The electrified metal fence, topped with razor wire and cameras, has prompted criminals to seek out new destinations.
China’s new ‘mega fence’, seen here in Ha Giang, runs for more than 1,000km along its border with Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. [Courtesy of Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation]
Hanoi, Vietnam – When she arrived at her destination in Myanmar’s northern Shan state, expecting to start a new job, Diep* a 19-year-old Vietnamese woman, realised she had been trafficked.
Left in a locked room alone, she could hear other people but not see them. Armed men were guarding the house.
Civilians are being killed by Russian weapons just like in Ukraine, says special rapporteur Tom Andrews in call for global action
A man sits in front of a house destroyed by a Myanmar junta air strike. The UN special rapporteur for human rights there has called for an arms embargo. Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondentWed 15 Mar 2023 19.00 GMT
Myanmar is a “failing state” and the crisis is getting exponentially worse, a UN special rapporteur for the country has warned, urging countries to adopt the same unified resolve that followed the invasion of Ukraine.
“The same types of weapons that are killing Ukrainians are killing people in Myanmar,” Tom Andrews, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, told the Guardian in an interview, citing the supply of Russian weapons to the junta since the coup two years ago. The junta relies heavily on aircraft from China and Russia, and has increasingly resorted to airstrikes to attempt to quell determined resistance forces.
The international response to Myanmar has been inadequate and some countries are continuing to enable the junta’s atrocities, Andrews said, calling for an arms embargo.
Challenging the regime’s legitimacy at home and abroad, Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung, 45, has engaged with foreign governments and parliaments, international aid agencies and Myanmar’s many armed groups.
However, the elected lawmaker from the ousted National League for Democracy and winner of the 2012 International Women of Courage Award said international assistance is largely limited to moral support.
She exclusively tells The Irrawaddy about the importance of international support, including funding and arms, Myanmar’s friends and foes and how it receives different treatment from Ukraine.
It has been more than a year since the revolution against military rule was launched. We heard the revolution has received no assistance from foreign countries. Why is that?
It is mainly because the international community regards the crisis as a domestic issue if we compare it with the Ukraine war. It is widely believed that countries should not interfere in domestic affairs.
Yangon in February last year protests after the military coup.
cfr – The 2021 coup returned Myanmar to military rule and shattered hopes for democratic progress in a Southeast Asian country beset by decades of conflict and repressive regimes.
A protester holds an image of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during an anti-coup march in February 2021. Getty Images
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has suffered decades of repressive military rule, widespread poverty, and civil war with ethnic minority groups.
The transition away from full military rule starting in 2011 spurred hopes of democratic reforms. But the military maintained control over much of the government and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.
The military launched a coup in February 2021 and then cracked down on protests. The opposition formed a shadow government and fighting force, leading to a civil war and humanitarian crisis that could spill over Myanmar’s borders.
Thứ Hai, 10/4/2017, 09:25 (GMT+7) Người dân sống ở hai bên sông Irrawaddy sẽ bị ảnh hưởng nặng nề bởi dự án thủy điện. Ảnh: AFP
(TBKTSG) – Myitsone – dự án đập thủy điện lớn nhất của Trung Quốc tại Myanmar – đang có nguy cơ bị khai tử do vấp phải sự phản đối dữ dội từ người dân. Nhưng, đối với các nhà lãnh đạo Myanamar, nói “không” với Trung Quốc chẳng phải dễ dàng.
Tiến thoái lưỡng nan
Bà Daw Kaw Bu đã chờ đợi suốt sáu năm qua ngày trở về ngôi làng mà bà buộc phải chuyển đi để nhường chỗ cho đập thủy điện Myitsone. Con đập này đến nay đang được xây dựng dở dang và bị đình chỉ vì gây tranh cãi. Tiếp tục đọc “Myanmar đau đầu với đập thủy điện Trung Quốc”→
Local fishermen homes seen near Chinese pipe line project in Made island outside Kyaukphyu, Myanmar May 18, 2017. Picture taken on May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
09 Jun 2017 11:31AM (Updated: 09 Jun 2017 11:34AM)
KYAUK PYU, Myanmar: Days before the first supertanker carrying 140,000 tonnes of Chinese-bound crude oil arrived in Myanmar’s Kyauk Pyu port, local officials confiscated Nyein Aye’s fishing nets.
The 36-year-old fisherman was among hundreds banned from fishing a stretch of water near the entry point for a pipeline that pumps oil 770 km (480 miles) across Myanmar to southwest China and forms a crucial part of Beijing’s “Belt and Road” project to deepen its economic links with Asia and beyond. Tiếp tục đọc “China’s US$10b strategic project in Myanmar sparks local ire”→
NAYPYITAW, MYANMAR – China has shifted its position in a lengthy dispute with Myanmar over the building of a $3.6 billion dam, seven sources said, signaling its willingness to abandon the project in exchange for other economic and strategic opportunities in Myanmar.