Current Events Related to Myanmar

Introduction & Analysis

The following collection of open-source English-language news articles published during the past week covers significant events and issues related to Myanmar.

Conflict

Military Council Columns Arrive in Loikaw Township

Several Military Council columns have arrived in Loikaw Township to try to retake the capital of Karenni State sharing the same name from resistance forces who captured most of the town after launching a major offensive in November.

Myanmar beach town rocked by heavy clashes

Fighting has intensified over the weekend near one of Myanmar’s premiere resort beaches in Rakhine state after ethnic rebels attacked three junta outposts and the military responded with multiple airstrikes.

Junta and Karen BGF Resume Joint Operations in Myawaddy

The Junta plans to merge its troops from Operation Aung Zay Ya with BGF members stationed in Kyondoe, Kawakarei, and Myawaddy, aiming to launch an offensive against allied resistance forces led by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the source said. “Bo Myat Hlaing’s Kyondoe BGF and Maung Win Aung’s BGF factions accompanied Junta troops …

The post Junta and Karen BGF Resume Joint Operations in Myawaddy appeared first on Karen News.

Myanmar's ethnic armies consolidate strongholds as junta weakens, reports say

Myanmar's ruling junta has lost control over vast tracts of territory, including access to much of its international borders, allowing ethnic armed groups to expand and consolidate regions under their control, two reports assessing the conflict said on Thursday.

Myanmar Junta Orders All Security Personnel to Frontline as Losses Mount in Hard-Hit Regional Commands

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has ordered all military personnel and police in eight regional commands into full-time military service on the front line as territory and troop losses mount.

The 1959 Defense Services Act defines “full-time military service” as deployment to a military unit engaged in fighting or a territory partially or completely seized by the enemy.

Conscription

Myanmar draft-dodgers fear retribution against families

Myanmar nationals who have fled the country to avoid conscription into the military are afraid that junta authorities will target their family members with legal action, they said on Wednesday.

At the end of last month, Gen. Maung Maung Aye, the vice chairman of the Central Body for Summoning People’s Military Servants, said that the junta would use the country’s courts to go after those who fail to join the draft.

Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say

The regime is selecting women from lists of eligible conscripts and building barracks for them in Ayeyarwady; in Bago, women are being detained and sent for training.

People fleeing conscription in Ayeyarwady Region

Since late April, township administration offices have reportedly summoned ten men aged 18 to 35 from each ward and village tract across the Ayeyarwady Region. Many of those summoned have refused to turn up for service. This has forced ward and village administrators, along with office clerks to go to potential conscripts’ homes to serve them directly with their call-up papers, according to a Zalun Township resident.

Myanmar junta recruits thousands of soldiers: report

Myanmar’s junta has recruited nearly 4,000 men nationwide in its latest round of conscription as it seeks to reinforce the ranks of its army in the face of battlefield setbacks to insurgents battling to end military rule, a nonprofit group said.

Under the People’s Military Service Law, enacted by the junta in February, men between the ages of 18 and 45 can be conscripted. The announcement has triggered a wave of killings of administrators enforcing the law and driven thousands of draft dodgers into neighboring Thailand.

Crime & Narcotics

Over 5.6M stimulant tablets seized in Loilem Township

Over 5.6 million stimulant tablets worth K1.68 billion were confiscated in Loilem Township, Shan State (South).

Economy

Myanmar NUG Says Junta Has Printed 30 Trillion Kyats, Crashing Currency

Myanmar’s military junta has printed approximately 30 trillion kyats in the three years since its coup attempt, causing the value of the currency to fall drastically, according to both the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and Australian economist Sean Turnell.

Myanmar’s Multibillion-Dollar Jade Trade ‘Crashing’ as China Clamps Down

Myanmar’s multibillion-dollar jade market is collapsing under pressure from China’s crackdown on illicit border trade, according to sources. Jade sales in Mandalay at the country’s biggest gems market have slowed to a near halt since late February as Beijing clamps down on border telecom scams and tax fraud, traders said.

Myanmar Junta Freezes Bank Accounts of 39 ‘Illegal Cash Transfer Agents’ Amid Financial Crisis

The junta has frozen the bank accounts of 39 people it accuses of providing unlicensed “hundi” cash transfer services and is warning that it will intensify its crackdown on the service widely used by migrant workers to send money home.

Roads Damaged by Heavy Rain Halts All Trade from Myawaddy- Yangon

The advent of the rainy season in the third week of May has triggered landslides and the accumulation of heavy mud, resulting in damage to Htaw Kaw Koe Road, Kyat Oo Taung Road, and the 1018 Road, all connected to Myawaddy and traversing dense forest regions.

Myanmar’s Currency Hits All-Time Low, Gold Surges to Fresh Peak

As the currency crisis deteriorates, reports that forex traders have been arrested spark even more panic in the volatile forex and gold markets.

Myanmar Fuel Tycoon to Help Junta’s Oil Drilling Amid Sanctions

The regime, which wants to exploit oil and gas reserves, says it will develop two major oil wells with technical assistance from tycoon Michael Moe Myint’s fuel firm.

Military Council’s Myitsone Dam Restart Amid Battlefield Losses

With tensions escalating in Kachin State, Burma’s Military Council is set to revive the contentious Myitsone Dam project, dormant for nearly 13 years since its suspension by the Thein Sein government. Critics view this move as a calculated strategy by the military regime to divert attention from the mounting political crisis, especially as Kachin resistance …

Border trade stops as rain makes roads to Myawaddy impassable

Border trade with Thailand at the Myawaddy crossing in Karen State has almost completely stopped because the only open roads to Myawaddy have become impassable due to heavy rain.

The main paved road to Myawaddy is the Asia Highway from Kawkareik. Currently, this is closed due to heavy fighting and trucks transporting goods to and from the border have been forced to take alternative routes that involve driving along small unpaved mountain roads.

Foreign Affairs

Russia to build low-power NPP in Myanmar

The Government of the Russian Federation has approved a draft agreement on the basic principles of cooperation in the construction of a low-power nuclear power plant in Myanmar. Rosatom submitted the draft agreement, which was agreed upon with the Russian Foreign Ministry and other interested federal executive bodies. Myanmar also pre-developed the project.

INTERVIEW: EU Special Envoy for Myanmar discusses why Myanmar matters to the EU

EU Special Envoy for Myanmar Mr Igor Driesmans feels he is tasked with keeping Myanmar on the radar within the European Union and operating on the ground in Myanmar and the region.

In this exclusive interview with Mizzima, Mr Driesmans discusses why Myanmar and the ongoing crisis matter to the European Union.

General News

Myanmar Junta Arrests Thai Condo Buyers, Realtors as Currency Crashes

Myanmar’s junta is attempting to crack down on the sale and purchase of Thai condominiums inside Myanmar following reports that the Thai property market is rising on a Myanmar-fueled buying spree.

On Monday, junta officials arrested four people, and are pursuing a fifth, for illegal sales and purchases of Thai condos in Myanmar.

Protesters aim to stop work at Chinese copper mine in Myanmar

Hundreds of people in central Myanmar are protesting against operations at the Chinese-backed Letpadaung copper mine, saying revenue from it supports the junta.

Two Myanmar junta ministers resign

The Myanmar junta reports that Aung Naing Oo, Union Minister for Ministry (3) of the State Administration Council (SAC) Chairman’s Office, and Maung Maung Win, the junta’s Deputy Minister for Planning and Finance, have retired.

The SAC announced their retirements in a statement on 27 May. However, they have been dismissed.

Tin Oo, NLD founder with Aung San Suu Kyi, dies aged 97 in Myanmar

Former armed forces chief was imprisoned after failed revolt against junta and later campaigned with Nobel laureate under National League for Democracy banner

Tin Oo, one of the closest associates of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and co-founder with her of the National League for Democracy, has died at the age of 97.

Tin Oo died on Saturday morning at Yangon general hospital, said Moh Khan, a charity worker citing a family member. Charity workers in Myanmar handle funeral arrangements.

Military

Myanmar Coastal Commander Transferred to Naypyitaw After Battle Losses

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing this week rotated regional commanders in his latest reshuffle of the Myanmar military.

Coastal Region Commander Major-Gen Soe Min has been transferred to head Naypyitaw Command, replacing Major-General Saw Than Hlaing, who was shunted to the reserve force.

Myanmar Junta Jails General Over Kokang Defeat

Brigadier General Min Maung, who retreated from Kokang before it fell to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, has reportedly been jailed for 10 years.

Myanmar’s junta chief faces growing criticism over military failures: group

Unprecedented humiliating defeats for Myanmar’s military in its war against ethnic minority and pro-democracy insurgents are putting mounting pressure on junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who is facing widespread criticism and calls to step down, a think tank said in a report on Thursday.

Mass arrest in Myanmar’s Rakhine State ends in interrogations, beatings

Myanmar’s junta detained hundreds of villagers in Rakhine State, including children, over suspected links to ethnic minority insurgents and beat at least three people to death, residents told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.

The security sweep appeared aimed at preventing the Arakan Army insurgent force making more advances after a string of recent gains and stopping them from closing in on the state capital of Sittwe, residents said.