All articles tagged with #myanmar
On the ninth anniversary of the Rohingya genocide, hundreds of refugees protested in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, demanding justice and the right to return home. Bangladesh hosts about 1.2 million Rohingya refugees amid declining aid and worsening living conditions, while international action remains limited and legal cases in the ICJ and ICC continue without clear resolution.
Fourteen people, including elderly civilians and several monks, were killed when the Myanmar military carried out air strikes on a monastery in Myaung township, Sagaing region, as worshippers gathered for a meditation retreat during Buddhist Lent. A second strike occurred while rescuers were searching for survivors. The military has not commented on the attack.
A Myanmar military air strike hit a Buddhist monastery in Swel Le Oh village, Myaung township, during a weeklong Buddhist Lent retreat, killing 14 people and wounding about 20 as more than 100 worshippers were present; opposition groups and locals reported the toll, noting two bombs were dropped about 15 minutes apart.
A 1952 find by a British gem dealer in Myanmar appeared ruby-like but revealed painite, a mineral so rare that for decades the worldwide supply could fit in a single museum drawer; after its 1957 description and only a handful of crystals known for fifty years, major discoveries around 2001–2006 brought thousands of painite specimens to light, turning the legendary rarity into a much more common, though still exceptionally scarce, gemstone.
Two federal judges rejected challenges to end Temporary Protected Status for South Sudan and Myanmar, clearing the way for DHS to terminate protections for about 232 South Sudanese and 4,000 Myanmar nationals in line with a Supreme Court ruling; recipients remain under an administrative stay for now but face potential deportation once protections end, while Ethiopian and Somali TPS blocks remain tied up in court.
Former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, detained since the 2021 coup, met Arnaud de Baecque, the ICRC’s Myanmar representative, in Naypyitaw—the first known foreign visitor in more than five years—under ICRC procedures that allowed private talks; her son welcomed the development as a potential first step toward family access and her release, while calls for further humanitarian progress persist.
Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with the International Red Cross in a rare contact, underscoring ongoing humanitarian oversight amid the country’s political crisis.
The Red Cross confirmed a private visit to detained former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw to discuss her well-being amid years of uncertainty since the 2021 coup; the ICRC says such visits follow its standards and observations are shared confidentially with the authorities.
Two boats carrying about 530 Rohingya asylum seekers left Myanmar’s Rakhine state on June 29 and have not been heard from, with monsoon seas making capsizes likely and survivors uncertain. Bodies have washed ashore in Bangladesh and Myanmar as families await news. The disappearance is part of a broader exodus driven by dire conditions in Rakhine and Bangladesh, aided by trafficking networks routing people via Thailand toward Malaysia. The UN has urged safer routes, but no regional government has facilitated an easier exit for the Rohingya.
Two boats carrying Rohingya migrants from Myanmar's Rakhine state sank in the Andaman Sea near the Ayeyarwady coast, with about 250 on one vessel and 280 on the other, leaving more than 500 feared dead. The journeys occurred in late June outside the regular sailing season, amid deteriorating conditions and funding cuts in Cox’s Bazar that heighten risks for refugees, as Myanmar's civil conflict continues and aid flows dwindle.
UN agencies warn that more than 500 people, mostly Rohingya from Rakhine, may have died in two boat disasters off Myanmar—one about 250 people missing after departure and another about 280 believed sunk off the Ayeyarwady coast on 8 July—highlighting hazardous journeys outside the sailing season amid heavy rains and trafficking networks; they urge search-and-rescue, asylum access, action against smugglers, and sustained international support for refugees in Bangladesh.
China has arrested US scholar Min Zin, a UC Berkeley PhD candidate who founded ISP Myanmar, on suspicion of espionage endangering national security after he disappeared in Kunming during a conference; the rare move against a US citizen comes as Beijing and Washington seek to reset ties following Xi Jinping’s meeting with Donald Trump.
A powerful blast at a building storing mining explosives in Kaungtup, Namhkam, Myanmar, killed more than 45 people and injured about 70, with tolls reported from 40 to 55 across local media; authorities say gelignite was stored at the site and rescue operations continue in a region affected by ethnic conflict.
An explosion at an explosives depot in rebel-held Shan State near the Myanmar–China border left dozens dead and many injured, with casualty figures varying by report (around 46–55 dead and 70+ wounded). The blast damaged nearby homes and occurred in territory controlled by the TNLA, which said the explosives were used for mining and that an investigation is underway.
A massive explosion in Kaung Tat village in Namkham Township, Shan State, near the Chinese border, killed at least 55 people (about 25 women and 30 men) and wounded dozens in a rebel-held area controlled by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army. The TNLA said the blast was caused by explosives used in mining and quarrying and described it as an accidental explosion; some residents initially feared an air strike. The scene showed a crater, damaged homes and widespread destruction, with safety lax in mining contributing to such accidents in areas funded by mineral extraction amid ongoing conflict with Myanmar's military junta.