‘Destruction’ of 2020 election records continues in Yangon
Regime staff told DVB that the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 70 “scolded” administration officials in Yangon Region’s Twantay, Dala, Kungyangon, and Kawhmu townships for delaying the burning of paper documents containing 2020 election-related data and information on Tuesday. The regime Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly ordered the destruction of all records relating to the 2020 general elections in Yangon Region on Feb. 4.
“The administrators who fail to destroy all the 2020 election records by the end of February will be prosecuted,” a regime employee told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The source didn’t disclose under which law the action will be taken. Regime administrators and Union Election Commission (UEC) staff destroyed documents in Thanlyin, Kyauktan, Khayan, Thonegwa, and Cocokyun townships Feb. 9-11, the source added.
Regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing told a meeting in Napyidaw on Feb. 9 that the military’s 2025-26 elections were “successful.” The UEC held polls in 263 of Burma’s 330 townships with three rounds of voting held on Dec. 28, Jan. 11, and Jan. 25. The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 739 of 1,025 seats overall in Burma’s bicameral Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, according to the UEC.
Report cites 163 health workers killed since 2021 coup
Insecurity Insight, a data collection and analysis agency concerned with the protection of health workers in Burma linked to the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), reported that 163 have been killed and 906 have been arrested since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. It documented 1,853 incidents of violence against health workers up to December 2025 with 70 percent of all incidents attributed to regime forces since 2021.
“These attacks on health care severely undermined the provision of medical services, forcing facilities to close or scale back operations and endangering patients’ lives,” Insecurity Insight stated in its press release on Feb. 10. It added that aerial attacks, including airstrikes, and restrictions on medical supplies have disrupted public access to medical care, causing long-term damage to Burma’s healthcare system.
Health facilities were reportedly damaged or destroyed 460 times, according to Insecurity Insight with these incidents expected to increase in Yangon Region. Health workers linked to the CDM have also been arrested over social media posts critical of the military. It added that private and non-profit health facilities faced shutdowns, often due to accusations of CDM affiliation or support for armed resistance groups.
Civil servants need recommendation letters to return to jobs
Sources close to the regime in Naypyidaw told DVB that civil servants who refused to work under military rule and joined the CDM after the coup on Feb. 1, 2021, need recommendation letters from five offices in order to return to their former positions. They didn’t specify the conditions required for CDM members who have fled Burma to another country.
A CDM member told DVB on the condition of anonymity that those who want to return to their former jobs were asked for recommendation letters from the government department who originally employed them, the administration office in the ward they originally lived in, and the ward they currently live in, as well as the police station and the township General Administration Department.
The regime’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) offered former civil servants a chance to return to work at offices and ministries in Naypyidaw without any fear of repercussion unless they’ve “committed a crime,” without specifying what constitutes a crime, on Jan. 31. A CDM member told DVB on the condition of anonymity that he believes the regime will prosecute any CDM member coming forward. Read more
News by Region
ARAKAN—Residents in Sittwe Township told DVB that a total of 30 businesspeople, including a Muslim village leader, from five villages have been arrested by regime troops and members of the Military Security Affairs Corps since Feb. 6 for alleged connections to the Arakan Army (AA).
A Sittwe resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the regime accused them of providing financial support to the AA. Orders were given by the regime to shoot anyone attempting to escape during the arrests. At least 30 residents, including fishermen, were arrested in Sittwe last month.
MAGWAY—The People’s Defence Force (PDF) told DVB that a commander in Myaing Township was elected by eight resistance groups as Defence Minister of the Magway Federal Unit (MFU) on Jan. 30. Myaing, located 130 miles (209 km) north of the region’s capital Magway, is partially controlled by the PDF.
A National League for Democracy (NLD) party member and lawmaker in Magway told DVB that the new MFU Defence Minister is Bo Letyar, a former police officer who joined the CDM after the 2021 coup and now commands PDF battalions in Myaing, Pakkoku and Magway townships.
MANDALAY—The managing director at N.T.L. Construction Company – which allegedly developed the Sky Villa condominium in Mandalay – Naing Tun Lin was arrested and charged by police under Section 304-A for criminal negligence in Aungmyaythazan Township on Tuesday. The law carries a 7-10 year prison sentence.
The 11-storey Mandalay condo building collapsed and killed 200 tenants during the March 28 earthquake. The Fire Services Department stated that it rescued 52 survivors and recovered 207 others from the rubble of the Sky Villa during a search-and-rescue operation that ended on Sept. 15. Read more
SHAN—The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) founder and leader Yawd Serk accused world leaders of ignoring the surge in airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force, adding that China was the only country intervening in the conflict that has erupted following the 2021 coup.
“The civilians are suffering and I want the international community not to ignore it,” Yawd Serk told Reuters during an interview at Loi Tai Leng along the Thai border. Over 1,000 civilian locations have been hit by airstrikes over the last 15 months, according to the Myanmar Peace Monitor. Read more
TANINTHARYI—A migrant worker from Burma working aboard a fishing boat named Thepsiriporn 12 is missing after reportedly falling overboard off the coast of Phuket, which is located 515 miles (830 km) south of Thailand’s capital Bangkok and 149 miles (240 km) south of Burma’s border town of Kawthoung, on Monday.
Thai authorities said the Thepsiriporn 12 was assisting in search efforts and that it was inspected and the captain and crew were questioned upon arrival in Phuket on Wednesday. Over two million Burma nationals are registered as migrant workers in Thailand, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 3,880 MMK)
