Ethnic minorities and indigenous people
Ethnic minorities and indigenous people policy and rights
Myanmar official accuses China of meddling in peace talks
A top negotiator in Myanmar’s peace talks with ethnic rebels has accused neighboring China of derailing a nationwide ceasefire deal last week that would have brought Japan and Western nations in as observers to monitor an end to decades of conflict. Beijing has denied the accusation but ...
Group of Montagnards heads back to Vietnam
Twenty-four Montagnards are set to return to Vietnam on 8 October, becoming the first group to volunteer for repatriation since the government last month ordered the asylum seekers to leave of their own volition or be forcibly expelled, officials said. Keep reading ...
Refugees in Thailand watch Myanmar election with interest, trepidation
Outside of Nai Soi village in northern Thailand, more than 14,000 refugees from Kayah State debate elections going on just across the border. While there will be no voting for those in Thailand’s largest refugee camp – most lack ID cards – that doesn’t mean they ...
On Cambodia's Tonle Sap, Vietnamese families face mass eviction
The Kompong Chhnang provincial government is in the process of evicting about 1,000 mostly Vietnamese families who live in the floating villages on the Tonle Sap river near the provincial capital, moving them up the river as part of a five-year plan to beautify the ...
Ceasefire to be signed by some armed groups in October, others abstain
A long-awaited ceasefire agreement between the government and ethnic armed groups will be signed on 15 October, negotiators said, though the pact will not be the “inclusive” agreement many ethnic groups had hoped for. Seven ethnic armed groups have committed to signing the pact while other ...
Nationwide ceasefire accord collapses
Talks in Chiang Mai among leaders of 18 armed factions saw 10 groups, including the powerful Kachin Independence Army, declaring they would not sign the agreement because of the government’s refusal to extend the accord to include three allied factions fighting in the Kokang border ...
Ethnic armed groups still deadlocked over ceasefire signing
No breakthrough was reported on 28 September as leaders of 18 of Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups failed to resolve differences over how many would sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government next month. Pu Zing Cung, general secretary of the Chin National Front and a member ...
Villagers forced to flee as Kachin State clashes continue
Over 100 villagers in Kachin State’s Mansi Township were forced to flee their homes on 27 September after clashes continued between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army in the state’s southernmost township. Keep reading ...
Ethnic leaders meet as ceasefire signing deadline looms
Leaders of some 20 ethnic armed groups from Myanmar are due to meet in Chiang Mai today amid divisions over whether to sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government. Pu Zing Cung, general secretary of the Chin National Front and a member of the groups’ ...
Under pressure on all sides, Union Election Commission reinstates 11 Muslim candidates
Eleven Muslim politicians have successfully challenged their controversial disqualification from contesting the November elections following a surprise reversal by the Union Election Commission. Their reinstatement after appeal followed concerted pressure from the United States and eight other governments, which had urged Myanmar to hold “a credible, ...
