Ethnic minorities and indigenous people policy and rights

Armed ethnic rebels in eastern Myanmar’s Shan state have warned political parties to suspend campaigning for national elections slated for November amid ongoing clashes with the country’s military in the region, citing safety concerns.In a statement issued on 16 September, the Restoration Council of Shan ...

Myanmar’s Muslim minority make up about 5 percent of the country’s predominantly Buddhist population and Muslims living in the delta rely heavily on the slaughterhouse business and the beef trade. Now Muslim businesses have become the target of anti-Islamic sentiment propagated by radical Buddhists who have found ...

Over 100 election hopefuls – mostly minority candidates – were knocked out of the running in the Union Election Commission’s final list, with citizenship status by far the most common stumbling block. The final list was short 124 rejected candidates, according to the commission’s announcement on ...

Renewed fighting in Shan State is reported to have claimed at least 10 lives even as the government and leaders of armed ethnic groups met in Nay Pyi Taw in their latest attempt to hammer out a nationwide ceasefire accord. Representatives of armed ethnic groups warned ...

      Talks held between Myanmar’s President Thein Sein and leaders of the country’s armed ethnic groups on 9 September ended with a tentative agreement to sign a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) next month, according to sources and state media. Hla Maung Shwe, senior advisor of the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace ...

Police in Yangon Division’s Hmawbi Township have detained 10 Rohingya Muslims and the driver of the vehicle in which they were found riding, according to local law enforcement. A police officer in Hmawbi Township told The Irrawaddy that local authorities were holding the internal migrants, but he ...

Myanmar’s  opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has warned armed ethnic minority groups not to rush into signing a nationwide ceasefire, a top party colleague said 26 August, a position that pits her against President Thein Sein, who has made reaching a deal before November ...

The Arakan State government’s ongoing citizenship verification process has caused disquiet among local Arakanese, some of whom contend that immigration officials are overly accommodating of unwarranted claims. The citizenship verification process, a largely ill-defined scheme that involves non-nationals providing proof of Burma-born ancestry, has led to ...

Myanmar’s parliament voted on 18 August to again extend martial law for three months in a restive area along the country’s border with China, where there have been clashes between the military and an armed ethnic group since February. Cross-border incidents in the fighting have strained ties ...

Ethnic groups under the umbrella of the United Nationalities Alliance have launched their third annual conference in Yangon with the aim of focusing on the peace process and agreeing on a future political dialogue with the government. Political parties, civil society organisations and representatives from invited ...