Civil Disobedience Movement members dismiss ‘offer’ to return
Former civil servants in Burma, who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the military coup on Feb. 1 2021, told DVB that they will not accept the regime’s National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) offer on Jan. 31 to return to work at offices and ministries in the capital Naypyidaw without any fear of repercussion unless they’ve “committed a crime.”
The National Unity Government (NUG) stated in September 2021 that 295,802 civil servants refused to work under military rule and joined the CDM. “I don’t have confidence [in the regime],” a CDM member told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that he suspects the regime will prosecute any CDM member coming forward. A former civil servant told DVB that the regime’s offer is “evidence that it’s on the losing side.”
At least 66 civil servants who joined the CDM have been killed and 354 have been arrested since the 2021 coup, according to the human rights monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). The NUG CDM Success Committee stated that over 110,000 civil servants remain active in the CDM as of June 2025.
China executes more members of Myanmar ‘crime’ family
China executed four members of a family found guilty of causing the deaths of six Chinese citizens and running online cyber scam and gambling operations out of Laukkai, located in Burma’s Kokang Self Administered Zone (SAZ), worth more than 29 billion yuan ($4.2 billion USD), Chinese authorities said on Monday.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in southern China announced the executions in a statement on Monday, though it was not clear when this action had been carried out. Eleven Myanmar citizens, including members of the Ming family from the Kokang SAZ, were executed last week in China after being convicted of running scam centers worth more than $1 billion USD.
The Shenzhen court had sentenced five people, including members of the notorious Bai family, accused of running a network of scam centers and casinos, to death in November. One of the defendants, group leader Bai Suocheng, died of illness after his conviction, the court said. The group had established industrial parks in Laukkai, according to Chinese authorities. Read more
Karenni Interim Executive Council requests aid from Canada
The Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC), a provisional government established by resistance groups in 2023, held a meeting with Burma nationals living in Canada at a screening of the film “Roots of Revolution: Building Bottom-up Democracy in Eastern Burma” in Toronto on Saturday.
The IEC claims to administer 80 per cent of Karenni State, which historically includes parts of southern Shan State. Zue Padonmar, the IEC secretary 1, told attendees that over 250,000 residents living in areas under IEC administration have been displaced from their homes due to the conflict since the uprising to the 2021 military coup began.
These 250,000 people are now living in temporary shelters at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Karenni and southern Shan states, and are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, including food, healthcare, as well as educational services for youth who have been out of school since 2021. Read more
News by Region
MON—The 79th Mon National Day was commemorated with ceremonies on Monday in the state capital Mawlamyine and Paung Town, as well as in the Karen State capital Hpa-An, regime media reported. Anniversary events were also held by Mon people living in Mae Sot, Thailand, and Tokyo, Japan.
The commemoration included a Mon national flag-raising ceremony, speeches on the history of Mon National Day, and traditional songs, dances, and food. Mon National Day was first celebrated in 1947 to commemorate the ancient founding of the last Mon Kingdom of Hanthawaddy.
SAGAING—One civilian and five People’s Defense Force (PDF) members have been killed during fighting with regime forces in Tigyaing Township since Jan. 27. Tigyaing, located 187 miles (300 km) southwest of the region’s capital Monywa, is partially under National Unity Government (NUG) administration.
Zin Yaw, a CDM member who defected from the military, told DVB that the PDF was trying to cut off regime reinforcements from arriving in Tigyaing via the Irrawaddy River. A telecommunications blackout in the area means internet services have been disrupted and very little information is available.
TANINTHARYI—Dawei Watch reported that 60 migrants from Burma were deported from Thailand to Kawthaung Township on Monday after completing sentences for immigration-related offenses. In January, there were two repatriations in which 168 migrants were deported from Thailand to Burma.
On Dec. 7, an estimated 60 men among 104 migrants deported from Thailand were conscripted into the military after arriving in Kawthaung. A total of 2,072 Burma nationals were deported from Thailand, via Kawthaung, in 16 separate repatriations in 2025, and 2,005 were deported in 2024.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 3,945 MMK)
Read our latest op-ed: Burma’s Peacock Film Festival in Prague marks five years since coup. Find DVB English News on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok & YouTube.
