Burma is in a flux

The Manila Times

Akash Sahu
June 29, 2021

( COMMENTARY )

ART has a unique ability to transport the mind to the past, making it easier to draw inferences on current realities. The 1949 song 'Mere piya gye Rangoon' features popular Indian singer Shamshad Begum as a woman bewailing her husband, who has gone to Burma for better opportunities. It paints an early 20th century picture when hundreds of Indians flocked to the Burmese capital of Rangoon laden with economic potential. Europeans, Indians, Burmese and Chinese, sometimes with mixed ethnicities and plural religious faiths, thrived in the fast-growing city of Rangoon in a prospering Burma.

Commentary: Potential civil war in Myanmar - stakes are very high for Bangladesh

Dhaka Tribune

Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan

June 22nd, 2021

File photo: Demonstrators block a road during an anti-coup protest in Yangon on March 4, 2021 Reuters

Bangladesh will have to make sure that its border is strongly protected to stop insurgents and any Myanmar nationals from entering

On April 13, about two and half months after the military coup ousting the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned that Myanmar was heading towards a full-blown civil war like in Syria.

How Myanmar’s Military Chief Could Become President

The Irrawaddy
Commentary
By Kyaw Zwa Moe  
23 September 2019 

Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attends a military exercise in the Irrawaddy delta region on Feb. 3, 2018. / REUTERS

Have you ever entertained the notion that Myanmar’s military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, could be the president of the country after the 2020 election? No one should underestimate him, as politics here are more unpredictable than anywhere. Still, the possibility depends on at least one big “IF”.

The commander-in-chief could be the president, IF—as I said—the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), formed by the ex-military regime and still the key ally of the military, and its allied parties win 26 percent of the seats in the bicameral Union Parliament.

Commentary: Why Myanmar Must Develop an Identity of Inclusion

LION'S ROAR
BUDDHIST WISDOM FOR OUR TIME
lby Khin Mai Aung| February 28, 2019

Khin Mai Aung reports from the International Conference on Protection and Accountability in Burma, which called attention to the ongoing human rights violations against Rohingya muslims and other religious minorities in the Buddhist-majority country of Myanmar.

Khin Mai Aung (center) at the International Conference on Protection and Accountability in Burma.

On February 8 and 9, the Free Rohingya Coalition – a global advocacy group led by prominent Rohingya activists and allies – hosted the International Conference on Protection and Accountability in Burma (now called Myanmar) at Barnard College in New York City. The conference — at which I was an organizer and a speaker — sought to raise awareness about “the twofold need [for] protection and accountability” for the human rights of Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar. Scholars, lawyers, activists, and United Nations officials gathered at the convening to identify strategies to curb serious human rights violations in Myanmar, which include discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, jailing and intimidation of journalists, and other abuses.

Commentary: Did the Rohingya crisis snuff out foreign direct investments in Myanmar?

By Nehginpao Kipgen

 



The European Union is considering imposing sanctions which may debilitate the fragile Myanmar economy.

                          Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh. (Photo: AFP/Phyo Hein Kyaw)

NEW DELHI: This week, the Myanmar government opened a two-day investment summit in the country’s capital Naypyitaw which primarily aimed to drum up investment interest in the country. It showcased some 120 projects worth more than US$3 billion. The summit was attended, among others, by CEOs, diplomats and media personalities.