Bangkok to hold talks with Naypyidaw over pollution
Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Huangsap announced on Tuesday that Thailand will hold a bilateral meeting with regime officials in Kengtung, Shan State, June 17-20 to address concerns over toxic contamination of the Kok and Sai rivers, which flow from eastern Shan into northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces.
Burma’s embassy in the Thai capital Bangkok has been officially invited to participate in the meeting, which follows the detection of toxic substances in the two rivers by Thai officials and environmental experts. The contamination is caused by wastewater discharged by Chinese-operated mining sites in eastern Shan, according to environmentalists.
On May 15, the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) released a report highlighting the rapid expansion of rare earth mining activities in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in Mong Hsat Township. The UWSA has not responded to these allegations and it is unclear whether its officials will attend the meeting next month.
Union leaders in Yangon face ‘dismissal’ over wage demands
Labour activists told DVB that an unknown number of union leaders in Yangon Region have been threatened with dismissal for demanding a salary increase. Workers from at least five Yangon factories have demanded an increase in wages following an agreement from the Myanmar Xiang He shoe factory to raise its daily wage to 12,000 MMK ($2.60 USD) on May 20 — after a week-long strike by its 6,000 workers.
“A [regime] administrator took photos of our union leader at the military’s request. I believe it was an indirect form of pressure meant to instill fear,” an employee at the True Green plastic resin factory in Shwepyitha Township told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Four union leaders at the True Green factory were initially fired but later reinstated following pressure from workers, the employee added.
Sources told DVB that the regime began paying an additional 2,000 MMK ($0.40 USD) as an allowance on top of the daily wage last year. But it is not officially included in workers’ wages and they do not receive it during holidays. The ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government set the daily minimum wage to 4,800 MMK ($1 USD) in May 2018. It has not changed since then.
ASEAN summit to hold two meetings on Myanmar crisis
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn told Reuters that the regional bloc will hold two meetings to address the crisis in Burma as a way to advance its faltering Five Point Consensus peace plan during the 46th summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 25-27.
“It will be presumptuous for any party to expect a quick fix to this issue. For us, we stay engaged…But it may take time. You see, the thing is that we all are too impatient. And as long as we bring down, you know, large-scale fighting to a smaller one, as long as we can bring people to the table, that’s progress,” Kao Kim Hourn told Reuters.
The Five Point Consensus calls for an immediate halt to violence, dialogue, and the release of political prisoners – such as jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint – held since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing agreed to the ASEAN peace plan in April 2021 but did not implement it upon his return to Burma. Read more.
News by Region
ARAKAN/CHINLAND—A merchant from Burma in India told DVB that cross-border trade has unofficially resumed into Arakan, via Paletwa Township in southern Chinland, five days after Mizoram State halted it. The regime has blocked all trade routes into Arakan since last year due to its counteroffensive against the Arakan Army (AA).
“We received permission to bring back goods into [Burma from India],” he told DVB, adding that representatives from Mizoram’s Lawngtlai District Land Revenue and Settlement Department reached an “understanding” without disclosing any further details.
KAREN—Frontline sources told DVB that over 200 residents of Hlaingbwe Township fled across the border into Thailand after the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) captured the regime Maw Phoe Kay outpost on May 19. The outpost is located 182 meters from the Thaungyin (Moei) River on the Burma-Thailand border.
The Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) told DVB that the refugees fled fighting between KNLA and regime forces in Hlaingbwe. Thai media reported that humanitarian assistance is being provided to the refugees in Tak Province by the Thai Army. Hlaingbwe is located 23 miles (37 km) northeast of the state capital Hpa-An.
SAGAING—Fighting between the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and regime forces was reported in Hmwarpi village of Kalay Township on Wednesday. Residents told DVB that a counteroffensive launched by the regime Regional Operations Command headquarters has displaced over 1,000 people from their homes since May 18.
“They’re marching towards [Chinland],” Salai Thang Chawn Phe from the Chin Brotherhood told DVB. Kalay is located 144 miles (231 km) northwest of the region’s capital Monywa, and 76 miles (122 km) northeast of Falam Township in northern Chinland, which came under resistance control on April 8.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,430 MMK)
