Current Events Related to Myanmar

Introduction & Analysis

This newsletter includes news articles from various media organizations published in the past week that address important issues regarding Myanmar.

ASEAN

Asean should be ready to help Myanmar, says Marcos

Asean should be ready to help Myanmar, says Marcos Inquirer.net

Asean could be ‘caught off guard’ if the Myanmar junta were to collapse

Asean could be ‘caught off guard’ if the Myanmar junta were to collapse South China Morning Post

Conflict

Anti-junta forces capture Myanmar border crossing gate

One of Myanmar’s powerful anti-junta armies has seized a key border gate from the military in a self-administered part of eastern Shan state, residents told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. Communist Party breakaway group the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army – or MNDAA – occupied the Yanlonkyaing (Yan Long Zhai) border trade gate in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone’s Laukkaing township on Monday.

KNU Captures Heavily-fortified Base Held by the Tatmadaw for Three Decades

The heavy fortifications of the base included pproximately 30 concrete trenches and housed a formidable force of around 120 soldiers. The joint resistance forces led by KNLA triumphed after two offensives lasting about 20 days. Dr. Aung Aung, the deputy chief of the Federal Force for Democracy (FFD) that fought with the KNLA, reported that …

The post KNU Captures Heavily-fortified Base Held by the Tatmadaw for Three Decades appeared first on Karen News.

Myanmar Ethnic Alliance Continues Gains, Despite China-Brokered Ceasefire

Myanmar Ethnic Alliance Continues Gains, Despite China-Brokered Ceasefire The Diplomat

Myanmar's ragtag rebels fire dynamite from catapults – and they're winning

Myanmar's ragtag rebels fire dynamite from catapults – and they're winning The Telegraph

Is Myanmar's Civil War Pushing the Country Toward Fragmentation?

Is Myanmar's Civil War Pushing the Country Toward Fragmentation? The Diplomat

Myanmar Military, Resistance Alliance Participate in China-Brokered Talks

Myanmar Military, Resistance Alliance Participate in China-Brokered Talks The Diplomat

Myanmar: Explosions occurred in several townships of Yangon Dec. 15-16

Myanmar: Explosions occurred in several townships of Yangon Dec. 15-16 Crisis24

Myanmar Junta Loses Town, Bases, About 100 Troops in Week of Resistance Attacks

The Irrawaddy’s latest roundup includes incidents in Shan State and Sagaing, Mandalay, Bago and Tanintharyi regions.

Arakan Army Claims Victories Over Myanmar Junta Across Rakhine State

The Arakan Army says regime strongholds are regularly falling, while junta troops round up large numbers of civilians.

Battle For Main Trade Zone on Myanmar’s Border With China Continues to Rage

Ta’ang National Liberation Army says the Brotherhood Alliance has been targeting the regime’s command center in Muse border trade zone since another regime base fell to the alliance on Nov. 26.

Loikaw Residents Flee Myanmar Junta Bombardments

The Karenni State capital, which is strategically located near Naypyitaw, is targeted by repeated junta shelling and airstrikes.

Civilians Targeted as Myanmar Junta Crumbles: Brotherhood Alliance

The rebel alliance says airstrikes and shelling attacks on civilians have increased as the regime becomes increasingly desperate.

Shelling kills 3, including a child, in Myanmar’s Mandalay region

Junta troops fired a shell at Mandalay division’s Tha Hpan Kaing village on Wednesday night, killing two women and a child, locals said. Following the battle, junta soldiers fired heavy weapons toward the War Lone Pyun village, but there were no reported injuries, residents told RFA Burmese.

Ethnic rebels seize dozens of military sites in Myanmar’s Rakhine and Chin states

The two ethnic offensives – and a third launched by the Karenni Army, Karenni National Defense Force, and anti-junta People’s Defense Force, or PDF, paramilitaries on Nov. 11 – are part of a much wider conflict that have seen ethnic armed organizations and the PDF capture 22 townships and military outposts in the past two months in Shan, Chin, Kayah, and Rakhine states, as well as Sagaing and Bago regions. One month into renewed hostilities between the military and ethnic rebels in western Myanmar’s Rakhine and neighboring Chin state, the Arakan Army claims to have seized dozens of junta camps, including major bases along the borders with India and Bangladesh.

Myanmar shadow govt claims hundreds of junta surrenders since end October

Myanmar shadow govt claims hundreds of junta surrenders since end October Radio Free Asia

Crime & Narcotics

7 Months Inside an Online Scam Labor Camp

A man was abducted by a Chinese gang and forced to work in a scam operation. He gathered financial information, photos and videos and shared the material with The New York Times.

15 suspected drug smugglers killed in clash with Thai soldiers near Myanmar border, officials say

15 suspected drug smugglers killed in clash with Thai soldiers near Myanmar border, officials say The Public's Radio

Laotians trafficked to Myanmar casino say they’re facing more punishment

Laotians trafficked to Myanmar casino say they’re facing more punishment Radio Free Asia

Thai police seize a record haul of 50 million methamphetamine tablets near border with Myanmar

Thai police seize a record haul of 50 million methamphetamine tablets near border with Myanmar The Associated Press

A Thai senator linked to a Myanmar tycoon is indicted for drug trafficking and money laundering

A Thai senator linked to a Myanmar tycoon is indicted for drug trafficking and money laundering Toronto Star

‘I feel trapped’: Rohingya girls forced into abusive marriages in Malaysia

‘I feel trapped’: Rohingya girls forced into abusive marriages in Malaysia South China Morning Post

Economy

Myanmar-China trade halted amid fierce fighting in Shan state

Trade across Myanmar’s shared border with China has ground to a halt amid a six-week offensive by ethnic rebels fighting junta troops in the country’s Shan state, according to merchants, causing an estimated loss of more than US$500 million in commerce. Myanmar exports agricultural goods to China through the Kyin San Kyawt border gate in Chinshwehaw that include corn, rice, rubber, black sesame, dried elephant foot yam, green gram and groundnuts, and imports cotton, raw plastic, machinery, chemical fertilizers and medicine.

Market Analysis Unit: Market Price Report - Southeast Myanmar (November 2023) - Myanmar

Market Analysis Unit: Market Price Report - Southeast Myanmar (November 2023) - Myanmar ReliefWeb

Lidl Will Discontinue Sourcing from Military-ruled Myanmar by 2025

Lidl Will Discontinue Sourcing from Military-ruled Myanmar by 2025 Sourcing Journal

Ethnic Issues

Shift in Dynamics: EAOs Capitalize on Military Decline

On December 4, the leader of the State Administration Council (SAC), Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, issued a call to the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to cease conflicts and begin political negotiations. Since it took power in a coup détat in 2021, the military has refrained from expressing willingness to engage in dialogue with groups […]

The post Shift in Dynamics: EAOs Capitalize on Military Decline appeared first on Shan Herald Agency for News.

Foreign Affairs

Myanmar travel advice

Myanmar travel advice GOV.UK

The Indian Ocean Is Witnessing a Surge in Russian Military Exercises

The Indian Ocean Is Witnessing a Surge in Russian Military Exercises The Diplomat

General News

Son raises alarm over Suu Kyi’s incommunicado detention in Myanmar

Son raises alarm over Suu Kyi’s incommunicado detention in Myanmar La Prensa Latina

Myanmar: Two journalists detained by military - FIP

Myanmar: Two journalists detained by military - FIP International Federation of Journalists

Humanitarian

In Myanmar, Accounts of Disappearances Create a Climate of Fear

The ruling military, which is struggling with recruitment, denies abducting young men and boys to fill its ranks. But five men say it happened to them.

Myanmar on ‘precipice of humanitarian crisis’ after military coup, UN warns

One-third of population need humanitarian aid, says United Nations as it seeks $1bn in donations One-third of the population of Myanmar, or more than 18 million people, require humanitarian aid, the United Nations warned as it seeks $1bn in donations next year to combat the need. The humanitarian situation in the south-east Asian country has worsened since the coup there nearly three years ago, the global body said. Continue reading...

‘Fighting is all around’: Myanmar faces deepening humanitarian crisis

‘Fighting is all around’: Myanmar faces deepening humanitarian crisis Al Jazeera English

Military

Myanmar Military Putting Jailed Deserters Back on Frontlines

Prison sources say around 200 jailed troops have been released on condition they serve in the armed forces for the rest of their sentences.

Myanmar Army Is in Peril but Their Capability Should Not Be Undermined

Myanmar Army Is in Peril but Their Capability Should Not Be Undermined The Geopolitics

Politics

Success of Myanmar’s Revolution Depends on Shared Vision of Federalism: NUG Foreign Minister

In Part 2 of an interview, Daw Zin Mar Aung says she is optimistic all anti-regime stakeholders have learned from the past and understand the need for unity.

United Nations

Here’s a Simple Test for UN Agencies Operating in Myanmar

Denying junta media reports of cooperation is easy, but would the UNFPA and other agencies pass this three-part accountability test?