16. CORRUPTION..........................................................................................16.01 17. FREEDOM OF RELIGION .............................................................................17.01 Overview.......................................................................................17.01 Demography.................................................................................17.05 Constitution and legislation........................................................17.06 Buddhists.....................................................................................17.08 Christians.....................................................................................17.12 Muslims........................................................................................17.19 18. ETHNIC GROUPS ......................................................................................18.01 19. LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) PERSONS.......................19.01 20. DISABILITY............................................................................................20.01 21. WOMEN ................................................................................................21.01 Overview.......................................................................................21.01 Legal rights..................................................................................21.05 Political rights..............................................................................21.07 Social and economic rights........................................................21.09 Violence against women.............................................................21.17 22. CHILDREN.............................................................................................22.01 Overview.......................................................................................22.01 Basic legal information..............................................................22.05 Legal rights..................................................................................22.06 Violence against children............................................................22.08 Childcare and protection.............................................................22.10 Child soldiers...............................................................................22.11 Education.....................................................................................22.19 Health and welfare.......................................................................22.21 23. TRAFFICKING ..........................................................................................23.01 24. MEDICAL ISSUES .....................................................................................24.01 HIV/AIDS.......................................................................................24.06 Mental health................................................................................24.08 25. HUMANITARIAN ISSUES .............................................................................25.01 Cyclone Nargis.............................................................................25.01 26. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT ...........................................................................26.01 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 1 July 2010. Further brief information on3 recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section to 23 July 2010. SYRIA 31 OCTOBER 2008 27. INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS).....................................................27.01 28. CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONALITY....................................................................28.01 Identity cards...............................................................................28.06 29. FORGED AND FRAUDULENTLY OBTAINED OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS ............................29.01 Arrest warrants............................................................................29.02 30. EXIT AND RETURN ...................................................................................30.01
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