FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM
Vital Thai-Myanmar border town seized by resistance forces
ASEAN appeals for calm as conflict in Myanmar escalates
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) released a statement on Thursday expressing that it is “deeply concerned” about escalating violence in Myanmar, especially in the country’s westernmost Arakan State and Myawaddy Township of Karen State – located along its eastern border with Thailand.
It called for the immediate cessation of violence, and for “inclusive dialogue” among all parties of the conflict. The regional bloc also called on the Myanmar military regime in Naypyidaw and its myriad Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) – some of which are resisting a return to military rule since the 2021 coup – to uphold international humanitarian law and take steps to diffuse tensions.
Violence along the Thai-Myanmar border, in the town of Myawaddy, has escalated since the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) captured the last military base in the area on April 11. Myawaddy is now reportedly under the control of a coalition of ethnic Karen armed groups. The military regime, which has faced unprecedented battlefield losses since Oct. 27, launched a counterattack on Sunday.
“I want the Thai government to be more serious about this issue. If you don’t do anything, there will be people who die every day. There would be people who are displaced from their homes every day. So the Myanmar issue cannot wait whatsoever,” said Lalita Hanwong, an advisor to the Thai parliament’s National Security, Border Affairs, Strategies and Reforms committee.
Fighting has intensified in Myanmar’s Arakan State since the Arakan Army (AA) launched its latest offensive – as the next step in the Brotherhood Alliance’s Operation 1027 – against the military on Nov. 13. It has taken control of eight townships in Arakan and Paletwa Township in southern Chinland.
ASEAN stated its Five-Point Consensus, which was adopted in April 2021 but never implemented by regime leader Min Aung Hlaing, calls for the end of all violence in Myanmar, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and dialogue between all parties.
Thailand began humanitarian aid deliveries into Myanmar’s Karen State on March 25 in coordination with the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management.
Laos assumed chair of ASEAN in January. It appointed the senior Lao diplomat Alounkeo Kittikhoun as the ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar. He has held meetings with Min Aung Hlaing, the National Unity Government (NUG), and EAO representatives.
Weekly Briefing: April 19, 2024
FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM
Thai academic says regime’s days are numbered; More military personnel flee attacks into Bangladesh
FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM
Thai academic says regime’s days are numbered
Dulyapak Preecharush, an associate professor of Southeast Asian Studies at Thammasat University, told Reuters that the fall of Myawaddy to the Karen National Union (KNU) indicates that the regime’s days are numbered. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) seized the last military outpost near the Thai-Burma border town on April 11.
“For the Myanmar military, regaining control of Myawaddy is like reclaiming a vital economic lifeline. If they let the opposition or KNU continue to hold on, it will gradually affect the economy in Mawlamyine and Yangon, which are major cities in Myanmar, and cause problems,” said Preecharush.
Myawaddy is currently under the joint control of the KNLA, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and a new armed group calling itself the Karen National Army, which is a former faction of the Karen Border Guard Force. The KNU stated that it will only establish an administration in Myawaddy after it has repelled all counter attacks from the military.
More military personnel flee attacks into Bangladesh
The Bangladesh government said on Wednesday that 46 members of the regime’s Border Guard Police (BGP) fled to Bangladesh due to the fighting along the border with the Arakan Army (AA). The total number of BGP and military personnel currently sheltering in Bangladesh has reached 260.
Bangladesh repatriated 330 military personnel, including their relatives, after they had fled from AA attacks on Feb. 15. Dhaka is cooperating with Naypyidaw to repatriate all 260. The Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Hasan Mahmud said that Naypyidaw has proposed to transport them back using waterways.
Artillery shells fired from Burma have landed inside Bangladesh, causing civilian casualties and damages to buildings. Bangladesh hosts nearly 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who fled from attacks by the military, most recently in 2017 which has been labelled a genocide by the U.S. government.
Kachin religious leader re-arrested after being freed in amnesty
Hkalam Samson, the former chair of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), was re-arrested on April 17 – the same day he was released from Myitkyina Prison in a nationwide prisoner amnesty for the Burmese New Year on Wednesday. He was detained for the second time by soldiers at his home in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital.
“Around 30 soldiers arrived at home claiming it was for his own security. Later that night, another 50 soldiers arrived and took him. They [military] said they will send him back next morning after questioning,” said a Myitkyina resident. An anonymous source close to Samson’s family told The 74 Media that they were told that by the Prisons Department that it had arranged a place for him to stay over “security concerns.”
Samson was sentenced to six years under both the Counter-Terrorism Law and the Unlawful Associations Act on April 7, 2023. Two Kachin State ministers removed in the 2021 coup were also freed in the amnesty. Only 100 political prisoners were among the 3,303 freed by the regime on Wednesday, stated the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
News by Region
AYEYARWADY—More than 90 Rohingya, including children, were arrested in March and are being detained at police stations across the state. The Rohingya said they had fled Arakan State to escape forced recruitment into the military and armed conflict between it and the AA. They were reportedly trying to reach another country.
“The police held them without charging them but it is possible that they might be charged under the Immigration Law. The regime’s administration won’t give them the right to defend themselves,” an aid worker assisting the Rohingya told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
CHINLAND—The Chin National Defense Force (CNDF) spokesperson Salai Kyong Ngai said it has provided military training to more than 200 new recruits aged 18-30 since the regime activated its military conscription law. He claimed that the conscription evaders came from Falam, Kalay and other townships.
“We provided them with training and they were also assigned to relevant places and battalions,” said Salai Kyong Ngai. People’s Embrace, which supports military defectors, told DVB that it has been contacted by more than 26,000 people since the conscription law was activated on Feb. 10.
KARENNI—The Interim Executive Council (IEC) General Secretary Khu Plu Reh said that the IEC is building a legal case against a Burma Air Force pilot who was arrested in Karenni State on Nov. 19. Resistance forces claimed to have arrested Khaing Thant Moe after it shot down his fighter jet on Nov. 11.
“That case is big and we are still processing it. The pilot is healthy. We will take action in accordance with our judiciary,” added Khu Plu Reh. Resistance forces across Burma claimed to have shot down 12 regime aircraft since the 2021 military coup.
KAREN—A People’s Defense Force (PDF) spokesperson said that the military has been sending reinforcements in an effort to recapture Myawaddy, via the Kawkareik-Myawaddy portion of the Asia Road, since April 12. “The number of enemies has continued to increase every day,” added the PDF spokesperson.
Read our Q&A: Why was Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint moved to house arrest? DVB English News is on X, FB, IG, Threads & TikTok. Subscribe on YouTube. Follow on Spotify.
Check out the Exiled Media Toolkit by ijnet and NEMO. It has published a feature story on us: Reporting in the shadows in Myanmar: The case of the Democratic Voice of Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s son says she’s being used as ‘human shield’
Aung San Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, said on Thursday that his mother was being used as a “human shield” after a Myanmar military regime spokesperson said that she had been moved from prison to house arrest.
Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Nobel laureate was reportedly moved on Wednesday due to the extreme heat conditions inside her prison cell in the capital Naypyidaw.
“Since the weather is extremely hot, it is not only for Aung San Suu Kyi…For all those, who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners, we are working to protect them from heatstroke,” Zaw Min Tun told regime media on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear where Aung San Suu Kyi, or President Win Myint, had been moved. Zaw Min Tun did not respond to an interview request from Reuters.
Aung Thu Nyeen, the ISP Myanmar director, told DVB that the Prisons Department have constructed a private residence for the two jailed leaders.
“I think their reasons for moving her, well, they stated that it’s for her health, but I think that’s not very likely,” said Aris. “I think they have their own reasons for moving her, namely that they’d like to use her as a human shield.”
Aung San Suu Kyi was held under house arrest for a total of 15 years under a previous regime at her family residence, which is located at 54 University Avenue in Yangon, where she famously gave speeches to crowds of supporters gathered on the other side of the front gate.
The 78-year-old has been detained by the Myanmar military since it overthrew her National League for Democracy (NLD) government on Feb. 1, 2021. She faces 27 years in prison for crimes ranging from treason and bribery to violations of the telecommunications law, charges she denies.
Simmering anger against the military over its 2021 coup turned into a nationwide armed resistance movement now increasingly operating in co-ordination with established Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) to resist the regime in Naypyidaw.
REUTERS
Why was Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint moved to house arrest?
A Q&A with Aung Thu Nyeen, the communications director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar), on the regime’s transfer of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint from their prison cells to house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw.
DVB: Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint have been transferred from prison to house arrest because of the hot weather, regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun stated. Where do you think they have been moved?
ATN: To the best of my knowledge, they are still in Naypyidaw. The Prisons Department has constructed a private residence for them.
However, I do not have any other details at the moment. There is also a rumor circulating that the Chinese ambassador or Chinese diplomats have met with Aung San Suu Kyi.
DVB: Do you think the regime is using Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint to get something in return from Beijing?
ATN: Zaw Min Tun said that the weather is too hot [and the jailed leaders are elderly]. But during previous regimes, they would meet directly for talks with Aung San Suu Kyi.
If the news comes out that Aung San Suu Kyi had discussions with the regime this would have implications.
DVB: In the past, Aung San Suu Kyi was often used by regimes if they wanted concessions [from the international community]. So, if they have done this, would they be successful?
ATN: I think it is difficult to achieve success if Aung San Suu Kyi is used. Although she still holds value and influence in national and international politics. But it is hard to say whether the problem can be solved or not.
DVB: Do you think that the regime will use Aung San Suu Kyi as an intermediary in negotiations with the armed resistance forces?
ATN: The armed conflict is not going to end anytime soon. If Aung San Suu Kyi is released and put in a more comfortable position, or if she meets with diplomats, there may be opportunities for her to speak about how to achieve peace.
DVB: What is the significance of the relocation of Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint?
ATN: There is nothing special. However, it would be beneficial to see them released or placed in a more comfortable environment. Regardless, it is good to hear that they are coping well with the harsh weather conditions.
