Myanmar’s UN Ambassador honours ‘fallen heroes’ since 2021
Burma’s Permanent Representative to the U.N., Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, made an emotional and solemn appeal to U.N. member states to help end the crisis in Burma since the 2021 military coup during an address to the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly Third Committee Interactive Dialogue on Tuesday.
“I hold in my hand a scarf, a product of our revolutionary community Theatre 21. It is not just any fashion accessory… A closer look at this scarf reveals the names and ages of the fallen. The youngest was two months old. The oldest was 105-years-old,” Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun told the U.N. committee on Oct. 27.
Theatre 21 is a fundraising initiative launched by prominent singer Lynn Lynn with the release of his sixth album of the same name on Oct. 2, 2025. It raises funds for humanitarian causes through merchandise sales, including scarves imprinted with an unknown number of people’s names, who have been killed since 2021.
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Rohingya facing forced recruitment in Rakhine State battle
The military and the Arakan Army (AA) have been forcibly conscripting and recruiting Rohingya and other Muslim youth in Arakan State to fight in the capital Sittwe, residents and diaspora communities told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The military ordered the arrest of men in Rohingya communities in-and-around Sittwe if they failed to provide new recruits.
This order falls outside of the regime’s conscription law, which was enforced in 2024 on all males in Burma aged 18-35. The law also stipulates that females aged 18 to 27 must serve in the military for at least two years, but the regime denies forcibly recruiting women. Anyone refusing military conscription faces a prison sentence up to five years under the law.
Fighting has intensified between the military and the AA in Sittwe’s Amyintkyun, Yechanpyin and Warbo villages, as well as around the regime’s Shwemingan Naval Base, since the latest regime counteroffensive began on Sept. 4. The military in Burma refuses to recognize the Rohingya by their ethnic identity and has deprived them of citizenship for decades.
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IIMM warns war crimes escalating as military attacks intensify
The human rights situation in Burma has deteriorated significantly as the military sharply escalates its reliance on aerial strikes, torture, and sexual violence, the head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) told the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly’s Third Committee Interactive Dialogue on Tuesday.
“Since I last appeared before you, the situation in Myanmar has further deteriorated with a growing number of its people falling victim to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” stated Nicholas Koumjian, the IIMM lead investigator, on Oct. 27. “We have intensified our investigations into indiscriminate or targeted attacks.”
Detailing a recent fact-finding mission to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—where over 1.2 million Rohingya now shelter in the world’s largest refugee camp, including more than 155,000 who arrived since early 2024—Koumjian described the immense civilian trauma caused by renewed conflict in Arakan.
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News by Region
KARENNI/SOUTHERN SHAN—The Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC) accused regime forces of deliberately targeting civilians at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, where farmers have been harvesting their crops this season, through the use of indiscriminate aerial and artillery attacks since September.
A Demoso resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that drone attacks have become more frequent this year, which is making the harvest season more difficult for farmers living in the IDP camps. At least 25 civilians have been killed in aerial attacks from July to September. Read the full article on our website
MANDALAY—The land and property rights for the collapsed Sky Villa Condominium site in Mandalay’s Aungmyaythazan Township—where more than 200 bodies were recovered following the catastrophic March 28, 2025 earthquake—are scheduled to be auctioned off starting in November.
Regime authorities announced that surviving unit owners or their legal representatives have a seven-day window to file formal objections and substantiate their ownership deeds, after which sales transactions will proceed under existing property and auction laws. Read the full article on our website
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