UN Ambassador mandate deferred for another year
Burma’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Kyaw Moe Tun will remain in his post for at least another year following a deferral by the credentials committee. The regime in Naypyidaw wants to replace Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who represents the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG), with someone who can help it gain legitimacy for its elections tentatively scheduled for November 2025.
“We all need to oppose this sham election organized by the military at this time,” said Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun. “We, the people of Myanmar, are very resolute. We will definitely oppose this sham election until the end. We appeal to the international community to do [the same].”
The U.N. Credentials Committee has deferred its decision on who should represent Burma each year since 2021, when the military staged a coup and ousted the National League for Democracy (NLD) government and replaced it with a regime led by Min Aung Hlaing.
Over one million impacted by floods in Myanmar
More than one million people living in 70 townships in 10 states and regions have been impacted by flooding since the remnants of Typhoon Yagi arrived in Burma on Sept. 9. The NUG confirmed that Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Saw Township of Magway Region were hit by flash floods on Sept. 25.
“More than 600 fatalities have been reported, with a substantial amount of farmland destroyed. Floodwaters have also inundated several IDP camps, destroying many temporary shelters and leaving vulnerable populations in need of critical assistance,” added the NUG Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management in its flood situation report on Sunday.
The NUG is providing humanitarian aid and relief to Bago, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Tanintharyi regions, as well as Karenni, Karen, Mon, Arakan and southern Shan states. The military is reportedly preventing aid from reaching areas under the control of armed resistance groups.
Jailed Mandalay chief minister Zaw Myint Maung dies after release
Zaw Myint Maung, the jailed Mandalay Chief Minister and vice-chair of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, died of leukemia at Mandalay General Hospital on Monday – one day after the regime granted him an amnesty on medical grounds.
“We won’t see you anymore when we get to Mandalay, but no one will forget that the city experienced a bright time under your governance. I believe that you defied injustice with a confident smile until the end,” Zin Mar Aung, the NUG Minister of Foreign of Affairs, posted on social media.
Zaw Myint Maung, 73, died while receiving treatment in the Mandalay Hospital’s intensive care unit. The NLD Central Working Committee member Kyaw Htway told DVB that his body was moved from the hospital to his home in Mandalay in preparation for the funeral. The BBC reported that a funeral will take place today. Read more here.
News by Region
MAGWAY—Six civilians were killed and an unknown number were injured by airstrikes conducted by the Burma Air Force in Htilin, Gangaw and Saw townships of northwest Magway Region on Saturday. Most of the townships are controlled by the People’s Defense Force (PDF) and Chinland Defense Force (CDF).
“They are using new weapons and firing artillery shells toward civilian homes in PDF [controlled areas],” an unnamed Magway politician told DVB. Htilin, Gangaw and Saw are vital transportation hubs between Sagaing and Magway regions, as well as to Chinland. The military launched an offensive in Sagaing and Magway regions in September.
NAYPYIDAW—The Seven Ethnic Armed Organization (EAO) Alliance, the military regime, and political parties, will meet in Naypyidaw to discuss the peace process on Oct. 15. The meeting will take place after a ceremony to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).
“It will be more like a workshop and we will discuss how to proceed with the current peace process in Burma,” Saw Kyaw Nyunt, the Seven EAO Alliance spokesperson, told DVB. The Seven EAO Alliance is composed of NCA signatories that have mostly declined to fight against the military since the 2021 coup.
SAGAING—The PDF released a video on Sunday showing three military personnel, including a captain, confessing to killing civilians and burning down around 20 homes during a raid on a village in Butalin Township, located around 23 miles (37 km) north of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa.
They were among 43 soldiers that the PDF detained during an attack on a military column in Butalin on Sept. 30. “They confessed after we questioned them,” a PDF spokesperson told DVB. Some officers of the Northwest Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters are being interrogated over the attack on the column, according to a source close to the RMC.
YANGON—Yangon residents said census workers are collecting data on the number of people that reside in each household, as well as their occupations and incomes. “Census data was collected from only one room in our building. They did not visit every room and only asked a few questions,” a Kamayut Township resident told DVB.
A resident from Hlaing Township said that census workers have not visited his home despite data being collected from other households in his neighborhood. The nationwide census began on Oct. 1 and will conclude on Oct. 15. It reportedly includes a list of 68 questions.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,650 kyat)
Read: It’s time for India to rethink its Myanmar strategy post-Typhoon Yagi by Shalini Perumal.
