Myanmar

After six months, the township of Maungdaw has fallen to the AA, while fighting continues in the south of the state. The ethnic Buddhist militia seems set to establish its own state and many fear that it might take revenge against Rohingya after some were drafted, often forcibly, to fight alongside Myanmar’s regular army.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan issued the request based only on the violence against the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017 with no reference to the 2021 coup that plunged Myanmar into civil war. The last three years have changed the relationship between the putschist military and ethnic minorities, complicating the situation on the ground.

Pneg Deren was detained after he travelled to Yunnan for talks with Chinese officials, local media report. Despite pressure from Beijing, his armed group, the MNDAA, maintains control of Lashio, a city in Shan State. Meanwhile, junta planes bomb the area, killing at least 12, including eight children. A Baptist church was also struck.

Msgr Celso Ba Shwe - Bishop of Loikaw - took part in the celebration that every year on the third Sunday of November recalls the bond of solidarity between Japanese Catholics and the Church in former Burma, now wounded by war. Support for schools in the forest through the Seeds of Hope initiative. Archbishop Kikuchi: ‘Hope is born from the heart of those who walk together’.

Myanmar’s military strongman met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during a two-day summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion. Chinese source stresses infrastructure projects undermined by the civil war, noting that Beijing has also held discussions with the militias that control the borders and the rare earth trade.

In the first nine months of the year at least 435 people were killed by the military. It was 113 in 2021. This is compounded by artillery strikes and air attacks against houses, schools and religious buildings, as well as massacres and arson attacks by troops in the field. The junta uses fear as a weapon. At least a thousand civilians trapped in fighting in Rakhine State.

A grenade landed on the building on Friday; no one was hurt or killed. Myanmar's military junta said it would launch an investigation to find those responsible. Discontent towards China is rising in Myanmar, while Beijing asked ethnic militias to stop fighting in Shan State.

The human rights activist told AsiaNews that the elections organised by the military junta are just propaganda. How can they supervise an election since they failed to respect the 2020 vote? He wants “concrete actions" from the international community. The military “must be held accountable” for the violence committed with impunity. He hopes to see interethnic unity in a democratic country; it is time to show “that we are not divided.”

Baseless rumours are fuelling the ethnic conflict that broke out a year and a half ago in the north-eastern Indian state. The latest fake news refers to “900 militants” who allegedly came from neighbouring Myanmar to fight the Meitei. Chief of Army Staff has denied the claim, saying that people entering from Myanmar “are coming unarmed” to escape the war in that country.

After the announcement, Myanmar’s Chinese-made jets bombed Lashio, a city controlled by ethnic militias. The government-in-exile and various armed groups fighting the junta for the past three years dismissed the proposal as a “political manoeuvre” due to the difficulties on the ground.

Forced to abandon the cathedral in November 2023 due to fighting, the bishop of Loikaw continues to care for the faithful of his diocese, now scattered in 200 refugee camps in remote areas. Speaking to AsiaNews, he talked about the tragedy of young people fighting and reflects on how these communities in Kayah State, despite their great difficulties, today remind him of the first Christians. For him, the Church is where people share and love each other.

In a conversation with Jesuits that took place in Jakarta and was published today by ‘La Civiltà Cattolica’, the pontiff - responding to a question from a Burmese confrere - recounted that he had asked for the release of the Nobel Peace Prize winner imprisoned in a location unknown to her own family. ‘In Myanmar today one cannot remain silent: the future of the country must be peace based on respect for a democratic order’.