News
Chinese in Shan suddenly popular
Chinese-language posters with instructions on how to vote are causing controversy in Myanmar’s Shan State. Lashio town, in northern Shan State where Myanmar borders China, is home to a large number of ethnic Chinese people. Some have lived there for generations. Like elsewhere in Myanmar, a combination of historic ...
Factory hunger strike continues
Around 20 factory workers are still hunger striking while effective pay cuts and unpaid salaries continue, despite a government order that employers must implement the new minimum wage across all sectors. Workers at the Han Jen garment factory started the hunger strike on 5 October. They demand their ...
Yangon needs 75,000 new apartments each year
Yangon will need around 75,000 new apartments to be built each year to accommodate the city’s growing population, but contractors are struggling to come anywhere close to this target. More than 330,000 people migrate to Yangon each year from elsewhere in the country, but formidable challenges ...
Rohingya trafficking victims endure stress of limbo, stranded in Thailand
The strapping 23-year-old Rohingya Muslim was matter of fact as he described being forced onto a boat in Myanmar for a tortuous two-month-long journey, beaten and kicked by traffickers as he watched scores die of starvation and thirst along the way. He said he was abandoned in ...
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 ...
Myanmar fishermen agree to return to Indonesia for long-sought justice
Fishermen who had been enslaved and abused onboard illicit trawlers plying far-flung Indonesian islands will soon be headed back to the nation where they were held captive for up to a decade. This time they’re after justice, and will take part in a lawsuit against one ...
Myanmar Central Bank issues directive on customer due diligence
The Central Bank of Myanmar has issued a directive on customer due diligence related to anti-money laundering and the financing of terrorism. All banks and financial institutions licensed by the Central Bank must develop effective frameworks to manage these risks, said the note, issued on 5 ...
CPI Yunnan calculates cost of Myitsone Dam
CPI Yunnan International Power Investment Company has recalculated its spending on the suspended Myitsone hydropower project, and is waiting for the Myanmar government to approve the figure. CPIYN is the majority shareholder in Upstream Ayeyarwady Confluence Basin Hydropower Company, the dam’s developer. The calculation was made in ...
Cooperative Bank first to sign for ADB trade finance
Cooperative Bank has become the first local lender to sign with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under its Trade Finance Program, introduced to Myanmar last month. The program will help increase Myanmar’s international trade – the ADB will provide up to US$12 million per year to ...
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 ...
