Residents Flee 20 Rakhine Villages in Surge in Myanmar Fighting After Local Internet Ban
More than 1,100 residents from 20 villages in Myanmar’s war torn northern Rakhine state have fled a surge in fighting between government troops and the rebel Arakan Army, a local administrator and a lawmaker said Monday.
The new wave of …
Thailand Touted for Rare Move to Drop Chinese Plan for Mekong River
YANGON, MYANMAR – Rights groups and researchers have welcomed Thailand’s decision to cancel a Beijing-backed project to dredge and blow open a shallow and rocky stretch of the Mekong River along the Thai-Lao border.
The move is a rare victory …
Myanmar Officials, Ethnic Leaders Monitor China Border for Coronavirus
Intent on preventing an outbreak of the coronavirus in Myanmar, local officials and members of ethnic armed organizations, or EAOs, along the border with China have imposed travel restrictions, increased health checks, called for monitoring of Chinese workers and, in …
Karen Rebel Group Accuses Myanmar Army of Using Drones to Surveil Its Headquarters
An ethnic Karen armed group has accused the Myanmar military of using drones to surveil its headquarters in contested areas of southeastern Myanmar’s Kayin state despite an official complaint, dampening already strained relations between the two forces.
Relations between the …
Rohingya Boat People to be Returned to Homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State
Myanmar authorities have confirmed that more than 130 Rohingya Muslims who were part of a larger group detained in December by the Myanmar Navy in waters off Tanintharyi region while traveling to a third country are residents of Rakhine state, …
Advocacy Group: China Poses Dire Threat to International Human Rights System
GENEVA – Human Rights Watch accuses China of developing a mass surveillance system to monitor and control its population. China figures prominently in the agency’s annual report, which examines the human rights situation in more than 90 countries.
The advocacy …
Expanded US Travel Ban Renews Fierce Debate
The United States will begin enforcing an expanded travel ban on February 21, a move that the Trump administration says is critical to national security. But critics question the rationale behind the amended policy.
Myanmar (Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan …
Myanmar Reimposes Internet Ban in Rakhine And Chin Townships
The Myanmar government on Monday reimposed an internet shutdown in five townships of war-torn Rakhine and Chin states amid ongoing armed conflict between national forces and a rebel army, after partially lifting the block five months ago.
Some critics of …
Some Rohingya Return to Myanmar But Find Little There Left For Them
The few hundred Rohingya refugees who returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh of their own volition say they have not yet been able to go back to their original villages and face hardship in violence-ridden northern Rakhine state nearly three years …