Myanmar newsletter: news from the social movements and the left

Symposium on the Current Crisis in Myanmar: This Is What Impunity Looks Like – Myanmar's Coup Built on Years of Failed Accountability

On August 1, Myanmar's commander-in-chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, dressed in civilian clothes, made a televised speech six months to the day after leading a coup that thrust the country back under brutal military rule. Amid claims of establishing a multiparty democracy, the junta leader announced that his manufactured state of emergency, which has given rise to massive human rights abuses, would be extended until August 2023.
Later that day, Min Aung Hlaing appointed himself prime (...)

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Following coup, Myanmar's Indigenous vow to protect forests ‘until the end of the world' (commentary)

The Tanintharyi Region in southern Myanmar contains an expanse of rainforest, ocean, and mangroves where a range of wildlife – from tigers and elephants to tapirs – roam, and the Indigenous Karen people consider themselves stewards of this richness. In 2012, the Karen and the Myanmar military signed a ceasefire to end 70 years of war in their territory, allowing the Indigenous communities an opportunity to develop new institutions, campaigns, and programs to conserve their resources and (...)

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Elections in Russia: Outcome and Perspectives

Parliamentary elections were held in Russia on 17-19 September. They were accompanied by unprecedented fraud and intimidation. Despite all the efforts of grassroots activists, Vladimir Putin's “United Russia” party retained a constitutional majority in the State Duma (Russian parliament). This means that “United Russia” does not need to enter into a coalition with other parties to pass the laws the regime needs. The Russian people expect another 5 years of intensified state repression and the (...)

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Myanmar needs a ‘do no harm' solidarity-based approach to humanitarian aid

[7 September 2021] Donors and international humanitarian organizations must ensure conflict sensitivity and employ a ‘do no harm' solidarity-based approach to provision of humanitarian aid in Myanmar said 10 organizations. Aid must be sensitive to human rights protection and provided through cross-border channels, local humanitarian and medical networks, ethnic health and aid providers, community-based and civil society organizations, said the groups.
“It is not the moral mountaintop to (...)

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With The UNSC's Failure, Myanmar's ‘People's Defensive War' Is Inevitable

“It is not for outside people to tell the people of Myanmar who are bearing the brunt of unspeakable violence whether or not to resort to armed resistance, especially when the UN and ASEAN have been so ineffective.”
On 7 September, the National Unity Government (NUG) declared its ‘people's defensive war' against the military junta, signalling to the various resistance organizations around the country, as well as the public at large, to join hands and support armed resistance to the bloody (...)

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Myanmar – ‘A tough 100 days' : Family of Frontier journalist calls for his release

Frontier managing editor Danny Fenster has been held in Yangon's Insein Prison since his May 24 arrest, and is believed to have contracted COVID-19 while in detention.
The family of US journalist Danny Fenster appealed on August 31 for his release by Myanmar authorities as they marked his 100th day of imprisonment by the military regime.
Fenster is believed to have contracted COVID-19 during his detention, family members said during a conference call with American journalists.
He appeared (...)

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Magway Region (Myanmar): Armed resistance replaces anti-coup protests in Pauk township

Pauk Township has emerged as a stronghold of armed resistance in Magway Region, with two local militias inflicting dozens of Tatmadaw casualties and preparing for expanded conflict.
On February 8, residents of Pauk in Magway Region began gathering each day at an abandoned airstrip just outside town. After waiting for residents of nearby villages to arrive, they would march through the streets of Pauk, protesting against the military coup and calling for the restoration of democracy.
One (...)

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‘A threat to the revolution': Pyusawhti returns to post-coup Myanmar

A network of hardline, pro-military groups known as Pyusawhti is doing its best to spread terror among the population as it fights a dirty war against the democratic forces resisting the coup.
At about 10:30pm on June 6, two men on a motorbike entered Tha Pyay Thar Road in Yangon's Mayangone Township and threw what witnesses said were Molotov cocktails at a primary school before disappearing into the night.
The arson attack occurred after the junta-imposed curfew took effect at 10pm and, (...)

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Burma/Myanmar: Finding fault lines within the Tatmadaw (the army)

A split in the Tatmadaw has been unlikely since its founding in 1962, but a steady increase in defections and desertions since the coup amid plunging morale has some questioning whether unity can be maintained within the nation's most powerful institution.
The National Unity Government's recent declaration of a “people's defensive war” against the Tatmadaw has increased concerns about imminent large-scale armed conflict in the country. This conflict would pit one of the largest militaries in (...)

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Myanmar – ‘Workers have lost all their rights': Coup and Covid third wave leave factory workers at risk

Some factory owners have been accused of exploiting and failing to protect their employees during the latest COVID-19 outbreak, and with unions lying low since the coup, workers are unable to seek redress.
Ko Aung Min Thein began suffering from a headache and muscle aches in the second week of July, and three days later he lost his sense of smell. It was around this time that he began to notice that many of his coworkers at an instant noodle factory in Yangon also had COVID-19 symptoms. (...)

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