Ethnic minorities and indigenous people associations

At least 3,000 people have fled their homes in northern Myanmar following clashes between two ethnic rebel groups, the United Nations said on 16 February, raising fears the government’s fragile peace efforts could be fracturing. Heavy fighting in the northern state of Shan broke out last ...

Hundreds of civilians in Myanmar’s northern Shan State are reported to have fled a sudden offensive by government forces and separate fighting between two ethnic armed groups, while senior monks are intervening to help villagers trapped in the war zone. The two days of fighting in ...

Even though Myanmar’s NLD controls both houses of parliament, ethnic minority MPs are ready to take on the majority to improve ethnic rights. The representative of the Zomi Congress for Democracy, which won two upper house and two lower house seats, said that even with a small ...

President U Thein Sein attended this weekend’s World Peace Buddhist Conference, organised by the deputy chair of the nationalist hardline group Ma Ba Tha. Held at the Sitagu Academy’s Sagaing campus, the event was self-described as bringing together dozens of leaders from all religions to counter ...

Organisers of makeshift camps for villagers fleeing a military offensive in remote areas of Rakhine State are appealing to the international community for aid. More than 300 civilians, all of whom are said to be ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, have fled to the safety of monasteries following ...

During the 8 November election, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide, crushing the army-linked Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and surprising many by also winning big in ethnic minority-dominated areas where ethnic political parties had expected ...

In a race against deadlines set by the nationwide ceasefire agreement, negotiators for eight ethnic armed groups, the government and political parties have agreed on a partial draft text of a framework for political dialogue. However, some important issues have not been decided on, such as ...

The Myanmar government’s chief ceasefire negotiator has indicated that the ethnic armed groups that refused to sign last month’s nationwide ceasefire agreement still have a chance of being included in the process leading up to political dialogue. His remarks indicated a shift in government policy to ...

A spokesperson for President Thein Sein took to social media on 21 November to reject recommendations that Rohingya Muslims be granted a path to citizenship. The minister’s comments were made in the wake of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, a comprehensive human rights examination comprising recommendations from ...

A major step toward reducing the risk of military clashes near zones controlled by groups that signed last month’s ceasefire agreement has been taken with the completion of a military code of conduct, the government says. Agreement on the draft was reached at the second Joint ...