Political prisoners ‘excluded’ from Independence Day amnesty
Sources close to Mandalay’s Obo Prison told DVB that no political prisoners were among the 283 inmates released in an amnesty to mark Burma’s 78th Independence Day on Sunday. “Families [of political prisoners] waited until the sun set but they didn’t get to see their loved ones released,” sources in Mandalay told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Sources at Myeik Prison in Myeik Township of Tanintharyi Region told DVB that no political prisoners were among the 38 inmates freed on Jan. 4. A former political prisoner at Myeik Prison criticized the regime for not releasing any of those imprisoned for opposing the 2021 military coup. Myeik is located 151 miles (243 km) south of the region’s capital Dawei.
A source close to Yangon’s Insein Prison told DVB that a total of 850 prisoners were released. The source added that the only political prisoner freed was Ye Htut, a former minister serving a 10-year sentence for criticizing the military on social media in October 2023. The regime granted an amnesty to a total of 6,186 prisoners across the country on Jan. 4. Read more
US ‘remains committed’ to Myanmar people
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared a statement on Saturday to mark Burma’s 78th anniversary of independence from Britain on Jan. 4. In it, he states that the U.S. “remains committed” to supporting the people of Burma in their pursuit of a peaceful, fair, and prosperous country. “The United States is deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in Burma,” he added, referring to the 2021 military coup.
He called on the regime in Naypyidaw to stop violence, engage in dialogue, and release those “unjustly detained.” Seven civil society organizations, including the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and the All Burma Women’s Union (ABWU), released its own statement on Jan. 4 condemning the U.S. arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling it an “act of imperialism and fascism.”
The Trump administration announced on Nov. 24 that it was ending the temporary legal status for 4,000 citizens of Burma living in the U.S., citing an improved situation due to the regime’s 2025-26 elections that began on Dec. 28. Secretary of State Rubio instructed all U.S. diplomats around the world not to comment on the fairness or integrity of elections conducted by foreign countries back in July.
Myanmar refugees in Malaysia face new registration regime
In the stairwell of a four-storey building in Kuala Lumpur’s Pudu district, James Bawi Thang Bik, the chairperson of the Alliance of Chin Refugees (ACR), points to a notice stuck on the wall at the entrance of an informal school classroom.
“This is the only protection we have in Malaysia,” James told DVB. Rather than legal protection, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) letter offers recognition of the learning centre inside – an indirect plea for restraint from the Malaysian immigration authorities, which have intensified raids, detentions and deportations over the last year.
Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia are treated as undocumented migrants. After status verification, the UNHCR provides them documentation, which isn’t recognized by the Malaysian authorities because the country isn’t a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention, which mandates protections for them. Read more
News by Region
KAREN—The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won three seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house parliament, during the first phase of voting on Dec. 28. It also won one seat during advanced voting Dec. 18-27 in the state capital Hpa-An.
The USDP won a second seat during advanced voting in Myawaddy Township, located 82 miles (132 km) east of Hpa-An. “We have to accept the results whether we like it or not,” Mahn Aung Pyi Soe, the Karen National Democratic Party (KNDP) chairperson, told DVB. Read more
SAGAING—Three civilians were killed and seven others were injured by airstrikes in Methe village carried out by the Burma Air Force on Friday, Kanbalu Township residents told DVB. Kanbalu, located 128 miles (206 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa, is partly under National Unity Government (NUG) control.
“There’s no ongoing fighting between regime forces and the People’s Defence Force,” a resident told DVB. A member of People’s Administration Team (PAT) under the NUG told DVB that the Jan. 2 airstrikes in Kanbalu targeted civilians. Under international law, the targeting of civilians is considered a war crime.
Residents of Salingyi Township told DVB that three civilians were killed in gyrocopter attacks carried out by regime forces on a hospital in Mataungta village on Sunday. Salingyi, located 27 miles (43 km) south of the region’s capital Monywa, is reportedly contested between the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and regime forces.
A Salingyi resident told DVB that two patients and a doctor were the three killed by the attack on the hospital in Mataungta village. An unknown number of residents were injured. They added that there was no fighting in Salingyi between regime and resistance forces during the attacks.
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Myanmar’s ‘crisis of conscience’ has nothing to do with politics. Read our latest op-ed by Alan Clements. Find DVB English News on X, FB, IG, Threads, TikTok, Bluesky & YouTube.
