The long queues outside the Thai embassy in Yangon in recent weeks speak to the devastating toll and regional significance of the humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold in Myanmar. The country has now entered into the third year of protracted, embittered, and violent conflict between the junta government run by the military (Tatmadaw), and … Read more
Magazine Three years after the coup, and several months after the beginning of a major resistance offensive, Myanmar under Min Aung Hlaing is locked into a course of continued conflict. In this Mar. 3, 2021, file photo, an anti-coup protester displays defaced images of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 3, 2021. … Read more
Myanmar’s military junta has extended the country’s state of emergency by another six months, again delaying a general election it has promised to hold – though it remains unlikely to ever happen. In a statement cited by the AFP news agency, the regime’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) agreed yesterday to the extension, which … Read more
In the early morning of February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military sent armored vehicles through the capital, Naypyidaw, arresting the country’s elected civilian leaders. Three years on, the junta’s relentless efforts to consolidate power have caused a spiraling human rights and humanitarian catastrophe. Junta security forces have killed over 4,000 people, arrested over 25,000, and … Read more
Three years have passed since the military coup in Myanmar. Since then, the resistance movement has flourished into an inspired example of people’s power and the defiance of authoritarian forces. In the eyes of the military, the hijacking of the 2020 general election and subsequent coup attempt was an easy conquest. They thought that violence … Read more
While the United States is preoccupied with conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere, it is missing a golden opportunity to not only deter China from invading Taiwan, but also to score a major victory in President Joe Biden’s battle royale between democracy and autocracy. Specifically, if the U.S. provided just a little more support to … Read more
On November 17, 2022, the Australian economist Sean Turnell was released from prison in Myanmar after nearly two years of isolation. As an adviser to the country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi who had spent many years living and working in the country, Turnell was arrested shortly after the military coup that unfolded on … Read more
Advertisement Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta for most of the years since it emerged independent from British colonial rule in 1948. The country’s journey as a parliamentary democracy ended in 1962 when General Ne Win toppled the government and held power for the next 26 years. He stepped down after the protests … Read more
Filipino human rights lawyer Romel Bagares, center, and another lawyer representing Burmese complainants Gilbert Andres, left, files the criminal complaint against Myanmar’s top generals at the Department of Justice in Manila, Philippines on Wednesday Oct. 25, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/Aaron Favila Advertisement Relatives of victims of alleged war crimes committed by Myanmar’s military have filed … Read more
Advertisement Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has done what every world leader has so far failed to do: He has called for radical action to end “an unspeakable tragedy” unfolding in Myanmar. In doing so, Turk has lived up to the very highest qualities of his office, acting as the … Read more