Thousands of people took to the streets of Yangon on Saturday to denounce this week’s military coup and demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's ousted leader. Myanmar’s junta has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended the social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday in the face of the growing protest movement
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Myanmar: tens of thousands protest against coup despite internet blackout
Demonstrators in standoff with police amid demands for release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Myanmar on Saturday in the first major demonstration since the military seized power, despite a nationwide internet blackout imposed to stifle dissent.
In the main city Yangon, protesters chanted “down with the military dictatorship” and carried images of the ousted leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, whose party won a landslide election in November. The military detained both in raids early on Monday morning and they have not been seen in public since.
Continue reading...‘We’re not brainwashed’: a week of turmoil in Myanmar
Protests have spread across country since military coup, as citizens resist return to dictatorship
On Friday evening, after darkness fell, the sound of car horns and the clanging of pots and pans and metal railings echoed around the compact grid of central Yangon. It was the fourth consecutive night that people had gathered on their balconies to loudly voice their fury at the military junta now running Myanmar.
It was Monday morning when the public had awoken to find that Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had won a landslide election in November, had been detained, and that the army had seized all legislative, judicial and executive powers.
Continue reading...Myanmar coup protesters – in pictures
At least 30 people have been detained over pot-banging protests against a military coup as demonstrations gather pace
Continue reading...Myanmar coup: army blocks Facebook access as civil disobedience grows
Instagram and WhatsApp – owned by Facebook and used to organise protests – also restricted as UN secretary general condemns coup
Myanmar’s army has ordered internet service providers to block access to Facebook as it attempts to stamp out signs of dissent, days after it ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Facebook, one of the most popular means of communication in Myanmar, has been used to coordinate a civil disobedience campaign that saw health workers at dozens of hospitals walk out of their jobs on Wednesday to protest against the army’s actions. It has also been used to share plans for evening protests, where residents have taken to their balconies to bang pots and pans, a symbolic act to drive away evil.
Continue reading...Myanmar rings with pots and pans against military coup – video
Yangon’s streets were filled with the din of clashing metal as scores protested the military coup against the country’s elected government. The first public rejection of the coup went on for 10 minutes across the city in a massive show of solidarity. Health workers in 70 hospitals across Myanmar have pledged not to work under the military regime
- The nights of pots and pans are back, on Myanmar’s fearful streets
- Aung San Suu Kyi could face two years in jail over ‘illegal’ walkie-talkies
Aung San Suu Kyi could face two years in jail over ‘illegal’ walkie-talkies
Ousted Myanmar leader facing prison as civil disobedience campaign against military coup grows
Myanmar police have charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies, which could result in a two-year prison sentence, as a civil disobedience campaign grew against the military’s coup.
A document from a police station in the capital, Naypyitaw, said military officers who searched Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence had found handheld radios that were imported illegally and used without permission by her bodyguards. The charges, confirmed by members of her party, appear to carry a maximum prison sentence of two years.
Continue reading...Myanmar coup: civil disobedience campaign begins amid calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release
National League for Democracy urges military to acknowledge 2020 election result
The party of Aung San Suu Kyi has called for her immediate release and for Myanmar’s 2020 election results to be acknowledged by the military, which took power in a coup on Monday.
The country’s elected leader, who was among dozens of political figures picked up by the army, reportedly remains under house arrest.
Continue reading...The nights of pots and pans are back, on Myanmar’s fearful streets
Activists are urging a traditional show of solidarity amid wary anger over the military’s coup
In Myanmar, if you want to drive evil from your home, you bang pots and pans. Yangon’s streets were filled with the din of clashing metal in 2007, when monks called for an end to military rule, and before that, in 1988 when the former president Sein Lwin, or the “butcher of Rangoon”, ordered troops to shoot pro-democracy protesters. On Tuesday night, pots and pans were back again.
Evil has returned, they say; Gen Min Aung Hlaing has led a military coup against the democratically elected government and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose immense popularity within the country helped her National League for Democracy (NLD) win a landslide victory in 2020. The military’s electoral proxy secured fewer than 7% of available seats, leading it, and the military, to claim widespread electoral “fraud” without evidence.
Continue reading...Fears army will tighten grip in Myanmar after Aung San Suu Kyi detained
Civilian leader urges the public to protest against any return to a military dictatorship
Myanmar has been placed on knife edge, with activists fearing a further clampdown after the military detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders in early morning raids and took direct control of the country in a coup.
A statement attributed to Aung San Suu Kyi said the military, which directly ruled Myanmar for more than 50 years, was trying to reimpose a dictatorship. “I urge people not to accept this, to respond and wholeheartedly to protest against the coup by the military,” it said. It is not possible to verify the message.
Continue reading...Threat of Myanmar coup was never far away
Analysis: Despite her popularity Aung San Suu Kyi never had leverage to curb military’s power
Since her election as Myanmar’s de facto leader in 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi’s position has always been a precarious one. For all the international celebration of Myanmar’s transition to democracy after half a century of military rule, in reality the power of the military barely diminished at all. The threat of a coup, the fallback position of the military for decades, had always lingered.
For the past five years, Aung San Suu Kyi has governed Myanmar on the basis of a 2008 constitution drawn up by the military themselves. It enshrined military power, allowing them to appoint 25% of seats in parliament, and preserve their interests while curbing some of the crucial powers of the democratically elected leader of the government.
Continue reading...Myanmar army takes power in coup as Aung San Suu Kyi detained
Military has previously threatened to ‘take action’ over alleged fraud in a November election
Myanmar’s military has taken power in a coup and declared a state of emergency, hours after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party.
Phone and mobile internet services in the city of Yangon were down on Monday morning and military trucks, one carrying barbed-wire barriers, were parked outside City Hall. The state-run MRTV network said it had been unable to broadcast. Banks were closed across the nation.
Continue reading...Myanmar military vows to abide by constitution amid coup fears
Armed forces release statement saying remarks by general about political system were misinterpreted
Myanmar’s armed forces have said they will protect and abide by the country’s constitution and act according to law, amid concerns in the country that the military might attempt to seize power.
In an official statement on Saturday, the military said recent remarks by its top general about abolishing the constitution were misinterpreted by media and some organisations.
Continue reading...‘There is no noise’: inside the controversial Bhasan Char refugee camp – a photo essay
Amid concern from charities and NGOs, Bangladesh is relocating Rohinghya refugees to a remote island. One resident describes his new life there
I wanted to come here. No one forced me, and my wife also agreed in a snap.
To be honest, though, I didn’t tell my brother. He lives where I used to live – Kutupalong camp. He is very against this island for some reason. He might have tried to stop me coming if I dared to discuss the topic. So I didn’t. I only told him after I arrived. I was amazed that he didn’t yell at me.
Continue reading...Calls for release of man arrested photographing transfer of Rohingyas
Bangladesh authorities under pressure from rights activists including Bianca Jagger over detention of Abul Karam
Bangladesh authorities are facing calls to release a Rohingya man arrested while photographing the transfer of refugees to a controversial island camp this week.
Abul Kalam, 35, has been held since Monday morning when he was reportedly beaten before being taken to police barracks near the Kutupalong refugee camp, where he has lived since leaving Myanmar as a child refugee in the early 1990s.
Continue reading...Bangladesh moves more Rohingyas to remote island despite rights concerns
Activists say the island of Bhasan Char is not safe and that the refugees are being moved against their will
Bangladesh has begun moving the second group of Rohingya refugees from crammed camps in Cox’s Bazar to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal, in defiance of safety and security concerns from international rights advocates.
Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have urged the Bangladeshi government to halt the relocation of Rohingya to Bhasan Char, which is hours by boat from the mainland, flood-prone, vulnerable to frequent cyclones and could be completely submerged during a high tide.
Continue reading...British banks under pressure over £45m loans to firm with links to Myanmar military
Campaigners say the deals revealed in new report are a breach of firms’ human rights responsibilities
Human rights groups are demanding that two of Britain’s biggest banks explain why they have lent tens of millions of pounds to a technology company building a telecoms network that is part-owned and used by the Myanmar military.
HSBC and Standard Chartered have loaned $60m (£44.5m) to Vietnamese telecom giant Viettel in the last four years, a period when the Myanmar military has been accused of committing war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Viettel is a major investor in Mytel, a Myanmar mobile network that, since its launch in June 2018, has grown to become the second-biggest operator in the country with over 10 million users.
Continue reading...Bangladesh begins moving Rohingya families to remote island
Operation to move 2,500 families begins despite safety concerns and lack of consent from refugees
Bangladesh has begun moving Rohingya families from camps near the Myanmar border to a settlement on a remote island, despite concerns about its safety and a lack of consent from the refugees.
More than 1,600 Rohingya refugees set sail on Friday from Bangladesh’s southern port of Chittagong for the remote island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal, a naval official said, Reuters reported.
Continue reading...Aung San Suu Kyi’s party returns to power in Myanmar
Election result is likely to further entrench divisions within the country, particularly resentment within minority communities
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party will return to power for another five year term after securing a widely predicted victory in what is the country’s second general election since the end of full military rule.
According to the Union Election Commission, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has won 346 of the 412 seats declared so far, a result driven by her continued status as an icon of democracy in the country – despite international outrage at her treatment of the Rohingya.
Continue reading...Popa scoop: 100-year old monkey faeces reveals new species in Myanmar
Popa Langur, numbering only 200-250 in the wild and at risk of extinction, was genetically identified from London museum sample
In a rare find, scientists have identified a new species of primate, a lithe tree-dweller living in the forests of central Myanmar with a mask-like face framed by a shock of unruly grey hair.
The Popa langur – named for an extinct volcano home to its largest population, some 100 individuals – has been around for at least a million years, according to a study detailing the find, published on Wednesday in Zoological Research.
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