Myanmar Junta Attacks School in Sagaing Region by Helicopter
The attack comes days after the start of the new school year amid intensifying airstrikes and shelling against nearby villages controlled by anti-regime forces, as the junta struggles to assert control in the area, which borders Chin state (RFA)
HRW Condemns Repatriation Plan for Rohingya Refugees
Human Rights Watch criticized a Bangladeshi pilot program to return 1,100 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar; the United Nations is investigating Myanmar’s alleged genocide of the Rohingya and has warned that conditions in the country are not right for their return (Al Jazeera)
UN: Junta Importing Arms From Variety of Countries Since Coup
China, India, Russia, Singapore, and Thailand were the top suppliers of more than $1 billion in arms and weapons-making materials purchased by Myanmar’s military since it took over the country in 2021, a UN report said (Nikkei)
Cyclone Mocha Hits Myanmar Coast
At least six people were reported dead after Cyclone Mocha made landfall yesterday (BBC)
Watchdog: Pattern of Excessive Violence By Junta
A new report by human rights group Myanmar Witness found that forces controlled by the country’s ruling military junta had been present in areas that were also the site of beheadings and other apparent atrocities (WaPo)
Ahead of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit today, the leaders of Indonesia and Singapore called for peace in Myanmar and condemned a recent attack on an ASEAN humanitarian convoy there (The Diplomat)
The two-day summit will take stock of the bloc’s progress to stem rising violence in Myanmar, where a government air strike last month killed some 170 people in what Human Rights Watch called a “likely war crime” (AFP)
ASEAN members will also discuss trade ties and territorial disputes in the South China Sea (Nikkei)
No deaths were reported from Sunday’s convoy attack, which Myanmar’s ruling military junta blamed on anti-government rebels (RFA)
ASEAN leaders have backed a five-point plan to bring peace to the country, but little progress has been made since Myanmar agreed to the plan two years ago (VOA)
Indonesia’s foreign minister said last week that she is conducting low-profile talks with multiple parties to the war to try to advance the plan (Reuters)
Tens of Thousands of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Protest for Repatriation
Refugees called to be sent back to Myanmar, where a brutal military crackdown caused many Rohingya to flee in 2017; communities in Bangladesh have grown more hostile to the refugees as international aid organizations have reduced their support, leaving refugee camps in harsh living conditions, Reuters reported (Reuters)
Indonesia Negotiating With Stakeholders In Search of Peace Breakthrough
Indonesia has conducted low-profile negotiations with all major factions involved in Myanmar’s civil war in an effort to broker peace, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told Reuters (Reuters)
China’s Foreign Minister Visits Myanmar
Foreign Minister Qin Gang touted the two countries’ “friendship” yesterday as he became the most senior Chinese official to visit Myanmar’s military leader; China is a major ally and arms supplier to Myanmar and has refused to condemn the country’s 2021 coup (Al Jazeera)
Chinese Foreign Minister Visits Myanmar Border
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang called for a crackdown on cross-border criminal activity during a rare visit to the two countries’ border region; since a military junta took control of Myanmar in 2021, opium production has reportedly risen in the country (AP)
India Hosts Talks on Reducing Myanmar Violence
Mid-level officials from Myanmar’s military regime attended the talks, which produced informal agreements including pledges to reduce violence on “all sides” of the country’s civil war and speed up humanitarian aid to the country (Nikkei)
The talks came days after meetings between military leadership and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (AP)
Ex–UN Chief Visits Myanmar
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to Myanmar yesterday on behalf of the Elders, a group of senior political figures who engage in global peacemaking and human rights initiatives; outside efforts to mediate peace in Myanmar following the country’s 2021 coup have so far been unsuccessful (AP)
Junta Releases 3,000 Prisoners For New Year
The ruling military regime said it released more than three thousand prisoners to mark the traditional New Year holiday, one week after it was criticized for an air strike that killed over one hundred civilians (Bloomberg)
ASEAN Condemns Myanmar Army Air Strike That Hit Village
Tuesday’s attack targeted a ceremony that Myanmar’s parallel government held for one of its militias, killing dozens of people; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has made little progress in its efforts to bring peace to Myanmar after the country’s 2021 coup (Al Jazeera)
Government Strike Targets Opposition Event, Kills At Least Fifty People
Local news outlets reported that at least fifty people, including some civilians, were killed by a government air strike that targeted an event attended by opponents of the country’s military regime (Reuters)
Thousands Flee Myanmar for Thailand
As fighting between Myanmar’s army and rebel forces has gotten worse, more than five thousand people have reportedly fled eastern Myanmar into Thailand, according to Thai media and officials (AP)
Myanmar Junta Dissolves Forty Political Parties Ahead of Elections
The junta said the parties failed to meet a registration deadline; one of the dissolved parties was the National League for Democracy of Myanmar’s former de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi (AP)
It had previously said it would not register because it viewed the elections as a sham (Nikkei)
Advocates Criticize Myanmar Plan to Repatriate Small Number of Rohingya
Advocates for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar criticized the country’s plan to repatriate only about one thousand Rohingya, saying it is a publicity move and that the country has a list of eight hundred thousand refugees who could be repatriated (Al Jazeera)
UN Expert Urges Sanctions Against Myanmar Junta
The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar urged the international community to organize coordinated sanctions to combat the country’s junta (Reuters)
The U.S. State Department is set to announce sanctions targeted at the junta’s revenue, according to an official (Reuters)
World’s Largest Refugee Camp on Track to Receive Only Half the Funds Needed This Year
UN and Bangladeshi officials attribute the drop in funding to donors directing money toward Ukraine and crises elsewhere instead of donating to the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh; the camp houses some one million Rohingya refugees (WaPo)
At least twenty-two people were shot dead at close range at a Buddhist monastery last week, a doctor’s report said; opponents of Myanmar’s military government have accused the army of massacring the victims (Reuters)
A government spokesperson said its forces clashed with rebels in the area but that no civilians were killed (CNN)
Myanmar Military, Rebels Trade Blame Over Massacre
A junta spokesperson blamed pro-democracy fighters and an ethnic minority militia for killing more than twenty civilians whose bodies were found in a village in the eastern state of Shan; the pro-democracy fighters blamed junta forces (AP)
New Malaysian Prime Minister Urges Stronger ASEAN Response on Myanmar
During a visit to the Philippines, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “should not remain silent” on the turmoil in Myanmar (Philstar)
Yesterday, he told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that ASEAN should consider new approaches to resolving Myanmar’s crisis (Nikkei)
United States Condemns Detention of Religious Leader
The U.S. condemned the Myanmar military authorities’ arrest and detention of the ethnic Kachin Christian leader Reverend Hkalam Samson (Reuters)
EU Imposes New Sanctions
The European Union imposed asset freezes and travel bans on sixteen individuals and entities in Myanmar, including the energy minister, influential business people, politicians, administrators, and high-ranking officers (Al Jazeera)
Law on Political Parties Constrains Opposition
The Myanmar junta’s new political parties law prohibits anyone previously convicted of a crime or serving a prison term from joining a political party; Human Rights Watch said the law would prevent leading members of the political opposition from running in upcoming elections, adding to concerns about the credibility of the vote (Human Rights Watch)