Category Archives: Myanmar

2 million at risk of starvation in Myanmar state amid ‘total economic collapse’

Posted on by

Exclusive: a UN report will accuse the military of imposing ‘collective punishment’ on Rakhine state, more than three years after seizing power in a coup

Two million people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state could face starvation within months because fierce conflict and trade blockades have led to a “total economic collapse” and the imminent risk of famine, a senior UN official has warned.

Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh in the west, is on the brink of disaster, as people’s incomes crater, rice cultivation plummets, and military-imposed trade restrictions lead to severe food shortages and hyperinflation, according to forthcoming research from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which accuses the military of inflicting “collective punishment” on civilians.

Continue reading...

Myanmar military kills dozens in heaviest airstrikes since 2021 coup

Posted on by

Ten children reportedly among those killed during intense aerial campaigns last month

Myanmar’s military has launched some of its heaviest aerial campaigns since the 2021 coup in recent months, killing at least 26 people in a series of attacks in early September.

The military, which has repeatedly been accused of indiscriminate aerial bombardments, launched at least seven airstrikes in four days between 3 and 6 September. According to Unicef, 10 children were among those killed. A pregnant woman also lost her unborn child.

A camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Pekhon township, southern Shan state, was one of the seven locations targeted. Daw Ohn Mar Khaing, a volunteer teacher at the camp, known as “Bangkok”, told the Guardian it was struck despite there being no fighting in the township, or opposition fighters nearby.

“We only have helpless women and children, who were displaced from the war in their villages,” she said.

Continue reading...

Climate scientists troubled by damage from floods ravaging central Europe

Posted on by

Experts unsurprised at intensity of extreme weather but say damage wreaked shows how unprepared world is

Picturesque towns across central Europe are inundated by dirty flood water after heavy weekend rains turned tranquil streams into raging rivers that wreaked havoc on infrastructure.

The floods have killed at least 15 people and destroyed buildings from Austria to Romania. The destruction comes after devastating floods around the world last week when entire villages were submerged in Myanmar and nearly 300 prisoners escape a collapsed jail in Nigeria, where floods have affected more than 1 million people.

Continue reading...

Typhoon Yagi: scores dead from flooding in Myanmar

Posted on by

At least 320,000 people have been displaced and 64 were still missing after the strongest storm to hit Asia this year

Myanmar’s death toll from floods rose to at least 113, the country’s military government said, following heavy rains brought on by Typhoon Yagi that has caused havoc across parts of Southeast Asia.

At least 320,000 people have been displaced and 64 were still missing, government spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said, according to a late-night bulletin on state-run MRTV.

Continue reading...

Thousands flee after Myanmar rebels use drones to bomb Rohingya villagers

Posted on by

Arakan Army targeting Muslim minority as Myanmar’s military are driven out of Rakhine, UN official says

Thousands of Rohingya are being forced to flee from their homes in Myanmar and escape on dangerous boat journeys after being targeted by armed rebels, activists and officials say.

Having seized control of much of Myanmar’s Rakhine state from the military, the rebel Arakan Army has turned on the Rohingya minority in areas it controls, shelling villages, forcing them to leave their homes and reportedly rounding up groups of men.

Continue reading...

Children among up to 200 Rohingya killed in Myanmar drone attack

Posted on by

Witnesses say people killed in artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians fleeing violence

Many dozens of Rohingya people, including children, were killed in an artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians as they tried to flee Myanmar last week.

Civilians were trying to escape violence in Maungdaw town, Rakhine state, by crossing the Naf River into Bangladesh when they were targeted last Monday. Videos shared on social media, which appeared to have been taken in the aftermath of the attack, showed bodies and bags strewn across the ground.

Continue reading...

Myanmar junta ‘bombing schools’, with 170 sites hit in past three years – report

Posted on by

Analysis of imagery from conflict zones shows evidence of burned-out and flattened buildings, with long-term impacts on education

Airstrikes, arson, shelling and ground fighting between the military and armed rebel groups have damaged at least 174 schools and universities in Myanmar since a military coup in 2021, according to a new report.

Open source investigator, the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), said analysis of imagery from conflict zones showed burned and collapsed buildings.

Continue reading...

Tin Oo, NLD founder with Aung San Suu Kyi, dies aged 97 in Myanmar

Posted on by

Former armed forces chief was imprisoned after failed revolt against junta and later campaigned with Nobel laureate under National League for Democracy banner

Tin Oo, one of the closest associates of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and co-founder with her of the National League for Democracy, has died at the age of 97.

Tin Oo died on Saturday morning at Yangon general hospital, said Moh Khan, a charity worker citing a family member. Charity workers in Myanmar handle funeral arrangements.

Continue reading...

Rohingya being forcibly conscripted in battle between Myanmar and rebels

Posted on by

Myanmar military has conscripted 1,000 Rohingya men and boys since February, with fears some are being used as human shields, according to NGOs

For more than four hours Abdullah* waited in the darkness as soldiers marched 30 of his neighbours from their homes in the Myanmar border state of Rakhine and forced them by gunpoint to join him on the truck that would take them all to a military base.

By the morning they were standing in front of a military commander ordering them to fight with the army against a local rebel group – some of the 1,000 Rohingya people the Myanmar military has conscripted since February, according to Human Rights Watch.

Continue reading...

UK accused by Amnesty of ‘deliberately destabilising’ human rights globally

Posted on by

Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’

The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends.

In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law.

Continue reading...

Fighting rages at Myanmar’s border with Thailand as rebels target junta troops

Posted on by

Thousands of civilians flee as resistance fighters fight to flush out soldiers holed up at eastern bridge border crossing

Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing.

Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on 11 April, a blow to a well-equipped military struggling to govern and facing a test of battlefield credibility.

Continue reading...

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s jailed former leader, moved to house arrest, says junta

Posted on by

Military spokesperson says Nobel laureate is among prisoners to be moved out of prison as a precaution during hot weather

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest, according to the military junta.

A spokesperson said the measure was taken due to extremely hot weather and that it was trying to prevent heatstroke among “all those who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners”.

Continue reading...

Blow for Myanmar’s military as rebels say hundreds have surrendered at key border town

Posted on by

Thailand PM says army is weakening after junta requests permission to land evacuation flight from Myawaddy across the border

Myanmar’s embattled junta has evacuated personnel from a key border position after hundreds of soldiers surrendered to opposition groups, in another humiliating defeat for the army.

The military is now on the brink of losing control of Myawaddy, in Karen state, one of the most important border crossings in Myanmar and crucial to the flow of goods between the country and Thailand. It has been controlled by the military for decades.

Continue reading...

Julie Bishop ‘deeply honoured’ to be appointed UN special envoy for Myanmar

Posted on by

Former Australian foreign minister named as secretary general António Guterres’ special envoy to country gripped by civil war

The former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop has been appointed the United Nations secretary general António Guterres’ special envoy on Myanmar, the world body has said.

Bishop, the Australian National University’s chancellor, will take up the UN role that has been vacant since June last year, when Singaporean diplomat Noeleen Heyzer stepped down.

Continue reading...

Myanmar opposition carries out drone attack on capital

Posted on by

National Unity Government said it attacked two military targets in junta-controlled Naypidaw

Opponents of Myanmar’s military said they had carried out drone attacks against junta sites in the capital, Naypyidaw, in what appears to be a rare incursion against the embattled junta’s centre of power.

The National Unity Government (NUG), which was formed to oppose the 2021 coup, said it had launched drone attacks on two military targets in the capital.

Continue reading...

Dozens of Rohingya refugees rescued from overturned boat in Indian Ocean

Posted on by

Soaked survivors clung to hull overnight before being taken to safety by Indonesian rescue team

Dozens of Rohingya refugees have been rescued from the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia after spending the night balanced on the hull of their overturned boat.

Seventy-five people were pulled from the stricken vessel, which was spotted on Thursday by an Indonesian search and rescue ship.

Continue reading...

Auction of Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in Myanmar attracts no bidders

Posted on by

Home being sold after supreme court ruling in dispute with Aung San Suu Kyi’s estranged brother, with the price reportedly set at tens of millions of dollars

No bidders have appeared at an auction in Myanmar for the sale of the home of jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for which the starting price was reported to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

The family property on Yangon’s Inye Lake was up for auction by order of the supreme court, after a years-long legal battle between Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 coup, and her estranged brother Aung San Oo.

Continue reading...

Myanmar’s junta declares it will enforce military service laws for young people

Posted on by

State media report all men aged 18-35 and women 18-27 must serve for up to two years and up to five years in a state of emergency

Myanmar’s junta has declared mandatory military service for all young men and women, state media said, as it struggles to contain armed rebel forces fighting for greater autonomy in various parts of the country.

All men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 must serve for up to two years, while specialists like doctors aged up to 45 must serve for three years. The service can be extended to a total of five years in the ongoing state of emergency, state media said on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Myanmar at standstill as silent strike marks third anniversary of coup

Posted on by

Towns and cities empty during protest on anniversary of military takeover and arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi

Cities and towns across Myanmar have come to a standstill as people took part in a silent strike to signal defiance against the military junta on the anniversary of the 2021 coup.

Three years since the military detained political leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, its grip on power is more uncertain than at any point in the last six decades, according to analysts. The UN says two-thirds of the country is experiencing conflict.

Continue reading...

Myanmar hands over junta-backed warlords to China in telecoms scam case

Posted on by

Ten people extradited on Tuesday accused of being key figures in fraud involving victims of trafficking

Myanmar has extradited 10 people, including notorious warlords, to China, where they are wanted for their alleged role in running abusive online and telephone fraud centres in which tens of thousands of foreign nationals are trapped and forced to run scams.

The centres – which target people in China as well as in other countries - have flourished since the Covid-19 pandemic and China says about 44,000 people have been involved, including victims of human trafficking.

Continue reading...