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

Rebel Russian mercenaries barrel towards Moscow

June 24, 2023

Mutinous Russian mercenary fighters headed towards Moscow on Saturday after seizing a southern city overnight, with Russia’s military firing on them from the air but seemingly incapable of slowing their lightning advance, Reuters reports. Facing the first serious challenge to his grip on power of his 23-year rule, President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an […]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

US places sanctions on Myanmar’s defence ministry, banks

June 22, 2023

The United States said on Wednesday it is imposing sanctions on Myanmar’s Defense Ministry and two “regime-controlled” banks that enable transactions between the military regime and foreign markets to buy arms and other materials, AFP reports. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a February 2021 coup ousting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. According to Continue Reading

Thailand to Broker Talks for ASEAN to Reengage with Myanmar Junta Leaders

June 16, 2023

Thailand will hold an informal ministerial meeting with some regional countries next week to prepare the way for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to “fully re-engage Myanmar at the leaders’ level,” according to the meeting invitation letter from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Irrawaddy reports. The letter, viewed by The Irrawaddy, […]Continue Reading

UN says Myanmar junta halts humanitarian access to cyclone survivors

June 10, 2023

Myanmar’s junta has suspended travel authorisations for aid workers trying to reach hundreds of thousands of people in the cyclone-ravaged Rakhine state, the UN’s humanitarian affairs office said Friday, AFP reports. Cyclone Mocha brought lashing rain and winds of 195 kilometres per hour (120 miles per hour) to Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh last month, Continue Reading