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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.

Schools in Karenni and Rakhine states face funding challenges impacting children’s access to education

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A classroom at an undisclosed location in an area under the control of resistance forces in Karenni State. (Credit: CJ)

Aid groups in Karenni State told DVB that nearly 600 community-run schools serving over 60,000 students — from kindergarten to high school — are in urgent need of funds to purchase textbooks.

“Some classrooms have only two sets of textbooks for the entire class. Students can share these textbooks when attending school, but schools cannot remain open all week due to fears of regime airstrikes,” Zay Yar Tun, a member of the Clean Yangon charity group now based in Karenni State, told DVB. 

He added that up to five students are using one textbook at most schools. A curriculum set mandated by the regime Ministry of Education for kindergarten costs around 9,000 MMK ($2 USD), while a set for high school level can exceed 30,000 MMK ($6 USD).

DVB data records that at least 333 schools nationwide have been destroyed in regime attacks since the military coup on February 1, 2021, up to May. 

Airstrikes on May 12 killed at least 22 children under age 18, and two teachers at a school run by the National Unity Government (NUG) in Depayin Township, Sagaing Region, which is located 40 miles (64 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.

The NUG ordered all schools in areas it administers to temporarily close on May 25 until further notice as a precaution against airstrikes. It has documented that 3,043 civilians have been killed — 441 of them under the age of 18 — and 240 schools have been destroyed by 2,679 airstrikes from Jan. 1, 2023 up to May 12.

Teachers at schools operating in resistance-controlled areas of Karenni State told DVB they have to write out each lesson on the whiteboard due to a lack of funds to purchase new textbooks. 

Many families have reportedly had to withdraw older children from school, as they can no longer afford the costs.

Aid groups report that ongoing fighting between regime and resistance forces since 2021 has displaced over 300,000 people in Karenni and neighbouring Shan State with roughly half this number under the age of 18. 

Karenni resistance forces claim full control over six towns, including Mese on the Myanmar-Thailand border. The state capital Loikaw, Bawlakhe and Hpasawng remain under regime control. 

The Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center told DVB that it needs funds to purchase education equipment, to pay teacher’s salaries, and to build 15 new schools to serve over 3,000 displaced children across Arakan State’s Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Pauktaw, Ann and Kyauktaw townships — all of which are under Arakan Army (AA) control — this school year. 

The center aimed to open 18 schools by July 3 but only acquired enough funding to open three. 

“Each school will employ 20 teachers, and we aim to provide each of them with a monthly stipend of 150,000 MMK [$33 USD],” the Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center spokesperson told DVB. 

Schools follow a 12 grade education curriculum developed by the Arakan National Education Department under the AA, and most displaced children have been out of school for at least two years.

The Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center told DVB that it plans to teach students at their homes until the schools are opened. It reportedly aims to operate schools at temporary shelters at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, since children are unable to travel outside the camps to attend school.

The AA has gained control of 14 out of 17 Arakan townships, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chinland, since it launched its most recent offensive on Nov. 13, 2023. The capital Sittwe, the port town of Kyaukphyu, and the island of Manaung remain under regime control.

Contact Clean Yangon @cleanyangon on Facebook and the Tankhoe Saya Tun free education center @PYAPN on Telegram if you would like to make a donation.

Myanmar opposes full Timor-Leste ASEAN membership; Regional lawmakers call to free political prisoners

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Zin Mar Aung, the National Unity Government Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta in Dili on June 19, 2024. (Credit: Tatoli)

Myanmar opposes full Timor-Leste ASEAN membership

The regime in Naypyidaw has informed Malaysia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the ASEAN Secretariat that it opposes the proposed accession of Timor-Leste as the 11th member state at the 47th ASEAN Summit to be held on Oct. 26, sources told Thai media.

In a letter, Naypyidaw stated that it wants ASEAN to “suspend all related procedural considerations until Timor-Leste revises its approach and demonstrates a clear commitment to rectifying its policy towards Myanmar.” It urged Timor-Leste to “refrain” from engaging with entities that are explicitly opposed to, or in conflict with, the positions of ASEAN member states.

The letter was signed by Han Win Aung, the director-general and Alternate Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Leader of ASEAN–Myanmar. It added that if Dili continues to violate the non-interference principle in Burma’s internal affairs, “we must firmly reject any consideration of granting ASEAN membership to Timor Leste.” 

Regional lawmakers call to free political prisoners

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), a network of more than 175 current and former elected policymakers in Southeast Asia, announced on Wednesday that it wants the “immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners” in Burma to be at the top of the agenda at the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 8-9.

“ASEAN can no longer postpone justice,” said Mercy Chriesty Barends, the APHR Chairperson and member of the Indonesian House of Representatives. “The continued detention of political prisoners is a stain on our regional conscience. Their release must be a top priority at the AMM and an integral part of ASEAN’s engagement with Myanmar moving forward.”

The Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) has documented that at least 130 political prisoners have died in custody with 50 killed during the March 28 earthquake at Obo Prison. Another 60 have died from a lack of adequate medical care. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) states that are currently 22,188 people in detention for opposing the 2021 military coup.

Regime gains ground in northern Shan State

Sources on the frontline in northern Shan State told DVB that regime forces have reached Ommakah and Nawng Au villages, located eight miles (13 km) southwest and six miles (10 km) south of Nawnghkio Township, which came under Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) control on July 10 and is located 96 miles (154 km) south of the region’s capital Lashio.

A source close to the resistance in northern Shan told DVB on the condition of anonymity that both sides relied heavily on firepower from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drones, and artillery during fighting. The source added that ethnic armed groups and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) faced difficulties in replenishing their weapons and ammunition supply. 

The TNLA announced on Tuesday that 11 airstrikes killed three civilians and injured one on July 1 in Nawnghkio’s Thonezel village. It claimed that 130 airstrikes, 60 drone strikes, and 53 artillery strikes were carried out by regime forces during fighting in eight villages of Nawnghkio on June 24 but did not share casualty figures. Naypyidaw launched a counteroffensive to retake Nawnghkio in April

News by Region

The ashes of where homes once stood in a village of Nyaung-U Township, Mandalay Region, following military raids in late June. (Credit: CJ)

MANDALAY—Residents of Nyaung-U and Taungtha townships told DVB that at least five civilians were killed and more than 100 homes were burned down by regime forces in five villages June 22-30. Nyaung-U and Taungtha are located 87-110 miles (140-177 km) southwest of Mandalay.

“In retaliation [for an ambush, regime forces] fired heavy artillery, causing civilian deaths,” a PDF member told DVB. Over 1,000 residents from 20 villages fled their homes. Aid groups have issued an urgent appeal for food and medicine for the 1,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

BAGO—The Karen National Union (KNU) announced on Monday that five civilians were injured, including three children, during an airstrike in Kyaukkyi Township on Monday. Kyaukkyi is located 108 miles (173 km) northeast of the region’s capital Bago in KNU Brigade 3 territory. 

The National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Defense stated that at least seven regime troops were killed and 22 were detained, along with 28 weapons and various military supplies, by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the PDF in Kyaukkyi on June 26.

Sources told DVB that at least 50 people from Taungup Township in Arakan State were detained by the authorities at the Nawaday Bridge Gate checkpoint in Pyay Township June 25-27. Family members of the 50 detainees fear they’ll be sent for conscription. 

“Among those detained are students heading to Yangon for school and others planning to work abroad,” a detainee’s relative told DVB. Pyay, located 160 miles (260 km) north of Yangon, serves as a transit hub for travelers from western Burma into the central regions. 

TANINTHARYI—A total of 229 Burma nationals were deported from Ranong, Thailand to Kawthaung Township June 25-30, with sources along the Thai-Burma border reporting that conscription-aged men are being forcibly taken by regime authorities upon return.

“They were deported in two separate groups,” a Kawthaung resident told DVB. The deportations were carried out by sea as the two countries are separated by a short maritime distance of about 4-6 miles (7-10 km). Kawthaung is located 406 miles (653 km) south of the region’s capital Dawei. Read more

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,520 MMK) 

Pro-regime parties await December election announcement as resistance calls on citizens to boycott polls

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Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson for the National Unity Government Prime Minister’s Office, made a plea to reject the regime-planned elections in December during an online briefing on July 1. (Credit: NUG)

Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson for the National Unity Government (NUG) Prime Minister’s Office, stated on Tuesday that all 54 political parties which have registered with the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to run candidates in the planned general elections lack “public support.”  

“Even combined, they failed to secure 10 percent of seats in the Parliament during the 2020 general elections,” said Nay Phone Latt, adding that the regime’s plan to hold polls by December “will not resolve the issues Myanmar is facing” and called on all citizens to reject any election held by the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 military coup.

The NUG held an online briefing on Tuesday as a response to the regime’s “Peace Forum 2025” held in Naypyidaw June 25-27. The regime met with representatives from the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), which is a coalition of ethnic armed groups that have continued to hold talks with the regime since 2021. 

During his opening speech at the forum on June 25. regime leader Min Aung Hlaing promised to re-establish a “multi-party democratic system” after an election was held. He announced elections would begin by December during a visit to Belarus earlier this year

Former regime minister and ex-National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker Thet Thet Khine told the media at a press conference after the forum that around 120 suggestions from attendees regarding the planned elections and peace process were recorded at the forum. Her People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) is one of the 10 political parties planning to contest polls nationwide.

Wunna Aung, a member of the regime National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee (NSPNC), told the attendees that the committee will review the discussions and present them to Min Aung Hlaing.

FPNCC members, including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), sent delegations to the forum. Ethnic armed groups which are resisting the 2021 coup were not in attendance.

Kachin Independence Army (KIA) Spokesperson Naw Bu told DVB that the regime did not send them an invitation. He acknowledged the importance of elections but said he was not convinced that any polls under the 2008 military-drafted Constitution could guarantee peace.

The KIA has seized 14 towns in Kachin State, as well as Mabein in northern Shan State, since it launched its most recent offensive against regime forces in March 2024. It has been fighting for control of Bhamo Township, located 120 miles (193 km) south of the state capital Myitkyina, since Dec. 4.

Critics of the regime were dismayed over the decision by the UEC to dissolve the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which Aung San Suu Kyi led to landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections, for not re-registering.

This is also the case for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), which came third after the NLD and the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) with the most number of seats won nationwide in the 2020 elections. 

People’s Party Chairperson, and former political prisoner, Ko Ko Gyi told DVB that the regime-planned elections are vital for the “transition to a democratic system.” His party attended the forum in Naypyidaw and is committed to fielding candidates nationwide like the PPP and the USDP.

The 2021 coup deposed the democratically-elected NLD government, led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, over allegations of voter fraud. Both Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint have been held in detention since Feb. 1, 2021. 

A one-year state of emergency was enforced on the same date with the regime committing to hold a new election by 2022, but still no date has been set and the emergency has been extended every six months since 2022. The state of emergency would have to be lifted on July 31 by Min Aung Hlaing for an election to begin in December.

Regime blacklists company linked to Karen Border Guard Force leader

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Saw Chit Thu received an honorary award called Thiri Pyanchi from regime leader Min Aung Hlaing in January 2023. (Credit: Regime)

The regime Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has blacklisted the Chit Linn Myaing Toyota Company — reportedly owned by Saw Chit Thu, leader of the pro-regime Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) — along with 196 other companies for “failing to deposit foreign currency earnings from exports.”

The CBM statement dated June 27 claimed that the companies failed to deposit their export earnings from 2016 to 2020 into their domestic bank accounts in foreign currency within a designated period which violates the 2012 Foreign Exchange Management Law. 

The law requires earnings from exports to Asian countries to be deposited within 30 days of shipment, while earnings from exports to other countries must be done within 60 days. Failure to do so may result in a prison sentence of up to one year, a fine or both.

The CBM also blacklisted Saw Chit Thu — who registered his company under the name San Myint — along with his three adult children and two associates who are in charge of the company, according to the statement. 

On May 5, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Saw Chit Thu and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, over alleged ties to online scam operations in Myawaddy Township of Karen State along the Myanmar-Thailand border.

The E.U. sanctioned Saw Chit Thu’s company for his alleged ties to cyber scam operations and human trafficking in October. Saw Chit Thu has denied all allegations against him

Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) sought arrest warrants for Saw Chit Thu and two other BGF leaders in February. Thai media reported that the case has not made any progress as the prosecutors deemed the evidence against him “insufficient.” 

The Karen BGF was established in 2010 with assistance from the military after it split from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), which itself split from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in 1994. 

It attempted to rebrand itself as the Karen National Army in March 2024 after announcing its decision to stop receiving support from the regime in Naypyidaw. 

But, when the KNLA took control of the sole remaining regime outpost in Myawaddy one month later, in April 2024, it took only 12 days for the BGF to abandon the KNLA and resume assistance to the military.

It allowed regime forces to retake control of the outpost, so lucrative border trade with Thailand could resume in Myawaddy, which is located 81 miles (130 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An and across the Moei (Thaungyin) River from Thailand’s Mae Sot, Tak Province.

Interim Constitution for Sagaing Region faces criticism; Bangladesh party asks China to broker Rohingya repatriation

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Representatives from Sagaing Federal Unit Hluttaw and Sagaing Forum Federation met to discuss post-quake recovery and its Interim Constitution at an undisclosed location in Sagaing Region on May 9. (Credit: SFUH)

Interim Constitution for Sagaing Region faces criticism 

Human Rights Myanmar, a collective of human rights experts in Burma, criticized the fourth draft of the 18 chapter Interim Constitution adopted by the Sagaing Federal Unit Hluttaw for “lacking civil and political rights and unclear wording which could lead to future violations” on Tuesday. The first draft was published on Oct. 25 and the fourth draft became law eight months later, on June 25.

It criticized the use of terms such as “public safety,” “hatred,” and “dignity”, describing them as “vague and subjective.” It drew parallels to the previous regime’s 2008 Constitution, highlighting that it also included vague wording in order to justify the suppression of dissent. It recommended banning the death penalty, and including comprehensive fair trial rights, the right to vote, and a right to access the internet.

It proposed a definition of emergency powers and judicial review. Sagaing Region was renamed the “Sagaing Federal Unit” after the Interim Constitution was adopted on June 25, retaining the same geographic territory as it had under the 2020 general election, which was overturned in the 2021 military coup. The Interim Constitution promises ethnic nationalities the right to establish Self-Administered Zones. 

New pension rule forces seniors to obtain Unique ID

Pensioners told DVB that the regime Ministry of Immigration and Population now requires them to present the Unique Identity (UID), a 10-digit number card issued by the regime since late 2023, to collect their pensions starting this month. They previously only needed to present national registration cards to receive their pensions.

“My mother’s name was entered incorrectly on the application form. After a three week delay, I had to pay a bribe,” one pensioner told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The regime distributes pensions through the Myanma Economic Bank (MEB), which informed pensioners of the new rule at its branches on June 23. 

Families of pensioners told DVB that the regime should provide a way for physically challenged senior citizens to complete the process without having to travel to the Immigration Department. Despite being a free service, sources accused regime officials of taking bribes from 5,000 MMK ($1.2 USD) to “speed up the process.” 

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party held a press conference at its Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s office in the capital Dhaka on June 30. (Credit: Daily Sun)

Bangladesh party asks China to broker Rohingya repatriation

Bangladesh’s largest political party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), called on China to mediate between Dhaka and Naypyidaw over the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Cox’s Bazar to Arakan State on Monday. A nine-member BNP delegation visited China at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party June 22-27.

“During our recent visit to China, we called for a greater and more effective Chinese role in resolving the Rohingya crisis,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the BNP secretary general, at the party’s office in Dhaka on June 30. He added that Beijing assured the BNP that it was committed to resolving the issue by convincing Naypyidaw to begin quick repatriation.

Nearly 1.2 million Rohingya refugees live temporarily in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, an island off the coast of Bangladesh where a refugee camp was established, despite objections, in 2021. Bangladesh’s interim government Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus met with Min Aung Hlaing to discuss Rohingya repatriation during a regional summit in April.

News by Region

AYEYARWADY—A fortified bunker is being built at the Pantaing inspection gate and near Bo Myat Tun Bridge on the Yangon-Pathein highway in Nyaungdon Township, according to residents. Nyaungdon is located 63 miles (101 km) northeast of the region’s capital Pathein. 

A source close to the regime administration told DVB on the condition of anonymity that this was due to security concerns. Commuters claimed that a tax of 1,000-3,000 MMK ($0.2-0.6 USD) is being levied on cars and 3,000-8,000 MMK ($0.6-1.7 USD) for trucks at the gates. 

BAGO—Residents told DVB that they were on alert as the regime Department of Meteorology and Hydrology warned on June 30 that the Bago River could break its banks in the next 36 hours. The water level is at 845 cm (27.7 ft), just 35 cm (1.1 ft) below the town’s danger level on Tuesday.

“Some neighbours have already reinforced their homes with sandbags,” a resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity, adding that Bago has faced floods over the past two years. Taungoo Township residents told DVB that flooding occurred in 10 villages due to heavy rainfall since June 19, forcing many to evacuate their homes

Aid groups told DVB that five civilians were killed and 70 others were injured in retaliatory airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force during fighting against the People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Phyu Township on Sunday. Phyu is located 100 miles (160 km) north of the region’s capital Bago. 

Residents claimed that more than 60 civilians have been hospitalized and 15 are in critical condition. At least 10 regime troops and one PDF member were killed during an attack on a military outpost in Walgyi village on June 29. The military has blocked the road in Walgyi village that leads to Phyu town following the fighting.

YANGON—Bahan Township authorities evicted homeless people from informal settlements inside Kandawgyi Park on Saturday after images were shared on social media showing people living outdoors near Kandawgyi Lake, one of two lakes in the city centre. 

“There has been crime, such as robberies and murders, reported around the lake,” a worker at Kandawgyi Park told DVB on the condition of anonymity. DVB reported that the bodies of two women were recovered near the lake in 2024, causing fear among Bahan residents. 

(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,560 MMK) 

Over 200 Myanmar nationals deported from Thailand in June; Reports of forced military conscription

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Thai immigration officials process 98 Myanmar nationals at a port facility during deportation on June 30. (Credit: Ranong Immigration Office)

Thailand has deported a total of 229 Myanmar nationals in two separate operations during the last week of June, with sources along the Thai-Myanmar border reporting that conscription-aged men are being forcibly taken by regime authorities upon return to Myanmar.

“They were deported in two groups within a week of June,” said a Kawthaung resident in Myanmar’s southernmost Tanintharyi Region. “We know the regime is taking them, but we don’t know exactly how many.”

The deportations were carried out by sea from Thailand’s Ranong Province across the Kraburi River to Myanmar’s Kawthaung Township, with the two countries separated by a short maritime distance of about 4-6 miles (7-10 km).

Kawthaung is located 406 miles (653 km) south of the Tanintharyi Region capital Dawei. Those deported from Thailand to Myanmar reportedly included individuals arrested for lacking proper travel or work documents. 

Ninety-eight Myanmar migrant workers were deported from Thailand on June 30. Thai immigration officials did not provide specifics about the gender of the deportees. But Kawthaung residents said that the majority were men. There have been no reports of forced conscription among these 98 deportees. 

But on June 25, residents said that 131 Myanmar nationals – 104 men and 27 women – were deported from Thailand and upon arrival in Kawthaung, conscription-aged men 18 to 35 were taken by regime authorities and the women were released.

The exact number of those forcibly conscripted upon arrival in Myanmar is unknown. Both Thai and Myanmar authorities have not publicly commented on these allegations.

On August 26, military personnel held 98 Myanmar nationals at the 262nd Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) in Kawthaung and threatened to send the males away for conscription following their repatriation from Thailand.

On September 26, another 127 migrant workers deported from Thailand were reportedly taken for conscription shortly after their arrival in Kawthaung.

The regime enforced its conscription law on Feb. 10, 2024. It amended the law with stricter guidelines in January.

Human rights groups and activists marked World Refugee Day on June 20 by warning of the forced return or refugees, or refoulement, and the risk of military conscription or forced recruitment in Myanmar.

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