Myanmar’s rivals compete to win over young hearts and minds

Both sides in Myanmar’s civil war are trying to win over young people, offering opportunities in education to the third of the population who have faced disruption and disappointment since a 2021 military coup triggered bloody turmoil. Myanmar society, strictly regimented over decades of military rule, went through an unprecedented opening up from 2011, with young people, especially in towns and cities, plugging into the world via social media as civilian politicians looked to a more prosperous, stable future. But the coup shattered those hopes and young people were at the forefront of nationwide protests against the military takeover that the army crushed. Now the junta, struggling with an economy in crisis, is trying to win back the disaffected youth, promising eight new universities across the country to “nurture science and technological human resources,” state-run media reported this week. “It is necessary to organize youths to play a crucial role in digital transformation and meeting the sustainable development goals,” the junta leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told an event marking International Youth Day on Aug. 12. Myanmar possesses “a massive workable force of youths” who make up 33% of the population, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Min Aung Hlaing as saying. The new polytechnic universities, to open through 2024 and 2025, would encourage research, “beefing up science, technology and innovation,” as well as “nurturing science and technological human resources,” the newspaper added. University students across the country boycotted classes after the coup as part of their protest against military rule. The junta later reopened at least 250 universities and training colleges but those institutions had lost 90% of their students by early this year, according to statistics from the junta’s education department. With their dreams shattered, and a military regime looking to draft young people into its embattled army, many young people have left the country to places like Thailand, hoping to find work or continue their education. The junta has responded to the exodus with travel restrictions, preventing young people from leaving by air and creating new bureaucratic hurdles for prospective overseas workers and students.   ‘Nourish the skills’ Myanmar’s civilian shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, which opposes the junta, says it sees education as key to ending military rule once and for all and fulfilling the dream of a democratic Myanmar. The NUG said on Wednesday it had opened 21 online and in-person universities, in addition to an existing 16 educational institutions it already supported, attracting more than 20,000 students. “The purpose of vocational education is to contribute to the future federal, democratic Myanmar where we would work to nourish the skills of the public,” the NUG’s deputy minister of education, Sai Khaing Myo Tun, told an online press conference.  Colleges have been opened in areas under the control of anti-junta insurgent forces, offering degrees in the social sciences, political science, teacher education, arts and sciences degrees, he said. “Educational access for many students has been improved.” Editing by Taejun Kang

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China top diplomat meets Myanmar leader, junta denies coup rumors

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Myanmar ruler Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Wednesday and highlighted Beijing’s continued support for the military regime, even as the junta had to dispel rumors of a coup. Pro-junta media reported that the two men held a closed-door meeting in the capital Naypyidaw during which Wang expressed China’s hope for Myanmar’s stability and development, expressed appreciation for Myanmar’s continued endorsement of China’s claim to sovereignty over the democratic island of Taiwan, and pledged China’s steadfast support in international forums. The meeting came amid calls from junta supporters for the removal of Min Aung Hlaing over his failure to eliminate the armed opposition and rumors circulating on social media that he had been deposed by a fellow general, which the military regime’s True News Information Team denied. During Wednesday’s talks, Wang emphasized the need for all stakeholders to be represented in an election that the junta has promised for next year, but which critics say will be an illegitimate sham. Wang also offered China’s assistance with election-related matters and technical support for a census in preparation for the vote, media reports said. Myanmar’s military ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in early 2021, jailing her and hundreds of party colleagues and supporters, dissolving her party and banning other parties. The coup touched off a nationwide civil war as the junta sought to cement its control, pitting it against various paramilitary groups and ethnic armies on multiple fronts in the country’s remote border regions. The junta has promised to hold elections but critics say a vote would be meaningless with Suu Kyi and so many pro-democracy politicians and activists behind bars. At Wednesday’s meeting, Wang expressed Beijing’s opposition to attacks by ethnic armed groups on towns and villages in northern Shan state, which borders China. Junta officials responded by saying that Myanmar would not permit any actions that could harm China’s interests and is placing special attention on China’s stability, development and security, reports said. Beijing has not released any information regarding the meeting or discussions with the junta and details of Wang’s statement were not carried by pro-junta media. ‘Push for broad dialogue’ Speaking to RFA Burmese, Kyaw Zaw, the spokesperson for the presidential office of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, suggested that “China’s statements were misrepresented by the junta” to align with its interests and stabilize the border region. “The Chinese Embassy has also issued a statement [ahead of the meeting],” he said. “Their primary concern seems to be the border areas of Shan state and aiming to halt the fighting in Myanmar – particularly due to fears about the impact on their own border regions.” Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for his response to the NUG’s claims went unanswered Wednesday. In this Kokang online media provided photo, fighters of Three Brotherhood Alliance check an artillery gun, claimed to have been seized from Myanmar junta outpost on a hill in Hsenwi township, Shan state on Nov. 24, 2023. (The Kokang online media via AP) Hla Kyaw Zaw, an expert on China-Myanmar affairs, said that Wang met with Min Aung Hlaing as part of a bid by the Chinese government to “maintain a positive relationship” with the junta. “The situation [in northern Shan state] won’t be resolved by a ceasefire alone,” he said. “There is a push for a broad dialogue that includes all stakeholders involved in the Myanmar issue to find a comprehensive solution. But the junta appears to be displeased with this approach.” RFA sources in Naypyidaw said that Wang Yi’s visit to Myanmar was also scheduled to include meetings with retired Senior Gen. Than Shwe and former President Thein Sein, who led Myanmar’s quasi-civilian government prior to the November 2020 elections that brought Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party to power. Wang Yi’s meeting with Min Aung Hlaing follows talks he held in June with Myanmar’s former President Thein Sein at the State Guesthouse in Beijing. The Chinese foreign minister’s visit to Myanmar is his second since the military coup, following one in June 2022. Rumors of coup The talks in Naypyidaw came amid rumors swirling on social media that Min Aung Hlaing had been detained as part of an internal coup orchestrated by a military adjutant general on Tuesday evening. The claims, which originated from a social media account called “Captain Seagull,” were quickly dismissed by the junta’s True News Information Team as “baseless rumors spread by fake accounts aimed at destabilizing the country.” The information team also said that military officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, were continuing to perform their duties as usual. RELATED STORIES Myanmar rebels claim capture of town on road to China Resistance forces take control of two Chinese-backed joint ventures in Myanmar Top Myanmar army officers seized by insurgents in Shan state, junta says Myanmar rebel group vows to protect China’s interests A former military officer, speaking anonymously due to security concerns, told RFA that the disinformation is part of a broader effort to create social and political instability in Myanmar. “The notion of a military disintegration due to an internal coup is creating false hope among the public,” he said. “In reality, the political situation remains stagnant. The military, having been built up over decades, cannot be expected to collapse in just three years.” The rumors come amid frustration from junta supporters over Min Aung Hlaing’s handling of the conflict, which has seen the armed opposition make substantial gains in recent months. Market shelled Myanmar’s military has increasingly turned to airstrikes and artillery fire as its troops suffer battlefield defeats, often with deadly results for the country’s civilian population. During busy hours on Tuesday, at least 11 civilians were killed and 10 others injured when junta troops in Sagaing region’s Monywa township fired a 60-millimeter rocket that landed in a market in Hta Naung Taw village, residents told RFA. Those killed in the attack included eight…

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Relatives urge prison officials to move environmental activists to capital

Lawyers and family members of five imprisoned environmental activists said the activists are still being held at separate remote prisons, making it time-consuming and costly to visit them. The mother of Phoun Keo Raksmey told Radio Free Asia that she visited her daughter at Pursat Provincial Prison on Aug. 9 and found her to be much thinner compared to a month ago. She complained of cramped and isolated living conditions, no electricity and bad food. “It is difficult to eat there and everything is much more expensive,” said Raksmey’s mother, Kong Manit, who said it costs her between US$100 and US$200 to travel to Pursat.  Several relatives told RFA they have been working with lawyers to submit transfer requests in writing to have the five activists from the Mother Nature group moved on humanitarian grounds to Prey Sar Prison in Phnom Penh. Such a move would make it easier to meet with the lawyer who is defending the activists and is organizing their appeal.  “They are far away, and we need to meet them one by one,” the lawyer, Sam Chamroeun, told RFA.  Ten Cambodian environmental activists receive prison sentences of six to eight years each, July 2, 2024, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP) A Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge sentenced a total of 10 activists in the case to between six and eight years in prison after they were convicted on July 2 for conspiring against the state. Five of the 10 defendants are either in hiding or live outside of the country and were tried in absentia, including the Khmer-speaking founder of the Mother Nature group, Spanish environmentalist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, who was deported from Cambodia in 2015. Intended to demoralize The other five were immediately transported from Phnom Penh to different prisons – some of them in remote provinces. Raksmey is imprisoned at the foot of the Cardamom Mountains in Pursat, which is about 220 km (136 miles) from Phnom Penh. Long Kunthea is being held in northern Preah Vihear province near the Thai border. Thon Ratha is at Trapeang Thlong Prison in Tbong Khmum province near Vietnam.  Ly Chandaravuth is imprisoned in Kandal Provincial Prison in Takhmau, just a few kilometers south of Phnom Penh, while Yim Leang Hy is being held in Kampong Speu Provincial Prison, about 52 km (32 miles) west of the capital. Hong Srey Mao, the wife of Yim Leang Hy, said she just delivered their second child and hasn’t been able to visit her husband. Their 5-year-old often asks about his father’s whereabouts. “I am sad and lack harmony because the government arrested my husband unjustly,” she said.   The government has sent other high-profile prisoners to remote locations, including Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng, who was convicted of treason in 2022 in another case that was criticized as politically motivated. She was held at first at Preah Vihear Prison before her eventual transfer to Prey Sar. RELATED STORIES Cambodian prison officials stop family from visiting environmental activists Why environmental activism survives Cambodia’s destruction of civil society 10 Cambodian environmental activists sentenced to prison Prosecutors play videos of environmental activists at Cambodian trial Sending the five activists to different prisons was intended to demoralize them and their families, said Ny Sokha, the president of human rights group Adhoc. The charges against the environmental activists – first filed in 2021 – were also widely condemned as politically motivated. The case stemmed from several instances of activism, including the 2021 filming of sewage draining into the Tonle Sap River in front of Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace.  Three of the 10 were also convicted of insulting King Norodom Sihamoni.  The activists can submit a transfer request to the Ministry of Interior, according to prisons spokesman Nuth Savana. In the meantime, inspectors will be sent to Pursat to look into conditions at the prison there, he told RFA. Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.

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Hun Sen warns of more arrests related to Vietnam-Laos cooperation deal

Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen on Monday again threatened to arrest anyone who tries to organize a demonstration in the country against an economic cooperation agreement with Vietnam and Laos that has been a subject of online debate over the last month. The 1999 agreement between the three countries was aimed at encouraging economic development and trade between Cambodia’s four northeastern provinces and neighboring provinces across the border. Last month, three activists were arrested on incitement charges after they spoke of concerns that the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Triangle Development Area, or CLV, could cause Cambodia to lose territory or control of some of its natural resources to Vietnam. The activists made the comments in an 11-minute Facebook video. An angry Hun Sen ordered the arrests and has spoken publicly about the CLV several times since then. On Monday, Hun Sen warned in a Facebook post of more arrests after overseas Cambodians set up a chat group on the Telegram app where plans for an Aug. 18 demonstration in Phnom Penh against the CLV were being discussed. The Telegram group was created following a weekend of protests against the CLV among overseas Cambodians living in South Korea, Japan, Canada and Australia. “My message to all brothers and sisters in this group, I listened to your conversation in the group long enough,” he said. “You are being incited by overseas people.” ‘Try it’ Hun Sen said he has spies in the Telegram group who have sent conversations and names to his private account. He added that he wouldn’t order the arrests for anyone who left the group. “We cannot let a few people destroy the peace of 17 million people. Some have seen the events in Bangladesh and compared the events in Cambodia,” he said. “Try it. If you consider yourself a strong person, please try.” Hun Sen stepped down as prime minister last year but remains a powerful force in the country. His son, Hun Manet, succeeded him as prime minister.  Last week, Hun Manet warned Cambodians against protesting against the government, citing Bangladesh’s recent demonstrations in its capital that turned into deadly clashes and caused that country’s leader to resign. RELATED STORIES Cambodia’s prime minister warns against Bangladesh-like demonstrations Police arrest activists after Facebook video angers Cambodia’s Hun Sen Hun Manet has also tried to reassure Cambodians about the CLV, saying that the agreement won’t result in the loss of any territory. Soeung Senkaruna, the former spokesman for human rights group Adhoc, said Cambodians both inside and outside the country have the full right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the Constitution and international law.  Using force to keep people from expressing their opinions shouldn’t happen in a country “that the government claims enjoys democracy and peace,” he said. Translated Sun Sok Ry. Edited by Matt Reed.

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Opponents of Myanmar junta skeptical on any Thai help for census, vote

Opponents of military rule in Myanmar have criticized the possibility that Thailand will help conduct a census in preparation for an election that the Myanmar junta has promised but which critics say will be an illegitimate sham. The possibility of Thai support for Myanmar’s Oct. 1-15 census and for an election next year was discussed by the Thai  ambassador, Mongkol Visitstump, and the head of Myanmar’s Election Commission, Ko Ko, and Immigration and Population Minister Myint Kyaing in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyidaw on Aug. 7, junta-backed media reported. Myanmar’s military ousted an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in early 2021, jailing her and hundreds of party colleagues and supporters, dissolving her party and banning other parties.  The junta has promised to hold elections but critics say a vote would be meaningless with Suu Kyi and so many pro-democracy politicians and activists in jail. A spokesman for a civilian shadow government largely made up of politicians from Suu Kyi’s party told Radio Free Asia the international community, including Thailand, should focus on restoring human rights and stability, not supporting any “illegitimate” junta plan. “I would request the international community not to support and help this illegitimate Myanmar military junta against the will of the people,” said Kyaw Zaw, spokesperson for the Office of the President of the National Unity Government, or NUG. “This is a time for the international community to support Myanmar people and Myanmar people’s resistance against the fascist military and prepare for the post-military era,” he said.  Thailand’s embassy in Myanmar and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.  Thailand has been at the forefront of efforts to press Myanmar’s rivals into resolving their differences peacefully.  RELATED STORIES Myanmar junta orders its workers to pay it part of their Thai wages Thailand should end Myanmar junta’s control over migrants: NUG Thailand’s offer of aid to Myanmar gets mixed reaction It says that it is the country that shares the longest border with Myanmar, and which has for decades served as home for hundreds of thousands refugees fleeing conflict  in Myanmar, it has a particular interest in seeing stability restored. But despite the efforts of Thailand and its neighbors in the Association of South East Asian Nations, fighting has escalated as  junta forces face battlefield setbacks in several parts of the country. ‘Step up attacks’ Kyaw Zaw said the junta had no ability to conduct a “meaningful, useful census,” and that the international community should focus on other human rights and development efforts.  The junta has not set a date for an election but the earliest would be early next year. Under the constitution, an election must be held within six months of a state of emergency being lifted. A state of emergency in effect since the early 2021 coup was extended for another six months on Aug. 1.  The junta chief, Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has said an election will be held in 2025 but acknowledged that voting in some places may not be possible in the absence of “peace and stability”. Insurgents control 73 towns across the country, according to data from the Myanmar Peace Monitor.  A political observer close to one of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic minority insurgent groups, the Arakan Army, dismissed the possibility of an effective census and election given the amount of territory the insurgents control, adding that attempts by the junta to organize a vote would likely only exacerbate the fighting. “It is very likely that [they] will step up attacks on the liberated areas, especially targeting the civilians as collective punishment,” said the political observer, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue. The Arakan Army controls nine townships in Rakhine state in western Myanmar as well as territory in neighboring Chin state. “Neighboring countries should speak out, that the SAC needs to stop attacks on civilians and initiate dialogue and only then can genuine elections come out of these,” he said, referring to the junta, which is officially known at the State Administration Council. Edited by Taejun Kang.

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Olympics fans in Laos watch events through social media, Thai broadcasts

Sports fans in Laos have been watching the Paris Olympic games through online video platforms or through television broadcasts from neighboring Thailand. Four athletes representing Laos competed in Paris, but there was little expectation they would bring home a medal. So viewers in Laos have also taken an interest in Thai athletes and other Southeast Asian competitors.  “I know well that Lao athletes have very little chance to win a medal,” a Vientiane resident told Radio Free Asia. “But I’m still closely following the Olympic games.” She cheered on Panipak Wongpattanakit from Thailand, who won a gold medal in the taekwondo women’s flyweight division. “I remember that she also won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics too,” she said, referring to the games held in 2021. “I would say ‘congratulations’ to her.” Steven Insixiengmay of Laos competes in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Heats on July 27, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Al Bello/Getty Images) Laos’ television channels didn’t have enough advertising sponsors to show a live broadcast of the Paris games, an official from Laos’ Olympic committee said.  Instead, committee officials who are in France have been posting results from Lao athletes on social media platforms and have also done a few Facebook Live broadcasts to talk about the events, he said. Fans in Laos have also just been enjoying the track and field, soccer and gymnastic events no matter who is competing, another Lao citizen told RFA. “I watch almost everything,” he said. Laos hasn’t won a medal since it first sent athletes to the Olympics in 1980, when the games were held in Moscow.  Praewa Misato Philaphandeth of Laos performs a rhythmic gymnastics routine, Aug. 8, 2024 . (Mike Blake/Reuters) Four athletes represented Laos in Paris: Silina Pha Aphay, a Lao-born 100-meter sprinter; Praewa Misato Philaphandeth, a rhythmic gymnast who is of Lao, Thai, and Japanese descent; and Ariana Southa Dirkzwager and Steven Insixiengmay, both of whom are Lao-American swimmers. Pha Aphay was briefly in the spotlight during a preliminary heat of the women’s 100-meter race. She was seen helping another sprinter, Lucia Moris of South Sudan, who fell to the ground during the race after an apparent injury.  After crossing the finish line in sixth place, Pha Aphay ran back to Moris as she lay on the track in pain. She stayed with her as medics strapped her onto a stretcher. “Once I saw her on the ground in pain, it was in my mind that I must finish my race first,” she told RFA. “Then I asked permission from the referee if I could help her. The referee said yes, then I rushed to help her.” Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Matt Reed.

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Myanmar junta authorities prevent young adults from leaving the country by air

Myanmar authorities under the ruling junta are now preventing young adults who want to get jobs abroad from leaving the country via Yangon’s international airport, people with knowledge of the situation said. Young people have been leaving Myanmar in droves to work in other countries since the military seized control in a February 2021 coup d’état followed by violent crackdowns on civilians and civil war. The new measure is one of various methods used by the ruling military council to control the number of citizens leaving for employment opportunities abroad because of the civil war, economic downturn and military conscription. Men ages 18 to 35 years and women ages 18 to 27 must serve a minimum of two years in the military under Myanmar’s conscription law.   In May, the junta temporarily banned all men from working abroad amid widespread public concern over the implementation of the military conscription law. RELATED STORIES Myanmar’s junta halts passport conversion as Thailand mulls worker amnesty Myanmar now requires biometric ‘smart card’ to exit country by border Myanmar junta bans all men from working abroad Junta requires workers abroad to send money home via approved banks Authorities are denying people between the ages of 23 and 35 from taking flights out of Yangon, the country’s largest city, since the beginning of August, said a city resident. They have implemented tighter passenger scrutiny and are turning away young adults regardless of the type of passport they hold, citing incomplete documentation, said the person, who like other sources in this report asked not to be named for fear of retribution. Myanmar issues nine types of passports, including one for overseas workers, known as PJ, one for tourists, known as PV, and one for sailors, known as PS. But there is no specific policy detailing which types of people are restricted from traveling, the Yangon resident said.  “Even those with all the required documents and a PJ passport people have been barred from leaving the country,” the person said.  Neither junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun or Nyunt Win, permanent secretary of the Labor Ministry, responded to requests for comment on the travel restrictions. Illegal ways to go abroad RFA has not been able to determine how many people have been affected by the measure so far. A labor union leader criticized the new restrictions, saying they would push young people to find illegal ways to go abroad. “Due to the pressure on people to leave because they can’t find work in this country, it is the foreign employment agencies that are most affected,” he said. “As a result, illegal agencies are beginning to emerge, and brokers are becoming more active.”  Travelers wait in a security check line in the departure terminal at Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar, June 2024. (RFA) Authorities previously didn’t check whether passports matched corresponding visas, but now if there’s a mismatch, the person is not allowed to leave the country, said an employee at an overseas job search service in Myanmar. “Some travelers were sent back because they were using PV passports with a work visa, even though the passport type appeared to match the visa type,” the person said, adding that those with such visas cannot use them for other travel purposes.  “In other words, if you hold a tourist passport, you will no longer be allowed to go abroad for work, study or similar purposes,” the source said. In June, the military council also revoked the right to change passport types. Additionally, PJ passport holders are now permitted to work overseas only if they possess an Overseas Worker Identification Card. A young woman aspiring to work abroad said she believes the cash-strapped junta is restricting those with PV passports from leaving the country for jobs elsewhere because it doesn’t collect taxes from them. “It would be more convenient if, after allowing people to go, the authorities required 25% of their salary to be transferred back at a set amount, deducting the government’s share,” she said. “This system could then be applied to PV passport holders in the same way.”   A young sailor told RFA that he and others who must renew their passports have to wait longer than previously to get a new travel document. Passports must be valid for at least 18 months before sailors set off and leave Myanmar, but unforeseen delays in waiting for a QR code after submitting a renewal application are preventing them from working, he said. “I have about six months left on mine, but I can’t work on a ship with only six months remaining,” he added. Translated by Kalyar Lwin for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.w

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Four more killed in sweeping crackdown in Myanmar’s Sagaing

Myanmar junta forces shelled a village in the Sagaing region killing four people, residents said, in the latest attack in an anti-insurgent campaign in which hundreds of homes have been torched and thousands of villagers have been displaced, residents said on Friday. The central Sagaining region, largely populated by members of the majority Burman community, has seen some of the worst of the violence that has engulfed Myanmar since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021. Outraged by the coup and a subsequent crackdown that shattered hopes for reform, pro-democracy activists from towns and cities, and central rural areas that had been largely peaceful for decades, have taken up arms to fight to end military rule. Sagaing has become a hotbed of dissent and junta forces have responded with full force, including airstrikes and shelling that have killed hundreds of civilians and raids in which villages have been largely destroyed and residents detained and tortured. Residents of the arid heartland region told Radio Free Asia that junta forces shelled Yinmarbin township’s Htan Taw Gyi village, about 125 kilometers (77 miles) west of the city of Mandalay, on Wednesday night for no apparent reason, killing four civilians and wounding six. The fire from the junta camp about eight kilometers (five miles) away hit the eastern part of the village, said one resident, who declined to be identified for security reasons.  “Three people died on the spot. Seven people were wounded but one of them died in the morning, so four people have died in total. There was no battle at that time,” said the resident. RFA telephoned the Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson, Nyunt Win Aung, for comme but he did not answer the phone. Residents identified the four people killed as Myint Than Aung, Phyo Zaya, Pho Thet Wai and Hlwan Moe, all aged between 20 and 40.   The injured were receiving medical care, residents said, without giving details. Junta spokesmen have denied targeting civilians but insurgents say the military has for decades cared little about civilian casualties as it tries to cut rebel forces off from civilian populations that sympathize with the rebels’ cause. Related stories: Thousands flee junta raids in central Myanmar Junta military preparations point to brutal next phase of Myanmar conflict More than 100,000 displaced by Myanmar conflict in two weeks Homes burned Independent verification of accounts related by residents is almost impossible but the evidence suggests junta operations in Sagaing have resulted in widespread dislocation of civilian populations and destruction. Residents of Kanbalu township, to the north of  Yinmarbin, estimated that a junta operation there had forced about 30,000 people from their homes since a July 24 attack by a pro-democracy militia on a junta force post in Kyi Kone village. Fighters armed with homemade or looted weapons in what are known as People’s Defense Forces, or PDFs, regularly raid outposts and ambush forces throughout the country. The July raid by the Kanbalu-based PDF sparked a junta sweep of some 20 villages in which an estimated 400 homes have been torched, residents said.  About 70 soldiers stationed in Bo Te Kone and Min Kone villages had torched numerous homes, said one villager who fled the crackdown. The displaced were struggling to make do outdoors in the rainy season, too fearful to venture back to their villages to see what remained, he said. “The weather is not good so our health is affected. We had no time to carry food or drinks with us when we ran, so we’re having a hard time,” said the villager, who also declined to be identified. Junta forces have burned 95,450 civilian homes across Myanmar since the coup, according to the independent research group Data for Myanmar. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan.

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Myanmar junta bombs sleeping village killing seven, rebels say

The Myanmar junta’s air force bombed a village in a strife-torn central region killing seven people as they slept, an insurgent group said on Thursday, the latest deaths in what opponents of the junta say is a deliberate campaign to target civilians in areas under rebel control. Forces of the junta that seized power in a 2021 coup are increasingly relying on air power to strike back at insurgent forces who have made significant gains on the ground in several parts of the country since late last year.   In the central Mandalay region, pro-democracy fighters in the Mandalay People’s Defense Force and allied Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, ethnic minority insurgents have captured dozens of junta positions, including the gem-mining town of Mogoke, over recent months. But the junta has responded with deadly retaliation from the air, in a campaign the junta’s enemies say is aimed at killing civilians in a bid to warn the population off support for the rebels. In the dead of night on Tuesday, the junta’s air force launched an attack on Mandalay region’s Payaung Taung village in a strike that appeared to be timed to catch villagers asleep in their beds to maximize casualties, the Mandalay force said in a  statement.  “Seven people were killed when a bomb was dropped at night, four women and three men,” said a resident of the area who declined to be identified for safety reasons. “There were also many injured people but we don’t know the details yet.”  Radio Free Asia could not reach the junta main spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, by telephone to ask about the incident. The Mandalay People’s Defense Force released photographs of the victims but it said it could not identify them.  The junta’s air force launched strikes on two villages in the Mandalay region’s Singu township on Aug. 4, killing 13 people and wounding 19, the group said.  Junta spokesmen have denied targeting civilians. A three-party alliance of insurgent forces, including the TNLA, this week called on neighboring China to intervene with the junta to press it to stop attacking civilians.  The insurgents have little in the way of anti-aircraft weapons to defend against junta jets. According to data compiled by the RFA, airstrikes and heavy weapon attacks by junta troops have killed about 2,000 civilians and wounded nearly 4,000 since the 2021 coup, up to May. RELATED STORIES Myanmar rebels rack up more gains as Operation 1027 enters new phase Junta military preparations point to brutal next phase of Myanmar conflict Myanmar still getting jet fuel despite call to cut supply: rights group Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan. 

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Philippines joins US-led allies in multilateral maneuvers in South China Sea

The Philippines joined the United States, Australia and Canada in a two-day “maritime cooperative activity” from Wednesday to press for freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea amid maritime tensions with China. The navies and air force units of the four nations will operate alongside each other to enhance “cooperation and interoperability” in the disputed waterway, a joint statement said. “We stand together to address common maritime challenges and underscore our shared dedication to upholding international law and the rules-based order,” it said. “The activity will be conducted in a manner that is consistent with international law and with due regard to the safety of navigation and the rights and interests of other States.”  The statement was signed by Gen. Romeo Brawner, the military chief of the Philippines, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo, Australian Defence Force chief Admiral David Johnston and Gen. M. A. Jennie Cargian, the chief of Canada’s Defence Staff. “Australia, Canada, the Philippines, and the United States uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace, as well as respect for maritime rights under international law, as reflected in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” they said. The aim of the multilateral sail was to demonstrate a “collective commitment” to boosting international cooperation. The statement did not specifically say where the drills would be held, only that the maneuvers would take place “within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone” in the South China Sea.  The Philippines last week carried out similar joint sails with Japan and with the U.S. separately in Philippine areas of the South China Sea. Coast guards from the Philippines and Vietnam meanwhile are scheduled to hold their own joint drills on Friday. In related news, China on Wednesday conducted air and sea patrols near Scarborough Shoal, a flashpoint in territorial tensions between Beijing and Manila, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. Analysts praise multinational maneuvers Chester Cabalza, president of International Development and Security Cooperation, a Philippine think-tank, hailed the defense deals with various allies.  He noted that prior to this, Manila had also signed a groundbreaking Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan, another country with a territorial dispute with China. That deal would allow the exchange of troops for joint training with each other. He said the multilateral sails this week show the “global recognition” of Manila’s international arbitration award in 2016 in its territorial dispute with China over Scarborough Shoal. “It shows the legitimacy of  its sovereignty rights in the disputed maritime domains of the South China Sea,” Cabalza told BenarNews. “It reaffirms the bone of contention that China alone is not the sole owner of these important sea lanes of communications and trade,” he said. He said the joint sails should work to “solidify” the belief that countries should follow the rules-based order in the disputed sea region, a key shipping route where experts say more than 60% of global maritime trade passes. Geopolitical analyst, Don McClain Gill at the De La Salle University in Manila, said the joint sails affirm the 2016 ruling but he emphasized that such activities need to be done on a regular basis. “Patrols and exercises are very important in ensuring the freeness and openness of the maritime domain, but it must be supplemented by other activities as well, such as capacity building and more robust and permanent deterrence posture in our area in the West Philippine Sea,” Gill told BenarNews, referring to South China Sea waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. “This is a very good indication that like-minded countries, three of which are part of the exercise, recognize that the Philippines is legitimately entitled to its sovereign rights and sovereignty based on UNCLOS and the 2016 arbitral ruling,” Gill said, alluding to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. “This is significant in that regard and must be continued,” he said. “As we can see, the Philippines has become a fulcrum for maritime cooperation.”  Countries such as Canada, which are far removed from the conflict, are also concerned because they are worried it may affect global trade and affect the stability in a “very critical maritime space,” he said. While global partnerships like the joint sail are important, he said this had not deterred Beijing from continuing with its activities in the South China Sea. But this should not be taken negatively by the Philippines, but rather as an “opportunity to explore what else could be done.” Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met their Filipino counterparts in Manila and announced a U.S. $500 million infusion to help Manila defend its shores from threats posed by China.  The funds would go towards strengthening Manila’s defenses in the South China Sea, and the monies came shortly after tensions and confrontations surrounding Ayungin Shoal or Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. Manila maintains a rusting World War II-era ship in Ayungin, and a violent confrontation there in June saw a Filipino serviceman lose a thumb.  Both sides have subsequently worked towards de-escalating the tensions, but it remains unclear how China would react to the joint sails this week. Jeoffrey Maitem contributed to this report from Manila. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

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