YANGON • Locals like to joke that Myanmar has two governments. That’s not very far from the truth.
De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, while buttressed by the parliamentary majority held by her National League for Democracy party, has no control over the police and key civil servants who oversee tax collection, land management and a variety of certifications. Those are under the watch of the military, via a Constitution guarded by soldiers guaranteed a quarter of all lawmaker seats.
Myanmar’s civilian government has managed the democratic transition so far through careful positioning. While Ms Suu Kyi has not personally visited Rakhine state, nor spoken out in defence of the stateless Rohingya Muslims there amid troubling stories of military atrocities, she appointed former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan to head a commission drawing up long-term solutions.
On Aug 24, the panel announced proposals that raised the hackles of Buddhist nationalists, such as reviewing the discriminatory citizenship law. Ms Suu Kyi’s office promised to set up a ministerial committee to implement the suggestions as soon as possible.
That window for change shut mere hours later when Rohingya insurgents declared war on the Myanmar military with surprise attacks, provoking a brutal response. With some 400,000 Rohingya having fled across the border to Bangladesh, carrying stories of arson, rape and murder by Myanmar security forces, international condemnation of Ms Suu Kyi has been deafening. Her crime was to keep silent on what UN chief Antonio Guterres says is best described as ethnic cleansing.
To the outside world, the Nobel Peace Prize winner is now a fallen icon of democracy. Domestically, she risks losing ground to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, the man who controls what troops do in Rakhine state.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
Rohingya: Walk A Mile In Their Shoes
My reminiscences of Cox’s Bazar are deeply rooted in my childhood during family vacations taken with my parents and three siblings - horse rides on the beach, sunsets against the widest horizon, charcoal barbecues by nightfall, and copious amounts of seafood throughout our stays. My recent trip to Cox’s Bazar, some 20 odd years later, however, was starkly contrasting in that the circumstance was dire, one which continues to sit steep in my mind.
Suu Kyi Risks Losing Ground To Military Over Rakhine Crisis
YANGON • Locals like to joke that Myanmar has two governments. That’s not very far from the truth.
Satellite Images Show Sprawling Rohingya Refugee Camps
Massive, makeshift refugee camps are sprawling over farms and open land in southern Bangladesh as more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims flee violent attacks in their predominantly Buddhist homeland of Myanmar.
Akhtarun Nahar Ivy's 9
UNB Cultural DeskArt is a unique, powerful tool of connecting people, culture, says Ahn Seong-Doo
Ganasangeet Festival Still Showing Hope For Music
Ganasangeet Festival Still Showing Hope For Music
Trump Hurtles Toward Three Nuclear Crises
Trump Hurtles Toward Three Nuclear Crises
What Bangladesh Stands To Gain From Bangabandhu-1
What Bangladesh Stands To Gain From Bangabandhu-1
Where Good Voices Must Go Bad
Where Good Voices Must Go Bad
The minister's one hundred taka
The minister’s one hundred taka
Dhaka Wants Delhi Pressure For Rohingya Return
Indian foreign secretary visits Bangladesh, no development on Teesta front
PEOPLE OR PROFIT? FACEBOOK PAPERS SHOW DEEP CONFLICT WITHIN
Facebook the company is losing control of Facebook the product — not to mention the last shreds of its carefully crafted, decade-old image as a benevolent company just wanting to connect the world.
The Significance of Planting Churches on New Ground
Bishop Chin Kang Mon is the national overseer of Myanmar. Bishop Chin has planted numerous churches throughout the country. One of our newer nations, Bishop Chin has 35 churches, 3 missions, and 1,550 members under his care as well as three orphanages. One of his greatest accomplishments is the establishment of South East Asia Mission College. Bishop Chin writes, The ultimate objective of this college is to prepare, equip, and train his people to be effective workers of God in Myanmar and beyond. Its vision is to adequately produce and multiply planters, evangelists, missionaries, and cell-leaders. SEAMC graduates and students are enthusiastic in different fields of ministry in Myanmar. There have been 425 graduates from SEAMC and 75 percent of graduates have been serving the Lord as missionaries, evangelists, pastors, and association/church key leaders in Myanmar. Fifty percent of the graduates have been serving the Lord in new mission fields among unreached people groups.
DIGITAL SIEGE: INTERNET CUTS BECOME FAVORED TOOL OF REGIMES
When army generals in Myanmar staged a coup last week, they briefly cut internet access in an apparent attempt to stymie protests. In Uganda, residents couldn’t use Facebook, Twitter and other social media for weeks after a recent election. And in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, the internet has been down for months amid a wider conflict.
When the Signal Goes Out
Government-ordered internet shutdowns are becoming more frequent
Golden Land
Thanaka Color Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is a mystical country centered among Southeast Asia's more common destinations, yet still remaining relatively unknown. After many years of isolation, Myanmar has only recently opened up to the outside world. The magnificent land is also known as the Golden Land.
Kids can serve their world
Shaun McKinley International Children’s Ministries Director CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES
Revelations Within Myanmar Amber And Meteor Showers
Golden-hued amber is often used in the jewelry business to craft wonderful treasures in the forms of earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings.
Ayeyarwady- A River Through Time
A journey up Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady river from Mandalay to the far northern trading town of Bhamo, near the Chinese border.
Top Destinations Around The World For Wine Lovers
Destinations around the world woo wine lovers with tastings, tours and vinotherapy.
Bangladesh Has A Lot To Prove
With her nation newly behind her, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is looking abroad for new opportunities.