Myanmar

Rohingya refugees to be pushed to ‘uninhabitable’ island

Bangladesh/Myanmar Border — Recently, Bangladesh began a $280 million plan to relocate the massive influx of Rohingya refugees to an island that Amnesty International’s South Asia Director, Biraj Patnaik, has described as “uninhabitable.” He said pushing them out that way would be a “terrible mistake” as it is quite the distance from the other camps […]

WATCH: Bodies of the Rohingya wash up from the Naf River (GRAPHIC CONTENT)

Naf River, Bangladesh — Bodies turn up all the time on the Naf River, the water dividing the Burmese countryside from Bangladesh. Thousands of Rohingya have been fleeing the violence that has been described as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Fleeing with just their […]

Major Chinese hydroelectricity projects cancelled by Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar

Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar have canceled nearly $20 billion of hydroelectricity contracts with the same Chinese company, the Gezhouba Water and Power Group. This is a huge setback for the Chinese trade linking project, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which involves global infrastructure. This may represent a larger rejection of China’s economic imperialism in Asia. […]

VIDEO: Aid workers on the ground in the midst of the Rohingya crisis

It’s easy to forget about ongoing conflicts, after the news reports the same thing over and over again. Africa seems like the type of place where the conflict never ends, and without a solid knowledge of the geography, demographics and politics of the area, it all just sort of blurs together. The same goes for […]

Things to know if you want to be a remote aid worker/missionary

Many people in my circles express a desire to go overseas and contribute toward some kind of cause at some point. Military veterans in particular are often interested in that kind of life–though it may not be easy, it’s rewarding, it’s an adventure and it serves a higher purpose. Like the military, it takes you […]

Burma: Building a clinic in a teetering cease-fire

Karen State, Burma (Myanmar) has been an area of heavy conflict for over 70 years.  When most people look at areas of conflicts, they look at combat deaths, injuries or other trauma-related issues. However, the more serious issues are ancillary to combat—because of a war or other type of civil unrest, you have a severe […]

Backlash against Aung San Suu Kyi’s silence begins to take form

Burma’s (Myanmar) de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under harsh criticism in recent months, due to her apparent apathy toward the violence toward the Rohingya people. This criticism has begun to manifest itself into real action in taking away some of the honors she has earned during her years before she took […]

Burma in crisis–what is the US doing about it?

Myanmar (Burma) has been in a state of constant crisis in one form or another since WWII. Internal conflict has meant the government targeting ethnic minorities, whether they be Karen, Karenni, Kachin, Rakhine or most recently, the Rohingya. Against these tribal people they have committed numerous human rights abuses that have risen to alleged “ethnic […]

Thousands of Karen people gather in DC, simply ‘thankful to be here’

Over 9,000 people gathered in Washington DC on Monday for two purposes: to promote their culture and show the world who the Karen are, and to support the U.S. government in continuing economic sanctions against the Burmese military regime. Over 1,000 gathered in Nebraska’s capital city, Lincoln, for the same purposes. The Karen, an ethnic […]

Crowds flood Yangon in support of Burma’s actions against the Rohingya

Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) is the largest city in Myanmar (Burma). Over 2,000 locals have flooded the streets in support of the Army’s recent actions against the Rohingya people in the western areas of the country. Many are Buddhist nationalists and some are even Buddhist monks. They have expressed a desire to strengthen the […]

Myanmar to repatriate Rohingya refugees after ‘textbook ethnic cleansing’

The UN has called the atrocities committed in Rakhine State, Burma (Myanmar) “textbook ethnic cleansing.” It has since been responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 people and sent approximately 600,000 people fleeing for their lives to the neighboring country of Bangladesh. The country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has recently spoken toward […]