Myanmar Junta Cronies Donate Billions for Min Aung Hlaing’s Marble Colossus

June 30, 2023

Myanmar cronies flocked to Naypyitaw on Thursday as junta boss Min Aung Hlaing invited donations for a colossal statue touted as the world’s tallest marble sitting-Buddha image, The Irrawaddy reports. According to a junta statement, a total of 101 donors contributed 16.177 billion kyats (US$ 7.6 million). The guest list for the event was dominated […]Continue Reading

Myanmar human rights situation ‘alarming’, says UN

June 30, 2023

Myanmar’s humanitarian and human rights situation has plunged to “alarming levels”, the United Nations said Friday, as it blasted the ruling junta for actively preventing life-saving aid from getting through, AFP reports. The southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military ousted democratically-elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from Continue Reading

UN shines light on humanitarian crisis in Myanmar

June 30, 2023

The United Nations has said Myanmar’s human rights and humanitarian crisis is massive. An estimated 1.5 million people have been internally displaced, and approximately 60,000 civilian structures have reportedly been burnt or destroyed. Over 17.6 million people, or one-third of the overall population, require some form of humanitarian assistance. “Between February Continue Reading

School Life in the Crosshairs of Myanmar Junta’s Warplanes and Gunships

June 27, 2023

Thwe The is a 16-year-old girl studying in grade 10 at a school run by the parallel civilian government in the resistance stronghold of Sagaing Region, where villages have suffered repeated attacks by junta warplanes and ground troops since the 2021 coup, The Irrawaddy reports. Every day, students in Sagaing risk their lives in pursuit […]Continue Reading

Dozens of Myanmar Regime Troops Surrender to Resistance in Kayah

June 27, 2023

Several dozen Myanmar regime troops, including battalion commanders, have surrendered to the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and anti-regime resistance groups in southeastern Kayah State near the Thai border in the largest such surrender since the popular war against the junta broke out in 2021, The Irrawaddy reports. A battalion commander, his deputy and troops Continue Reading

Medical Association Issues Urgent Global Appeal to Deliver Healthcare to Myanmar 

June 27, 2023

The Burma Medical Association (BMA) has called on governments and international organizations to urgently provide cross-border assistance, humanitarian aid and healthcare to people in need in Myanmar, The Irrawaddy reports. In a statement, it called on the international community to ensure “safe and secure provision of healthcare” for people in Myanmar through the Continue Reading

Myanmar Junta Drives Largest Micro Lender Out of Business

June 27, 2023

Myanmar’s largest micro lender, Pact Global Microfinance Fund (PGMF), began closing its operations in the country late Monday and will cease them altogether on Friday, saying demands by the junta had made it impossible to continue its efforts to serve low-income households, including those with no access to the formal banking system, The Irrawaddy reports. […]Continue Reading

Myanmar authorities burn $446m in illegal drugs

June 27, 2023

Myanmar authorities torched almost half a billion dollars of illegal drugs but warned they are failing to stop a surge in the production and trafficking of narcotics, Al Jazeera reports. Head-high piles of heroin, cannabis, methamphetamines, and opium were burned on Monday in the commercial hub Yangon in an annual spectacle to mark International Day […]Continue Reading

Mercenary chief Prigozhin starts exile in Belarus, Putin praises Russian troops

June 27, 2023

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday under a deal that ended a brief mutiny by his fighters, as President Vladimir Putin praised his armed forces for averting a civil war. A plane linked to Prigozhin and believed to be carrying him into exile was shown on a flight tracking service taking […]Continue Reading

Rohingya IDP Camp Relocated by Myanmar Junta to a ‘Sea of Mud’

June 23, 2023

Internally displaced Rohingya people who were forcefully relocated from a camp near Kyauk Talone Pagoda in Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu town in western Myanmar are facing food shortages and illness at a new camp one camp resident describes as a “sea of mud”, The Irrawaddy reports. The new camp, about 400 meters from the previous one, […]Continue Reading