Articles

SNLD lawmaker Sai Thiha Kyaw shares his thoughts on what the NLD government could achieve for Shan State and what issues he will address. NAYPYITAW (Myanmar Now) – Sai Thiha Kyaw is a two-term lawmaker in the Lower House representing Mongyai Township in northern Shan State. He became an MP in 2011 as a member of Shan Nationalities Democratic Party…

Saw Beebe, lies flat on his stomach on the family’s wooden floor, and for the last two years that is how he has spent most of his time looking at his now restricted world. He misses going outside and all the childhood activities that his illness now denies him. Saw Beebe, now 9, like most children enjoyed going to school…

In an effort to unify both the signatories and non-signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement the leaders of the ethnic armed groups met last week in Chaing Mai, Thailand. The groups met in the hope of finding unity before beginning negotiations with the newly elected National League of Democracy government. The ethnic armed group’s summit was held from 24th to…

A report by Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian organisation, has found evidence of opium growing in areas of Chin State, Burma’s Westernmost State. Chin State is one of Burma’s poorest states and is not known as an area for large opium production, which is more closely associated with Eastern Shan and Kachin States, that form part of the notorious ‘Golden…

A four-year-long state of emergency has been lifted in Arakan State the day before Burma’s new government took power, leading to calls for restrictions on ethnic Rohingya to also be lifted. On 29 March 2016, the last day of President U Thein Sein’s administration, emergency rule was lifted from Arakan State which had been the site of inter-communal violence between…

YANGON (Myanmar Now) – Shortly after newly elected President Htin Kyaw completed a swearing-in ceremony in Myanmar’s parliament on Wednesday morning, the country’s new leader, a ‘proxy’ of National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, headed to the Presidential Residence in Naypyitaw. In its stately diplomatic hall, Htin Kyaw met outgoing President Thein Sein. An aired video recording…

Mi Kayin villagers in Hpa-an Township held a prayer service for the protection of their land and natural resources threatened by the proposed cement plant on March 29, 2016. The villagers gathered at the base of Mi Kayin Mountain for the public prayer service after a recently revived proposal to develop a limestone quarry and cement factory near their village.…

The new government will have to address numerous junta-era land grabs, such as in Ayeyawaddy Region’s Pantanaw Township where hundreds of farmers lost land. PANTANAW, Ayeyarwady Region (Myanmar Now) – As darkness fell in Khanwebo on the night of February 3, a sudden ruckus erupted when dozens of policemen entered the coastal village in Ayeyarwady Region. They were looking for…

YANGON (Myanmar Now) – Ethnic leaders and armed group representatives have welcomed last week’s appointment of Htin Kyaw as president of the National League for Democracy government, with some voicing confidence in his government’s abilities to revive Myanmar’s stalled peace process. “Although Aung San Suu Kyi is not the president, she will be able to work harmoniously with the president.…

A human rights organization, Fortify Rights, based in South East Asia has called upon the US Department of State to assign Burma a ‘Tier-3’ ranking on its upcoming Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. Burma is currently ranked as a Tier-2 country on the US Department of State watch list. Fortify Rights said that TIP rankings should be “objective and based…