NEW DELHI: In what could turn out to be a repeat of the 2017 massacre of Hindus by Rohingya terror groups in Rakhine state of Myanmar, a group of Hindus and Buddhists are being held hostage in Buthiduang in the country's Arakan state.
On 8 February 2024, the Government of India (GOI) decided to cancel the Free Regime Movement (FMR) between India and Myanmar to ensure the country's internal security and maintain the demographic structure of the Northeastern states. This decision came days after New Delhi decided to fence the 1,643 km-long Indo-Myanmar border. Given its geography, Myanmar holds strategic and economic significance for India. The country is crucial for India's aspirations to increase its influence in Southeast Asia, specifically among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, through its Act East Policy (AEP). However, Myanmar has been facing political turmoil since the military takeover in February 2021. The launch of 'Operation 1027' on 27 October 2023, by three brotherhood alliances—the Arakan Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, and the Myanmar National Democratic Army—against the military Junta further exacerbated the instability and impeded India's AEP's core objectives.
Aye Lar military airbase near Naypyitaw’s intl airport was attacked by resistance drones Thursday, causing a shutdown. The National Unity Govt said the junta military HQ and an airbase were attacked, with casualties. Photo: NTDF
Unconfirmed reports saying massive kamikaze drone attacks in NPT. At least 16 drones attack on NPT War Office and 13 on NPT Ae Lar air force base.
The Sittwe Port project, a key component of India’s regional connectivity initiative designed to bolster maritime connectivity between Myanmar and India, is now in limbo due to escalating conflict in Myanmar.
Russia has been a true friend to Myanmar’s military regime and is proving its intimacy again by promising to join the generals in celebrating the Thingyan Festival in Naypyitaw.
Clash broke out between CNA and ZRA-EC on Tuesday near Tauleng Village in Chin State, Tedim township, according to local media.
Clash broke out between CNA and ZRA-EC on Tuesday near Tauleng Village in Chin State, Tedim township, according to local media.
Contradicting #Myanmar army, @Khithitofficial reports at least 2 soldiers were killed and 15 injured as a result of @NUGMyanmar PDF’s drone attacks
Resistance forces carried out simultaneous drone attacks on military targets in the regime’s administrative centre of Naypyitaw on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG).
China on Thursday pledged to continue to play "a constructive role" in stabilizing the situation on the ground as soon as possible in Myanmar's Rakhine State, amidst a recent renewal of fighting.
In the realm of military strategy, the ongoing competition between offense and defense relentlessly persists. World-renowned military industrial complexes constantly strive to improve both aspects, yet creating an impenetrable defensive mechanism proves challenging. In this intricate landscape of military technology, success is marked by the ability to intercept 7 or 8 out of 10 incoming enemy projectiles. However, the mission is deemed a failure if any manage to breach your defenses.
An online survey on Myanmar people’s views of China shows that unfavorable attitudes toward the country continue to be widespread, with many people believing that Beijing supports the junta and seeks to maintain a fragmented Myanmar with only as much stability as is required to further its own interests.
Since the launch of #Operation1027 in northern #Shan State in October 2023, the Burma regime's territorial control has significantly weakened. This is notably evident in the loss of control over five key border trade towns out of a total of seventeen: Chinshwehaw and Lweje along the #China-Burma border, Rihkawdar on the #India-Burma border, as well as Mese and Myawaddy situated along the #Thailand-Burma border.
In a recent development, Myanmar's military is reportedly leveraging former members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA) to bolster its forces in the ongoing conflict against the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State. Notably, Abdu Halim, a former ARSA operative, along with more than 40 individuals, has already joined a military battalion in Buthidaung. Additionally, around 200 members led by Ayoub, associated with the Arakan Rohingya Army faction, are preparing to enter Myanmar within the next few days.
Three years after the military coup disrupted Myanmar's elected government, the junta's grip is finally loosening due to intense conflicts with ethnic insurgent groups under the Three Brotherhood Alliance. These battles, particularly the Arakan Army's (AA) control over significant portions of Rakhine and Chin States, threaten India's strategic interests, including the crucial US$484-million Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP). This project, which is vital for directly linking India's eastern coastline with its Northeastern states through Myanmar, aims to alleviate logistical challenges and enhance regional integration
Photographs reveal MNDAA intention to become a federal level special zone? At the Tomb-sweeping festival on April 5, MNDAA memorials read “Myanmar Federal Special Region No 1” rather than Shan State SR1. Will the MNDAA aim to establish Kokang State as the UWSA push for Wa State?
Reports of intense fighting/loud sounds of explosion in #Myawaddy #Myanmar bordering #MaeSot #Thailand through the night prompted Thais to step up security. #KNU/#KNLA/resistance forces launched more attacks against #militarycoup soldiers.
The vulnerability of the Burma military regime's strength is unmistakable. #Operation1027 marked a turning point, triggering a cascade of events. These events included mass surrenders, instances of soldiers going AWOL, defections, and individuals fleeing to neighboring nations. Once anomalies, these occurrences have now become recurring themes familiar to international observers, signaling the regime's internal fractures.
Brave Warriors for Myanmar said it and another resistance group dropped seven 107-mm rocket bombs on the Aye Lar military airbase in Naypyitaw on Thursday, killing and injuring military personnel. It was the fourth resistance attack on the airbase so far.
The situation in Myanmar remains troubled since the military coup in February 2021. Myanmar's military chief, Min Aung Hlaing, acknowledged the possibility that the country might not be able to conduct its next nationwide election. The military's control on power has resulted in hundreds of deaths, with Armed Forces Day marking one of the deadliest days since the coup. The military initiated the conscription drive, which sparked panic and resistance, with reports emerging of forced recruitment, including among Rohingya in Rakhine state. Ethnic armed groups have launched significant offensives, capturing military bases and outposts. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Arakan Army (AA) have cooperated in joint offensives against the military. The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) has made substantial territorial gains, and established an interim state government.
In view of the ongoing conflict between the military junta of Myanmar and the Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) India has ‘temporarily moved’ the staff from its consulate in the port city of Sittwe in the Rakhine province, the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal announced on Friday. The announcement came a day after the Myanmar military lost control of a major commercial centre to an armed group in the Southeastern part of the country near Thai border.
Lt. Gen Nyo Saw, chairman of the Myanmar Economic Cooperation, and former Lt. Gen Aung Soe, general secretary of #USDP, are implicated in rumors of an alleged coup against Min Aung Hlaing.
A group of 58 regime troops, part of a reinforcement column heading towards Paswang, were captured alive by the #Karenni resistance.
Arakan Army has been rebranded as Arakha Army (AA) with an aim to represent all people living in Rakhine State, said AA spokesperson U Khaing Thu Kha.
Myanmar’s international borders with India, Bangladesh, China, and Thailand are now being controlled by the Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), one of the leading Myanmarese commentators has said. Soe Myint, Editor in Chief of Mizzima News said by owning the border areas, the rebel armies of Myanmar have emerged as strategic players in South and Southeast Asia as bigger neighbours of Myanmar have to deal with them as they control the trade routes inside Myanmar.
We know that we are winning. The junta is stretched to the breaking point. But its criminal leadership will not go quietly. With India’s help, Myanmar can more quickly become stable, democratic, and a better neighbour than ever before.'
Myanmar’s junta summoned enlisted men to training schools and military units in Yangon, Mandalay, Magwe and elsewhere in its first conscription batch on Friday.
India on Friday described the security situation in Myanmar as precarious, with diplomats being moved out of the consulate in the port city of Sittwe amid advances by anti-junta resistance forces.
Yesterday in Nay Pyi Taw, Chairman of the State Administration Council, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, held a significant meeting with Deng Xijun, the Special Envoy for Asian Affairs from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
The Thai government’s decision not to forcibly return 19 children to Myanmar should be expanded to include all refugees from Myanmar, Human Rights Watch said today.
Singapore has responded to United Nations pressure by cracking down on sales of weapons through its territory to Myanmar, delivering a serious blow to the embattled generals, who seized power in a coup more than three years ago. Thomas Andrews, the UN
Myanmar's junta on Tuesday slammed the UN's "one-sided allegations" about its human rights record and said it had received no official communication regarding the recent appointment of a new special envoy to the conflict-torn country.
Members of the Security Council, More than three years have passed since the military overturned the democratically elected Government and detained its leaders, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The Secretary-General has consistently called for their immediate release as well as all arbitrarily detained prisoners. He has also called for a unified response as violence continues to intensify throughout Myanmar, driving displacement and deepening the political, humanitarian, and human rights crisis.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) has re-opened the border crossing in Chin Shwe Haw, a town it seized from the regime during Operation 1027, but no trade is flowing from either side of the border with China.
Almost 50 junta soldiers fled across the Moei River from Karen State to Thailand’s Tak province on Tuesday following an attack by joint resistance forces on another junta base near the border. The Karen National Union (KNU) said 48 junta troops fled to Thailand from Karen State on Tuesday following at attack on their base near Mae Tha Raw Hta village in Karen State’s Kyaikdon Township.
More than 30 civilians have been killed in fighting between Myanmar’s junta and resistance groups since February 20 in Kale Township, Sagaing Region, according to volunteers. Junta shelling caused most of the fatalities with others killed in drone strikes and shooting, a volunteer said.
Myanmar’s junta has replaced military commanders in Rakhine, Mon and Karen states following defeats, sources have told The Irrawaddy. Commandant of the Command and General Staff College Brigadier-General Kyaw Lin Maung has replaced Major-General Soe Min as chief of Southeastern Command, which oversees operations in Mon and Karen States.
The Karenni armed revolutionary group formed after the 2021 coup has reiterated its pledge to eradicate the dictatorship from Myanmar and noted that it is now in control of 90 percent Karenni (Kayah) State.
Resistance groups across Myanmar have killed at least 10 junta officials and arrested seven others in nine days for attempting to forcibly recruit civilians under the newly activated Conscription Law.
India’s air force and state-invested companies are being urged to stop supplying Myanmar’s military with the fuel, equipment and technical assistance it needs to more effectively commit atrocities and war crimes.
he Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), and its allies say they have largely occupied Papun town in Karen State on Wednesday as Myanmar’s military was celebrating Armed Forces Day.
Myanmar’s junta lost one more town and several bases as well as around 54 troops in the last four days as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) stepped up attacks on regime targets across the country.
Dozens of residents were injured and over 300 houses destroyed when Myanmar junta warships shelled a village in Mon State’s Kyaikmaraw Township in retaliation for the capture of a nearby police station by Karen forces, according to the Mon State Federal Council (MSFC).
The Arakan Army has started an offensive in Rakhine State’s Ann township where Myanmar’s regime Western Military Command is located.
At least 11 Myanmar junta troops were killed and 19 injured in a resistance bombing in Pakkoku Township, Magwe Region, on Thursday, according to Myaing People’s Defense Force.
Myanmar’s junta summoned enlisted men to training schools and military units in Yangon, Mandalay, Magwe and elsewhere in its first conscription batch on Friday.
In a remote corner of Myanmar, a line of farmers moves through a field of nodding poppies, making small cuts in the greenish-purple pods to release opium resin. The next morning they will collect the residue that has seeped out overnight and parcel it into bundles of sticky opium – the building blocks for manufacturing heroin.
Chiang Mai, Thailand – Thailand’s controversial humanitarian initiative with crisis-torn Myanmar is facing growing criticism even after its fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) appeared to collectively endorse the scheme.
Ko Naing* is just the sort of young man Myanmar’s military is looking for. Hoping to make up for recruitment shortfalls and battlefield losses against armed groups fighting to reverse its 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military last month announced plans to enforce a years-old conscription law.
‘RED ALERT’: The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a “red alert” on climate change, after 2023 saw record heat, ice-melt and greenhouse gas emissions, the Associated Press reported. The WMO’s report confirmed that 2023 was the hottest year on record, with the average global temperature reaching 1.45C, noted the Guardian. The world is getting ever closer to temporarily breaching 1.5C, the ambition set under the Paris Agreement, the Independent said.
On January 30, 2024, Myanmar’s ruling junta passed a law that has limited the registration of political parties in opposition to the regime. In this issue brief, an anonymous author presents the views of political parties in Myanmar on the new law and its implications for the future of democracy in Myanmar. With the new law, despite the junta’s plan to hold an election in the future, many in Myanmar’s political parties doubt the ability of the regime to hold an election in the country that is free and fair.
Myanmar’s military appears to have abandoned the strategically important border town of Myawaddy on the eastern border with Thailand, after a sustained assault by an alliance of anti-coup fighters.
The Rohingya are yet again bearing the brunt of renewed fighting and military air strikes in Myanmar, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned this week.
GENEVA (20 March 2024) – The steady decline of Myanmar’s military junta, driven by significant battlefield losses and widespread citizen opposition, has led it to escalate of attacks on civilians, underscoring the need for stronger, coordinated international action, a UN expert said today.
In the 148th International Parliamentory Conference, the leader of Myanmar’s delegation stated that Committee Representing Pyitaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and the elected MPs, in cooperation with the public, have been trying to put an end to the military junta and their violence as well as get back peace and democracy.
The Myanmar military regime has sacked its election body chief Thein Soe after extending emergency rule for another six months. The junta announced on Wednesday night that Thein Soe was allowed to retire on health grounds. Ko Ko has replaced him as the election body chief.
February 1, 2024 marks the 3rd Anniversary of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution – the day the terrorist military attempted a military coup to forcibly take control of the country from the democratically elected government, elected by the people of Myanmar through free and fair elections.
First, a shock. Then, a wave of panic across Myanmar, one that is gathering speed as it rises to defiance. It is driven by those who learned last weekend that they, or their loved ones, will be forced to join and defend – with their lives – the military junta that has brutalized them for three years.
Myanmar’s anti-coup forces say they are moving closer to victory over the generals who seized power in a coup three years ago, energised by the successes of a major offensive that began at the end of October.
Ethnic armed allies on Monday seized a junta base in Kachin State’s Mansi Township, bordering China, according to the Arakan Army (AA). The AA took part in the attack alongside the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Kachin People’s Defense Forces (KPDFs).
On February 8, the rebel Arakan Army (AA) seized Mrauk-U, the former capital of the Arakan kingdom in Rakhine State, western Myanmar, along with the towns of Minbya and Kyauktaw. In fact, since the resumption of war between the AA and the country’s military junta on November 13, the AA has now successfully taken over six cities in the state, as well as two cities in neighboring southern Chin state, while destroying at least seven navy vessels and a helicopter. These ongoing victories have invigorated the long-standing dreams of Rakhine nationalists for an independent Arakan.
A blast hit a busy market in Myanmar’s conflict-torn Rakhine state capital on Thursday, killing and wounding civilians, the country’s junta and an ethnic rebel group said, blaming each other for the attack.
Myanmar's State Administration Council has taken a significant step by imposing martial law in Momeik and Mabein townships within Shan state, aiming to tighten security, enforce the rule of law, and foster peace and stability in the region. This move grants sweeping administrative and judicial powers to the northern command's commander, marking another chapter in Myanmar's prolonged state of emergency that commenced in February 2021.
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States is imposing further sanctions on Myanmar's military regime three years after the February 1, 2021, military coup, and designating four individuals and two entities associated with it.
3 years on from the military coup in Myanmar, the UK has imposed further sanctions against those responsible for ongoing repression in the country. Sanctioned today are 2 Myanmar military divisions responsible for carrying out serious human rights violations and 2 state-owned enterprises which provide economic resources and support to the Myanmar security forces.
Three years ago, on 1 February 2021, the military in Myanmar overthrew by force a democratically elected Government. The military's actions have undermined the country's democratic development and plunged Myanmar into a deep political, economic, human rights and humanitarian crisis, significantly threatening the stability of the country and the region. The European Union (EU) renews its condemnation in the strongest possible terms of the military coup and its aftermath. We remain deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of violence and the evolution towards a protracted conflict in the country.
Australia was among a host of countries that imposed fresh sanctions on Myanmar on February 1, the third anniversary of the military coup. The government added five businesses to its list of 16 individuals sanctioned since 2021.
NEW DELHI: Thailand and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have to work with India to address the crisis in Myanmar though a solution can only be found by parties within the country, Thai vice minister for foreign affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Monday.
BANGKOK -- Thailand is intensifying efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis and will expand engagement with relevant parties, a key official told Nikkei Asia, citing meetings with stakeholders such as regional officials, ethnic resistance groups and countries like China, India and the U.S.
Thailand’s plan to open a humanitarian aid corridor with war-torn Myanmar next month is facing skepticism from experts and aid workers, who say its limited scope and lack of engagement with ethnic minority forces means it is unlikely to have much impact.
A total of 95 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) have so far entered into Bangladesh amid ongoing conflict in their country. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has disarmed them and kept them in its custody.
TUMBRU: Fighting in Myanmar raged close to the Bangladesh border on Sunday, with terrified residents reporting bullets crossing the frontier, medics treating patients and the government saying guards had fled seeking shelter.
Bangladesh is preparing to secretly repatriate 330 defeated Myanmar junta personnel by ship this week amid more regime defeats in Rakhine State. Sources in Dhaka said the foreign ministry is talking to Myanmar’s regime and has instructed the Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard to organize the repatriation by Friday.
Bangladesh has sought China’s intervention amid panic along the border over fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army rebel group.
The unending cycle of violence in Manipur has prompted the union home ministry to take some hard decisions like the suspension of the Free Movement Regime on the India-Myanmar border, but now all eyes are on whether it will withdraw the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with 24 Kuki insurgent groups for violation of ground rules. A decision is expected to be taken by New Delhi by month end.
Myanmar's military government on Wednesday (Jan 31) announced an easing of election registration rules for political parties, hours ahead of the expiry of a state of emergency in place since a coup three years ago.
he United Nations has denied state media reports implying it would assist the Myanmar military regime with a controversial “census”, which critics warn could be used to strengthen the regime’s control over the population.
A ceasefire between Myanmar’s military administration and an alliance of resistance groups has reportedly collapsed less than 24 hours after it was agreed during China-brokered talks.
China is working with Myanmar to have another ceasefire in Rakhine State, so that the Rohingya repatriation process can start soon, said the country's Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen.
The junta has bowed to the United Wa State Army’s demand for administrative control of Hopang and Panlong towns in northern Shan State, according to WSTV, an ethnic Wa television station. The transfer of the two towns to Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic army expands Wa Self-Administered Division east of the Salween River.
he United Wa State Army (UWSA) said in a statement on Wednesday that it had no plan to attack Kengtung in eastern Shan State, where the Myanmar military’s Triangle Region Command is based. Rumors have been swirling since last week that Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic army would attempt to seize Kengtung after it assumed control of Hopang and Panlong towns in northern Shan State earlier this month.
North Korea is shaking up the way it handles relations with South Korea, enacting changes to policy and government organisations that would effectively treat the South as a separate, enemy state. The moves, which break with decades of policy, could have North Korea's foreign ministry taking over relations with the South, and potentially help justify the use of nuclear weapons against Seoul in a future war, analysts said.
Military-ruled Myanmar sent a bureaucrat to Monday's meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Laos, Indonesia's top diplomat said, adding the move was in line with ASEAN's policy on the conflict-torn country's attendance.
Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr. Kao Kim Hourn today met with Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar Alounkeo Kittikhoun at the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. Dr. Kao reiterated the ASEAN Secretariat’s full support to the Lao PDR as the ASEAN Chair for 2024 to effectively implement the Five-Point Consensus, agreed by the ASEAN Leaders in April 2021, in order to address the situation in Myanmar. Both sides also discussed the provision of ASEAN’s Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar as part of the implementation of Point 4 of the Five-Point Consensus
Myanmar's leader met with the special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), state media said Thursday, with the regional bloc seeking to find a diplomatic solution to the country's conflict.
In a resounding assertion of solidarity with the beleaguered people of Myanmar, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim voiced his condemnation of the ongoing crisis in the country during his address to the United Nations General Assembly. With a tone of deep concern, the Prime Minister described the atrocities being committed in Myanmar as acts of 'barbarism and depravity'.
Junta-appointed Myanmar Ambassador to Laos former Major General Myat Thet Oo has been purged and sentenced to 10 years in jail, according to sources. Myat Thet Oo was recalled to Naypyitaw, removed from his post and tried by a military tribunal, which gave him 10 years.
China has protested to Myanmar after five people were injured by artillery shells lobbed during battles between its ruling junta and rebel groups that strayed into a small town near their border, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held more than 12 hours of meetings in Bangkok, the White House said Monday.
The Centre is in talks with Myanmar authorities to end the free movement of people and goods on the porous 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Thursday and discussed several issues amid the backdrop of ongoing crises in Manipur and Myanmar.
At least 184 Myanmarese soldiers, who fled to Mirzorm amid intense clashes between Myanmar army and ethnic armed group, sent back to their country on Monday.
Aizawl: All the 14 passengers of a small Myanmar military plane had a miraculous escape on Tuesday after the aircraft overshot the table-top Lengpui airport runway near Aizawl and crash-landed into a bush, officials said. Of the 14 people aboard the plane, including the pilot, eight sustained minor injuries and were treated in a local health centre, they said.
GENEVA (30 January 2024) - Three years after the military launched a coup, Myanmar’s ever deteriorating human rights crisis is now in freefall, with insufficient world attention paid to the misery and pain of its people, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said today.
China’s embassy in Myanmar has asked its citizens to leave a border district in Myanmar as soon as possible, citing security risks.
The group of some 185 Rohingya, mostly women and children, are in desperate need of rescue after falling into distress near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Saturday.
China’s embassy in Myanmar has asked its citizens to leave a border district in Myanmar as soon as possible, citing security risks.
The group of some 185 Rohingya, mostly women and children, are in desperate need of rescue after falling into distress near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Saturday.
Myanmar is now the world's largest producer of opium, overtaking Afghanistan, a UN report says. Its opium production this year is estimated to rise by 36% to 1,080 tonnes, far ahead of the 330 tonnes Afghanistan reportedly produced.
Among those fighting the military are a loose coalition of well-armed ethnic militias, as well as the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) – an armed group supporting National Unity Government (NUG) and opposed to the February 2021 military coup, according to media reports.
Two years and eleven months ago, on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military launched an illegal coup, overthrowing the civilian government and unlawfully detaining State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, along with other senior government officials, parliamentarians, and activists. Since then, the military has disregarded the wishes of the Myanmar people, plunging the country into turmoil and inflicting suffering through its inhumane and disproportionate actions.
Myanmar’s military has unlawfully killed, arbitrarily detained and stolen from civilians as it struggles to contain the heaviest outburst of armed resistance since the 2021 coup, Amnesty International said today.
Several countries have intervened in the Rohingya genocide case, supporting The Gambia against Myanmar case at the International Court of Justice, increasing legal pressure on Myanmar's military leadership. Meanwhile, ethnic armed groups are gaining advantage on the battlefield following a series of successful offensives, putting pressure on Myanmar's military junta and prompting global attention to the conflict.
The first 100 days of the new Thai government have seen Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin repeatedly emphasize plans for “economic diplomacy” with foreign nations, but much still remains unclear about how Thailand will deal with the crisis in Myanmar, its neighbor with the longest shared border. Despite Srettha mentioning his administration’s commitment to taking a leading role on Myanmar, the lack of a clear policy direction will undermine Thailand’s effort to restore its status as a regional kingpin.
The typical image of a refugee is a poor person with their hands out asking for aid. The Burmese refugees in Mae Sot on the Thai-Myanmar border defy that stereotype. Many are middle-class, educated urbanites with skills and plenty of initiative.
When nationwide nonviolent protests were brutally attacked by Myanmar military and police, demands for international intervention under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle went ignored.
In what junta media portrayed as a display of bravery, Min Aung Hlaing finally visited the capital of northern Shan State. He visited Lashio one month and 14 days after his army began suffering successive, ignominious defeats in the area.
Myanmar is now the world's largest producer of opium, overtaking Afghanistan, a UN report says. Its opium production this year is estimated to rise by 36% to 1,080 tonnes, far ahead of the 330 tonnes Afghanistan reportedly produced.
Among those fighting the military are a loose coalition of well-armed ethnic militias, as well as the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) – an armed group supporting National Unity Government (NUG) and opposed to the February 2021 military coup, according to media reports.
Two years and eleven months ago, on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military launched an illegal coup, overthrowing the civilian government and unlawfully detaining State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, along with other senior government officials, parliamentarians, and activists. Since then, the military has disregarded the wishes of the Myanmar people, plunging the country into turmoil and inflicting suffering through its inhumane and disproportionate actions.
Myanmar’s military has unlawfully killed, arbitrarily detained and stolen from civilians as it struggles to contain the heaviest outburst of armed resistance since the 2021 coup, Amnesty International said today.
Several countries have intervened in the Rohingya genocide case, supporting The Gambia against Myanmar case at the International Court of Justice, increasing legal pressure on Myanmar's military leadership. Meanwhile, ethnic armed groups are gaining advantage on the battlefield following a series of successful offensives, putting pressure on Myanmar's military junta and prompting global attention to the conflict.
The first 100 days of the new Thai government have seen Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin repeatedly emphasize plans for “economic diplomacy” with foreign nations, but much still remains unclear about how Thailand will deal with the crisis in Myanmar, its neighbor with the longest shared border. Despite Srettha mentioning his administration’s commitment to taking a leading role on Myanmar, the lack of a clear policy direction will undermine Thailand’s effort to restore its status as a regional kingpin.
The typical image of a refugee is a poor person with their hands out asking for aid. The Burmese refugees in Mae Sot on the Thai-Myanmar border defy that stereotype. Many are middle-class, educated urbanites with skills and plenty of initiative.
When nationwide nonviolent protests were brutally attacked by Myanmar military and police, demands for international intervention under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle went ignored.
In what junta media portrayed as a display of bravery, Min Aung Hlaing finally visited the capital of northern Shan State. He visited Lashio one month and 14 days after his army began suffering successive, ignominious defeats in the area.
The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 77/227, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to continue to provide his good offices and pursue discussions relating to Myanmar, involving all relevant stakeholders, and to offer assistance to Myanmar, and to submit a report to the General Assembly on all relevant issues addressed in the resolution at its seventy-eighth session. The present report covers the period from 15 August 2022 to 14 August 2023.
As the kyat continues to depreciate, the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) revoked the licenses of 13 more currency-exchange companies on Monday, raising the number of such licenses revoked to 45 within the last 10 months, according to announcements from the junta-controlled central bank.
Daily attacks hit regime targets in almost every corner of Myanmar in July as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs)—the armed wings of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG)—and ethnic armed organizations escalated their assaults on junta troops and targets, often in unison.
Myanmar’s military-installed government has ordered East Timor’s senior diplomat to leave the country in retaliation for the East Timorese government holding meetings with Myanmar’s main opposition organisation, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) aims to bankrupt the junta through tougher sanctions and diplomatic pressure, foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung told the media on Tuesday.
After it extended emergency rule for six more months in July, Myanmar’s regime reshuffled its cabinet and changed its “five-point roadmap” and “12 objectives” which it adopted after the 2021 coup.
These include indiscriminate attacks on civilians from aerial bombing, mass executions of civilians and detained combatants, and large-scale and intentional burning of civilian homes and buildings, resulting in the destruction of entire villages in some cases, the Mechanism said in a news release.
Hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked by criminal gangs and forced to work in scam centers and other illegal online operations that have sprung up across Southeast Asia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations.
The United States government has announced another round of sanctions against military-ruled Myanmar, targeting foreign companies or individuals that are helping the military procure jet fuel.
The UN Security Council (UNSG), except China and Russia, has condemned the Myanmar military killing civilians and continuing airstrikes, reaffirming the need to respect international law, protect civilians and provide humanitarian aid.
Myanmar's military government will withdraw from chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2026, according to diplomatic sources in the bloc, as the country's prolonged political crisis strains the regional grouping.
Singapore did not take part in an international tabletop exercise for defence ministers held in Naypyitaw last week, hosted jointly by the Russian Federation and Myanmar’s military regime.
The junta’s new home affairs minister Lieutenant-General Yar Pyae is attending the 17th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN.
One of Myanmar’s leading private banks has launched a digital money remittance service for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, coinciding with a new official requirement for them to remit at least 25% of their income back home.
After the inauguration of the much-awaited Sittwe Port in Myanmar, the Indian Railways has now announced linking the neighbouring country with Mizoram. It has approved the final location survey of a 223 km rail line from Aizawl to Hbichhuah in Mizoram, near the Myanmar border. Sources said that landlocked Nepal and Bhutan could also benefit once the project is complete.
According to a release issued by IGAR (South), a mobile vehicle check post of Assam Rifles intercepted one TATA Yodha vehicle bearing No MN01 AA 4210 along with driver Siamsing Guite, son of Thangoulian Guite resident of Vengnuam New Lamka, Churachandpur and co-driver Asupjamlal Guite, son of Ngulksam Guite, resident of Vengnuam New Lamka, Churachandpur at Aina, Churachandpur on National Highway-2 on Sunday
Myanmar and China are pushing ahead with a border economic cooperation zone in northern Shan State, according to junta commerce minister Aung Naing Oo.
Myanmar authorities have handed over seven people suspected of involvement in online scams targeting Chinese citizens to Beijing authorities, state media reported Thursday night.
The Manipur government is preparing to deport around 2,480 illegal immigrants from Myanmar, according to a report submitted by the state Home Department to the Centre.
Several thousand Rohingya on Friday morning gathered at camps in Cox’s Bazar to demand justice for the August 2017 Myanmar military crackdown.
Myanmar-Bangladesh border guards carried out maritime patrols on Naff river on 19 and 22 August with an aim to prevent the human trafficking, drugs trade and enhance border securities for both the countries.
More than 120 political prisoners were among the 7,749 inmates freed on Tuesday in a general amnesty, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). However, those granted amnesty were only a tiny fraction of the thousands of pro-democracy supporters detained by the military regime since the February 2021 coup, it added.
The Myanmar junta's military has begun a significant operation against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in an attempt to reclaim an outpost in Lailum Aungja Village in Laiza Township, Kachin State, which the ethnic army seized and held on Saturday, September 16.
The Karen National Union (KNU) announced on Friday that its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), and resistance allies seized a junta outpost near the Thai border in Kawkareik Township, Karen State, on Thursday morning.
Resistance fighters suffered heavy casualties during a clash with Myanmar junta troops in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region on Monday, according to residents. Around 100 junta soldiers have been conducting terror raids across the township since last week. The troops entered Let Ku village on Friday, triggering three days of fighting with local People’s Defense Forces.
Another member of the junta’s Central Committee on Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods is being interrogated after the committee’s chairman Lt-General Moe Myint Tun and its joint secretary Brig-Gen Yan Naung Soe were detained for interrogation for alleged massive corruption.
Myanmar’s junta-controlled central bank has revoked the forex licenses of 123 companies, it announced this week.
Myanmar’s cash-strapped regime is now demanding that expatriate workers remit at least 25 percent of their foreign currency income back home through the country’s banking system. CB Bank, one of the country’s largest private banks, recently told migrant workers they must remit a quarter of their salaries either monthly or every three months through official channels.
Central Bank of Myanmar Governor Than Than Swe and 43 other officials at the junta-controlled bank have been designated terrorists by the National Unity Government (NUG) for financing war crimes.
Faced with unprecedented revenue losses in the two and a half years since seizing power, the military council is seeking out and intimidating merchants who are not selling military-manufactured goods targeted by public boycotts.
Myanmar has decided to grant tourist Visas on Arrival for Chinese and Indian citizens as a one-year pilot program in a bid to lure foreign tourists.
Rare earth mines in Myanmar, one of the world's top sources of the critical elements, are still suspended and have not received notice on when they can reopen, said a Chinese analyst and local miner.
"The frequency and intensity of war crimes and crimes against humanity has only increased in recent months,” said Nicholas Koumjian, head of the investigation team, formally known as the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM).
Myanmar has received the first shipment of two Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Charlie Than, Myanmar's trade minister, told the Russian RIA state news agency in remarks published on Sunday.
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar - According to state media, Myanmar's junta and Russia signed a memorandum on "cooperation in election activities" on Wednesday as both governments prepare for elections that critics say will be neither free nor fair.
Junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) member Than Tun flew to China on Sunday as his boss, UEC chief Thein Soe, was observing local polls in Russia, the junta’s major arms supplier.
A Myanmar minister has said that the Russian Mir payment card network may soon begin operating in that country.
Myanmar is seeking input from China on introducing a biometric identification system, a project that has raised concern among rights activists who fear that it could worsen the country’s human rights situation.
The wave of cybercrime arrests in Myanmar is a sign of its improved relations with China, which has been working with the ruling junta and armed ethnic groups in the country’s north to crack down on the problem, according to observers.
Myanmar’s military regime has appointed a new ambassador to North Korea, restoring a controversial relationship between the two countries that ranges from trans-border assassination to military cooperation that prompted Western concerns of nuclear-technology sharing.
HOPES of a return to democracy in juntaruled Myanmar are being crushed by “systematic repression”, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said last Thursday (7) at a summit in Indonesia with the United States, China and regional leaders.
BATAM, Indonesia: Militaries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began their first-ever joint exercises on Tuesday in Indonesia, with a Myanmar representative present despite the bloc's ban on its junta leaders.
South-east Asian countries took to the world’s largest diplomatic stage at the United Nations to call for a peaceful settlement of conflicts in Myanmar, the disputed South China Sea and Ukraine.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has discussed the Myanmar issue with President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Mirjana Spoljaric in New York, reported ANTARA news agency.
The emergence of a new Golden Triangle along the Indo-Myanmar borderland is a cause for major concern that calls for a unified response at all levels, said Khuraijam Athouba at the 54th United Nations Human Rights Council session held at Geneva on September 18.
Security forces in Mizoram have recovered and seized a heroin consignment worth over Rs 1.6 crore.
The NIA had arrested PLA operative Moirangthem Anand Singh (45), along with four men, from Konga near Meitei Mayek School in Imphal East for allegedly wearing a camouflage uniform and possessing an INSAS rifle, an SLR, two 0.303 rifles, and magazines and ammunition.
Banned organisations in Myanmar are recruiting workers to carry out attacks on security forces and members of ethnic groups in violence-hit Manipur, the national investigation agency (NIA) informed.
The Mizoram government on September 27 has refused to collect biometric data from Myanmar refugees residing in the state. Mizoram government said that it would amount to violation of rights. The move to collect biometric data of more than 30,000 Myanmar nationals living in Mizoram since February 2021 was met with strong opposition from the state government. The refugees sought shelter in Mizoram following a military coup in Myanmar.
Permanent Representative of India to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva, Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey on Tuesday highlighted the ongoing situation in Myanmar and said that the displacement of people has led to an influx of Myanmar nationals into India.
Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has done what every world leader has so far failed to do: He has called for radical action to end “an unspeakable tragedy” unfolding in Myanmar.
The Supreme Court in military-ruled Myanmar has rejected appeals against six corruption convictions for the jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to media reports.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) say they have seized over 12 strongholds held by Myanmar’s junta and its allied militias in northern Shan State.
China’s public security minister met Myanmar’s junta boss Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday in Naypyitaw, following clashes near the Chinese border in northern Shan State, displacing thousands.
The Myanmar Investment Commission approved six new investment projects which can create over 2,600 local job opportunities, the state-run Myanmar News Agency reported on Tuesday (Oct 3).
On the sidelines of Russian Energy Week, the State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom"and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar signed the Memorandum of Understanding in the field of nuclear infrastructure assessment and enhancement.
Top energy officials from Russia and Myanmar held discussions in Moscow on Wednesday on Russian participation in the construction of a gas pipeline to Yangon, the Russian energy ministry said. Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/world/russia-and-myanmar-discuss-gas-pipeline-construction-in-myanmar-2721669
Leading Western democracies have imposed a new round of sanctions on Myanmar’s military government, including the United States’ imposition of limited sanctions on the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the military’s single largest source of foreign revenue.
Human rights organisations urged Indonesia on Tuesday to look into alleged arms shipments by state-owned firms to Myanmar, where Indonesia has been working to foster peace ever since a military coup in 2021 sparked all-out war.
Myanmar’s military junta has been formally accused of war crimes before the Philippines' Department of Justice in Manila, in an unprecedented case that seeks to invoke universal jurisdiction.
China is closely following the conflict in Myanmar and calls on relevant parties to cease fire as soon as possible, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.
In an ongoing crackdown on telecom fraud originating from northern Myanmar and targeting Chinese citizens, a batch of 2,349 suspects have been transferred from Myanmar to Chinese custody, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Monday.
China has started surveying for a railway to Kyaukphyu on Myanmar’s Indian Ocean coast from Kunming in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, according to Rakhine State residents. Junta police guarded Chinese technicians investigating the Maei-Ann road in Ann Township earlier this month, said a civil society organization member, who did not want to be named.
China and Myanmar on principle agree to renegotiate the deep sea port project in Kyauk Phyu which may cost USD 1.3 billion. "It is learned that the junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has agreed to discuss and negotiate the contracts signed by the governments of China and Myanmar," said a BETV Business report.
India participated in the Myanmar government’s commemorative event to mark eight years of the Nationwide Ceasefire agreement on Sunday, October 25 – an event which is part of Nyay Pyi Taw’s charm offensive to bring back ethnic armed groups into a peace process which had been scuttled by the coup two years ago.
An advanced smart fencing system of 100 km along the Myanmar border is in the pipeline to strengthen the existing surveillance system, the 2022-23 annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) published last week said.
The Assam Rifles on October 15 successfully intercepted a staggering 1,50,000 Methamphetamine tablets, with an estimated street value of Rs 45 crores. This operation, conducted in the general area of Zokawthar, Champhai district, also led to the apprehension of one Myanmar national. The apprehended individual and the contraband have been handed over to the Champhai police station to initiate legal proceedings.
A joint team of the Assam Rifles and state police seized 1.5 lakh methamphetamine tablets, weighing 17 kg, from Zokhawthar village in Champhai near the Myanmar border on Monday, they added.
Two active cadres of a Myanmar based militant group were nabbed with opium and large quantity of arms and ammunition even as police recovered huge caches of arms, ammunition and explosives in the continuing joint operations with the security forces in the fringe and vulnerable areas of troubled Manipur on Tuesday.
Three Chinese navy ships have arrived in Myanmar for joint drills with its navy, the country’s junta said, as a border conflict strains ties between the Southeast Asian nation and its most important ally.
The 'Three Brotherhood Alliance', as the group is known, have claimed they are dedicated to eradicating the oppressive military dictatorship and committed to combating online gambling scam centres on the Myanmar-China border. Facebook
James*, a researcher from the Myanmar Policy Institute (MPI), unpacks the politics, economics and geopolitics behind the recent wave of attacks against the military junta in Myanmar called Operation 1027. Initiated by three ethnic armed organisations in northern Shan State, it has now spread to other parts of Myanmar, including Karenni State, Sagaing Region, Chin State and Rakhine State.
Operation 1027 is not only reshaping the regime's hold on northern Shan State, but also recasting relations among ethnic armed actors. The SSPP, which partnered with the TNLA to fight the RCSS from 2018-2021, has just announced a formal ceasefire with the RCSS.
In the early morning of Monday, Nov. 13, resistance forces in Chin State, Myanmar stormed two Myanmar military bases near the Indian border. Within hours both were captured, sending 43 junta soldiers fleeing into the Indian state of Mizoram. By the end of the day, the Chin National Army (CNA) flag flew over the crucial border town of Rihkhawdar.
A powerful ethnic alliance with close ties to China has inflicted on the Myanmar regime its worst battlefield setback in decades and inspired a wave of attacks by other opponents across the country. But unless the military suffers a total collapse of cohesion and morale, the regime is likely to fight on.
A diplomatic intervention by China is propping up the junta in Myanmar by pushing the country’s strongest ethnic armies to limit their support for the post-coup uprising. By helping to slow the evolution of the resistance movement, China may ensure the longer-term survival of the Myanmar junta.
Fierce fighting in Myanmar has raised "deep concern" in India, which is closely monitoring security along the countries' shared border while bracing for an influx of refugees.
In Chinese state media, Myanmar “relevant local law enforcement bodies,” and not the military junta are given credit for the 31,000 people Chinese police claim have been sent back across the border. Chinese language report describes this as “special cooperation”
Myanmar’s junta is preparing to move around 14,000 troops to Naypyitaw to defend its nerve center against a resistance offensive that is gaining ground across the country, according to sources in the administrative capital.
India’s junta-focused diplomacy and lack of abiding relationships with armed groups in Myanmar have limited its response to the fluid situation in the war-torn country.
The decision by Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) to declare a “defensive people’s war” against the military junta that usurped power in Naypyitaw on Feb. 1 has not been met with much sympathy from the international community. The British ambassador designate to Myanmar, Pete Vowles, tweeted on Sept. 7 that his country “supports peaceful efforts to restore democracy in Myanmar. We strongly condemn the coup’s coup and brutality, we call on all parties to engage in dialogue.”
2023 may be recorded as the worst year experienced by the Myanmar army since the 1960s. The army’s long history of counterinsurgency suffered a blow when several ethnic armed organisations and their allies in northern Shan state launched the “Operation 1027” offensive on Oct 27.
The smuggling of betel nuts (Supari) from Myanmar to Manipur was thwarted as security forces seized a total of 22.38 tons of contraband worth Rs 67.14 lakh in the international market.
The Assam Rifles and other law-enforcement agencies in separate operations in Mizoram since Saturday night have seized heroin and foreign-origin cigarettes worth ₹ 29 crore smuggled from Myanmar, and arrested six people, army sources said.
The Mizoram government has commenced the process of collecting biometric details of these individuals, following an instruction from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. With over 30,000 Myanmar nationals finding shelter in Mizoram since February 2021, this pilot project aims to record crucial biometric data to manage the situation effectively.
Despite all-out efforts by the security agencies to bring peace and normalcy to ethnic strife-hit Manipur, a fresh incident of violence was reported from the state today when a large mob torched nearly 30 empty houses and demolished several others in the India-Myanmar border town of Moreh.
The parliamentary panel made the recommendation in its 22nd report on India’s Neighbourhood First Policy, which also requested the government that the implementation of the development projects in Myanmar should not suffer on account of change in its political landscape. -- Reports ETV Bharat's Chandrakala Choudhary
China's imports of rare earths from No.2 supplier Myanmar have surged this year, customs data showed on Thursday, as the world's biggest processor of the minerals steps up production for its growing automotive and wind energy sectors.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has issued a joint statement noting that some member countries favorably regard Thailand's diplomacy toward Myanmar, including its foreign minister's meeting with Myanmar's jailed elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
On the sidelines of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting in Bangkok Sunday, Union Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar spoke to his Myanmar counterpart, U. Than Swe, about the importance of expediting infrastructure and connectivity projects, such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMT Highway).
Myanmar’s military rulers are preventing life-saving humanitarian aid from reaching people who need it as the country falls deeper into violence, the United Nations human rights chief has said.
Myanmar’s military authorities must immediately release Thaung Win, stop persecuting journalists for their work, and let the independent news outlet The Irrawaddy operate freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
On July 9, the junta announced its claim that both outlets owe money for using the Myanmar Radio and Television platform prior to the coup. The lawsuit states that DVB owes around 20 million kyats (about 8,500 euros) and Mizzima owes around 80 million kyats (around 34,000 euros). Representatives from both outlets, however, told Radio Free Asia that they believe the lawsuit is invalid because it is being brought by a government that illegally seized power.
The million Rohingya refugees living in squalid camps in southeast Bangladesh refused to be resettled into another encampment in Myanmar.
Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) has announced the soft launch of its Spring Development Bank (SDB), an online bank that aims to serve the needs of the anti-regime resistance movement, dubbed the Spring Revolution.
The Central Bank of army-ruled Myanmar will issue a new banknote worth twice as much as the current highest denomination, state-run media reported Sunday, in a possible reaction to the economy becoming more unstable since the generals seized power in 2021. The reason for issuing a higher denomination note of 20,000 kyats (about $9.50) was not explained.
Myanmar's military government may move ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi from prison to house arrest in the capital, Naypyitaw, two media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the former State Councillor deposed and detained by the Myanmar military in February 2021, has been charged in 19 cases since 30 December 2022, and all of these cases have been decided by the courts. The courts have ordered her imprisonment for a maximum term of 33 years in connection with these 19 cases. Her representatives and lawyers are currently applying for appeals and making preparations to challenge the orders issued by the lower courts.
Nearly 2 million civilians in Myanmar have been displaced from their homes by the civil war raging in their country, with 40,000 displaced in the past month alone, according to the U.N.’s humanitarian agency, which appealed for food and other supplies.
Myanmar’s junta has met at least twice with Aung San Suu Kyi, the jailed head of the deposed National League for Democracy, to enlist her help in peace negotiations with the armed resistance, only to be rebuffed by the former state counselor, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Kim Aris, the youngest son of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has urged the army to release his mother, who is currently in jail after she was handed a 33-year sentence in a series of trials following the coup that toppled her democratically-elected government in February 2021.
Members of resistance groups in Myanmar say units of an ethnic militia in eastern Kayah state that is nominally part of the military have switched sides, allying themselves with the country’s pro-democracy movement, and have carried out attacks in recent weeks on army outposts and a police station. The two Border Guard Forces units in Kayah are believed to be the first military-affiliated militia units to change sides since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. There are about two dozen BGF units nationwide with a total of 10,000 armed personnel. The units were formed in 2009 from what had been autonomous ethnic insurgent groups that agreed to cease-fires with a previous military government.
Myanmar’s ruling junta has suspended humanitarian access to western Rakhine state, where more than a million vulnerable people are in urgent need of aid a month after a powerful cyclone devastated the region, the United Nations said.
Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Pakistan are among the hunger hotspots across the world, according to a UN report released on May 29. Titled “Hunger Hotspots: FAO and WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity,” the report has been jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP). It marks 18 hunger hotspots across the globe where acute food insecurity is expected to increase in the period from June to November 2023.The 18 hunger hotspots include two regional clusters and comprise 22 countries. In these hotspots, parts of the population already facing acute food insecurity will experience “significant deterioration.”
Authorities in Myanmar said they torched almost half a billion dollars worth of illegal drugs on Monday, but warned they were failing to stop a surge in the production and trafficking of narcotics.
The United States on June 21 leveled sanctions against Myanmar’s Ministry of Defense and two banks used by the junta to purchase arms and other goods in foreign currencies, according to the US Treasury Department.
The Myanmarese junta government alleged on Saturday that insurgents from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked a convoy of Chinese military representatives and Myanmar counterparts in the Kachin state. Kachin, which lies to the north of Myanmar, borders both India and China.
Sri Lankan Ambassador to Myanmar Janaka Bandara met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister of Myanmar, Lt-Gen Soe Htut recently, at the Home Affairs Ministry in Nay Pyi Taw.
The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) will mobilise the final two batches of relief items to Myanmar on June 16 and June 22 by sea.
Thailand on Monday justified hosting talks aimed at re-engaging with Myanmar's shunned military, saying dialogue was necessary to protect its border with the strife-torn country, even as top diplomats of key Southeast Asian neighbours stayed away.
A Thai state enterprise that has been exporting electricity to neighboring Myanmar has cut off power to two border towns with notorious casino complexes that allegedly host major organized crime operations, Thai officials said Tuesday.
Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane paid a two-day visit to Myanmar between June 30 and July 1 and met its top officials amid the ongoing violence in Manipur. During the visit, he raised the issue of maintaining the sanctity of India’s border with Myanmar.
A report by a sub-committee of the Manipur Cabinet has revealed that 2,187 illegal immigrants from Myanmar have set up settlements in 41 locations in four districts.
permanent solution to the problems plaguing India’s violence-torn Manipur state lies in the effective sealing of the international border with Myanmar, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah told a press conference on June 1. He was speaking in Imphal, the capital of the northeast Indian state, where ethnic clashes since May 3 have claimed more than 80 lives and displaced over 40,000 people.
An investigation by a group of activists has revealed that the Indian public sector undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has exported $5 million worth of military end-use goods, technology and technical documents to be used by the Myanmar
State-owned NTPC Ltd on Monday said it has begun the last phase of a five-day training programme for power sector professionals from Myanmar.
Myanmar junta forces torched a village in Salinggyi Township, Sagaing Region after losing its police station in a resistance raid on Friday, according to locals and resistance groups.
More than 6,000 civilians were killed in Myanmar in the first 20 months after the February 2021 military coup, a report published on June 13 by the Peace Research Institute of Oslo said.
Thomas Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, told reporters in Jakarta there had been no progress on implementing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) five-point peace plan, which the regional grouping agreed with Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing soon after he took power in February 2021.
As Asean leaders prepare to meet to discuss regional issues, analysts say the inclusion earlier this year of China, India and Japan as “quiet” partners in resolving the Myanmar crisis may be a step forward in the bloc’s bid to push the junta to see through a peace plan.
Indonesia has also been quietly engaging Myanmar's military, its shadow government and armed ethnic groups to try to kick-start peace talks. "ASEAN is doing as much as it can really because when you are there on the ground it's not that easy," Philippine foreign minister Enrique Manalo said.
Fortify Rights, an advocacy group, filed a complaint with the German Office of the Federal Prosecutor last week, accusing the Myanmar military of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Since the 2020 Myanmar general election, the Burmese military launched a coup and seized control of the country. This was done in response to election results, which showed a landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
A UN expert today urged the Japanese government to assume a greater leadership role to address the deteriorating crisis in Myanmar and step up pressure on the country’s military junta.
The Tokyo-based ASEAN-Japan Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism provided a grant to the Myanmar junta’s investment and foreign economic relations ministry for a capacity-building programme on reforms required to implement international investment agreements according to Justice for Myanmar, quoting leaked documents and public sources.
A new United Nations report titled “The Billion Dollar Death Trade” reveals that the Myanmar military has imported $1 billion worth of weapons since seizing power in a coup last year and used them to commit atrocities against civilians.
The Manipur government has found the involvement of militant outfits in igniting the violence in the state since May 3 that has left several people dead and thousands displaced, said senior officials. Most of the militant outfits operating in Manipur have their base in Myanmar. The state has around 400 km of unfenced border, spread across five districts, with the neighbouring country. The state government has been advocating that the free movement regime with Myanmar be reviewed. Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/state-govt-sees-role-of-myanmar-based-militants-in-violence/articleshow/100057812.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer and discussed with her the situation in the neighbouring country.
An entire company of junta troops has surrendered to the Brotherhood Alliance since the tripartite ethnic force comprising the Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched its offensive in northern Shan State on October 27. Light Infantry Brigade 143, based near Kan Mong village in Kunlong Township, capitulated on Monday, four days after the start of Operation 1027
The inauguration of the India-funded Sittwe Port in Myanmar is a major step forward for both countries. To begin with, it supplements New Delhi's efforts to counter Beijing's growing influence in its immediate neighborhood.
A new era of bilateral friendship between India and Myanmar begins; Celebrating 75 years of Independence – Marathi News | A new era of bilateral friendship between India and Myanmar begins; Celebrating 75 years of Independence
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer and discussed with her the situation in the neighbouring country.
As Manipur reels under ethnic unrest due to clashes between Meitei and Kuki tribes, and incidents of loot and arson reported in the last few weeks, the central agencies and local administration fear that some of the stolen weapons have been likely supplied to Myanmar-based banned militant groups.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer and discussed with her the situation in the neighbouring country.
Myanmar’s crippling power outages are threatening the economic recovery of the conflict-ridden Southeast Asian nation, where a military coup in 2021 left the country struggling to source fuel for gas-fired electricity plants.
The Myanmar military is suffering defections from its forces and is finding it hard to recruit. In exclusive interviews, newly-defected soldiers tell the BBC that the junta, who seized power in a coup two years ago, is struggling to suppress the armed pro-democracy uprising.
team from Myanmar government, on Thursday (May 25) visited Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh as part of a repatriation scheme that has been mooted. These refugees are stuck in ramshackle camps in southeastern Bangladesh since 2017 when they fled a crackdown by Myanmar military. The crackdown is now in focus of United Nations genocide investigation. A number of previous attempts to repatriate the Rohingya have failed. Now, Bangladesh and Myanmar are looking at returning around 1100 Rohingyas to the violence-hit state of Rakhine in Myanmar in coming weeks
Two weeks after Cyclone Mocha hit western Myanmar safe shelter remains a key priority for cyclone-affected people who have been left without a roof over their head as the monsoon approaches. Cyclone Mocha has exposed significant safety and security challenges for cyclone affected communities
At least 145 people are now known to have been killed in Myanmar (Burma) by a powerful cyclone, the country's military rulers have said.
Myanmar's military used a "vacuum bomb" in an air strike on an opposition village that killed dozens of people in a likely war crime last month, Human Rights Watch said on This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Myanmar military used ‘vacuum bomb’ in village air strike: HRW".
Unicef Humanitarian Situation Report No 2 01 March to 31 March 2023
The Indian government representatives have shared satellite imagery with Myanmar counterparts that showed Chinese workers helping to construct a listening post on the Coco Islands in the Indian Ocean.
chinese-military-buildup-on-myanmar-island/
Myanmar border in Manipur to curb smuggling, infiltration, and other border crimes, officials said on Thursday.
Myanmar’s junta released 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners, to mark the country’s traditional New Year on Monday, according to a statement from the military government published on pro-military Telegram channels.
Satellite images have captured a spurt in construction activity on Myanmar’s Coco Island which could become a hub to mount surveillance of India’s military activities on the nearby Andamans, an article published by a UK think-tank warned.
The Indian government representatives have shared satellite imagery with Myanmar counterparts that showed Chinese workers helping to construct a listening post on the Coco Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Myanmar border in Manipur to curb smuggling, infiltration, and other border crimes, officials said on Thursday.
The Manipur government will set up a shelter home in Churachandpur district's Singngat for illegal immigrants who have fled Myanmar, Tribal Affairs and Hills Minister Letpao Haokip said on Sunday.
As many as 500 Myanmar nationals have entered Farkawn village of Mizoram’s Champhai district following airstrike by the Myanmar military aircraft on April 12 at Chin National Army’s headquarter of Camp Victoria, leaders from the Village-Level Committee on Myanmar Refugees said.
Myanmar Airways International (MAI) will commence a direct non-stop flight between Chennai and Yangon every Saturday from May 6 to enhance the connectivity between the two countries. Chennai is the fourth city to have a direct connection after Delhi, Kolkata and Gaya, says STIC, the General Sales Agent of the airline in India.
Myanmar’s ongoing crisis was raised as a possible hindrance to regional cooperation to save the Mekong River, as other countries along the important waterway pledged on Wednesday to strengthen collaboration in efforts to conserve the water resource.
Thai immigration officials forcibly returned three Myanmar opposition activists to Myanmar, putting them at grave risk of persecution and other abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Myanmar junta authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of the activists – Thiha, 38, Htet Nay Win, 31, and Saw Phyo Lay, 26 – and any charges against them.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has personally asked Thai authorities to drop his daughter’s name from a court case involving a Myanmar arms dealer indicted on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Chairman of the State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing received a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Don Pramudwinai of Thailand at the Credentials Hall of the SAC Chairman Office in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday afternoon.
With an aim to start Rohingya repatriation before the monsoon, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen held a tripartite meeting in Kunming with representatives from China and Myanmar yesterday.
Earlier this month, the International Court of Justice once again rejected arguments made by Myanmar against the case registered against it in regard to allegations of Rohingya genocide levelled against it by the country of Gambia. Ever since the case was first registered against Myanmar in 2019, its leadership has made multiple attempts to shut down the ICJ case, initially insisting that an internal inquiry into the matter made such proceedings unnecessary.
On April 26, after months awaiting a response, Japan’s Foreign Ministry announced it had received confirmation from Myanmar’s military junta that it misused two Japan-funded civilian vessels to transport soldiers and weapons in Rakhine State in September 2022.
The foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) on Tuesday condemned the activities of the Myanmar military government and called for a cessation of violence and the country’s return to a democratic path.
Former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has urged an end to the violence that has rocked Myanmar since the February 2021 coup, and renewed efforts to secure lasting peace and a legitimate government.
With Myanmar suffering an acute energy shortage, a Chinese delegation from Yunnan Province signed a power purchase agreement with the military regime on Sunday.
During the period, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) approved 87 foreign investment enterprises. During the fiscal year, the power sector attracted the most foreign investment, with over US$820.27 million followed by the services sector with over US$504.12 million and the manufacturing sector with over US$271.8 million.
Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) on Monday congratulated Rakhine State’s Arakan Army on its 14th anniversary and called for closer collaboration to establish a federal union.
The NUG has issued a directive against engaging children in combat operations. Some groups that are not its affiliates continue to deploy children as fighters.
The Kaw Thoo Lei Army (KTLA) said it is attacking Shwe Kokko in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township because the joint venture between the junta-affiliated Border Guard Force (BGF) and shady Chinese tycoons to run the casino town is harming the state.
Resistance forces attacked the Myanmar junta-affiliated Border Guard Force (BGF) near the Chinese-backed Shwe Kokko online gambling, scamming and trafficking hub in Karen State on Wednesday and Thursday.
A series of explosions rocked Yangon’s International Airport on Thursday night after the Myanmar military outpost at the airport was targeted with improvised artillery rounds, according to resistance groups and locals.
The deputy head of Myanmar’s military-appointed election commission has been shot dead in the country’s commercial capital Yangon by rebels, authorities said, the latest killing of a high-profile individual linked to the country’s military rulers.
The chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Thursday the bloc "strongly condemns" a military air strike this week on a village in Myanmar, which is reported to have killed up to 100 people including civilians.
At least 133 people, including women and children, were killed in an airstrike by the Myanmar junta’s military during an event in Pazi Gyi Village in Sagaing’s Kantbalu Township, according to a report.
Myanmar’s military regime is increasingly using air attacks to tackle the nationwide resistance movement as its ground troops fail to contain the popular armed uprising.
The Kaw Thoo Lei Army (KTLA) said it is attacking Shwe Kokko in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township because the joint venture between the junta-affiliated Border Guard Force (BGF) and shady Chinese tycoons to run the casino town is harming the state.
Resistance forces attacked the Myanmar junta-affiliated Border Guard Force (BGF) near the Chinese-backed Shwe Kokko online gambling, scamming and trafficking hub in Karen State on Wednesday and Thursday.
A series of explosions rocked Yangon’s International Airport on Thursday night after the Myanmar military outpost at the airport was targeted with improvised artillery rounds, according to resistance groups and locals.
The deputy head of Myanmar’s military-appointed election commission has been shot dead in the country’s commercial capital Yangon by rebels, authorities said, the latest killing of a high-profile individual linked to the country’s military rulers.
The chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said on Thursday the bloc "strongly condemns" a military air strike this week on a village in Myanmar, which is reported to have killed up to 100 people including civilians.
At least 133 people, including women and children, were killed in an airstrike by the Myanmar junta’s military during an event in Pazi Gyi Village in Sagaing’s Kantbalu Township, according to a report.
Myanmar’s military regime is increasingly using air attacks to tackle the nationwide resistance movement as its ground troops fail to contain the popular armed uprising.
As of 10 March 2023, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military ruthlessly killed 3,120 people, arrested 20,297 people, and 16,432 people remain in detention, whereas 145 people have been sentenced to death, including 103 post-coup death row prisoners and 42 in absentia since 1 February 2021, when the military unleashed systematic and targeted attacks and violence against innocent civilians. Four democracy activists who were sentenced to death were executed by the military junta in July 2022.
Myanmar's junta chief — flanked by tanks and missile launchers — has vowed not to let up in a crackdown on opponents and said elections would be held, weeks after the military conceded it did not control enough territory to allow a vote.
Military leaders in Myanmar have dissolved Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and 39 other political parties over their failure to register for the next general election, according to junta-controlled media reports on March 28, 2023. The previous day, military chief Min Aung Hlaing said in an Armed Forces Day speech that an election would be held, although no date has been set. Myanmar has descended into chaos since a February 2021 coup when the military forcefully seized control from Suu Kyi’s then-ruling party.
The United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, and Australia on Wednesday (March 29) expressed their concerns over the dissolution of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, the news agency Reuters reported. A day earlier, the junta disbanded the NLD and 39 other political parties over their failure to meet a deadline to register for an election that is set to extend the army's grip on power.
Myanmar Army on Thursday launched aerial attacks on resistance forces’ hideout and overrun their camp in the upper Tamu district close to India-Myanmar Border pillar no. 80 and 81. Villagers in Kwatha Khunou on the Indian side, which is situated just 1,000 metres away from the site, fled to Kwatha Khunjaoda for their safety. The sound of the exchange of fires was heard in B Bongjang, Jangnoi, Kwatha Khunou and Molphei villages on the Indian side.
It has been two years since Myanmar’s generals and the military staged a coup and overthrew the civilian government, with thousands of former soldiers and generals having defected since then. However, the number of defections has reportedly slowed down as the junta has ramped up its threats to those who leave.
Tens of thousands of followers had been drawn to the junta’s “violent and misogynistic content”, warned the rights experts, who noted that women were often accused of having sex with Muslim men or supporting the Muslim population. This is a “common ultranationalist, discriminatory and Islamophobic narrative in Myanmar”, said the experts, who added that women are also targeted by so-called “doxxing” - the act of publishing private information, including names and addresses, about individuals without their consent.
The UN human rights office has strongly condemned violence carried out by the military dictatorship in Myanmar against opponents of the regime. "Two years after the military launched a coup, the generals have embarked on a scorched earth policy in an attempt to stamp out opposition," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said in Geneva on Friday. "Urgent, concrete action is needed to end this festering catastrophe." The head of the Myanmar team at the UN human rights office, James Rodehaver, accused the junta of using military means to fight the opposition. Among other things, people who "Like" a post critical of the regime on social media can be jailed for four years. The military of the south-east Asian country had overthrown the democratically elected government under the de facto leadership of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The 77-year-old was sentenced to more than 25 years in prison. According to Rodehaver, at least 16,000 people are in custody. Relatives and aid organizations often do not know where they are being held and under what conditions. The report documents numerous human rights violations in the 12 months to the end of January 2023. At least 2,940 people have died. The military bombed and shelled schools, clinics and entire villages, razing them to the ground to cut off supplies and food to rebel armies. Subscribe now to our Premium Plan for an ad-free and unlimited reading experience! TAGS / KEYWORDS: Myanmar , UN , Rights Committee , Stop , Chaos How useful is this article to you? Found a mistake in this article? Report it to us. Others Also Read Hong Kong court orders retrial for Malaysian jailed for killing wife, daughter with gas-filled yoga ball SINGAPORE2h ago Hong Kong court orders retrial for Malaysian jailed for killing wife, daughter with gas-filled... MGB posts strong Q3FYE2023 results STARPICKS MGB posts strong Q3FYE2023 results Last man in wife-sharing case found guilty of raping woman on her wedding anniversary SINGAPORE9h ago Last man in wife-sharing case found guilty of raping woman on her wedding anniversary INTERACTIVE: What Malaysians love to eat STARPLUS1d ago INTERACTIVE: What Malaysians love to eat Irish Bella files for divorce a month after husband's release from prison ENTERTAINMENT6h ago Irish Bella files for divorce a month after husband's release from prison Aaron-Wooi Yik, Wei Chong-Kai Wun reach China Masters second round BADMINTON2h ago Aaron-Wooi Yik, Wei Chong-Kai Wun reach China Masters second round Bankrupt ex-lawyer allegedly pretended to be in practice, cheating clients of nearly S$40k SINGAPORE4h ago Bankrupt ex-lawyer allegedly pretended to be in practice, cheating clients of nearly S$40k EPF investment funds stand at RM1.1 trillion as at August ECONOMY20h ago EPF investment funds stand at RM1.1 trillion as at August Several international schools in Selangor, KL receive bomb threat, say cops NATION5h ago Several international schools in Selangor, KL receive bomb threat, say cops Malaysia's strong view on Palestine will not affect the economy or US investments, says PM NATION7h ago Malaysia's strong view on Palestine will not affect the economy or US investments... Bursa Malaysia snaps 3 days of losses to end at intraday high MARKETS1h ago Bursa Malaysia snaps 3 days of losses to end at intraday high Myanmar hands over 31,000 telecom scam suspects to China MYANMAR5h ago Myanmar hands over 31,000 telecom scam suspects to China Load More
The Myanmar military continues to secure supplies of aviation fuel — involving companies from Asia and Europe — despite air raids that have killed and maimed civilians and forced thousands from their homes, according to a new report. Amnesty International, Global Witness and advocacy group Burma Campaign UK said on Wednesday they had identified more companies involved in aviation fuel transactions, following up on an investigation into the aviation fuel supply chain last year that found supplies for civilian aviation were being diverted to the military.
Throughout the two years since Myanmar’s (Burma) military launched a coup in February 2021, they have perpetrated a scorched earth campaign around the country in an effort to quash the opposition, according to a new report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). One of the most frequently utilized tactics by the military is the systematic and widespread burning of villages and dwellings. Nearly 39,000 houses around Myanmar have been burnt or destroyed in military operations since February 2022, marking a more than 1,000-fold increase compared to 2021. Sagaing Region – a resistance stronghold in the northwest – was the most impacted, accounting for more than 25,500 homes.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said that Japan would give over US$60 million to Myanmar as additional humanitarian assistance. The people in most of the areas in the country have been experiencing violence since the Myanmar military staged a coup on 1 February 2021 and the humanitarian situation in the country continues to deteriorate further as a consequence of the coup. Under these circumstances, the Government of Japan has decided to provide additional humanitarian assistance totaling approximately US$60.3 million through international organizations such as UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and the AHA Centre.
The United Nations Security Council should build on its December 2022 resolution on Myanmar by adopting tangible measures to hold the junta accountable for ongoing abuses, Human Rights Watch said. The council will hold a session on Myanmar on March 13, 2023, and hear reports from Noeleen Heyzer, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy on Myanmar, and Retno Marsudi, Indonesia’s foreign minister and head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) office of the special envoy on Myanmar.
Quad countries have strongly emphasised the importance of maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity and expressed their deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Myanmar, reports UNB. "In this regard, we emphasise the need for complete cessation of violence, the release of all those arbitrarily detained, resolution of issues through dialogue, unhindered humanitarian access, and transition to an inclusive, federal democratic system in Myanmar," read a joint statement released by the secretary of state of the United States and the foreign ministers of Australia, India, and Japan on the occasion of the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting held in New Delhi.
The United States on Thursday added three organizations in Myanmar to its trade blacklist for aiding the junta, along with firms from Russia and China. The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security put 37 new firms including 28 organizations from China, four from Pakistan, three from Myanmar and one each from Russia, Belarus and Taiwan to its export blacklist.
Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has met a Russian trade delegation for the second time in four months. The delegation from Fund RC-Investments, an investment platform of the Roscongress Foundation under the direct control of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, first met Min Aung Hlaing in November last year.
Earlier this week, the news magazine Frontier reported that a Chinese state company had quietly resumed preliminary work on a railway running from southern China to the Myanmar coast in Rakhine State.
Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai met with Home Affairs Minister of Myanmar Lieutenant General Soe Htut on Thursday in Nay Pyi Taw and the two sides talked about enhancing cooperation in cracking down on cross-border crimes including internet fraud and gambling, according to the Chinese embassy.
A group of officials from Myanmar arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday to restart the process of repatriating Rohingya refugees, which has remained stuck for a long time following two failed attempts to return members of the discriminated minority to their hometowns.
Bangladesh authorities should suspend plans to send Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar, where their lives and liberty would be at grave risk, Human Rights Watch said today.
Thousands of Myanmar's nationals, caught in the crossfire between the army and pro-democracy rebel forces, have crossed the border and entered the northeast Indian state of Mizoram.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday said that elements from neighbouring Myanmar are involved in narcotic business in the state and that the government will continue its war against the drug menace.
Acting on a tip-off, officials of the Excise and Narcotics Department seized 69.9 gram of heroin from the possession of a 32-year-old Myanmar national in Serchhip town on Wednesday, they said.
Eleven people, including three Myanmar nationals, were arrested in Mizoram with heroin worth over Rs 23 lakh in the last five days, officials said on Tuesday.
An Indian state-owned arms manufacturer has shipped artillery barrels to military-ruled Myanmar, an activist group said Wednesday, warning they could be used by the junta in its crackdown on dissent.
On 1 February, she said the military had extended its State of Emergency, and intensified the use of force to include more aerial bombing, the burning of civilian homes, and other “grave human rights violations to maintain its grip on power.”
The military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on Feb. 1 re-registered as a political party with the junta-appointed Union Election Commission, as required by the new Political Parties Registration Law recently signed into effect by junta boss Min Aung Hlaing
Myanmar's State Administration Council has declared martial law in 37 towns of four regions and four states in the Southeast Asian country. According to the council's orders issued Thursday night, the 37 towns are 11 from Sagaing region, seven from Chin state, five each from Magway and Bago regions, four from Kayah state, two each from Taninthayi region and Kayin state and one from Mon state respectively, Xinhua news agency reported.
Myanmar’s junta has imposed martial law on three more townships, meaning 40 townships have been placed under direct military control this month in a move that observers say shows the regime’s weakness. On Thursday, the regime announced martial law in Shwebo, Ayadaw and Wetlet townships in Sagaing Region, a resistance stronghold. Earlier this month, the regime introduced martial law in 37 townships in eight regions and states.
Myanmar's State Administration Council (SAC) announced a cabinet reshuffle after the country's state of emergency was extended for six more months on Wednesday. Under the cabinet reshuffle, a new chairman for the Union Civil Services Board, a new chairman for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and four new Chief Ministers of region and states were appointed, Xinhua news agency reported. A Deputy Minister and a member of the Union Election Commission (UEC) were transferred, while the State Chief Minister, three members of the UEC, a Deputy Minister and a member of the ACC were relieved of duties.
Myanmar junta troops have burned down 55,484 houses since the 2021 coup, according to independent research team Data For Myanmar. Data For Myanmar collected reports of arson attacks until January 31. It said 80 percent of the destroyed houses were in Sagaing Region
An ongoing art exhibition at the Goethe Institut Myanmar in Yangon chronicles the evolution of Myanmar abstract act, displaying works by 11 well-known modernists. Admission is free for the exhibition, titled “Evolution of Myanmar Abstract Art,” which ends Friday. A total of 20 abstract paintings by artists of different generations including Kin Maung Yin, Win Pe, Khin One, Aung Myint, Kyee Myint Saw, Kyaw Nyunt Linn (Ko Jimmy), MPP Ye Myint, Soe Naing, Min Thurein, Ne Tun and Kyu Kyu are on display. Paintings are not for sale, however.
Military-ruled Myanmar is set to allow civilians “loyal to the state” to apply for licences to carry firearms, according to media reports and an unverified government document.
New data made available in February has revealed that Myanmar’s junta has detained more people than was previously known, more than doubling the known total sentenced by the junta to nearly 4,700 since the military took power in the 2021 coup. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, or AAPP, reported on Jan. 31 that there were 13,763 people under junta detention, 2,278 who were serving sentences, but by the end of February, the reported total increased to 16,075 under detention and 4,683 serving sentences.
Myanmar's junta has extended the country's state of emergency by another six months as "silent" protesters marked the anniversary of a 2021 military coup.
THE US and its allies Canada, the UK and Australia have imposed fresh sanctions on Myanmar, adding to pressure on the military regime, two years since it overthrew the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Jan 31 the US restrictions target six individuals and three entities linked to the junta’s efforts to generate revenue and procure arms, including senior leadership in its energy sector and its Air Force.
US supermajor Chevron has agreed to sell its significant stake in the producing Yadana gas field offshore Myanmar to Canada’s MTI Energy, prompting Justice for Myanmar to call for Canadian and UK sanctions on state-owned Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
Myanmar's opposition National Unity Government officially opened a shadow embassy in Washington on Monday, with a U.S. State Department official at the event using a speech to reject the legitimacy of elections planned by the military junta later this year. The so-called NUG has set up a government-in-exile after the military took power from a democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup.
Australia on Wednesday announced targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against “individuals responsible for egregious human rights abuses” in Myanmar two years after a military junta seized power in the Southeast Asian country.
The European Union adopted its sixth sanctions package Monday against the military junta in Myanmar for human rights violations. EU foreign ministers approved “restrictive measures against nine persons and seven entities in view of the continuing escalation of violence, grave human rights violations and threats to the peace, security and stability in Myanmar,” the Council of the European Union, an EU institution representing member states, said in a statement.
Japan on Tuesday announced that it will provide additional $60.3 million in humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. In response to the rapid increase in the need for humanitarian assistance due to the deteriorating situation since last year, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Tokyo will provide additional humanitarian assistance totaling $60.3 million to the Southeast Asian nation. The aid will reach the affected people through international organizations, including UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, and ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre).
During a televised parliamentary budget session on Wednesday, February 22, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government will “appropriately handle” a development aid project in Myanmar that is benefiting the country’s abusive military. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese foreign minister, echoed the prime minister’s public pledge to take appropriate action.
Indonesia appears to have halted a Myanmar military council official’s planned attendance at a tourism conference to be held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this week in Yogyakarta.
The ASEAN Foreign Ministers retreat wrapped up in Jakarta on Saturday, with the proposal from Indonesia to implement five point peace plan for Myanmar and to resume negotiations for the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China sea
The Intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes will see the two countries working together on the use of nuclear technology in a number of areas, including training of a workforce for building and running a small modular reactor.
The Russia-Myanmar Friendship Association and business owners in Myanmar signed deals for the Ngapali beach resort in Rakhine State on Saturday. The association president Anatoly Bulochnikov met junta boss Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on January 30 to reportedly discuss tourism and trade with Myanmar’s largest arms supplier.
Chinese special envoy Deng Xijun recently traveled to the China-Myanmar border and met with representatives of seven of Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). It was his second trip in three months, following a visit to the border and Naypyitaw in December.
YANGON (Xinhua): China's Yunnan provincial department of commerce and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) held a meeting here on Wednesday (Feb 15) to promote economic and trade cooperation. Speaking at the meeting, UMFCCI President U Aye Win (pic) said that it is a timely meeting to promote the economic and trade cooperation between Myanmar and China's Yunnan province, adding it will assist Myanmar's economic development and private business sector development. Myanmar, in the post-Covid-19 period right now, was making efforts to increase its export, which declined during the pandemic period, and China is an important market for Myanmar, the UMFCCI president said. China is the largest trading partner of Myanmar, he said, adding that he hopes the meeting will open up cooperation opportunities for the two countries.
Inspecting the Indo-Myanmar border at Kasom Khullen sub-divisional headquarters in Kamjong district of Manipur, governor La Ganesan, on Wednesday, called for combating the issues of illegal migration, smuggling of drugs, weapons, sneaking insurgents, etc that are being perpetrated from neighboring countries into Indian territory.
Lalchamliana said barring 10 or 20 people, 31,050 displaced Myanmar nationals taking refuge in the state have been profiled and temporary identity cards have been issued to them.
“The number of Myanmar nationals taking refuge in the northeastern State was 31,050 as on January 27, and those from Bangladesh were 541,” the official said.
Troopers of Assam Rifles and Custom officials seized over 2. 6 grams of heroin worth Rs 13.3 crore in east Mizoram’s Champhai town near the Myanmar border on Sunday, an official of Assam Rifles said.Two Myanmar nationals were apprehended for possessing the contraband, the official said.
The junta-appointed Myanmar Investment Commission has announced it will waive tax on production and distribution of renewable energy including solar power. The regime has made electricity a national priority for investment and will exempt or reduce tax on imported materials, machines, equipment, spare parts, and construction materials that are not available in Myanmar, according to the announcement.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan spoke at length about the complexities of the situation in Myanmar, whose democratically-elected leaders were overthrown in a military coup in early-2021.
Two years after the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1st February 2021, the Council adopted today restrictive measures against 9 persons and 7 entities in view of the continuing escalation of violence, grave human rights violations and threats to the peace, security and stability in Myanmar/Burma.
Myanmar’s deposed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint have not been allowed to meet with their legal team since their trials ended in December of last year, Radio Free Asia has learned.
During a televised parliamentary budget session on Wednesday, February 22, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government will “appropriately handle” a development aid project in Myanmar that is benefiting the country’s abusive military. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese foreign minister, echoed the prime minister’s public pledge to take appropriate action.
In the city of Shwe Kokko, Karen State opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot, Chinese triad gangs and criminals are exploiting the turmoil following the military takeover to expand their criminal activities.
Issuances were suspended for about two months before being resumed on Friday.
If Rohingya repatriation is to be realized, Bangladesh must work in multiple fronts with the regime and shadow government as well as the great powers to ensure it ensures a smooth sailing to the burning crisis.
On February 22, Myanmar’s junta announced martial law orders for three additional townships in Sagaing Region, after expanding martial law in 37 townships elsewhere in the country earlier this month. A total of 50 townships are now under martial law in Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, and Mon States, as well as in Yangon and Mandalay Regions. The three townships in Myanmar’s northwest now fall under the executive and judicial jurisdiction of regional military commander Maj. Gen. Than Htike, who has been sanctioned by the European Union for serious human rights violations, including excessive use of force and an attack on a school in Depayin township in September 2022 that killed 11 children.
Myanmar is one of the countries with a high burden of TB, TB-HIV and drug-resistant TB. As per the Global Tuberculosis Report 2021 of WHO, an estimated 167000 people fell ill with TB in the country. An estimated 22000 deaths occurred in the country due to the disease, including 2900 deaths of people living with HIV, in 2020. There were also an estimated 10000 new cases of rifampicin-resistant (RR) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB emerging in the year. The biggest social determinants and drivers of TB in Myanmar are undernourishment (40000), smoking (19000), HIV (14000), alcohol use (7700) and diabetes (6500). While all countries in the Region have continued to accelerate efforts to end TB, Myanmar is among a few high-TB burden countries and the only one in the WHO SE Asia Region to achieve the 2020 milestone targets of a 20% reduction of TB incidence from the 2015 baseline, in alignment with the WHO End TB Strategy which is in turn aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals related to ending TB by 2030.
Myanmar along with Iran and North Korea continue to be on the 'Black List' of the FATF with the global watchdog on terror financing and money laundering on Friday terming the three countries as "high-risk jurisdictions".
Due to the "current economic situation" Nestle's factory in the commercial hub Yangon, as well as its head office, would "cease operations", a spokesperson told AFP, without giving a timeframe. Nestle sells Nescafe instant coffee, Maggi noodles and Milo chocolate malt beverage in Myanmar. A Myanmar firm would instead market and distribute Nestle products from Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, the spokesperson said.
Nirav had first gone to Dubai for work where he stayed for few months before one Irfan approached him with a job offer in Thailand, but instead, sent him off to Myanmar.
Lamkhochon Guite from a village of Myanmar’s Tamu Township died in wee hours of Sunday, confirm police. Activists say situation in Manipur for refugees is different from Mizoram.
When a neighbour’s house is burning, inaction is not an option or solution. China is likely to capitalise on the anarchy, so India can hardly sit back and watch.
Myanmar is still in the midst of a protracted low-intensity conflict that could stretch on for years without any side being able to assert nation-wide control, possibly leaving in its wake a highly fractured, fragmented and balkanised polity.
Myanmar’s military government plans to allow loyal civilians, including government employees and retired military personnel, to carry licensed firearms, but they must comply with orders from local authorities to participate in security and law enforcement actions, the military and media reports said. The announcement fanned fears of even more violence in a country wracked by what some UN experts have called a civil war.
A fire incident in Solo/Chiu Village, under Lahe Township, Naga Self Administered Zone (NSAZ), Myanmar on February 2 razed down 60 houses and multiple vehicles.
As the crisis enters the third year, it is important to reflect on what happened in these two years and what the possible projections for the year 2023 are.
The Shan State Progress Party, United Wa State Party and National Democratic Alliance Army have attended elections talks.
Children among those arrested last month as they waited for transport to take them to Malaysia.
Moreover, refugees are becoming part of the planet's chronic condition, with immense political, social and economic consequences. In Asia, the brutal Myanmar military dictatorship has driven a million ethnic Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh. These people, like the Ukrainians and Syrians, had little choice save to quit a manmade desolation.
A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Friday convicted the country's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption, sentencing her to seven years in prison in the last of a string of criminal cases against her, a legal official said. The court's action leaves her with a total of 33 years to serve in prison following a series of politically tinged prosecutions since the army toppled her elected government in February 2021.
New Delhi’s deepening engagement with Myanmar’s ruling military junta has caused a fair bit of hand-wringing and even anger in some capitals around the world, especially the band of planet earth’s self-proclaimed ‘conscience-keepers’ in the west. Some bleeding heart Democrats in Washington DC, as well as lawmakers in some European capitals, have been urging India to not only desist from engaging with the ruling junta in Myanmar, but also cut off ties with them. i
The legislation authorizes the Biden administration to begin providing non-lethal assistance to the opposition National Unity Government and its allies.
Thailand has reportedly invited interested members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to participate in a consultative meeting aimed at addressing the political crisis in Myanmar, to be held on December 22nd.
The Independence Day amnesty includes a former National League for Democracy minister, authors and journalists.
Falcon Esports proved to be the biggest hurdle for the Agents as they look for back-to-back crowns in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championships. They beat the Philippine powerhouse not once but twice in the early goings of the tournament.
Falcon Esports proved to be the biggest hurdle for the Agents as they look for back-to-back crowns in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championships. They beat the Philippine powerhouse not once but twice in the early goings of the tournament.
In his second world championship appearance after coaching Smart Omega in the M2 world championships in Singapore, coach Dale "Dale" Vitug marked his return to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang scene with a coaching stint in Myanmar, under their world championship representatives Falcon.
Power blackouts occurring across the country due to electricity shortages have worsened since February 2021.
The NGO Coordination Committee, a collective of five influential civil society organisations and student bodies in the state have urged Centre to respond to the violation of Indian airspace and to ‘safeguard the sovereignty of India’.
Identifying individuals and groups who shaped the events of 2022 in Myanmar's second year of military takeover
Around 100 detonators and 6.35 kg of marijuana were seized by the police in Mizoram in two separate operations. Four Myanmar nationals were arrested.
Former top UN officials say that supplies from companies in at least 13 countries is helping Myanmar's military in producing a vast range of weapons
On January 11-12, jets belonging to the Myanmar military, which snatched power from the elected civilian government by force in a February 2021 coup, conducted two bombing raids of Camp Victoria, the headquarters of the Chin National Front (CNF), located right across the India-Myanmar border in western Chin State.
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