Myanmar conflict

Myanmar’s New Taxation and Conscription Policies Are Likely to Increase Irregular Migration

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Myanmar’s New Taxation and Conscription Policies Are Likely to Increase Irregular Migration

As Myanmar grapples with ongoing political turmoil, recent directives have exacerbated the challenges faced by its citizens. The enforcement of conscription laws and the imposition of new taxation and remittance regulations have intensified pressures on the people of Myanmar, and will potentially drive more toward irregular migration. This article delves into the far-reaching consequences of … Read more

Life Along the Thai-Myanmar Frontier

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Life Along the Thai-Myanmar Frontier

Anti-regime militias have captured Myawaddy – a strategically important border city and home to about 200,000 people – from Myanmar’s ruling junta. The Karen National Union (KNU) is now in control of most of Karen state and is urging direct talks with the Thais across the frontier. The KNU is one of about 20 ethnic … Read more

Ethnic Karen Rebels Complete Capture of Strategic Myanmar Border Crossing

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Ethnic Karen Rebels Complete Capture of Strategic Myanmar Border Crossing

Ethnic Karen rebels and their allies claim to have captured an important trade hub on the Thai border in southeastern Myanmar, despite a last-ditch effort by the Myanmar military to prevent the town’s fall. In a statement today, the Karen National Union (KNU) announced that its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), and … Read more

Thailand Confirms Myanmar Military Evacuation Flight Request After Latest Resistance Gains

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Indonesia Rescues 20 from Traffickers in Myanmar

Thailand yesterday confirmed that it had granted permission for Myanmar’s military junta to land three flights in the border town of Mae Sot to evacuate military personnel and civil servants fleeing resistance attacks in Karen State. In a statement released yesterday, the Ministry said that it had received a request from the Myanmar embassy  “to … Read more

Southeast Asians Don’t Really Care About the Myanmar Crisis

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3 Years Since Myanmar’s Coup, Stronger Global Action Is Needed

The ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s annual State of Southeast Asian survey dropped last week, heady times for an overstretched columnist. Not so positive, however, if you’re busy battling a barbarous military junta and are looking around for a bit of moral support from your fellow Southeast Asians. Let’s turn to page 16 of the survey report. … Read more

Myanmar’s Intensifying Conflict Taking Massive Rights Toll: UN

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Myanmar’s NUG Condemns Military Conscription Drive, Vows to Resist

Myanmar’s escalating conflict and the worst violence since the military takeover in 2021 are having a devastating impact on human rights, fundamental freedoms and basic needs of millions of people – as well as “alarming spillover effects” in the region, U.N. officials said Thursday. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Khaled Khiari told the U.N. Security … Read more

Thailand Sends First Aid Shipment to Myanmar Along Controversial Humanitarian Corridor

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Thailand Sends First Aid Shipment to Myanmar Along Controversial Humanitarian Corridor

Thailand has dispatched its first batch of aid along a humanitarian corridor to Myanmar that was recently established to assist civilian populations affected by the country’s metastasizing civil war. According to The Associated Press, Thailand yesterday sent 10 trucks over the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border crossing, carrying around 4,000 packages of aid to three towns in … Read more

Myanmar Junta Begins Summoning Civilians for Military Service

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Myanmar Junta Chief Calls on Resistance Groups to Solve Problems ‘Politically’

Myanmar’s military junta is moving to enlist its first batch of civilians into the armed forces, amid reports that its recently announced conscription drive has driven thousands into hiding or into the ranks of the resistance. In a report published on Friday, Channel News Asia noted that summons letters have now been sent to “eligible … Read more

Myanmar and the Voices of a Revolution

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Myanmar and the Voices of a Revolution

The town of Mae Sot in northwest Thailand is bustling. A frontier town with a civil war on its doorstep, the population has swelled with Burmese and ethnic rebels who spend most of their time across the border battling it out against the military junta. Bamar, Karen, Karenni, and Mon – both Buddhists and Christians … Read more

Last Flights Out of Sittwe

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Last Flights Out of Sittwe

Abaung Sein* took brief pauses to chew betel as she recollected her family’s flight out of Sittwe, the regional capital of strife-torn Rakhine State in western Myanmar. The elderly Rakhine/Arakanese was enjoying her guilty pleasure as her family settled into a friend’s crowded Yangon flat. “We were lucky that we bought the tickets when we … Read more