Fight back or flee? Myanmar draft forces hard choices on youth
Reuters Weeks after Myanmar’s military government announced a nationwide draft, two young women from far-flung parts of the South-East Asian country headed to the jungles to take up arms against the junta. For two men in their 30s in Myanmar’s two largest cities, the threat of conscription after the February call-up prompted them to upend […]
Myanmar militias revel after attempted drone attacks on junta’s stronghold capital
Reuters Anti-junta forces in Myanmar attempted coordinated drone attacks on military facilities in its capital on Thursday, army TV and a parallel government said, in a brazen challenge to a military struggling to govern and fighting battles on multiple fronts. Military-run Myawaddy TV said in its nighttime news bulletin an attempt by “terrorists” to destroy […]
Casualties from Myanmar landmines jump to over 1,000 last year, says UNICEF
Reuters The number of civilian casualties, including children, who were killed or maimed by landmines and explosive ordnance in Myanmar more than doubled last year to 1,052, the UN children’s agency said on Thursday, as conflict raged in the impoverished country. Landmines and explosive remnants of war caused a 270 per cent jump in casualties […]
Essay: Gangs, kidnappings, murders – why thousands of Rohingya are desperately trying to escape refugee camps by boats
In an article first published on The Conversation, RUTH WELLS and MAX WILLIAM LOOMES, of UNSW Sydney, look at why so many Rohingya are fleeing Bangladesh and what Australia, New Zealand and regional partners can do to help them…
Myanmar junta chief calls for unity, says military holding power “temporarily”
Reuters Myanmar’s ruling general said on Wednesday the junta was holding power only temporarily with the aim of strengthening democracy, and he called for unity among the people and military to fight armed groups seeking to derail plans to hold an election. Addressing an annual Armed Forces Day parade, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who […]
Thai rights groups flag deportation risk to 19 stateless children
Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Thai civil society groups voiced concern on Tuesday about the fate of 19 stateless children taken into government custody this month, saying they could be deported to neighbouring Myanmar, although a minister denied any plan to do so. The groups say the case throws a spotlight on Thailand’s lack of readiness to […]
More than 63,000 people dead or missing while migrating over last decade, IOM says
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters At least 63,285 people have perished or disappeared on migration routes around the world between 2014 and 2023, with most deaths caused by drowning, the UN migration agency said on Tuesday. A report published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on its Missing Migrants Project showed that the majority of deaths […]
Thailand starts aid deliveries to Myanmar under plan aimed at managing conflict
Bangkok, Thailand Reuters Thailand started the delivery of aid to military-ruled Myanmar on Monday, in a humanitarian initiative that seeks to pave the way for talks between warring camps after three years of instability and violence triggered by a coup. The first batch of 4,000 relief bags carrying rice, dried food, and other essentials for […]
Myanmar’s next election may not be nationwide, junta chief says
Reuters Military-ruled Myanmar plans to have an election if there is peace and stability in the country but may not be able to hold it nationwide, its top general said, as the junta battles to contain a rebellion on multiple fronts. The military, which has been in power since a coup three years ago, still […]
A Chinese pastor is released after seven years in prison, only to find himself unable to get an ID
Beijing, China AP Unable to buy a train ticket, or even see a doctor at a hospital, a Chinese pastor found that even after release from prison, he is not quite free. Rev John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in Myanmar. Now back in […]