The remnants of Typhoon Yagi arrived in Myanmar on Sept. 9. It caused flooding and landslides. The U.N. said that one million people were impacted nationwide. Regime media reported that 436 people have been killed and 66 are still missing. An estimated 735,461 acres of paddy fields were destroyed.
Flood relief and response continues post-Typhoon Yagi
Isabel Todd on the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Isabel Todd, the coordinator at the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), sits down in-studio with DVB English News to discuss international advocacy on Myanmar. The SAC-M was founded by three international experts on Myanmar following the 2021 military coup.
Briefing: Myanmar tied with China for worst internet freedom globally; India engages with anti-coup resistance groups
DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Oct. 18, 2024. In this week’s briefing: Myanmar tied with China for worst internet freedom globally; India begins engaging with the anti-coup resistance; What’s really happening in Sagaing Region?; Plus, a DVB exclusive on new trains from Spain frustrating commuters in Yangon.
Myanmar celebrates Thadingyut; Key military outpost in Karen State near Thai border seized by resistance forces
Myanmar celebrates Thadingyut
Buddhists visited pagodas across Burma to celebrate the Thadingyut Festival of Lights Oct. 16-18. Homes and streets were adorned with decorative lights at night in celebration of the festival, which marks the end of Buddhist Lent. Many visited Yangon’s iconic Shwedagon Pagoda.
Groups opposing the 2021 military coup have called on the public to avoid participating in events organized by the regime. “Illuminate the people’s future with the oil of revolution. The flames of the people’s revolution are still burning brightly,” Tayzar San, the pro-democracy leader from Mandalay, posted on social media.
This year marks the fourth Thadingyut celebrated since the 2021 coup. The Arakan Army (AA) and civil society groups have urged residents of Arakan State not to gather in groups during the holiday due to the threat of airstrikes and other attacks by the military. From Sept. 1 to Oct. 11, the Burma Air Force has killed 235 people and injured 277 in 148 airstrikes nationwide.
On par with China for worst internet freedom globally
Freedom House stated in its 2024 Freedom of the Net report that internet freedom in Burma is on par with China as the worst in the world. It added that this year marked the first time in a decade that any country has ranked as low as China. Burma scored nine out of 100 in terms of internet freedom in 2024, a decline by one point from the previous year.
“Myanmar’s military has conducted a brutally violent crackdown on dissent and imprisoned thousands of people in retaliation for their online speech, all while building a mass censorship and surveillance regime to suppress the activities of civilian pro democracy activists and armed resistance groups,” added the Freedom of the Net 2024 report.
The report highlighted a musician named “Min Oat Myanmar” who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for criticizing Min Aung Hlaing on a Facebook live stream. Many netizens have relied on virtual private networks (VPNs) since the regime began imposing internet shutdowns and blocking access to Facebook following the 2021 military coup.
Key military outpost seized by resistance forces near Thai border
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and its allied resistance groups seized control of the Swetawkone military camp near the Thai-Burma border in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, on Thursday. KNLA-led forces have been attacking this remaining military outpost in Myawaddy since March 11.
“We took control of the camp. However, the details of the situation are still unfolding as we continue to fight with enemy forces,” Saw Nal Dar Htoo, the KNU Brigade 6 military strategist, told DVB. He added that prisoners of war were captured. Weapons and ammunition were also seized from the military.
The “Operation Aung Zeya” counteroffensive was launched by the military against KNLA-led forces in Karen State but it has been unsuccessful in re-establishing full control of Myawaddy, which serves as a vital trade hub with Thailand. KNLA-led forces seized control of Myawaddy for 12 days in April.
News by Region
BAGO—The People’s Defense Force (PDF) stated that six of its members were arrested on a bus in Pyay Township, located around 183 miles (295 km) northwest of the Bago Region capital, on Oct. 11. They were traveling from Aunglan town in Magway Region.
“They were arrested by the military while they were traveling and were later forced to confess where they were hiding weapons,” a PDF spokesperson told DVB. Pro-military social media channels accused the six arrested PDF members of carrying 11 firearms and seven landmines.
The regime has been collecting census data from pedestrians and motorists in Kyaukkyi, Hmone and Saw townships, which are located in territory claimed by the KNU in Nyaunglebin district, since Oct. 12. The residents were made to answer a list of questions at military checkpoints.
“We have been asked where we are going, where we are from, what we are carrying with us, and had to show our national identification card,” a Kyaukkyi resident told DVB. Padoh Saw Thamein Tun, a member of the KNU Central Executive Committee, told DVB that it opposes the regime’s census, which was conducted Oct. 1-15. The regime is now attempting to collect census data in areas it does not fully control.
SAGAING—One civilian and three police officers were killed, and two others were injured, during a shootout at a restaurant in Mingun of Sagaing Township, located around 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Mandalay, on Wednesday.
“Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the police officers eating at the shop. A relative of the shop owner was killed and two were injured,” Naga Lay, a spokesperson for the Wetlet Information Network, told DVB. He added that the restaurant and some nearby vacant homes were set ablaze by regime forces afterwards.
SHAN—The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) detained Win Hlaing (aka Maetu), the National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s ousted member of parliament from the Shan State Hluttaw, on Sept. 2. Namtu is located around 41 miles (66 km) northwest of Lashio.
“A TNLA official said he was arrested for impersonation,” a source close to Win Hlaing’s family told DVB. The source added that they have been allowed to meet with him in detention. Win Hlaing won his seat during the 2020 election. The Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the TNLA, the AA, and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), seized control of Namtu in December after it launched Operation 1027 on Oct. 27, 2023.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,420 kyat)
The UN must act to end Myanmar’s nightmare
Benedict Rogers for UCA News
It is midnight in Myanmar, and if the world does not act soon – and with urgency and determination – the country will be engulfed in deeper darkness for a long time to come.
The death of Myanmar is underway, and yet its resurrection is still possible if the international community acts.
It is understandable, given Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and the appalling crisis in the Middle East between Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, that the eyes of the world are somewhat preoccupied.
Nevertheless, genocide cannot be ignored, crimes against humanity must not go unpunished, and the dismantling of a fledgling democracy – albeit very nascent – should not be allowed. Freedom, however fragile, should not be strangled in its infancy and with impunity.
For over 50 years, Myanmar was ruled by a succession of military dictatorships, most of the time led by General Ne Win, who seized power in a coup in 1962. For almost a decade, from about 2011 until the latest coup in 2021, Myanmar appeared to be on a fragile and bumpy trajectory towards more democracy, freedom, and peace until Feb. 1, 2021.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, put his ambitions and interests ahead of the people and seized power in a coup, plunging the country back into the darkness of dictatorship.
Since the coup, Myanmar has endured a new daily nightmare. Over 3.3 million people have been displaced, according to the UN, and at least 5,350 civilians have been killed. These are likely to be dramatic underestimates. At least 27,400 individuals have been arrested and jailed – and as many as 1,853 have died in custody, including 88 children and 125 women. For many, the primary cause of death has been torture or denial of medical treatment.
Now, there are concerns about the fate of Myanmar’s democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. At least two senior members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party have died in custody – including party vice-chairman and former Mandalay Region chief minister Zaw Myint Maung, who died aged 73 of leukemia. The party’s oldest member, U Win Htein, is in jail and suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems.
The international community must mount a concerted campaign for the release of Myanmar’s political prisoners. Otherwise, as activist Ko Bo Kyi says, it is “akin to slowly torturing them to death.”
The latest arrests give rise to yet more concerns over torture, particularly for the fate of activists Paing Phyo Min and Shein Wai Aung.
Despite the constant stream of bad news from Myanmar, there is some cause for hope, as the military is clearly on the back foot.
In a recent interview, Chris Sidoti, a member of the Special Advisory Council on Myanmar, a group of independent, international human rights experts, said that three and a half years after the coup, “we have passed the tipping point.”
The military is retreating to the major cities, and the armed resistance groups are now controlling more territory. Only 14 percent of the country’s territory and 33 percent of the population are under stable military control.
“The military will lose, but when that will happen is hard to predict,” he argues. “It’s conceivable that it could collapse completely by the first half of next year, or this could go on for another three to five years.”
However, the military’s defeat will come at a very high price for the people of Myanmar. As it loses ground, the military is resorting more to air power, deploying what Sidoti describes as a “scorched earth” policy with “a whole new scale of destruction.”
The human rights and humanitarian crisis will continue to worsen, compounded by natural disasters such as Cyclone Mocha in 2023 and Typhoon Yagi last month.
The United Nations (UN) response to the crisis in Myanmar has been widely criticized. Last week, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said the UN’s approach was “clearly not working.”
Sidoti agreed, calling on the UN to “play more of a political role” to seek an end to the crisis. “The UN secretary-general hasn’t gone to the region to try to deal with the situation in Myanmar and has shown very little public interest.”
He is right – Antonio Guterres must step up, visit the region and show leadership.
Sidoti also said the UN should establish closer relations with the National Unity Government (NUG), the legitimate representatives of the people comprised of those elected in the 2020 general election, and with the country’s ethnic groups and neighboring countries to establish channels for cross-border humanitarian aid to Myanmar’s displaced peoples.
Targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s military should be further tightened and, in particular, sanctions against those who supply jet fuel to the junta.
Last week Oliver Windridge, the director of illicit finance policy at The Sentry, and Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice for Myanmar, called for stricter enforcement of US sanctions imposed last year, to stop the “bloodbath” that continues.
The airstrikes by the Myanmar military will only stop when its ability to conduct them is curtailed, and that can only happen if the US enforces jet fuel sanctions “all along the supply chain of international enablers.”
Like-minded allies should also adopt and enforce similar jet fuel sanctions. Andrews, Sidoti, Windridge, and Yadanar Maung are all spot-on.
The international community must step up its efforts and use every tool available to cut the lifelines that keep the junta in power and provide a lifeline to the people of Myanmar. That means targeted sanctions and the enforcement of those sanctions, especially against jet fuel.
It means further support for the accountability mechanisms already underway at the International Court of Justice, through the courts in Argentina where a case is underway, and through either the International Criminal Court or a special tribunal to bring the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Myanmar to justice.
And it means cross-border humanitarian aid to reach the people most in need. Myanmar’s nightmare can be brought to an end, but only when the UN and the international community step up, take notice and act.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
Benedict Rogers is a British human rights activist and journalist based in London. DVB publishes a diversity of opinions that does not reflect DVB editorial policy. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our stories: [email protected]
Regime says dialogue will solve Myanmar’s crisis; Min Aung Hlaing to visit China in November, sources state
Regime says dialogue will solve Myanmar’s crisis
Min Aung Hlaing claimed that armed conflict is not the solution to Burma’s crisis since the 2021 military coup, and that it should be resolved peacefully through “political dialogue.” The regime leader made the remark during a televised speech that aired on Tuesday to mark the ninth anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), which was signed by the military and several ethnic armed groups in 2015.
“We can only come to a political dialogue and resolve conflicts peacefully. However, I want to make it clear that we will not compromise with the demands of armed terrorists,” he said, referring to anti-coup resistance groups. Min Aung Hlaing blamed “powerful countries” for negatively impacting Burma’s economy, which he claimed has caused the crisis. He went on to warn that these actions are “creating a new form of colonialism.”
A meeting was held to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the NCA in Naypyidaw on Oct. 15. Attendees included representatives from the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), the KNU/KNLA Peace Council (PC), the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), the New Mon State Party (NMSP), and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS). From Sept. 1 to Oct. 11, the Burma Air Force has killed 235 people and injured 277 in 148 airstrikes nationwide.
Min Aung Hlaing to visit China in November, sources state
Two sources close to the military told the AFP News Agency, on the condition of anonymity, that Min Aung Hlaing will make his first visit to China since the 2021 coup next month. “The trip has been planned since Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Myanmar [in August],” one of the sources told AFP.
Relations between Beijing and Naypyidaw have been strained, with many Burma-China political analysts believing that the Chinese government gave its tacit approval to the Brotherhood Alliance to launch Operation 1027 on Oct. 27, 2023 over the regime’s failure to crack down on cyber scam centers along its 1,370 mile (2,204 km) long shared border.
Since August, Beijing has sent two of its diplomats to Naypyidaw. Regime media reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi endorsed the regime’s election plans, which are tentatively scheduled for November 2025. Min Aung Hlaing visited Russia, a close ally to the regime, and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022.
What’s really happening in Sagaing Region?
Zaw Tuseng, the founder and president of the Myanmar Policy Institute (MPI), told DVB that the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG) should assist anti-coup resistance groups in Sagaing Region by setting up an administrative body that has the authority to address local grievances.
“You can tackle these local issues by giving local bodies, or regional lawmakers, and also other actors [in Sagaing Region] a forum to work together to solve their issues collectively at the local level,” said Zaw Tuseng.
The death of 16-year-old student Myint Myat Oo in Wetlet Township led to criticism of the NUG from the All Burma Federation of Students Union (ABFSU), which denounced “undocumented civilian deaths” and “acts of cruelty” in areas under NUG control. The NUG People’s Administration Teams, People’s Security Teams, and People’s Defense Teams, are operating in 188 townships nationwide.
News by Region
ARAKAN—A total of 29 civilians have been killed, and at least 60 others have been injured, by airstrikes conducted by the Air Force in Arakan so far this month. “The regime put the blame on civilians as they are losing the war against the Arakan Army [AA],” Wai Hin Aung, a rescue worker, told DVB.
Arakanese civil society groups and the AA have urged the public not to gather in groups during the Thadingyut holiday Oct. 16-18 due to the threat of airstrikes. Eighty-eight civilians were killed and at least 135 were injured by airstrikes in Arakan last month, according to data collected by local media.
AYEYARWADY—More than 70 prisoners from Pathein Prison, including female inmates, were transferred to an unknown location by regime authorities on Monday. “We were not told about this and don’t know where they have been taken out and why. We are worried,” a relative of one of the prisoners told DVB. Family members have not been able to contact the transferred prisoners.
SAGAING—A resistance group calling itself Twenty–Four Drone claimed that it and other groups conducted drone strikes on the Northwest Region Military Command (RMC) headquarters in Alone town of Monywa Township while regime deputy Prime Minister Soe Win was visiting on Tuesday.
“We attacked the headquarters as soon as we heard about Soe Win’s visit. We attacked it with two drones. They did not return fire,” a spokesperson of the group told DVB. An Alone resident told DVB that the military patrolled streets to provide security during Soe Win’s visit.
TANINTHARYI—The Myanmar Humanitarian Action Center (MHAC) stated that more than 140 men were arrested in Myeik, located around 152 miles (245 km) south of the Tanintharyi Region capital Dawei, on Tuesday. They were among a group of around 200 people traveling from Arakan and Mon states.
“They are planning to go to Thailand from Kawthaung for work. They [detained] all young men after inspecting the crowd. I think they took them away for military service,” Ye Min, MHAC spokesperson, told DVB. Conscription aged men seeking to travel to Thailand, via Kawthaung, have been stopped from leaving the country. The military reportedly released women and elders who were among the 200 travelers.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,450 kyat)
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