March 2022 - Myanmar Special Weapons News

For Myanmar's youth, college becomes another casualty of country's turmoil Radio Free Asia 31 Mar 2022 -- Security concerns led to a dramatic decline in the number of students who registered for the first university entrance exams in Myanmar since the military coup, sources said Thursday, citing ongoing unrest and armed conflict in the Southeast Asian nation.
New law brings Myanmar police under junta control Radio Free Asia 30 Mar 2022 -- A new law enacted this month in Myanmar brings the country's police force under the full control of the military, with expanded powers put in place to help quell resistance to junta rule, according to sources in the country.
United States Announces Additional Humanitarian Assistance at the Launch of the 2022 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in Bangladesh US Dept. of State 29 Mar 2022 -- "At the launch of the 2022 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in Bangladesh, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas announced more than $152 million in additional humanitarian assistance for those in Bangladesh, Burma, and elsewhere in the region affected by the Burmese military's genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing against Rohingya."
2022 Rohingya Joint Response Plan: UK statement UK FCDO 29 Mar 2022 -- The UK's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Simon Manley, delivered this statement during the 2022 Rohingya Joint Response Plan.
UNHCR and partners call for sustained funding and support for Rohingya refugees UNHCR 29 Mar 2022 -- As the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh is well advanced in its fifth year, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners are calling once more for robust and sustained international support for refugees and the Bangladeshi communities generously hosting them.
Response plan launched to support 1.4 million Rohingya and Bangladeshis UN News 29 Mar 2022 -- "Robust and sustained international support" is again needed for Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi communities generously hosting them, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.
Fighting in Myanmar's Kayin state drives thousands to Thai border Radio Free Asia 29 Mar 2022 -- Fighting between junta troops and ethnic Karen rebels in eastern Myanmar's Kayin state has forced more than 10,000 civilians to seek shelter along the country's shared border with Thailand, but Thai officials have refused entry to the refugees and aid workers warned Tuesday of a food shortage risk.
Military tribunals hand down harshest sentences to young adults for opposing junta Radio Free Asia 28 Mar 2022 -- Many of the 175 activists sentenced to death or long prison terms by the Myanmar junta's secret military courts operating inside the country's most notorious prison are between the ages of 23 and 27 — an apparent effort to undercut the youth activism driving the resistance to the country's military rulers — according to data compiled by RFA.
Myanmar ruler defiant, but observers see negotiations as only way to end turmoil Radio Free Asia 28 Mar 2022 -- Junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing vowed to crush the country's opposition in an address marking Armed Forces Day over the weekend, but the shadow government vowed to resist and observers said negotiation was the only answer to the current turmoil.
Joint Statement on Armed Forces Day in Myanmar US Dept. of State 26 Mar 2022 -- Following is a joint statement on Armed Forces Day in Myanmar issued by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union and the Foreign Ministers of Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Trucks backed up at Chinese borders in Myanmar and Laos due to COVID restrictions Radio Free Asia 25 Mar 2022 -- Long lines of trucks have formed at the Chinese borders of Laos and Myanmar, held up by China's restriction of imports in an effort to prevent more coronavirus outbreaks, sources in both Southeast Asian countries told RFA.
Conflict since coup pushes Myanmar's displaced to nearly 900,000 Radio Free Asia 25 Mar 2022 -- Widespread conflict since the military took control of Myanmar has increased the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to nearly 900,000, according to the United Nations, and aid workers say that worsening food shortages are pushing the country ever closer to the brink of a humanitarian disaster.
US Announces More Sanctions on Myanmar Military VOA 25 Mar 2022 -- The U.S. government Friday announced sanctions on five people and five entities connected to Myanmar's military.
United States and Allies Impose Additional Sanctions on the Burmese Military Regime US Dept. of State 25 Mar 2022 -- "As we approach one year since the horrific violence perpetrated by the Burmese military on Armed Forces Day 2021, in which more than 100 people were killed, the United States is imposing sanctions on five Burmese individuals and five entities in response to the regime's brutal crackdown against the people of Burma."
Treasury Sanctions Military Leaders, Military-Affiliated Cronies and Businesses, and a Military Unit Prior to Armed Forces Day in Burma US Treasury 25 Mar 2022 -- Today the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated five individuals and five entities connected to Burma's military regime pursuant to Executive Order (E.O) 14014. This action comes as the regime prepares to mark the 77th Armed Forces Day. The United States has concluded that the Burmese military committed genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing against Rohingya.
UK announces new sanctions against Myanmar military ahead of Myanmar Armed Forces Day UK FCDO 25 Mar 2022 -- UK sanctions announced ahead of Myanmar Armed Forces Day in coordination with allies.
'Press Freedom is Dead Already in Burma,' Journalist Says VOA 25 Mar 2022 -- All reporters in Myanmar are at risk of being jailed just for doing their job, says a veteran journalist now in exile.
ASEAN Envoy's Peace Attempts in Myanmar Fall Flat VOA 24 Mar 2022 -- Even though he claimed minor progress had been made, analysts say Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn achieved few tangible benefits in his visit to Myanmar this week as an Association of Southeast Asian Nations special envoy.
ASEAN envoy's one-sided engagement won't yield resolution, say observers Radio Free Asia 24 Mar 2022 -- ASEAN envoy Prak Sokhonn's one-sided engagement with the junta will never lead to a resolution of Myanmar's political crisis, analysts and politicians said Thursday after his first official visit to the country concluded without meeting key opposition leaders.
'Crimes against humanity' after Myanmar coup warrant ICC referral, new report finds Radio Free Asia 24 Mar 2022 -- In the six months after seizing power in a coup, Myanmar's military regime committed widespread and systematic crimes against humanity, according to a damning new report that identified dozens of junta officials it said should be investigated for their alleged roles in the atrocities.
Sinopharm kicks off joint-production of COVID-19 vaccine in Myanmar Global Times 23 Mar 2022 -- Chinese companies are making more efforts to help promote access to COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries. On Wednesday, major Chinese vaccine producer Sinopharm confirmed with the Global Times that production of its COVID-19 vaccine in Myanmar officially started under a cooperation project with a local partner and the authorities of the country.
The US has declared a Rohingya genocide. Does it matter? Radio Free Asia 23 Mar 2022 -- On 21 March 2022, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a formal determination that Myanmar's military committed genocide against the Rohingya population in 2017. He described the attacks as "widespread and systematic", "with a clear and premeditated intention to destroy the Rohingya population." This went beyond the U.S. government's previous findings that the military had committed ethnic cleansing in the process of driving over 740,000 Rohingya across the border into neighboring Bangladesh.
ASEAN envoy denied meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi by Myanmar's junta Radio Free Asia 23 Mar 2022 -- Myanmar's junta denied a request by ASEAN envoy Prak Sokhonn to meet with deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his three-day visit despite its pledge to grant him access to all political stakeholders, he said Wednesday.
US genocide designation seen as key step in accountability for Myanmar's junta Radio Free Asia 22 Mar 2022 -- Citizens of Myanmar on Tuesday applauded the Biden administration's recognition of their military's deadly 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya minority as a genocide but questioned its timing and whether it will lead to concrete action against the junta amid ongoing rights abuses in their country.
Rohingya Muslims Hail US Recognition of Genocide in Myanmar VOA 22 Mar 2022 -- Forced to flee ethnic and religious persecution in their own country, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are welcoming the formal recognition by the United States that Myanmar's military regime committed genocide against the Muslim minority.
Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum US Dept. of State 21 Mar 2022
US declares Myanmar's 2017 atrocities against Rohingya a 'genocide' Radio Free Asia 21 Mar 2022 -- The United States has declared as a genocide the Myanmar military's 2017 deadly crackdown against the Rohingya Muslim minority that killed thousands and forced an exodus to neighboring Bangladesh, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday.
US genocide declaration seen as a 'way forward' to justice for Rohingya Radio Free Asia 21 Mar 2022 -- Rights groups on Monday welcomed the U.S.'s declaration that the Myanmar military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya in 2017, but some advocates said the alleged perpetrators must actually be punished to deter more atrocities in the country.
UN Human Rights Council 49: UK statement for the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar UK FCDO 21 Mar 2022 -- The UK's Global Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered the UK statement on the human rights situation in Myanmar.
UN Human Rights Council 49: UK statement for the interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner's Report on Myanmar UK FCDO 21 Mar 2022 -- Ambassador Simon Manley, UK Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, delivered the UK's statement at the Human Rights Council on the situation in Myanmar. He strongly condemned the military regime's human rights violations, including against Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minorities.
Human rights in Myanmar face 'profound crisis' - Bachelet UN News 21 Mar 2022 -- The UN's top rights official said on Monday that amidst a "profound crisis" facing access to basic human rights in Myanmar following the coup in February last year, hundreds of localized armed resistance groups have now formed across the country, triggering "widespread violence in areas that were previously stable".
UN: Myanmar is in a State of Profound Humanitarian Crisis VOA 21 Mar 2022 -- In her report, the U.N. human rights chief presents a dismal picture of a country whose economy, security, freedoms, human rights, and future are systematically being destroyed. Thirteen months after a military coup overthrew Myanmar's democratically elected government, Michelle Bachelet says the human rights of the people are in profound crisis and the country is in total disarray.
US concludes atrocities against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims was genocide: Report Press TV 21 Mar 2022 -- The administration of US President Joe Biden will formally declare that the Myanmar military's atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority constituted genocide and crimes against humanity, according to a report.
Junta under pressure to restore access to electricity in Myanmar Radio Free Asia 19 Mar 2022 -- Scheduled cuts to Myanmar's shaky electricity supply over the past week to take pressure off the country's strained power grid have failed to remedy dire shortages, sources said Friday, as activists warned that the junta's failure to restore power distribution could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Local PDF leader confirms killing of 10 in Myanmar's Sagaing region Radio Free Asia 18 Mar 2022 -- The leader of an anti-junta paramilitary force in Myanmar's Sagaing region on Friday confirmed reports that his group had killed 10 people in a November incident and vowed to accept responsibility if an inquiry launched by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) finds him accountable.
UN Human Rights Council 49: UK statement for the dialogue on the involvement of the UN in the situation of human rights in Myanmar UK FCDO 18 Mar 2022 -- The UK's Global Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French delivered the statement thanking the Secretary General for his previous statements on the situation in Myanmar and welcoming the appointment of his new Special Envoy Dr Noeleen Heyzer.
Hundreds left homeless as junta razes Myanmar's slums Radio Free Asia 17 Mar 2022 -- Hundreds of people are homeless in Myanmar as the ruling junta razes city slums in a campaign it says is designed to strengthen the "rule of law" but an analyst said is likely a pretext to root out members of the armed resistance or secure lucrative land development deals for military officers.
Prison guards shoot 7 inmates dead in Myanmar's Sagaing region Radio Free Asia 17 Mar 2022 -- Authorities in Myanmar's Sagaing region killed seven inmates and injured a dozen others after using live ammunition to quell a "riot" at Kalay Prison on Tuesday, according to the junta. But sources say the deaths were likely the result of a violent crackdown on a protest over ill-treatment at the facility.
Reports of fake banknotes on the rise amid economic turmoil in Myanmar Radio Free Asia 17 Mar 2022 -- Reports of counterfeit banknotes circulating in Myanmar have skyrocketed in recent weeks amid the junta's mismanagement of the economy, but experts say the military regime is ill-equipped to address the problem because officials "only know how to give orders" but not implement them.
Myanmar military engaged in widespread abuses: UN human rights chief Press TV 16 Mar 2022 -- The UN rights chief says Myanmar's military has engaged in widespread human rights violations and abuses, calling on the international community to take concerted, immediate measures to stem the spiral of violence in the Southeast Asian country.
4 men arrested for Rohingya leader's killing claim to be ARSA members Radio Free Asia 16 Mar 2022 -- Four of 15 people arrested by Bangladesh police in recent months on suspicion of ties to the murder of Rohingya leader Muhib Ullah have confessed to the crime and say they belong to the ARSA insurgent group, police told BenarNews on Wednesday.
Urgent action needed to protect rights in Myanmar amid 'spiral of violence,' UN says Radio Free Asia 15 Mar 2022 -- More than a year after a coup, Myanmar is "caught in a downward spiral of violence," the U.N. Human Rights Office said in a report Tuesday, calling for urgent action to protect the freedom and livelihoods of those living under military rule in the Southeast Asian nation.
Myanmar: 'Appalling' violations demand 'unified and resolute international response' UN News 15 Mar 2022 -- Security forces in Myanmar have killed at least 1,600 people and detained more than 12,500, since the military coup last year, the UN rights office said on Tuesday.
Hardline monks tied to pro-junta militias in Myanmar's Sagaing region Radio Free Asia 14 Mar 2022 -- Ultranationalist Buddhist clergymen, including outspoken monk Wirathu, are throwing their support behind the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia in its fight against prodemocracy paramilitaries in Myanmar's Sagaing region, including by undergoing weapons training clad in saffron robes, residents said Monday.
Armed Resistance to Myanmar Junta Holding Firm Against Military Onslaught VOA 12 Mar 2022 -- The armed resistance to Myanmar's military regime that seized power from a democratically elected government over a year ago is holding firm against a wave of brutal offensives in recent months and may even be gaining strength, analysts say.
Illegal rare earth mining harms environment in Myanmar's Kachin state Radio Free Asia 10 Mar 2022 -- Unregulated mining of rare earth minerals in Myanmar's Kachin state for export to nearby China is irreparably damaging the environment, local watchdogs in the northern state told RFA.
Dozens burned to death in three regions amid junta scorched earth campaign Radio Free Asia 09 Mar 2022 -- Junta troops have burned more than five dozen civilians to death since the end of December in three regions of Myanmar where they have encountered heavy armed resistance to military rule, sources in the regions said Wednesday.
Myanmar troops kill 8 villagers during deadly week in Sagaing state Radio Free Asia 08 Mar 2022 -- Myanmar's military killed at least five elderly people, a mother, and her two young sons on Tuesday after shelling a village in Sagaing region's embattled Yinmabin township, sources said, marking a 10th day of troop raids in the area that have caused nearly two dozen civilian deaths.
Public anger grows in Myanmar over junta's power cuts Radio Free Asia 08 Mar 2022 -- Public anger is growing in Myanmar over cuts to electric power ordered by the country's military junta, with residents now stockpiling firewood and candles in what they call the worst power outage in over a decade.
Junta roadblocks leave 10,000 refugees at risk of starvation in Myanmar Radio Free Asia 08 Mar 2022 -- More than 10,000 refugees who fled clashes between junta troops and armed ethnic groups for the jungle along the border of Myanmar's Southern Shan and Kayah states are at risk of starvation because roads to the area have been shut down by the military, according to aid workers.
Defector pilot describes corruption, 'brainwashing' in Myanmar's Air Force Radio Free Asia 07 Mar 2022 -- Capt. Zay Thu Aung is an air force pilot who recently defected from a base in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw and joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) after relocating to an area controlled by one of the country's armed ethnic groups.
Indonesian police probe suspected smugglers' role in Rohingya arrival Radio Free Asia 07 Mar 2022 -- Indonesian authorities are investigating the possible role of a people smuggling ring in the weekend arrival of 114 Rohingya in the Aceh region after 25 days at sea, a police spokesman said Monday.
UN: Myanmar's Militias, Rebel Armies Ramping Up Drug Trade VOA 05 Mar 2022 -- Armed groups in Myanmar's far east, aligned both with and against the country's military are ramping up drug production to cash in amid the turmoil that has gripped the nation since its February 2021 coup, a United Nations official told VOA this week.
Myanmar junta claims of control dismissed as bid to 'save face' amid chaos Radio Free Asia 05 Mar 2022 -- Junta claims that the situation in Myanmar is "under control" couldn't be farther from the truth, residents and analysts said Friday, calling the comments part of a bid to "save face" in front of the global community as the nation crumbles.
Arms embargo on Myanmar's junta would reduce, but not end, civilian deaths: experts Radio Free Asia 04 Mar 2022 -- A weapons embargo against Myanmar's junta would likely reduce the number of civilians killed by security forces but observers and analysts disagree by how much, as many of the arms the military uses are produced inside the country.
Myanmar's farmers, driven to desperation, among fiercest anti-junta fighters Radio Free Asia 03 Mar 2022 -- Farmers in Myanmar's Magway and Sagaing regions have emerged as the fiercest fighters to military rule, after years of drought, a global pandemic, and the devastation wrought by pro-junta forces have left them, they say, with little left to lose.
Myanmar junta using social media to track its opponents Radio Free Asia 03 Mar 2022 -- Myanmar's military regime has turned to digital messaging accounts operated by nationalist supporters to target and track down opponents, more than a year after it seized control of the elected government of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, watchdog groups and political activists said.
Sanctions, corporate departures cut Myanmar's junta off from key energy revenue Radio Free Asia 01 Mar 2022 -- An exodus by international energy companies in response to concerns over repressive military rule in Myanmar, coupled with EU sanctions on a key junta-controlled oil and gas firm, is expected to reduce the regime's tax revenue to a trickle and threaten its grasp on power.
Rohingya optimistic over international prosecutor's trip to Bangladesh refugee camps Radio Free Asia 01 Mar 2022 -- Rohingya leaders in Bangladesh are expressing optimism about getting justice for alleged crimes against humanity committed in Myanmar's Rakhine state, after the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor wrapped up his first visit to refugee camps.

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March 2022 - Myanmar Special Weapons News