posted on Oct, 19 2005 @ 08:30 PM
Sometimes I wonder if trade sanctions actually play into favor of miltary ruled nations. The poor end up with the short end of the stick, unless
they join the army.
Unemployment rate: 5.2% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 25% (2000 est.)
Currency: 1200 Kyat to the US dollar (currently)
China 'strips forests in Burma'
"The trade is completely out of control and it keeps on rising," Susanne Kempel of Global Witness said yesterday. "There are no forests left along
the border."
Burma ranked world's second most corrupt nation
Burma has been jointly ranked the second most corrupt nation in the world along with Haiti and Turkmenistan by Transparency International in a report
released today. Bangladesh and Chad were ranked the most corrupt of 159 countries included in the organisation's report, 'Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index 2005'.
Standing up to Burma’s drug-lord generals
In mid-September, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime admitted that Burma and China were the world’s top producers of ATS. Amphetamine drugs produced
in eastern Burma seem to be transported with such ease that significant quantities have been found in northeast India, on Burma’s western border.
That, together with the heroin that is trafficked from Burma to India, China, Thailand, and other countries in the region, poses a serious threat to
our political and economic security.