Aung San Suu Kyi’s son reacts to new regime photos
The “Free Her” campaign called on the people of Burma and their supporters around the world to join a movement demanding the unconditional release of jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi by writing messages on postcards to send to embassies and lawmakers around the world after the regime released rare photos of her receiving official correspondence from Britain’s King Charles on Monday
“When I look at this picture of my mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, I see something we often take for granted. Freedom. The freedom to enjoy nature, feel the sunshine and spend time with family. Today, at 81, she remains unjustly detained, hidden from the world and denied even these simple joys,” Kim Aris shared in a post on social media calling on the “Free Her” campaign to mobilize on Oct. 19.
The “Free Her” campaign was launched by Aris on Sept. 7 and calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release from detention, where she’s been held since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Aung San Suu Kyi is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence and was reportedly transferred from prison to house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw on April 30, which hasn’t been independently verified.
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UN Special Envoy on Myanmar visits Bangladesh
U.N. Special Envoy on Myanmar Julie Bishop visited Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed at the Secretariat in the capital Dhaka on Monday. The bilateral discussions focused on the deteriorating political and security landscape, the escalating Rohingya humanitarian crisis, and security challenges along the 168 mile (271 km) Bangladesh-Burma border.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed emphasized that Bangladesh faces an ongoing socio-economic and security strain from hosting hundreds of thousands of “Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals.” Bangladesh hosts 1.2 million Rohingya from Burma in refugee camps located in Cox’s Bazaar and Bhasan Char, an island off the country’s coast.
Urging stronger global engagement, Ahmed called on the international community to play a decisive role in achieving a sustainable and permanent resolution through safe, voluntary, and dignified Rohingya refugee repatriation to Arakan State. Bishop highlighted her ongoing diplomatic engagements with stakeholders inside Burma.
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Malaysia urged to drop charges against Rohingya leader
Fortify Rights and CIVICUS have issued calls demanding that Malaysian authorities immediately drop all criminal charges against Rohingya refugee Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, the president of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia (MERHROM). He was arrested on Sept. 29 and charged under Malaysia’s Societies Act 1966 for managing and representing an unregistered association.
Zafar faces charges in court on Oct. 30 initiated by the Registrar of Societies following an investigation into MERHROM’s activities. Both rights groups warn that using the Societies Act 1966 to criminalize MERHROM violates international human rights standards, including the 1998 U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which guarantees the right to conduct human rights work.
Fortify Rights and CIVICUS called on the Malaysia to reform the restrictive provisions of the Societies Act 1966, and implement concrete protection mechanisms to ensure refugee human rights defenders can operate free from judicial harassment. Zafar has led MERHROM since 1998 to combat human trafficking, document the Rohingya genocide, and support democratic reform in Burma.
Global coalition calls on Malaysia to stop criminalizing Rohingya refugee groups
Fortify Rights urges Malaysia to drop charges against Rohingya refugee leader
News by Region
CHIN—Over 20 civilians have been killed and an undisclosed number of people have been injured during two separate airstrikes carried out over the course of two days by the Burma Air Force on a jetty and cargo terminal in Paletwa Township’s Chaungzon village, located 287 miles (462 km) south of the state capital Hakha on Oct. 18-19.
A Paletwa resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the terminal, located at the headwaters of the Laymro River, was vital for goods being transported from India into townships under Arakan Army (AA) control. Paletwa was seized by the AA on Jan. 14, 2024. Read the full article on our website
SHAN—Regime forces have arrested an unspecified number of Momeik Township residents with past or present ties to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the ethnic Palaung Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Bawday village, northern Shan State, since Oct. 13.
A Momeik resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the arrests followed the defection of 54 TNLA members to regime forces in neighbouring Mandalay Region’s Mogok Township on Oct. 13. “[Regime forces] are holding family members captive to force [KIA or TNLA] members to surrender.” Read the full article on our website
YANGON—Residents in Yangon’s Pazundaung Township told DVB that the popular annual Yegyaw festival and night bazaar, which is a part of the Buddhist Thadingyut festival every October to mark the end of Lent, is back this year and will begin today and end on Oct. 27.
“Yangon’s nightlife has not returned to pre-coup vibrancy, even though the city’s curfew was lifted and the military regime hosts celebrations for every occasion,” a resident of Yangon’s Lanmadaw Township told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Read the full article on our website
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,630 MMK)
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