One of Myanmar’s most prominent investigative journalists was granted bail on Monday after being charged with insulting a Buddhist monk who praised the killer of a Muslim government lawyer. Police detained Swe Win at Yangon airport on Sunday evening as he tried to fly to Bangkok, claiming that he might evade a defamation charge leveled … Read more
Three Myanmar journalists who are facing jail for their reporting accused the army on Tuesday of trying to silence the media, as fears grow for free speech. Irrawaddy reporter Lawi Weng said the military was trying to “threaten” journalists into silence as the trio were remanded in custody for another week at an impromptu hearing. … Read more
Three people, including two teenage boys, were killed by an explosion in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state on Saturday, a police officer said. Police were investigating if the mine had been laid intentionally or if the victims had accidentally struck unexploded ordnance leftover from a previous conflict, an officer told AFP. “According to our initial information, … Read more
Hundreds of Myanmar farmers entered a seventh day of protest over land grabs on Wednesday, demanding the government return seized fields and protect them from a surge in prosecutions over property disputes. Land ownership is one of the most contentious issues in formerly junta-run Myanmar, where the army is accused of rampantly confiscating land during … Read more
With only meagre belongings stuffed into backpacks and duffel bags, tens of thousands of Myanmar migrants have streamed home across the Thai border over the past two weeks. But it is not a joyous homecoming for the truckloads of men and women, who fled Thailand in fear of a new law that hardens penalties on … Read more
Myanmar’s civilian government on Wednesday defended the detention of three journalists who were reporting on an armed ethnic group, an incident that has fuelled alarm at the erosion of press freedom. The journalists were among seven people detained by the military on Monday as they left a drugs-burning ceremony organised by the Ta’ang National Liberation … Read more
Fears were mounting on Tuesday for three Myanmar journalists who are being interrogated by the military after they were detained under a restrictive junta-era law for reporting on an ethnic armed group. The three were stopped as they travelled back from a drugs-burning ceremony organised by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in the eastern … Read more
Huddled under umbrellas to escape a thundering monsoon downpour, dozens of Muslims stood in line at a Yangon mosque for a small portion of rice and curry to break their Ramadan fast. Many would have normally prayed at Islamic schools that for six decades — most of them spent under Myanmar’s former military government — … Read more
Myanmar’s censors have barred a documentary on festering religious tensions between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, a film festival organiser said Thursday, highlighting deep sensitivity over a conflict that has bedevilled Myanmar’s new civilian government. The 18-minute documentary, titled “Sittwe” after Rakhine’s state capital, follows Buddhist and Muslim teenagers affected by the unrest … Read more
Playing with a tiny kitten is the only thing that stops 13-year-old Myat Noe crying as she lies in a Yangon hospital, flesh peeling from where she says her employers burned her with irons and boiling water. She was rescued last weekend from a house south of Myanmar’s commercial capital where she was sent to … Read more
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi sat down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday to learn about Canadian federalism, a system of government she believes could bring stability to her nation. “I’m happy to be here, particularly to study the federalism of Canada because it is where we’re trying to go. We’re trying … Read more
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to Canada next week to consult with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on constitutional reforms, his office announced Friday. Canada is among several Western nations supporting democratic reforms in Myanmar. Suu Kyi’s June 5-9 trip follows a fresh round of peace talks in the capital Naypyidaw … Read more
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to Canada next week to consult with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on constitutional reforms, his office announced Friday. Canada is among several Western nations supporting democratic reforms in Myanmar. Suu Kyi’s June 5-9 trip follows a fresh round of peace talks in the capital Naypyidaw … Read more
Talks to end decades of bitter civil war in Myanmar have faltered, a government spokesman warned Sunday, blaming ethnic rebel demands for greater autonomy, which the military fears could break the country up. The civilian-led government of Aung San Suu Kyi has made striking a peace deal a key pillar of her administration, but fighting … Read more
Myanmar authorities must investigate a video showing men in military uniforms viciously beating handcuffed detainees suspected of being ethnic rebel fighters, rights groups said Sunday. The video’s emergence comes as negotiators from the civilian-led government of Aung San Suu Kyi and the military hold peace talks with more than a dozen ethnic rebel groups in … Read more
Branded as Asia’s most heavily-armed drug dealers, the China-backed ethnic Wa rebels have emerged as key players in Myanmar’s peace process, a development seen as strengthening Beijing’s influence over its violence-wracked neighbour. When Myanmar’s new civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi convened the first round of peace talks with the country’s myriad ethnic groups last … Read more
Peace talks got underway in Myanmar on Wednesday, with de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi defending her government’s stuttering attempts to end decades of fighting between the military and ethnic rebel groups. A sea of colour filled the vast conference hall in the capital Naypyidaw as ethnic delegates in traditional costumes mingled with stony-faced … Read more
The Vatican and Myanmar established full diplomatic relations on Thursday in the latest step in the former pariah Asian state’s rehabilitation by the international community. The Vatican said it would appoint a papal nuncio to Yangon and that the country would open an embassy at the Vatican, formally wrapping up an accord approved by Myanmar … Read more
Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday rejected a decision by the UN’s rights council to investigate allegations of crimes by Myanmar’s security forces against minority Rohingya Muslims. The UN body agreed in March to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the Southeast Asian country over claims of murder, rape and torture in Rakhine state. “We do … Read more
An official working for Aung San Suu Kyi’s government was sentenced to six months in jail in a Yangon court on Friday for criticising Myanmar’s army chief in a Facebook post. It is the latest verdict to highlight lingering limits on free speech in the young democracy, where the military remains a powerful player despite … Read more