US protest against regime’s 2025-26 elections
Organizers of protests in front of The White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. told DVB that over 400 members of the diaspora and others denounced the regime’s “sham” 2025-26 elections in Burma, and demanded an end to online scam operations along the Burma-Thai border, on Saturday.
“We demanded the Chinese government to change its policy [in supporting the regime]. Then, we requested the [U.S.] government to officially reject the regime’s sham elections,” Yin Aye, the Save Myanmar USA spokesperson, told DVB. Nyein Thit, a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party ousted in the 2021 military coup, told DVB that elections are an “attempt to prolong military dictatorship.”
U.S. lawmakers called on the President Trump administration to publicly condemn the regime’s elections, starting on Dec. 28 and continuing into January 2026, in Burma and appoint a representative to lead efforts to address the crisis since the 2021 coup. A congressional hearing on Burma was held on Nov. 19. Similar protests against regime elections in Burma were held in Canada, the U.K., Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Three sentenced to over 40 years under Election Protection Law
Regime courts delivered heavy sentences to three people in Hlaingthaya Township of Yangon Region and one in Chaungzon Township of Mon State under the Election Protection Law on Wednesday. The three in Hlaingthaya were sentenced 42 to 49 years with hard labor, for “spreading stickers” containing words rejecting the regime elections.
“The court gave sentences when we were still looking for lawyers to defend three of our family members,” a source in Yangon told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The families of the three sentenced in Hlainthaya added that they are planning to file an appeal to the court to overturn the long sentences.
A 65-year-old man in Chaungzon was sentenced to 17 years by the Mawlamyine District Court for “tearing the candidate list papers.” The regime Ministry of Information reported on Nov. 18 that at least 66 others have been charged under the law. At least 161 people have been charged under the Election Protection law since July 29 with 34 arrested and five convicted, according to DVB data.
Global pressure forces regime to crackdown on scam centres
A day after regime leader Min Aung Hlaing visited the Karen State capital of Hpa-An last week, two sources said army officers met members of the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) with a directive: they had to suppress burgeoning cyber scam centres at its headquarters of Shwe Kokko, located on the Burma-Thai border 16 miles (25 km) north of Myawaddy Township. Myawaddy is 81 miles (130 km) east of Hpa-An.
Cyber scam operations along the border generate billions of dollars every year by defrauding people across the world, often using human trafficking victims. At a Nov. 16 meeting, officers told BGF members—sanctioned in May by the U.S. Treasury Department for facilitating cyber scams, human trafficking and smuggling—that the instructions had come directly from Min Aung Hlaing, according to two sources aware of the discussions.
“[He] met with military officials and stated that the scam centre issue was severely damaging the country’s international reputation,” said a source on the condition of anonymity. “He urged them to carry out an aggressive crackdown before the election,” the source added, referring to the regime’s 2025-26 elections, which has been widely derided as a sham to legitimize military rule in Burma. Read more
News by Region
CHINLAND—The Chin National Front (CNF) called for stronger support from the Chin diaspora on Tuesday after its 4th Global Regional Committees Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Nov. 13-15. One of the main topics was how to deliver humanitarian aid to Chin families displaced from their homes since the uprising to the 2021 coup began.
“We discussed how we will mobilize and seek funding for the revolution to succeed, and the issue of Chin refugees in Malaysia,” Salai Van, a CNF member who organized the conference in Kuala Lumpur, told DVB on Wednesday. There are 32,800 Chin refugees in Malaysia, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Read more
KARENNI—Residents of Mawchi town in Hpasawng Township told DVB that five lead mining workers were killed and 10 others were injured after the Burma Air Force carried out airstrikes on three locations on Friday. Mawchi is located 84 miles (135 km) southeast of the state capital Loikaw.
A Mawchi resident told DVB that an airstrike hit near a factory. No fighting was reported between regime and resistance forces in Mawchi. The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) claimed to have seized the town in January 2024. Twenty-two civilians were killed by airstrikes in Mawchi on Aug. 17.
SHAN—Residents of Muse Township along the Burma-China border told DVB that regime troops have been airlifted into the town since Thursday. A source close to the regime told DVB that the military is preparing to take action against the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in Lashio Township.
In April, the MNDAA handed over Lashio to the regime, which wanted it to withdraw all of its forces to the Kokang Self-Administered Zone (SAZ) in northern Shan. The regime and the MNDAA will meet in Lashio to discuss territorial disputes on Nov. 25, according to residents. Muse is located 108 miles (173 km) north of Lashio.
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