Myanmar regime ramps up ASEAN engagement as chair handover looms

August 22, 2023

The junta’s new home affairs minister Lieutenant-General Yar Pyae is attending the 17th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN, The Irrawaddy reports. This is Yar Pyae’s second ASEAN visit after being appointed home affairs minister when Min Aung Hlaing’s regime was reshuffled following the extension of Continue Reading

Myanmar’s junta arrests Swiss filmmaker, 13 cast members for defaming Buddhism

August 22, 2023

NEWS DESK Myanmar junta officials arrested a Swiss filmmaker and 13 cast members, accusing them of defaming Buddhism in informational videos posted on YouTube, according to a statement published by junta-controlled state media, RFA Burmese reports. The Swiss Embassy in Yangon told Radio Free Asia on Monday that it has asked Myanmar authorities to clarify […]Continue Reading

Myanmar junta declares support for Niger military coup

August 22, 2023

NEWS DESK Myanmar’s military junta has publicly declared support for the military coup in Niger, and even compared the two countries’ coups, The Irrawaddy reports. August 6 issues of junta newspapers carried a propaganda article arguing that the Niger and Myanmar armed forces had staged coups not because of their thirst for power, but to […]Continue Reading

Saudi Arabia, Iran relations ‘on the right track’, Iranian minister says after Riyadh talks

August 18, 2023

Saudi Arabia and Iran are making progress on mending ties, Iran’s foreign minister said after meeting with his counterpart in Riyadh on Thursday, as two regional heavyweights seek to overcome past hostility and boost cooperation, Reuters reports. “Relations between Tehran and Saudi are on the right track and we are witnessing progress,” Hossein Continue Reading

Myanmar shadow government official apologises to Rohingya

August 18, 2023

NEWS DESK In an interview with VOA, the humanitarian minister in Myanmar’s anti-junta shadow government has apologized for failing “to bring justice to the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State,” where Myanmar’s military launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017, VOA News reports. Dr. Win Myat Aye served as social welfare minister in the administration of […]Continue Reading

ARSA terrorist held with weapons at Rohingya Camp

August 16, 2023

In an operation conducted by the Armed Police Battalion (APBN), a suspected member of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an armed group from Myanmar, was arrested. The apprehension took place at the Balukhali Rohingya camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, and resulted in the seizure of a shotgun, a single round of ammunition, and a […]Continue Reading

Bangladesh rejects US congressmen’s suggestion to assimilate Rohingyas: Momen

August 16, 2023

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh has declined the proposal put forth by US congressmen Ed Case and Richard McCormick to assimilate the Rohingya population by providing them with skills and education. “We said no [to them]. We said Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries. We do not need citizens from […]Continue Reading

Myanmar arrests nearly 150 fleeing Rohingya

August 15, 2023

Myanmar authorities have arrested nearly 150 Rohingya suspected of trying to flee the country, an official told AFP yesterday. The mainly Muslim Rohingya are seen in Myanmar as interlopers from Bangladesh. They are denied citizenship and require permission to travel. The military launched a crackdown on Rohingya in 2017, and thousands now risk their lives […]Continue Reading

US congressional delegation visits Rohingya refugee camps

August 15, 2023

NEWS DESK Representatives of the US congress Ed Case and Richard McCormick. Photo: Collected A delegation from the United States Congress has visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. They arrived at the Cox’s Bazar airport on Monday morning and went directly to the Rohingya camp from there. The congressmen were Ed Case, a […]Continue Reading

Some 48,000 people in Myanmar flee homes amid deadly flooding, landslides

August 12, 2023

Floods and landslides caused by monsoon rain have killed five and forced around 48,000 people to flee their homes, Myanmar’s relief ministry said, AFP reports. On Saturday in Bago city, northeast of Yangon, children floated on rubber tyres squealing with joy, while adults paddled wooden canoes with supplies through the murky brown and yellow water […]Continue Reading