Myanmar

June 12, 2024 4:47 PM

Myanmar poverty deepens, economic growth stagnant, World Bank says

Poverty in Myanmar is more widespread than at any time in the last six years and growth in the conflict-torn nation is likely to remain at a measly 1% in the current fiscal year with little respite in sight, the World Bank said on Wednesday. Escalating violence, labour shortages and a depreciating currency have made it harder to do business, the bank said in a report on the Southeast Asian nation that has been in political and economic turmoil since a 2021 military coup ended a decade of tentat...

June 7, 2024 10:43 AM

UN chief ‘deeply concerned’ about increasing violence in Myanmar

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern Thursday for the increasing conflict in Myanmar. "The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the increasing violence across Myanmar and strongly condemns the recent attacks by the Myanmar military that have reportedly killed scores of civilians, including in Rakhine State and Sagaing Region," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. The Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, is struggling to contain the nationwide bigg...

May 24, 2024 5:22 PM

UN warns of upsurge in violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine

The United Nations human rights office on Friday (May 24) warned there was a risk of a serious rise in violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where it received "frightening and disturbing reports" of the killing of Rohingya people and burning of their property. A powerful armed ethnic group in Myanmar known as the Arakan Army said last week it had won control over a town in the western state of Rakhine after weeks of fighting. It has denied accusations it had targeted members of the Muslim-minor...

May 24, 2024 9:24 AM

Rohingyas Crisis: UN expert appeals to Bangladesh to reverse its closed border policy

UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar Tom Andrews on Thursday appealed to the Bangladesh Government to "reverse its closed border policy' and demonstrate their humanitarian support for the Rohingya once again. Thousands of innocent lives will be lost if the international community fails to respond to ominous signs of another Rohingya bloodbath in Rakhine State of Myanmar, a UN expert said in a press release on Thursday. The Special Rapporteur said once again, Banglades...

April 24, 2024 10:47 AM

Myanmar rebel group says it withdraws from key town on Thai border

A Myanmar rebel group has withdrawn its troops from a town along the Thai border following a counteroffensive by soldiers of the ruling junta from whom the rebels had this month wrested the key trading post, an official said on Wednesday. A spokesman for the Karen National Union (KNU) said the "temporary retreat" from the town of Myawaddy came after the return of junta soldiers to the vital strategic area that is a conduit for annual foreign trade of more than $1 billion. "KNLA troops will ......

April 19, 2024 1:32 PM

Another 13 Myanmar border guards take shelter in Bangladesh

Amid a conflict between the Myanmar military and the armed rebel group in Myanmar’s Rakhine, 13 more members of the Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) took shelter in Bangladesh on Thursday night. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) public relations officer (PRO) Shariful Islam said on Friday that so far, a total of 274 BGP members have taken refuge in Bangladesh. At first, the BGP members surrendered to the members of Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) in the Naf River near the southern tip of Banglad...

April 18, 2024 3:50 PM

India’s FY24 pulses imports hit 6-year high as red lentil purchases jump

India's pulses imports in fiscal 2024 surged 84% year-on-year to their highest level in six years after lower production prompted India to allow duty-free imports of red lentils and yellow peas, government and industry officials said on Thursday. Higher imports by India, the world's biggest importer, producer and consumer of protein-rich pulses, have been supporting global prices and helping bring down stocks in exporting countries such as Canada, Australia, and Myanmar. India imported...

March 27, 2024 3:13 PM

India to spend $3.7 bln to fence Myanmar border, source says

India plans to spend nearly $3.7 billion to fence its 1,610-km porous border with Myanmar within about a decade, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter, to prevent smuggling and other illegal activities. New Delhi said earlier this year it would fence the border and end a decades-old visa-free movement policy with coup-hit Myanmar for border citizens for reasons of national security and to maintain the demographic structure of its northeastern region. Myanmar has so far not commente...