Category Archives: Myanmar

Ex-Myanmar ambassador to UK on trial for trespassing in diplomatic residence

Posted on by

Kyaw Zwar Minn was ousted for declaring loyalty to Aung San Suu Kyi after 2021 coup but refused to leave his home

Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out of the embassy in 2021.

Shortly after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, triggering mass protests that spiralled into a civil war, Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of the embassy for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Continue reading...

Family of missing Rohingya footballer fear he is among 500 believed dead in Myanmar shipwrecks

Posted on by

‘I can’t tolerate this life,’ said the 24-year-old in his last voice message to his relatives. Attacked by the military, a rebel army and criminal gangs, Siraz Ullah risked all for a better future

The fear was audible as he spoke, recording a message to his family, asking for their prayers. After pressing send, 24-year-old Siraz Ullah boarded a boat he hoped could deliver him from the violence and persecution surrounding him at home in Myanmar.

Instead, Siraz is among 500 Rohingya refugees who have vanished at sea after setting sail for Malaysia in late June.

Continue reading...

More than 500 feared dead after reports of two shipwrecks off Myanmar, UN says

Posted on by

Vessels believed to have departed from Myanmar in late June, with mostly Muslim Rohingya minority onboard

The United Nations has said more than 500 people are feared dead after reports of two large shipwrecks off Myanmar since late June.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its refugee agency UNHCR voiced alarm in a joint statement at reports “that two boats carrying more than 500 people may have capsized off the coast of Myanmar in recent days”.

Continue reading...

Attacks on education, pupils and staff around the world up by 40%, says study

Posted on by

Cases reported in 83 countries, with at least 10,600 students and staff killed, injured, abducted or arrested, GCPEA says

Attacks on education globally have surged by 40% with more than 8,556 recorded incidents and 10,600 students and staff killed, injured, abducted, arrested or otherwise harmed in 2024 and 2025, according to new research.

Attacks were reported in 83 countries, with the highest incidences recorded in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Palestine and Ukraine.

Continue reading...

China arrests US academic at conference for ‘espionage activities’

Posted on by

Arrest of Min Zin, who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy, comes just month after Trump visit to Beijing

China has arrested a US scholar who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy on suspicion of spying.

Min Zin was suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Friday.

Continue reading...

US diplomat found dead in Myanmar as police treat case as possible homicide

Posted on by

Thai woman is in custody in connection with investigation after man was reportedly found dead at a hotel in Yangon

A US diplomat has been found dead in Myanmar’s largest city, and members of the diplomatic community in Yangon say a Thai woman has been detained by police in connection with the investigation.

US officials in Thailand and the US embassy in Myanmar referred questions on the case to the state department, which confirmed the “death of a US government employee” assigned to the embassy in Yangon, but gave no other details.

Continue reading...

Trump ally Roger Stone condemned for providing lobbying services to Myanmar’s military junta

Posted on by

Stone being paid $50,000 a month to ‘rebuild’ relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government

The US lobbyist Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of Donald Trump, has been condemned for accepting $50,000 a month to “rebuild” relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government.

Myanmar’s leaders have been internationally isolated since seizing power in a coup in 2021, and have repeatedly been accused of atrocities that may amount to war crimes. Activists say the military rulers, which recently held widely condemned “sham” elections, are now trying to reassert themselves abroad.

Continue reading...

Myanmar military regime widens sanitary towel ban, claiming rebels use them for first aid

Posted on by

Activists say clamp down on period products to target insurgents is gender-based violence and violates rights

Myanmar’s military regime is expanding its ban on the distribution of period products, claiming they are being used to treat wounded resistance fighters, according to local activists.

The south-east Asian country has been locked in civil war since 2021, when the military usurped the democratic government and launched a violent crackdown on dissidents. Artillery fire, the burning of townships and arbitrary arrests have become common in the years since then.

Continue reading...

About 250 missing after boat carrying Rohingya refugees capsizes in Andaman Sea

Posted on by

Trawler set off from Bangladesh and reportedly capsized due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowding

About 250 people are missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea, according to the UN’s refugee and migration agencies.

The agencies said the trawler carrying more than 250 men, women and children reportedly sank due to harsh weather and overcrowding. It had departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia.

Continue reading...

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing appointed president after ‘sham’ election

Posted on by

Min Aung Hlaing seized control five years ago and plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos

Min Aung Hlaing, the military general who plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos when he took power in the 2021 coup has been appointed president, months after widely condemned sham elections.

Min Aung Hlaing, who is wanted by the prosecutor of the international criminal court for crimes against humanity against the Rohingya Muslim minority, was voted president by lawmakers on Friday. Myanmar’s parliament is dominated by the pro-military party, which won a landslide in one-sided elections earlier this year.

Continue reading...

Asia scrambles to confront energy crisis unleashed by Iran war – with no end in sight

Posted on by

From fuel caps to four-day work weeks, the Middle East conflict has left the world’s top crude oil importing region desperate to shore up supplies

Donald Trump has scrambled in recent days to reassure the world that the economic impact of his war on Iran can be contained.

Sure, one of the most important waterways in global trade has, in effect, been shut for almost two weeks – but it might reopen before long. In the meantime, US oil-related sanctions on “some countries” will be lifted. And besides, the entire conflict could be over soon.

Continue reading...

Asia scrambles to confront energy crisis unleashed by Iran war – with no end in sight

Posted on by

From fuel caps to four-day work weeks, the Middle East conflict has left the world’s top crude oil importing region desperate to shore up supplies

Donald Trump has scrambled in recent days to reassure the world that the economic impact of his war on Iran can be contained.

Sure, one of the most important waterways in global trade has, in effect, been shut for almost two weeks – but it might reopen before long. In the meantime, US oil-related sanctions on “some countries” will be lifted. And besides, the entire conflict could be over soon.

Continue reading...

Destitute survivors of south-east Asia’s cyberscam farms an ‘international crisis’

Posted on by

Not enough support for freed victims, say aid agencies, with growing numbers sleeping on the streets, unable to travel home without passports or money

Charities and aid workers have called for urgent international government support for victims of south-east Asia’s deadly scam compounds, following a damning report by Amnesty International.

The numbers of survivors of cyberscam “farms” left destitute and abandoned on the city streets of Cambodia and Myanmar is an “international crisis”, according to the research published in January.

Continue reading...

Junta hails end to US protected status for Myanmar nationals

Posted on by

Human rights monitors say it is not safe to return, citing reports of ‘serious crimes in the run-up to elections’

Myanmar’s junta applauded the Trump administration on Wednesday for halting a scheme that protected its citizens from deportation from the US back to their war-racked homeland.

About 4,000 Myanmar citizens are living in the US with temporary protected status (TPS), which shields foreign nationals from deportation to disaster zones and allows them the right to work.

Continue reading...

Thailand to let Myanmar refugees work to counter aid cuts and labour shortages

Posted on by

The move, welcomed by UN, will allow thousands of people living in camps to support themselves and their families

Thailand is setting a global precedent this month by giving refugees permission to work in the country in an effort to tackle aid cuts and its own labour shortages.

More than 87,000 refugees living in nine refugee camps along Thailand’s border with Myanmar have been totally reliant on handouts of food and foreign aid.

Continue reading...

Thousands detained as Myanmar military raids notorious KK park scam compound

Posted on by

Myanmar's military moved in to tackle a major online scam operation near the Thailand border, state media reported

Myanmar’s military has raided a major online scam operation near the border with Thailand, detaining more than 2,000 people and seizing dozens of Starlink satellite internet terminals, state media has reported.

According to a report in Monday’s Myanma Alinn newspaper, Myanmar’s army raided KK Park, a well-documented cybercrime centre, as part of operations starting in early September to suppress online fraud, illegal gambling, and cross-border cybercrime.

Continue reading...

US Congress committee investigating Musk-owned Starlink over Myanmar scam centres

Posted on by

Provision of internet access to scam centres being investigated as Starlink swiftly becomes Myanmar’s biggest internet service provider

A powerful bipartisan committee in the US Congress says it has begun an investigation into the involvement of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite business in providing internet access to Myanmar scam centres, blamed for swindling billions from victims across the world.

The move comes as it was revealed that large numbers of Starlink dishes began appearing on scam-centre roofs in Myanmar around the time of a crackdown in February that was supposed to eradicate the centres, according to a investigation by Agence France-Presse

Continue reading...

China court sentences 11 people to death over alleged role in family-run Myanmar scam operations

Posted on by

Another five people given suspended death sentences over alleged role in gang that operated scam centres and illegal gambling worth $1.4bn

A court in China has sentenced 11 people to death for their alleged roles in a family-run crime syndicate accused of running illegal gambling and scam operations worth more than $1.4bn, and for the deaths of workers who disobeyed them.

The Wenzhou intermediate people’s court on Monday sentenced 11 members of the powerful Ming family in Kokang, Myanmar to death while another five were handed death sentences suspended for two years.

Continue reading...

Historic Myanmar bridge destroyed in fighting

Posted on by

The renowned Gokteik bridge was bombed on Sunday, with the ruling military junta and rebel forces blaming each other for its destruction

A colonial-era bridge in Myanmar that was once the world’s tallest railway trestle has been destroyed during fighting in the years-long conflict.

A civil war has consumed Myanmar since a 2021 coup deposed the civilian government, with the military battling myriad pro-democracy guerrilla groups and ethnic armed organisations.

Continue reading...

London museum tells forgotten story of African and Indian troops in second world war

Posted on by

National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain’s colonies

The forgotten story of African and Indian troops who fought in south Asia against Japanese forces during the second world war and who have largely been omitted from the official history is to be brought to life in a London exhibition.

The National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies show includes rare items from Indian and African soldiers who toiled in some of the harshest conditions seen anywhere during the conflict.

Continue reading...