Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh staged demonstrations on Sunday demanding repatriation back to Myanmar, where they fled a brutal military crackdown five years ago.Almost a million Rohingya are confined to bamboo and tarpaulin shacks in 34 squalid camps in southeast Bangladesh, with no work, poor sanitation and little access to education.Their increasingly restrictive host country has banned them from holding rallies since they staged a massive 100,000-strong protest in Au

The world risks creating a “lost generation” of children in Myanmar unless it takes immediate steps to protect them from the violence perpetrated by the military since it seized power in February 2021, a United Nations (UN) human rights expert has said.“The junta’s relentless attacks on children underscore the generals’ depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people of Myanmar,” Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situat

The United Nations (UN) rights chief said Tuesday Myanmar's junta has likely committed crimes against humanity and urged authorities to stop planned executions, including those of prominent democracy activists.Myanmar's military seized power on 1 February last year, ousting the civilian government and arresting its de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Post-coup violence has pushed the number of displaced people in Myanmar over one million for the first time, the United Nations (UN) has said, warning of "dire" conditions as the monsoon approaches and fighting rages.Almost 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the toppling of Aung San Suu Kyi's government last year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said on Tuesday.Civilian militias have formed to fight back against the cou

A year after Myanmar erupted into civil war prompted by a February 2021 military coup, more than half a million people have been internally displaced and millions are unable to access basic food and medical needs.For women, the hardships are compounded by the challenge of managing their monthly periods. “I have to use one sanitary pad for the whole day and night.

Thousands of monks celebrated the birth of Buddha at a junta-organised event in Mandalay on Saturday, highlighting a division in the clergy since last year's coup in Myanmar.Since the coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, more than 1,800 people have died in a brutal military crackdown on dissent, according to a monitoring group.Some monks have joined street protests opposing the power grab, while other religious leaders have defended the military junta.Ahead of Buddha's

Myanmar's junta on Friday slammed the United States (US) for snubbing it at a regional summit and meeting with opposition leaders, and instead lauded its ties with "powerful" China.Washington has repeatedly denounced the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's government last year, and the US government has imposed sanctions on top figures in Myanmar's military.Myanmar was represented by an empty chair at a summit this week between US President Joe Biden and leaders of th

President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed Southeast Asian leaders to Washington with promises to support clean energy and maritime security, hoping to showcase a United States commitment as China makes wide inroads.Top leaders from eight of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) flew to Washington for the two-day summit, which opened with a closed-door White House dinner of thyme poached chicken and vanilla ice cream.The Biden administration, which took office des

Myanmar has condemned as “irresponsible and reckless” a Malaysian proposal for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to engage with the National Unity Government (NUG) established by those the military removed from power in the February 2021 coup in an effort to resolve the country’s protracted political crisis.Foreign ministers from ASEAN are due to meet later this week with little progress on Myanmar where more than 1,800 people have been killed and thousands arrested in a mili

Thailand's oil and gas conglomerate PTTEP and Malaysia's Petronas announced Friday they would withdraw from the Yetagun gas project in coup-hit Myanmar.There has been an exodus of global energy companies from Myanmar including Chevron and TotalEnergies following last year's military takeover and subsequent allegations of human rights abuses.More than 1,800 civilians have died during a military crackdown and more than 13,000 have been arrested, according to a local monitoring gr