At least five killed as Myanmar protests aim to 'shake the world'

THE STRAITS TIMES

MAY 3, 2021 Several protesters were killed on Sunday, media reported, after Myanmar security forces opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days, which organisers said would "shake the world with the voice of Myanmar people's unity."

YANGON • Myanmar security forces opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days, killing at least five people, the media reported, three months after a coup plunged the country into crisis.

The protests yesterday, after a spell of dwindling crowds and what appeared to be more restraint by the security forces, were coordinated with demonstrations in Myanmar communities around the world to mark what organisers called "the global Myanmar spring revolution".

"Shake the world with the voice of Myanmar people's unity," the organisers said in a statement.

Myanmar ethnic divisions soften after coup

Bangkok Post

WRITER: BY HANNAH BEECH, NEW YORK TIMES
PUBLISHED : 1 MAY 2021 

University students take part in a march against the military coup in Yangon on April 11. (New York Times Photo)

The Myanmar military’s disinformation was crude but effective.

Army propagandists claimed an ethnic group called the Rohingya was burning down its own villages and wanted to swamp Buddhist-majority Myanmar with Islamic hordes. The Rohingya were spinning tall tales, the military said in 2017, about soldiers committing mass rape and murder.

The truth — that troops were waging genocidal operations against Myanmar’s ethnic minorities — was perhaps too shocking for some members of the country’s Bamar ethnic majority to contemplate.

Inside the underground network smuggling ‘celebrities’ out of Myanmar

The Sydeny Morning Herald
By Chris Barrett
May 1, 2021 —

Singapore: It’s post-coup Myanmar’s version of the Underground Railroad, the network of people and routes that in the 19th century helped some African-Americans escape from slavery.

An ad hoc, multi-faceted support system stretching from the cities to the mountains and jungle of Myanmar’s borderlands that has assisted prominent and high-value “targets” of the south-east Asian nation’s military regime flee a reign of terror that has claimed more than 750 lives.

A police officer who fled Myanmar following the military coup is photographed by the AP at undisclosed location bordering Myanmar in March.CREDIT:AP

That is how it is described by David Eubank, a former US Special Forces soldier and an ordained minister who has run the humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers in Myanmar’s conflict regions for 25 years.

Bangladesh, Indonesia for early signing of PTA

UNB NEWS

DHAKA
PUBLISH- APRIL 29, 2021,

Bangladesh and Indonesia on Thursday stressed early signing of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) within the ambit of which potential export items from both countries would be allowed to enter duty free.

The two countries agreed to complete the signing of pending MoUs and agreements on a fast-track basis, pursue sector specific agenda and do the needful to expand the volume of bilateral trade and investment.

30 years on, Myanmar crisis puts Asian-style democracy to test

NIKKEI ASIA

TORU TAKAHASHI, Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Headquarters for Asia
April 30, 2021 

Big ASEAN players modify noninterference policy as times change at home

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, center, and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi, right, make their way to the ASEAN leaders meeting in the secretariat building in Jakarta on April 24. © Reuters

BANGKOK -- The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Jakarta on April 24 to grapple with the aftermath of the coup in Myanmar. After the meeting, Brunei issued a chairman's statement, saying the leaders had reached "consensus" on such matters as an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, the sending of the ASEAN chairman's special envoy and the start of constructive dialogue among all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.

The leaders meeting was extraordinary in every way.

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: “In Accordance with the Law” – How the Military Perverts Rule of Law to Oppress Civilians

JUST SECURITY
by Pwint Htun
April 28, 2021

(Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the Feb. 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar. The series brings together local and expert voices on the coup and its broader context. The series is a collaboration between Just Security and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School).

“When protestors refuse to listen to our orders to disperse, we shoot at the protestors in accordance with the law.”

These are the chilling words of a Tatmadaw soldier. Unfortunately, they are not isolated ones, and they show how the idea of “law” has been perverted to justify both the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup and the deplorable violence that has followed. The word “law” (or “upaday” in Burmese) has long been a tenuous concept in Myanmar. After decades living under a military dictatorship, in which laws were used as tools of oppression and could change at the whim of those in power, the people of Myanmar have, understandably, little trust in law. The recent actions of Min Aung Hlaing and the current junta have only further affirmed this perception. The concept of law and the related idea of the rule of law have been warped and manipulated by soldiers and police officers, many of whom believe they are enforcing the “law” to uphold order when they crack down on protests against the coup.

Understanding the relations between Myanmar and China

ORF

OBSERVER REACHER FOUNDATION

SUMANTH SAMSANI

APR 26 2021

The relations between Myanmar and China have been a roller coaster ever since Myanmar became one of the first non-communist countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China in 1949. But things began to change in the late 1980s when Myanmar faced increased western-led economic sanctions after a coup in 1988 and shortly after it, Myanmar introduced a number of economic reforms. It was under these conditions that the China–Myanmar relations started gaining momentum.

In terms of bilateral trade, China is the largest trading partner of Myanmar. China occupies the largest share in both imports and exports of Myanmar. According to data from 2019, the bilateral trade stands at about USD 12 billion out of the approximately USD 36 billion trade it conducts in total that roughly amounts to 1/3rd of the total. In 2019, China occupied a 31.7 % share in its exports and a 34.7 % share in its imports far ahead of any other country including India which doesn’t even break into the top 5 in either category despite sharing a lengthy land border. Since 2001, Myanmar imports its largest share of goods from China. Imports from China mainly consist of machinery, metal products, vehicles, and telecommunication equipment.

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: Echoes of the Past, Crises of the Moment, Visions of the Future

JUST SECURITY
by Emily Ray and Tyler Giannini
April 26, 2021

Editor’s Note: This article introduces a Just Security series on the Feb. 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar. The series will bring together local and expert voices on the coup and its broader context. The series is a collaboration between Just Security and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School).

On Feb. 1, 2021, the Myanmar military – the Tatmadaw – shattered the all too brief effort to transition to democracy in Myanmar. Over the past two and a half months, the Tatmadaw has continued its illegitimate effort to undermine the democratic elections from last year and prevent the elected government from taking power. In the face of mass popular opposition and international condemnation, the military has only escalated its use of violence against its own population – systematically stripping away rights and violently attacking protestors and dissidents, reportedly killing over 700 civilians as of Apr. 20, 2021, and detaining more than 3,000.

After A Deadly Fire, A Somber Ramadan For Rohingya Children

Forbes

Sarah Ferguson
Brand Contributor
UNICEF USA

UNICEF is on the ground assisting Rohingya families devastated by a blaze that swept through four refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

On March 23, 2021, Sharifa holds her infant nephew in her arms as they stand in front of shelters destroyed by a massive fire in the Balukhali area of the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. © UNICEF/UN0431933/MOHSI

The embers were still burning in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh as UNICEF teams rushed to help children and families after a devastating fire swept through four Rohingya refugee camps on March 22, 2021.

UNICEF staff and community volunteers immediately began working to reunite separated children with their families and to support relocation efforts for families whose shelters had been destroyed. The fire is believed to have killed at least 11 people, including 3 children. An estimated 50,000 people — half of them children — were left homeless by the blaze.

She fled home to escape violence. Now she's been lost at sea for two months

CNN

By Priyali Sur and Rebecca Wright, 
April 27, 2021

(CNN)Noor Kayas fled the refugee camp without telling anyone at home.

At sea the next morning, the teenager used a satellite phone to call her mother, Gule Jaan, 43, to say she was heading for Malaysia on a small wooden boat, packed with 87 Rohingya refugees, including 65 women and girls.

Some were fleeing what their families say is the increased risk of sexual assault and rape during the pandemic in the sprawling refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh, home to more than 1 million displaced people.

Chittagong port turns 134

Financial Express

NAZIMUDDIN SHYAMOL
April 25, 2021

CHATTOGRAM: The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) turns 134 on Sunday. Like last year, the port will observe its founding in a simple manner tomorrow as the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic is lashing the country since early this year.

The history of Chittagong Port, one of the oldest natural ports in the subcontinent, dates back to the 4th century BC, the area was called 'Shetgang' where Arab, Chinese, European and Turkish traders settled.

The Chittagong area, which is now Chattogram, has been a recorded seaport since the 4th century BC.

The women of Myanmar: ‘Our place is in the revolution’

Aljazeera

Umayma Khan
25 Apr 2021

Some 60 percent of protesters against the military coup are women who fear their hard-won rights hang in the balance.

Protesters against the military coup in Myanmar are surrounded by women’s clothes which have been hung in the streets to keep soldiers and police away [Stringer/Anadolu]

Every day at sunrise, Daisy* and her sisters set out to spend several hours in the heat cleaning debris from the previous day’s protests off the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.

Protests have erupted around the country since the military seized control of the government after arresting democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on February 1, and declared a year-long state of emergency.

The People of Myanmar Have Rejected the Generals. ASEAN and the World Must Do so as Well

TIME

BY ALEX AUNG KHANT
APRIL 23, 2021

A poster showing de-facto leader of Myanmar's military government, General Min Aung Hlaing, is torn in half on railings outside the country's embassy, on 8th April 2021, in London, England.

Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images

Myanmar’s political turmoil started much earlier than the coup d’ état that took place on Feb. 1. For the past ten years, the military has put on a grand show of relinquishing its power, and certainly appeared to do so when Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections five years ago. But all of that was merely superficial, as the military-drafted Constitution of 2008 reserved a quarter of parliamentary seats for military officers, and gave the generals control of three key ministries—Defense, Border Affairs and Home Affairs.

Myanmar’s genocidal military is still a friend to Israel

+972 MAGAZINE

By Eitay Mack 

April 23, 2021

Public pressure has forced Israel to halt arms sales to the brutal military junta, but the state’s political support remains strong.

Myanmar's military marches in a parade in the city of Naypyidaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. (Mil.ru/CC BY 4.0)

The message that the world was silent during the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust is routinely cited by the State of Israel and its Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. And yet, Israel itself is complicit in silence surrounding a present-day atrocity: the crimes committed by the Myanmar military junta, which Israel is supporting with weapons, training, and political backing. Although legal, media, and public pressure has forced some change in Israel’s defense export policy to Myanmar, political support for the junta has remained strong.

Why India is struggling to respond to Myanmar crisis

THE WEEK

By Mandira Nayar 

May 02, 2021

The nights have been endless in the Rohingya camp in Delhi since the Myanmarese military overthrew the country’s democratically-elected government on February 1. Watching the images of the violence on their tiny phone screens, the 360 residents in the camp testify that their decision to flee their home was justified. “The world never believed the Rohingyas,’’ said a young man who left Myanmar nine years ago. “Now, the truth is out for everyone to see.”

Do or die moment for ASEAN in Myanmar

ASIA TIMES
By NILE BOWIE

APRIL 23, 2021

Bloc's extraordinary Myanmar crisis meeting on April 24 could be the last diplomatic chance to prevent a regional catastrophe

Milk Tea Alliance Indonesia in action during Solidarity for the Myanmar People in front of the ASEAN Secretariat building in Jakarta on March 12,2021. Photo: DasrilRoszandi / NurPhoto via AFP

SINGAPORE – When Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders meet in Jakarta to discuss the worsening political crisis in Myanmar on April 24, it will mark the first time that the regional organization holds a highest-level meeting to address a specific situation of concern involving one of its members.

Non-interference in domestic affairs has traditionally been one of ASEAN’s basic operating principles, along with decision-making by consensus. As such, Saturday’s summit is seen as a test of the grouping’s code of constraint as regional leaders find themselves under mounting pressure to engineer a workable, face-saving resolution before the crisis spirals further out of control.

ASEAN Won’t Save Myanmar

FP

BY OREN SAMET |

APRIL 23, 2021,

The organization isn’t designed to solve problems—particularly not one as thorny as the post-coup unrest in Myanmar.

Protesters take part in a candlelight demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on April 3. STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Ever since Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, staged a coup against the country’s civilian government on Feb. 1, leading to a seemingly irrepressible popular uprising, foreign-policy experts have continued to search for potential international solutions to the deteriorating situation. With major Western powers like the United States possessing limited leverage over the Tatmadaw, and China and Russia stymieing a robust response at the international level, many have looked to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to play a more significant role.

A light for Myanmar's darkness

csmonitor

By the Monitor's Editorial Board

April 22, 2021

Democrats still free after a military coup have set up an alternative government, relying on the attraction of liberty and rights more than resistance to a violent regime.

 Support of a new, democratic government in Myanmar known as the " National Unity Government"  or NUG, celebrate with balloons in Yangon, April 17.

The dictator of Myanmar, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, is set to meet with other leaders of Southeast Asia on Saturday in Indonesia. The gathering may be the only place where the man who led a Feb. 1 coup against an elected government might feel some legitimacy. Most of the region is run by autocrats.

His trip to faraway Jakarta is revealing in how quickly the people of Myanmar have rushed to set up a parallel government, one rooted not in the power of guns but in an unprecedented unity in guaranteeing equal rights for all citizens, including ethnic minorities.

Myanmar Issue: ‘Business as usual approach’ won’t do

The Daily Star

Diplomatic Correspondent

April 22, 2021

Says Shahriar Alam about int’l community

The business as usual approach of the international community has encouraged Myanmar to flout the decisions of international mechanisms and continue mass atrocities on ethnic minorities with a greater sense of impunity, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam.

He said despite allegations of genocide against Myanmar, many of the countries increased their bilateral trade, investment, and development assistance to the Southeast Asian country, which is now in deep crisis following the military coup in February, nearly four years after a military crackdown caused an influx of 750,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh.

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Chevron Lobbies U.S. Officials to Protect its Energy Interests in Myanmar, as Sanctions Pressure Rises

Richard Valdmanis
April 22, 2021

Chevron’s affiliate in Myanmar, Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co. Ltd. (UMOCL), has a 28.3 percent ownership interest in a production sharing contract (PSC) for the production of natural gas from the Yadana, Badamyar and Sein fields, within Blocks M5 and M6, in the Andaman Sea Photo: Yadana Platform / File Photo: Total - Photographer: GLADIEU STEPHAN

U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp lobbied lawmakers and government officials to protect its energy interests in Myanmar during the first quarter, as the administration of President Joe Biden comes under pressure to impose sanctions against the south Asian country’s military junta, according to federal disclosures.

Chevron is among a handful of international oil and gas companies with big stakes in Myanmar’s energy riches, which have become a crucial source of revenue for military rulers who seized power in February and imposed a bloody crackdown on political protests.