Myanmar Blog

The United Nations’ population agency said it has no role in and is not supporting the nationwide census that the Myanmar junta is planning to carry out in October of next year.  Despite ongoing crises due to its inability to subdue the armed resistance throughout the country, the regime indicated last month that it intends…

Despite a lack of international support, the military regime is pushing ahead with a census that many fear will be used to further oppress dissidents and could intensify conflict. By FRONTIER The United Nations has denied state media reports implying it would assist the Myanmar military regime with a controversial “census”, which critics warn could…

The relationship between Myanmar’s junta and Russia has peaked, the regime’s foreign minister Than Swe told a press conference in Moscow on Thursday during a visit that saw him and his Russian counterpart praise cooperation between the two pariah states. Than Swe was visiting Russia at the invitation of his Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov….

Relatives of political prisoners incarcerated nationwide say that in recent months allowances for accepting food parcels have been slashed and communications cut further Han Thit Nay Min NiSeptember 11, 2023 Violations of basic rights in prisons nationwide are on the rise since an army officer was named by the junta as director-general of the country’s…

Former ABFSU chair Kyaw Ko Ko, whose father was detained on Sunday, has been wanted by the regime since March 2021 Sa Tun AungSeptember 11, 2023 Myanmar’s military regime has arrested a Yangon resident for the apparent crime of being the father of a prominent anti-junta activist. Retired schoolteacher Kyaw Aye, 68, has been in…

The resistance is increasingly targeting the railway network as the regime revamps it to transport troops and supplies, while civilian passengers risk getting caught in the crossfire. By FRONTIER As a railway bridge over a small creek explodes in a shower of debris, a group of resistance fighters can’t contain their jubilation. “It’s collapsed –…

Myanmar will begin accepting cards from the Russian Mir payment system in October, according to Kan Zaw, the junta’s minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations said on Monday. He made the comment to reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, Russia on the first day of the three-day forum….

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission  Hearing Notice Burma: Human Rights in the Aftermath of the Coup  Wednesday, September 13, 2023 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. H-313, the Capitol Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on human rights in Burma in the aftermath of the February 2021 coup d’état. On February 1,…

The junta replaced its security and border affairs ministers in four states and one region with younger colonels on Friday, it said in a statement. It is struggling to regain rural territory amidst rising resistance attacks in the states and region, while regime targets in their cities and towns are also face escalating attacks, analysts…

Myanmar’s military junta has been forcing many who oppose its rule to perform hard labour in prison-run quarries, according to former political prisoners and other prison sources. The practice, which was rare until recently, has now become commonplace at Mandalay’s Obo Prison, an inmate of the prison who was released in August told Myanmar Now….

Myanmar conservationists urge UNESCO to take a stand to protect the Pyu Ancient Cities from conflict and looting, and Bagan’s temples and pagodas from unchecked development. By FRONTIER Conflict, looting and sheer mismanagement are eroding Myanmar’s illustrious legacy, prompting archaeologists and cultural experts in the anti-junta resistance to appeal to the United Nations to break…

A large-scale hydropower project stalled since state-owned French company Électricité de France (EDF) pulled out of Myanmar in 2021 over concerns about the regime’s human rights abuses may soon restart if the junta has its way. The regime’s Ministry of Electric Power has recently called for a tender to resume the Shweli (3) project, as…

Bus and truck drivers are taking ever-greater risks to do their jobs, facing arrest and extortion at checkpoints manned by various armed groups as well as the sudden eruption of fighting. By FRONTIER One night in December last year, U Aung Win’s* fuel truck broke down outside the town of Monywa in war-torn Sagaing Region….

Myanmar’s 78-year-old military has deteriorated rapidly since it staged a coup in February 2021, suffering daily losses in nationwide attacks by People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and powerful ethnic armed organizations. The junta never reveals casualty figures, while revolutionary groups release claims of the number of junta and resistance troops killed in specific clashes. The latter…

The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar commemorates with great sadness the sixth anniversary of the egregious atrocities committed against the Rohingya people by the Myanmar military in 2017. Thousands of Rohingya were killed and disappeared. Rape and sexual violence, including mass gang rape, were used systematically to intimidate, terrorise…

As part of a reshuffle of key cabinet posts following its extension of emergency rule earlier this month, Myanmar’s military junta has named two major generals to head its ministries of energy and electric power. Nyan Tun, a retired major general who served as director of the military’s engineering office, has been appointed minister of…

Several hundred men and women carrying tarpaulins, bags and bamboo baskets filled with kitchenware trudged along the main street of Myit Chay Phyar village at dawn. They were returning home two days after fleeing a July 12 attack by pro-junta paramilitary forces. “We sought safety in the palm groves, sleeping on tarpaulins under the trees,”…

The UN’s relief agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, began one of its recent Myanmar Humanitarian Updates by criticizing the Myanmar military.  “Additional bureaucratic hurdles such as denial of TAs [travel authorizations], insistence on TAs for national staff and refusal of passage through military checkpoints forced aid organizations to reschedule or delay…

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing boasted in his video message to the Moscow Conference on International Security on Wednesday that his regime has control over the vast majority of Myanmar. Belying that claim, the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) has launched an operation which it calls “All roads to Naypyitaw”, the administrative seat of Myanmar…

By AFP Myanmar civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 military coup, has been moved from prison to a government building, an official from her party said Friday. Aung San Suu Kyi has only been seen once since she was held after the February 1, 2021 putsch – in…

While the National Unity Government has scored some impressive achievements and continues to enjoy widespread support in Myanmar, many would like to see internal reforms or a cabinet reshuffle, but institutional deadlocks make that unlikely. By FRONTIER “Nu Gyi is coming, Nu Gyi is coming to make the people happy,” rings out pre-recorded lyrics from…

An airline operated by a junta crony is set to launch direct flights between Myanmar and Russia’s third largest city next month. Myanmar Airways International (MIA) will fly from Yangon and Mandalay to Russia’s Novosibirsk—the third largest city in Russia and a major producer of nuclear energy and technology— every Tuesday and Saturday starting from…

Another power minister unplugged Among regime ministerial posts, the head of the country’s electricity ministry seems especially vulnerable to being fired. Thaung Han became the latest example Wednesday when he was forced to retire “on health grounds” after more than one year in the job. His predecessor, Aung Than Oo, had suffered the same fate….

Statement regarding the intensified and widespread mass killings  committed by terrorist military group   1. Since the failed coup on February 1, 2023, the terrorist military group has  perpetrated mass killings. According to data collected by the National  Unity Government’s Ministry of Human Rights up to July 2023, at least  (144) mass killings of more than…

The Ministry of Justice is playing great emphasis on implementing the Rule of Law  for the people during the Interim period; likewise, the whole National Unity Government  of the Republic of The Union of Myanmar is exerting effort in every aspect to ensure the  success of the people’s revolution against the dictatorship.   The Ministry of…

The junta’s use of Buddhist nationalism has prevented many members of the sangha from joining the uprising against military rule, but it has also tarnished the reputation of Myanmar’s religious institutions in the eyes of the general public. By FRONTIER  Just a few months before the 2020 election, Buddhist abbot U Gawthita Thara was sweeping…

The ousted civilian leader has been in junta custody since her government was ousted in a military coup on February 1, 2021 AFPJuly 28, 2023 Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 military coup, has been moved from prison to a government building, an official from her party said…

Shortly after the 2021 coup, U Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, gave a statement of defiance against military rule and stood up for the ousted civilian government. He flashed a three-finger salute in solidarity with anti-regime protesters before the UN General Assembly in New York in late February 2021 and called…

To counter the rise of new armed groups, the junta and its proxies have razed an estimated 53,000 civilian homes across Myanmar’s Dry Zone, the epicentre of the resistance movement. Beginning in 2023, however, junta forces appeared to shift tactics, launching a more-direct assault on resistance groups. By Morgan MichaelsGraphics by Brody SmithPublished July 2023…

EDITORIAL Degrees of culpability must be carefully weighed to stop justice turning into vindictiveness, while those claiming authority need to come clean about their own past deeds. By FRONTIER More than two years into Myanmar’s post-coup conflict, the question of justice looms large. Certainly, it cannot be expected from the military regime, the main perpetrator…

The Arakan Army (AA) has warned that Myanmar’s regime is risking an armed conflict in Rakhine State by violating a ceasefire agreement. The military and AA engaged in fierce fighting from late 2018 to November 2020. After approximately 18 months of relative calm, the two sides clashed again from August to November last year before…

The European Union (EU) amended its regulations on Thursday to impose new sanctions on one Myanmar entity and six individuals, including junta ministers and the regime’s quartermaster general. The entity, the state-owned No. 2 Mining Enterprise (ME2), was already targeted by the United States (US) earlier this year in a spate of new sanctions marking…

Regime forces have seized control of a Chinland Defence Force (CDF) base near the town of Thantlang in northern Chin State, according to sources from the group. A junta column of around 150 troops overran the temporary base, located on a hill about 3km outside of Thantlang, after receiving air support during a clash that…

Tensions have been rising near the KIA command centre since regime forces began pouring into the area earlier this month At least three clashes have broken out near the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) stronghold of Laiza since Wednesday as Myanmar’s military continues to send troops into the area, according to a spokesperson for the ethnic…

New US sanctions on two state-owned banks have made it harder for the junta to access foreign revenue and import weapons, but experts say additional measures are needed to close loopholes. By FRONTIER In late June, the United States announced a new round of sanctions, which some experts say are the strongest to be imposed…

By The Irrawaddy 14 July 2023 Myanmar’s military regime declared on July 4 that it would issue regulations governing online selling after categorizing it as an essential service, prompting concerns that the cash-strapped junta is seeking new tax revenue. Online vendors have good reason to worry. The regime launched an online lottery last month while…

By Aung Zaw 14 July 2023 Beware! Myanmar’s generals are up to their old tricks. In fact they’ve dusted off an old favorite: playing the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi card. So don’t be fooled. Whenever previous Myanmar military regimes faced international condemnation, Western sanctions or an uprising at home, they would allow the UN…

Regime troops killed seven people and injured several others in three separate incidents in and around the village of Thamayoe in Sagaing Region’s Wetlet Township on Thursday, according to local sources. Phoe Lwin, a 55-year-old fishmonger, was reportedly shot dead when he ran into a junta column just outside of the village, which is located…

By FRONTIER As the costs of waging revolution and providing public services continue to mount, ethnic-based organisations have followed the example of the parallel National Unity Government by launching lotteries to raise funds. The NUG, founded by lawmakers deposed by the 2021 coup, started the Spring Lottery later that year, mostly to support striking civil…

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing repeatedly instructed his regime’s ministries to tighten their belts at a June 30 cabinet meeting on ‘boosting the national economy’, even though he has spent the largest proportion of national budget on military expenditures to retain his grip on power. Min Aung Hlaing urged his ministers to reduce expenditure out…

A new front has opened for the military regime’s stretched forces, as the resistance starts to challenge the navy in the southern waters off Tanintharyi Region. By FRONTIER Three months ago, Myanmar’s post-coup conflict reached the shores of the Andaman Sea. Early on March 9, members of the resistance arrived at Ban Da Ne, a…

The junta’s reliance on “terror-from-the-air” has proven effective on the battlefield but defectors say it has destroyed the prestige of Myanmar’s air force, amid a conflict that has also frayed relations with other branches of the military. By FRONTIER When infantry Captain Zin Yaw was marching through the jungles and mountains of Kachin State’s Tanai…

UN investigators said the frequency and intensity of war crimes in Myanmar have dramatically increased in recent months as the junta escalates aerial bombardments and shelling of civilian targets. The United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said it has significantly increased its investigation and collection of evidence to share with international judicial authorities….

Fourteen members of the resistance were killed in a Myanmar army ambush in northeastern Sagaing Township on Wednesday morning, according to sources close to them. They said a junta commando unit was responsible for the deaths of nine fighters from Sagaing District People’s Defence Force’s (PDF)  Battalion 3 and two from Battalion 1, along with…

Speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday, a United Nations (UN) expert called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to exert more pressure to end the Myanmar coup regime’s violence and human rights abuses.  ASEAN—a bloc of ten countries that includes Indonesia and Myanmar as members—initially treated the February 2021 military coup and violent…

Myanmar’s military regime has offered rewards for resistance fighters who surrender, but while many desertions appear to be staged, a handful of genuine turncoats have caused serious intelligence breaches. By FRONTIER On January 5, resistance fighter Ko Min Min* vanished while patrolling in rural Monywa Township. He resurfaced three and a half months later at…

Those reading disturbing news about the junta’s arrest of nearly 100 people, mostly women, for brandishing flowers to mark the 78th birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi may think this is a new form of crackdown. But a glance at Myanmar’s turbulent political history shows this is far from the first time that generals have…

…The contours of a new multipolar world order are taking shape today, the transition to which opens up new opportunities for joint countering modern threats, Russian Defenсe Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu said after a meeting of defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Sergei Shoigu said that Russia…

Russian proxy forces claimed to have captured central Mariupol on April 7, but Ukrainian forces retain positions in the southwest of the city. ISW cannot independently confirm this proxy claim, but we have not observed confirmed reports of fighting in central Mariupol since April 2.[1] Russian forces will likely complete the capture of Mariupol in the coming…