News
- ASEAN foreign ministers call for Myanmar ceasefire amid escalating violenceThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers issued a statement on Thursday, expressing deep concern for the wellbeing of civilians in the border regions of Myanmar and Thailand. The statement specifically mentioned the areas of Myawaddy, Kayin State and Rakhine State, and urged an immediate ceasefire in the… Read more »
- UN Human Rights Council calls for aviation fuel embargo against MyanmarThe UN Human Rights Council adopted resolutions Thursday to call on UN member states to refrain from supplying jet fuel to the Myanmar military. The council also extended the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and Myanmar and the independent international fact-finding mission… Read more »
- Thailand activist expresses concerns about stateless children’s deportation to MyanmarNutchanart Boonkhong, a civil rights activist and founder of Baan Kru Naam Foundation, told Reuters in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that she was concerned for the safety of 19 stateless children from Myanmar, and worried that the government would deport them back to their home country despite the current… Read more »
- UN official warns of escalating violence in Myanmar against civilians by juntaUN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews warned on Wednesday that Myanmar’s ruling military junta escalated violence against civilians in response to resistance victories by pro-democracy and ethnic armed groups. He wrote last week that the junta escalated aerial attacks on villages, obstructed humanitarian aid and announced plans to conscript youths into… Read more »
- India deports first group of Myanmar nationals for alleged illegal entryIndia deported Friday the first batch of Myanmar nationals who are alleged to have entered India illegally. The deported nationals are reported to have entered India in the aftermath of the Myanmar military coup in 2021, which has caused an increase in violence in that country. Chief Minister of the… Read more »
- UN human rights chief urges international community to take ‘targeted action’ against Myanmar juntaUN High Commissioner of Human Rights Volker Türk urged world leaders on Friday to address the ongoing crisis in Myanmar. The country has been under the rule of a military junta since a February 2021 coup. In the Friday statement, Türk said that the country has since “morphed into a… Read more »
- Myanmar dispatch: military junta’s activation of new conscription law spreads fear among draft-age young womenMyanmar law students are reporting for JURIST on challenges to the rule of law in their country under the military junta that deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The 10th of February 2024 was a particularly dark day for the citizens of Myanmar. At… Read more »
- Committee to Protect Journalists calls for investigation into killing of Myanmar journalist Myat Thu TanThe Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called for the Myanmar government to investigate the killing of journalist Myat Thu Tan and prosecute the perpetrators. The journalist’s body was reportedly found buried in a bomb shelter in a Rakhine State military camp. His body, bearing signs of torture, was found along with… Read more »
- Bangladesh repatriates 330 Myanmar junta soldiersBangladesh border services repatriated 330 Myanmar refugees, primarily from Myanmar’s Army and Border Guard Police (BGP), and their family on Thursday. According to local reports, the majority—302 of the 330 refugees—were BGP servicemen. The return was mediated by a five-member BGP delegation led by Myanmar Ambassador U Aung Kyaw Moe.… Read more »
- Myanmar dispatch: military junta’s activation of compulsory military service law is a blow to Myanmar’s youth, and to its futureMyanmar law students are reporting for JURIST on challenges to the rule of law in their country under the military junta that deposed the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. On Saturday, 10 February 2024, the Myanmar military junta announced the enforcement of the People’s Military… Read more »
Commentary
- Youth Caught in the Crossfire: The Devastating Impact of Myanmar’s Conscription LawFor many of the world’s nations, domestic warfare is thought of as a thing of the past. Battlefields, mass killings, hostilities, guerrilla warfare, and wartime brutalities are little more than words in a textbook for much of the global population — a theoretical possibility that only currently affects distant populations.… Read more »
- The Uphill Road to Peace Negotiations in MyanmarOn February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military ousted the nation’s democratically elected government. Almost two years on, conflict continues to plague Myanmar and its citizens. In some parts of the country, a handful of groups have taken up arms. Most notably, the Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs), the People Defense Forces (PDF),… Read more »
- One Year After Military Coup, Myanmar Heads NowhereIt’s been one full year since Myanmar has come once again under military rule. Since the February 1, 2021 coup, the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian nation has attracted international media attention, but for the wrong reasons. The country, with a 60 million population of varied ethnicities, continues to witness public protests… Read more »
- Folly Redux?: The Deeper Meanings of a Second Trump PresidencyCredo quia absurdum. “I believe because it is absurd.” -Tertullian Macrocosm and Microcosm One thing is certain. If Donald J. Trump should decide to run again, various condemnations and justifications would instantly spring forth from absolutely every segment of the political spectrum. The deepest and truest explanations, however, would not… Read more »
- Right to Life Encompasses Non-refoulement: Indian High Court Advances Refugee PolicyIn Nandita Haksar v. State of Manipur, decided May 3, 2021, the High Court of Manipur (an Indian state that borders Myanmar) granted seven Myanmarese citizens who had illegally entered India without documentation permission to approach the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Office in Delhi. This decision came… Read more »
- International Sanctions Against Military Coups – Cure or Curse?On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military seized power in a coup following the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders. The military, in an announcement on the military-owned channel “Myawaddy,” declared that Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto civilian leader of the country, had… Read more »
- The Constitutional Fiction of Myanmar’s CoupConstitutions don’t always matter much in a coup. But the 2008 Constitution matters to Myanmar’s coup of 1 February. The military has created a constitutional fiction about the coup in a thin attempt to claim legality for its actions. I explain the legal disputes that the military claims are the… Read more »
- Will Myanmar Comply with Provisional Measures in Gambia v. Myanmar?Introduction On November 11, 2019 The Gambia submitted an application against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Myanmar had violated its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention). The representation made by The Gambia as a… Read more »
- Release of Suu Kyi only a small step toward Myanmar democracyPaul Copeland [Advisory Council, Canadian Friends of Burma]: "Although I practice law in the city of Toronto, for the last 22 years I have been involved with the democracy movement in Burma (also known as Myanmar). I have visited three... The post Release of Suu Kyi only a small step… Read more »