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The end of the settlement: Yangon squat clearances uproot thousands

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A life’s worth of possessions are stacked in a heap on the ground. The owner of the ragged parcels, U Maw, looks in the other direction, at an imposing pile of timber that once was his home.

Yesterday morning, as soldiers looked on—fingers aching towards their triggers—U Maw had been forced to destroy what he once built on this land by his own labor. Around him, neighboring families had been ordered to deconstruct their homes, piece by piece, by themselves.

“We have no choice but to destroy the things that we built with our own hands. Otherwise the soldiers will destroy everything, and that will make everything useless,” U Maw said, despairingly.

On October 25, the Township General Administration Department of the Southern District of Yangon ordered the removal of businesses and settlements beside the Dagon-Thilawa Road. Three days later, approximately 100 people, including municipal leaders and armed security forces, arrived at the site, ready to perform a total clearance.

The eviction ran from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., soldiers ripping apart the settlement’s famous dry food stores, slowly tearing down every obstacle in their path until they reached Kalawal village on the banks of the Bago River.

The morning of October 28 was an historic tragedy which had been long-delayed for Yangon’s squatters, an understated humanitarian disaster in Burma’s most developed urban area.

Whilst troops were beginning the destruction of Thanlyin’s settlements, a similar scene was already underway on the other side of town. 

To the north, in Hlaingtharyar, security forces had earlier closed the two arterial Bayintnaung Bridges that connect the township to central Yangon, leading to a huge backlog of trucks and cars blocking roads into Hlaing.

“There are between 7,000 and 8,000 squatters along the Yangon-Pathein highway, and half of them are moving this morning as a force of soldiers, police, members of YCDC [Yangon City Development Committee], and plainclothes security forces have arrived,” said a local man supporting the squatters. 

Military trucks entered Hlaingtharyar at around 6.30 a.m. yesterday morning, in tow: two bulldozers and some expectant prison vans.

“On seeing the convoy, some took their belongings; some even took pieces of their home,” the local man said.

“However, most of those moving were the wealthier few whose businesses had been doing alright; the working class residents didn’t leave. When I asked them what they would do, they said that they’d have to settle another empty plot because they’re unable to afford rent, and have nobody to go to for help,” he said.

The settlers from both sides of Yangon were moving following an ultimatum delivered by the military just three days previously. 

Settlements being torn down in Hlaingtharyar, north Yangon, yesterday

Despite the settlements hosting both homes and well-established small businesses for decades, the junta announced on October 25 that it was to demolish all homes. On the day of the announcement, 70 people were taken into temporary custody in Hlaingtharyar after protesting the order.

When troops returned, resistance was muted. 

“​​I believe the police and military had guns, most were threatened with detainment if they didn’t comply… Though it seems they are willing to do worse,” said one foreign social worker who had arranged transport for those fleeing the clearances.

“We had a small team […] taking lists of those who wanted to go to their hometowns and those who wanted to be moved to another location. However the volume is much much larger than we anticipated, originally we were told 100-150 people, then 1000-2000. Now there is a possibility of 20,000 in total, according to a contact.”

She told DVB that, due to the presence of troops, it had been too dangerous to transport those leaving yesterday. Her group will now ferry settlers today and into the weekend, “before the Tatmadaw burns everything”.

Whilst soldiers intimated those in Hlaingtharyar, a similar scene was unfolding in Thanlyin.

“The soldiers ordered us to sign an eviction notice, if not they said they will shoot us,” U Maw said.  

“Nobody dares to go against them as they carry weapons. I just had to watch them tear down the tents with bulldozers,” he added. 

 “They didn’t want anyone to take photos of the eviction, and it is still going on,” added a local Red Cross Society member. 

The Dagon-Thilawa Road settlements, Thanlyin, before the clearance

Like U Maw, a majority of the squatters with no place to go have congregated by the side of the road, watching others depart.

Established by the SLORC in 1998 as a resettlement for 300,000 migratory inhabitants of Yangon’s Downtown area, the settlements on the Yangon-Pathein Road also hosted thousands of people who fled the Ayeyarwady delta region following 2008’s Cyclone Nargis.

Under the NLD government, more than 250,000 squatter households had been issued resident certificates for Yangon Region, and plans were well underway to allow them to eventually get access to low-income housing.

Similarly, over 200 households have been located beside the No.2 Thanlyin Road for almost a decade, many of whom run small businesses; over 50 well-known dry food stores, fuel shops, and tea, coffee, and palm wine sellers lined the road, a source of both shelter and sustenance for local farm laborers from the surrounding fields of Thanlyin. Residents had made an agreement with Hluttaw representatives that they believed allowed them to stay.

Only now, with a dominant and unaccountable military rule over the land—held in the name of the state and military-backed landowners—have clearances become a reality.  

“Now it is all gone. They cut down the foundations of homes and destroyed everything: the place is empty now. Some people who have no place to go, like us, are sitting by the road with their belongings. I don’t know what to do,” said U Hla Htay, one of those now searching for a new beginning.

Pro-military rallies once again bolstered with paid stooges, witnesses say

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Two independent sources confirmed yesterday that a majority of recent pro-military protestors in a number of towns were paid by the military to attend rallies that were held on Monday. 

On October 25, pro-military rallies took place close to military bases in towns including Myitkyina and Putao in Kachin, in Pyin Oo Lwin, Madara, and Meiktila in Mandalay, as well as in Yangon, Naypyidaw, Lashio, Pathein, and Mawlamyine.

The protests come as tensions festering between those for and against Burma’s military institution have spilled out into open warfare, and when the eyes of Southeast Asia have fallen back upon Burma following the start of the ASEAN Summit.

One source, who preferred to remain anonymous to preserve the contingency of his activism work, said that, between 7 and 9 a.m., protests erupted in Aye Mya Tharyar ward and Panmatti village in Myitkyina. He says that the majority of protestors, if not all, were paid anywhere from K5,000 to K10,000 (US$2.8 – 5.6).

“It’s estimated that around 300 participated in the march, but bystanders dared not say anything, because it was held inside the military headquarters,” he said. “They chanted the slogans: ‘We don’t need UN support, who supports OIC,’ ‘We don’t want ASEAN,’ ‘Oppose the NUG and CRPH rioters, ‘oppose PDF, and ‘Myanmar military is our army.’”

In Kachin, the anonymous activist says the junta also played on ethnic tensions to bolster their numbers, noting that protests also consisted of those from Lisu and Shanni groups (some of whose leaders are strongly sympathetic to the military), Ma Ba Tha, the ultra-orthodox Buddhist group, and families of military personnel, who he says were ordered to attend. He added that this is not the first time the military has played on the tensions between the Lisu and Shanni People’s Army and the local Kachin Independence Army. 

“They have a feeling about the KIA, as they got arrested by the KIA and accused the KIA of asking for money,” the anonymous activist said. “By using those feelings, the Tatmadaw formed the Shanni People’s Army and Lisu People’s Army.”

Similar trends were reported in Pathein, where three-day rallies slowly garnered participants from October 25 to 27, peaking at 90 people on the second day, but falling to a mere 40 by October 27. 

Human rights activist U Tun Tun Oo reported that the majority of protestors in Pathein were recruited from the working class and poorer wards, with some offered up to K15,000 to participate. Despite trying to keep a safe distance from the protests himself, the activist says he could verify this through being in constant communication with those with pro-military allies.

“They are protesting, but look insecure. The pro-military protesters in Pathein were clearly either people who were out of money, informants (dalan), or members of the army. There really are not many people who support the military,” he said, echoing the theory that the protests were orchestrated to demonstrate alleged military support.

“In addition, these pro-military protests came across the country after the ASEAN’s meeting, which did not invite the junta leader to attend the summit,” he said, noting the suspicious trend of pro-military rallies appearing at times that the military feels insecure. 

Another anonymous source said that the military had used a similar tactic in other regions, paying up to K10,000 to people—largely those with low education and literacy levels—that soldiers had gathered.

Such bribery is certainly not a new tactic, and is reminiscent of junta-backed protests immediately following the coup, where protestors admitted to participating for between K2,000 and K10,000. After protests in many towns turned lethal, many others said that they had received orders, and in some cases weaponry, to cause violence towards pro-democracy protesters.

Appeal for Action

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OxyFeature

As editor in chief of one of the few remaining independent media organizations, we collect, check and spread the news about Burma. Through various credible contacts inside the military-ruled country, I receive heartbreaking messages about Covid-19 every day, which I think the international community ought to react to as an immediate urgency. One might ask why so alarming as every country around the world is facing the Covid-19 pandemic, but the case in Burma is different.

News of the deaths of close family, of best friends, of relatives, is no longer considered news at all. Loved ones failing in their desperate attempts to find oxygen, similarly, is no longer news. Families spending household savings to purchase faulty concentrators or overpriced and ineffective medicines; no longer news. The hundreds of deceased being cremated daily, the dark smoke of death lingering over Yangon both day and night; not news. The virus has spread across all layers of Burma’s society, indiscriminate and ruthless. Even the last of the frontline medical workers, not yet persecuted by the junta, are falling prey to Covid-19.

Since February’s coup, state hospitals will not admit a patient without “status” or a “connection” to the military nexus: even officers and their families have been denied treatment on arrival. Out of lack of resources or fear of reprisals, private hospitals have chosen to ignore the majority of patients, those lucky enough to find a bed have only been admitted under the proviso they bring their own supply of oxygen. As a result, people of all degrees of wealth, rank, and status have resorted to treating loved ones at home, with whatever medicine and equipment they can obtain, out of pure necessity.

Desperate for a cure, the Burmese people turned to Facebook for ‘magic solutions’. Social media is ablaze with all kinds of witchcraft and quackery, with endless posts containing well-repeated hearsay on topics ranging from techniques to save a life, to methods of increasing bodily oxygen levels, or potions that, once ingested, will certainly, remove the coronavirus. It is in no way strange to read such advice as inhaling the fumes of a hair-dryer to boost oxygen levels or to chew raw onion (three times a day) whilst absorbing the virus nullifying heat into one’s lungs.

We have tried hard to dispel these myths through our work, releasing broadcasts countering popular misconceptions and interviewing medical professionals to improve access to useful and correct knowledge. The examples above may sound preposterous to outsiders, but millions of Burmese, out of hope and desperate, have found refuge in such information.

Importantly, Burma has reached a point of total nihilism with regard to coronavirus facts and figures. The junta lacks the bandwidth, and certainly the motive, to promote data that in any way resembles realities on the ground. We receive anecdotal data from burial grounds, funeral services, and organizations thanklessly working to contain the outbreak. But, similarly, all this provides is rumour and numbers. The hard fact is that every single day, the news of many more dead and infected reaches us through the experiences of our households, our relatives, and our friends. And this news is always the most immediate. The experience of being so perpetually surrounded by death is hard to convey.

The whole world is vocally struggling to curb the spread of Covid-19. But, in the case of Burma, the people have been made voiceless. Our experience tells us that the military regime is either intentionally removing the last lifelines of help available to the Burmese people to quell challenges to their rule, or is woefully lacking in will and capacity to manage a crisis of their proportion. Before the February coup, Yangon had close to 20 well-functioning Covid-19 treatment centers. Now there are four, all essentially being left to fail, turning back almost all those who need life-saving attention. The military, whose targeting of medical professionals is well documented, has cornered itself. Instead of building emergency treatment centers and field hospitals, the regime is investing heavily in crematoriums.

Very soon, they recently announced, Yangon’s funeral pyres will have the capacity to cremate 3,000 corpses a day.

Burma needs immediate humanitarian intervention from the international community more than any time before. Burma desperately needs your attention and help now.

Aye Chan Naing

Chief Editor (DVB)

1st August 2021

Photos – MPA

How Retailers Can Cut Emissions

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When you need your company to have a new website or if you venture on updating your old webpage with a new look and functionality, the choices are versatile. Assuming that you will go the easy way and choose a theme for your WordPress website, the overall number of characteristics that you will need to keep in mind narrows down significantly.

All the WordPress themes that we have here have had a vast team of professional designers sketching, working and executing the ultimate visual look for it. With such a wide range of choices at hand, we strongly advise you to stick to the WordPress Theme that is based on your business’ or a closely related field.

I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done.EMMA DOE, Company CEO

When you need your company to have a new website or if you venture on updating your old webpage with a new look and functionality, the choices are versatile. Assuming that you will go the easy way and choose a theme for your WordPress website, the overall number of characteristics that you will need to keep in mind narrows down significantly. Often searching out the graphical symmetry in chaos, while still maintaining the personality and emotion of the subject. The excitement and anticipation as we waited to see the next piece of unpredictable chaos was electric.

Regime burns drugs worth $300 million on International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

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Regime officials view a display of illegal narcotic drugs to be burned during a ceremony in Taunggyi, Shan State, on International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26. (Credit: CCDAC)

The regime Ministry of Home Affairs held ceremonies nationwide to destroy nearly 1,072 billion MMK ($300 million USD) worth of illegal narcotic drugs to mark the annual International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Thursday.

“Drugs, including over 1,334 kilograms of opium, 1744 kilograms of heroin, 281 million yaba [methamphetamine] tablets, over 597 kilograms of marijuana, over 8,573 kilograms of ketamine, and other substances that were seized over the last year were burned,” the Ministry of Information announced on June 27. 

The regime claimed that more than 972 billion MMK ($218 million USD) worth of drugs and chemical substances were confiscated over the last 12 months from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025 across the country. 

In Taunggyi, the Shan State capital, over 353 billion MMK ($98 million USD) worth of heroin, opium, ketamine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and amphetamine – confiscated from both Shan and Karen states – were destroyed on June 26. 

In Yangon, a total of 424 billion MMK ($118 million USD) worth of 25 drugs and 11 chemical substances – seized from Yangon, Ayeyarwady, Bago, and Tanintharyi regions, as well as Mon, Karen and Arakan states – were also destroyed. 

In Mandalay, over 295 billion MMK ($87 million USD) worth of 26 narcotic drugs and 17 chemical substances – seized from upper and central Myanmar – were destroyed as well. 

Regime officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC), ministers, military officials, as well as representatives from Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) Thailand, attended the drug burning ceremonies. 

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated that Myanmar remains the world’s leading source of opium and heroin, with drug production escalating rapidly since the 2021 military coup. 

“The amount of opium produced in Myanmar remains close to the highest levels we have seen since we first measured it more than 20 years ago,” Masood Karimipour, the regional representative for UNODC, stated in a press release in December. 

“As conflict dynamics in the country remain intense and the global supply chains adjust the ban in Afghanistan, we see significant risk of a further expansion [in Myanmar] over the coming years,” he added.

Myanmar earthquake emergency transitions into early recovery phase [AUDIO]

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On March 28, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed at least 4,520 people and injured over 11,000, according to DVB data. Three months later, and over 6 million people remain in urgent need of assistance, as the existing crises of conflict and displacement worsens.

Watch and subscribe on DVB English News YouTube. Find us on X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads & TikTok, Follow us on YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠wherever you get podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Earthquake emergency transitions into early recovery phase

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Devastation after the earthquake in southern Shan State. (Credit: CJ)

On March 28, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed at least 4,520 people and injured over 11,000, according to DVB data. Three months later, and over 6 million people remain in urgent need of assistance, as the existing crises of conflict and displacement worsens.

Min Aung Hlaing attends 4th Eurasian Economic Union forum in Belarus; visits supplier of military equipment

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Min Aung Hlaing on a tour of BelOMO with Belarus’ Minister of Industry Aleksandr Yefimov and company officials in Minsk, Belarus, on June 26. (Credit: BelTA)

Myanmar regime leader Min Aung Hlaing attended the 4th Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) forum in Minsk, Belarus, on Friday. He said that his regime in Naypyidaw would enhance cooperation with EAEU members, which include Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. 

“In today’s world, political and economic pressures and sanctions imposed by major powers on smaller nations are violating the fundamental principles of world nations,” said Min Aung Hlaing.

The regime leader met with Europe-Asia Economic Commission (EEC) Board Chairperson Bakytzhan Sagintayev at the Minsk International Exhibition Center and visited Belmedpreparaty, a pharmaceutical company in Minsk.

Belarusian state media, the BelTA news agency, reported that Min Aung Hlaing also visited the Belarusian Optical and Mechanical Association (BelOMO) with Belarusian Industry Minister Aleksandr Yefimov and company officials on June 26. 

BelOMO, established in 1971 and headquartered in Minsk, is a state-owned enterprise that produces optical, optoelectronic, and mechanical devices for both civilian and military use. 

This includes technologies such as cameras, lasers, sensors, fiber optic cables, and telescopes which can be mounted on sniper rifles, artillery and armored vehicles.

BelTA reported that Min Aung Hlaing and Minister Yefimov discussed expanding cooperation between Myanmar and Belarus in the field of optical engineering technology, which could help modernize Myanmar’s economy and promote exports.

The U.S., the E.U., the U.K., and Canada imposed sanctions on BelOMO, its subsidiaries and key executives between 2022 and 2024, citing the company’s role in supplying military-related materials to Russia during its war against Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Min Aung Hlaing previously visited Belarus in March, when he announced that his regime was planning to begin elections in Myanmar by December.

Myanmar and the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ principle; Seven killed by airstrikes on mines in Karenni State

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Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Burma’s Permanent Representative to the UN, addressed a general assembly plenary meeting in New York on June 25. (Credit: Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations)

Myanmar and the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ principle 

Burma’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Kyaw Moe Tun addressed a general assembly plenary meeting on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Wednesday. He claimed that the number killed by the military since the 2021 coup has surpassed 6,800.

“I have reminded time and again the international community to uphold this noble commitment on R2P and transform it into meaningful action. Now, another year marking the unlawful military coup, there has been a disheartening absence of any meaningful progress. People and the country have been enduring the egregious atrocities perpetrated by the ruthless military,” he told delegates.

The R2P principle, adopted by the U.N. in 2005, states that the international community has a “responsibility to intervene when a state fails to protect its population from mass atrocities.” The National Unity Government (NUG) has documented 608 civilians killed and 1,308 injured in 982 regime attacks since the earthquake on March 28 up to June 16, the same number of casualties collected by DVB data.

Seven killed by airstrikes on mines in Karenni State

At least seven civilians were killed and over 20 others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on mining sites in Mawchi town of Hpasawng Township on Wednesday. Hpasawng is located 73 miles (117 km) south of the Karenni State capital Loikaw. Both are under regime control along with Bawlakhe Township.

The Tun Myanmar Donation group, which assists people living at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, accused the regime of targeting civilians. Mawchi is located 19 miles (30 km) west of Hpasawng town, where resistance forces reportedly launched an offensive on the two remaining regime Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 134 and 135 on June 25.

Sources told DVB that at least 16 civilians have been killed and over 50 have been injured in six airstrikes on Mawchi since March. During his opening speech at the regime “peace talks” with ethnic armed groups in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, Min Aung Hlaing urged resistance groups to stop fighting and join negotiations. Read more

Twenty regime troops killed in Bago Region

The NUG announced on Wednesday that the People’s Defence Force (PDF) killed at least 20 regime troops during a simultaneous offensive on nine regime outposts along the 17-mile (27 km) stretch of the old Yangon-Mandalay highway between Nyaunglebin and Kyauktaga towns in Bago Region on Wednesday. 

The NUG added that one PDF member has been killed so far during the offensive. The two towns are located 50-77 miles (80-124 km) north of the region’s capital Bago. A PDF spokesperson told DVB that 13 regime troops killed in the clash had been stationed at an outpost in Tawwi village, located between the two towns. 

The PDF said the outpost originally had 50 regime troops stationed inside, but some had abandoned it. Three prisoners were captured, along with 16 weapons of varying calibers and ammunition. The NUG stated that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) joined the offensive, but did not provide further details.

News by Region

Residents of Mogok Township, Mandalay Region, inspect the damage to homes caused by an airstrike on June 25. (Credit: TNLA)

MANDALAY—Residents of Mogok told DVB that three civilians, including a child, were injured by an airstrike on Wednesday. Mogok is located 124 miles (200 km) northeast of Mandalay. It was seized by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in July.

“The airstrike struck a house near the monastery in Ohnkaing Ward. We only heard the aircraft after the bomb exploded,” a Mogok resident told DVB. The TNLA reported that at least six buildings, including a monastery, were either damaged or destroyed. 

SHAN—The TNLA released a statement on Wednesday claiming that regime forces have dropped a total of 237 bombs, including 60 from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, and have fired 175 artillery shells in Nawnghkio Township on June 23-24. 

The statement added that regime forces have taken advantage of the temporary ceasefire to attack TNLA forces. No casualties were reported in the attacks. Nawnghkio is located 96 miles (154 km) south of the region’s capital Lashio. It came under TNLA control on July 10.

A resident of Nansang Township in southern Shan told Shwe Phee Myay News Agency that a father and his two-year-old child died in a landslide caused by persistent heavy rains on Thursday. Nansang is located 72 miles (115  km) east of the state capital Taunggyi.

“The houses are built right on the slopes [of a hill]. Since it’s just a bamboo house, it was more vulnerable,” a Nansang resident told Shwe Phee Myay. Heavy rainfall since the last week of May has caused landslides in some areas of Nansang. 

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,590 MMK)

Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun speaks about how the Responsibility to Protect could stop atrocities from being committed by the military in Burma on June 25. (Credit: Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations)

‘We gather, We heal’ for Myanmar earthquake relief

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The Myanmar Centre at Chiang Mai University (CMU), in collaboration with the Myanmar community in Chiang Mai, Thailand held an earthquake fundraising event at Tha Phae Gate on June 22. (Credit: DVB)

An event to raise funds for earthquake relief in Myanmar was held at Tha Phae Gate in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on June 22. The Myanmar Centre at Chiang Mai University (CMU), in collaboration with the Myanmar community in Chiang Mai, organized the event. Read more and check out our photos.

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