Conflict Kachin Lead Story News
The Kachin State government intends to begin the process of rescuing hundreds of civilians trapped in Injangyang Township by broader regional conflict, with the Burmese military blockading the road linking it to adjacent Myitkyina Township to the west.
The closure of the Islamic schools and subsequent imprisonment of Muslims involved in their operation has been described as “clear religious discrimination, and blatant violation of freedom of religion” by one human rights advocate.
Lead Story Natural Disasters News
One decade after an earthquake killed almost 70,000 people, China’s investment in disaster preparedness means a similar tragedy is unlikely, said experts who urged other Asian nations to follow suit.
Over 90 refugees from Burma on Monday returned home from Thailand as part of an official repatriation agreement between the Thai and Burmese governments.
Many refugees across Southeast Asia have no access to citizenship and few rights in the country where they live.
On International Women’s Day, DVB looks at some of the young leaders challenging gender stereotypes and leading Burma’s feminism movement, from lawmakers calling for more protection against gender-based violence. . .
Should tourists still visit Mrauk U? After the deadly protests last month, DVB takes a look at how the community is reacting and how tourism is being affected.
Parents condemn what they call institutionalised discrimination in Thandwe Township, Rakhine State, where Muslim students were distinguished from their non-Muslim peers and labelled “Bengali” on a document laying out seating arrangements for upcoming matriculation examinations.
Anger is growing after dozens of university enrollees were expelled in recent days for demanding an increase to Burma’s national education budget, reviving a proud but often fraught tradition of student protest that has in the past both unseated dictators and killed thousands of young dissidents.
International Relations Lead Story News Refugees Rohingya
Bangladesh has delayed the repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees to Burma, set to start on Tuesday, because the process of compiling and verifying the list of people to be sent back is incomplete, a senior Bangladeshi official said.
Lead Story News Refugees Rohingya
Tensions mount at refugee camps in Bangladesh holding hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims over an operation to send them back to Burma, from where they have fled following a military crackdown.
The petition is the latest indication of the challenges ahead for Bangladesh and Burma as they try to engineer the return of up to 655,500 refugees.
Arakan International Relations Lead Story News Rohingya
Burmese security forces may be guilty of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, the United Nations’ top human rights official said on Tuesday, adding that more were fleeing despite an agreement between Burma and Bangladesh to send them home.
Arakan Health Lead Story News Rohingya
In a speech last week, Aung San Suu Kyi said all people in Arakan State “have access to education and healthcare services without discrimination.” For critics, however, that’s simply not true — a contention supported by a report that Suu Kyi’s own government has embraced.
“At the age of 10, I got my tattoos,” says Ma Lha Sen.
Some seven million people in Burma regularly chew betel quid and tobacco – a habit that causes more than 60,000 deaths in the country every year.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Two blasts rocked an area in Burma near the Bangladeshi border on Monday, accompanied by the sound of gunfire and thick black smoke, as violence that has sent nearly 90,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh showed no sign of easing.
Although the Rangoon regional government appears to have issued a directive last week to restrict communal worship in homes and other unauthorised venues, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture has said it will have no hand in enforcing the new rules.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Food supplies have been cut off by the latest round of violence in northern Arakan State, according to a major UN provider of humanitarian assistance.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
About 1,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing escalating violence in Burma had been halted at the border with Bangladesh, Bangladeshi security officials said on Saturday, as fresh fighting erupted in Burma’s northwestern Arakan State.
Lead Story Mandalay Division News
Flooding has driven thousands of people from their homes in Mandalay Division as seasonal monsoon rains wreak havoc on the region.
Conflict Lead Story News Shan Ta'ang
Clashes between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Tatmadaw erupted in Khay Khin and Man Wel villages, part of Namhsan Township, Shan State, on Tuesday morning, sending more than 100 locals fleeing to neighbouring Namtu Township.
Local authorities have asked Muslim community leaders to shutter a mosque and madrasa that they say were opened without the proper permitting in Kyun Pone Lay village, Taikkyi, a township on the outskirts of Rangoon that was the site of deadly inter-religious violence in 2013.
Students will be afforded the chance to use the tablets during class lessons, while teachers will have access to them at all times.
Education Kachin Lead Story News
“The state counsellor told me that every child has a right to education,” said KBC’s Reverend Samson Hkalam.
“Floodwaters have swept away 23 houses and affected more than 10,000 people,” said Dr. Zaw Win, the regional minister of social affairs for Sagaing Division.
“A day before, the flooding has been about a metre to two metres in the streets,” said a local resident.
Two madrassas forced closed by Buddhist nationalists in late April remain shuttered, with human rights monitors say the incident shows how Burma’s 14-month-old administration is struggling to tackle discrimination against Muslims
Lead Story News Rangoon Religion
Phyo Min Thein pledges to crack down on instigators of religious conflict, vowing that his government will take action against those stoking tensions following recent altercations involving Buddhists and Muslims in Rangoon.
Party official Win Htein acknowledges that despite efforts to select the best individuals to stand as candidates in the 2015 election, some have turned out to be “seeds that didn’t sprout” since taking their seats in Parliament.
