04:00 PM, 09 March 2021 News Briefing
U Zaw Myat Lin, in-charge of Su Vocational School in Shwe Pyi Thar, Yangon, died in custody after his organization was raided by the Coup d’état around 1 a.m this[…]
05 January 2021 News Briefing
As of 8 PM, 4 Jan, a total of 16,990 samples were tested and found 590 new cases and 16 deaths. MoHS has reported 126,935 confirmed cases including 110,200 discharged,[…]
Govt, military have ‘weaponised aid’, says rights group
The Burmese government and military are “weaponising” aid access in Kachin State, which could amount to war crimes, according to a new report released by Fortify Rights.
War, peace and protest in Kachin State
Amid an ongoing civil war in northern Burma, some are on a different “front lines,” of sorts — facing legal consequences for protesting the conflict, or otherwise working to bring an end to the fighting.
Third round of ‘Panglong’ peace talks begin
Negotiators gathered on Wednesday to kick off Burma’s latest round of high-level peace talks, ostensibly furthering a process that has bogged down amid ongoing conflict in the country’s border regions.
Aid workers concerned over ambitious plan to close IDP camps
The Burmese government is drawing up plans to shutter displacement camps across the country, but aid workers say food rations and sustainable security should be first on the priority list.
Anti-war protesters call on Suu Kyi to act against ‘violent’ police
Anti-war protesters on Wednesday urged government leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take action against police who this month broke up a peace rally and arrested them, and raised new concern about freedom of speech.
Kachin anti-war activists to appeal defamation suit: lawyer
Two Kachin youth activists facing criminal defamation charges after staging a protest calling for the evacuation to safety of civilians displaced by conflict in Kachin State will appeal to the regional court, seeking to have those charges dropped.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story News
Amid fears of conflict in Injangyang, Kachin State govt looks to intervene
The Kachin State government intends to begin the process of rescuing hundreds of civilians trapped in Injangyang Township by broader regional conflict, with the Burmese military blockading the road linking it to adjacent Myitkyina Township to the west.
Hundreds of CSOs decry arrest of anti-war protesters
Nearly 400 civil society organisations in Burma released a joint statement on Tuesday demanding the release of activists who were detained and are facing charges for their role in an anti-war protest in Yangon on May 12.
Kachin rebels deny involvement in attack that killed 19
“Unlike the TNLA, we were not involved in the assault,” the KIA spokesman said. “The accusation by the Burmese army is simply not true.”
Lead Story News Protest Yangon
Riot police break up anti-war protest in Yangon
Riot police in Yangon used batons on Saturday to break up a protest in support of victims of fighting in Burma’s northernmost Kachin State, arresting several of the organisers.
Insurgents in Burma kill 19 in attack near China border: official
Ethnic insurgents in Burma killed 19 people, including four members of the security forces, in a major attack near the main border gate with China early on Saturday, a government spokesman said.
Military orders Kachin IDPs to leave camps despite ongoing hostilities
Villagers displaced by conflict in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township have been ordered by the Burmese military to evacuate their makeshift camps and find lodgings with friends or relatives.
At odds with military in Kachin, minister supports new IDP camps ‘if necessary’
Although the Burmese military doesn’t want camps established for those recently displaced by clashes between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army, a cabinet official for the government has insisted that camps should be set up if necessary.
Left in limbo: Kachin IDPs face monsoon season dilemma
“Unless both sides stop fighting and allow these people to go home, [the Kachin IDPs] are facing a dire situation.”
Mass rally in Myitkyina for IDPs recently displaced by Kachin conflict
Thousands in Kachin State’s capital Myitkyina joined a rally on Monday demanding safe passage for displaced civilians trapped amid clashes between the Burmese military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
More Kachin villagers flee as clashes intensify
“Local villagers are simply too afraid to stay in homes close to the fighting, because they can hear and feel the constant blasts of heavy artillery fire.”
Conflict Kachin Lead Story News
Shelling of village sends hundreds more fleeing in Kachin
Clashes between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army around a village in Kachin State have sent more than 800 people fleeing in the latest bout of fighting to affect the region.
Military urges IDPs in Tanai to return home after recent fighting
The military has announced in Kachin State’s Tanai town that civilians who abandoned their homes to avoid clashes between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army must return, saying KIA forces had retreated from the affected villages in Tanai Township.
An estimated 2,000 Kachin villagers flee to jungle as clashes hit Tanai Township
The committee noted that a 22-year-old man was killed on 11 April and his father wounded when Burmese military aircraft attacked the area.
KIA warns miners in Tanai of impending guerrilla campaign
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has advised unlicensed gold and amber miners to vacate the sites of their operations as the ethnic armed group plans to launch guerrilla attacks against Burma’s armed forces in parts of Tanai Township from 10 April.
Coalition of ethnic armed groups ready to join Panglong summit, awaits invite
The Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee releases a statement reiterating the ethnic armed coalition’s intention to join the upcoming third iteration of the government-led 21st Century Panglong Conference, if the bloc is officially invited to do so.
Features IDPs Kachin Lead Story Video
At IDP camps in Kachin, footballers and future leaders
DVB’s “Doh Pyay Doh Myay” team finds hardship and hope in a Kachin State camp for those internally displaced by conflict.
Wa, Mongla groups ‘accept’ nationwide ceasefire accord: govt peacemaker
A member of the government’s Peace Commission says the United Wa State Army and the National Democratic Alliance Army, the latter also known as the “Mongla group,” accept the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, an accord that the two influential ethnic armed groups had previously spurned.
Kachin Lead Story Military News
Police open investigation after 2 Kachins found shot in head
Ministry of Home Affairs says the bodies had “penetration wounds on the left cheek” and the backs of their heads had “exploded”.
Bodies of two Kachin IDPs unearthed; military suspected of involvement in deaths
Burmese authorities on Friday visited a suspected shallow grave in the country’s north that residents said contained the bodies of two ethnic minority men who were detained by soldiers in January, a police officer and a community leader said.
Kachin Lead Story News Politics
Three Kachin political parties one step closer to merger
Three political parties staking their appeal on claims to represent the interests of the ethnic Kachin population in northern Burma are closer to a merger this week after they agreed on a rough policy platform and name for the combined political factions.
Muse Township bans medical treatment to wounded ethnic soldiers
How can we know when a patient comes in that he or she is an insurgent? Insurgents do not have the word, ‘insurgent’ written on their foreheads.”
Interview Kachin Lead Story News
Interviewing Khon Ja, the voice of Kachin
DVB sat down with Khon Ja to reflect on the year gone by and what the outlook for 2018 looks like in Kachin State.