Local administrators are crucial in implementing the Myanmar junta’s policies, including the nationwide conscription drive, but ample opportunities for profit mean many are willing to risk assassination for the job. By RACHEL MOON | FRONTIER Administrator U Lwin Thu* has some difficult decisions to make. While he successfully managed to avoid conscripting any young men from his village tract during the first round, he’s now being forced by the Danubyu Township recruitment committee to name names for the second batch. A father of two, Lwin Thu was appointed village tract administrator by the mi ..read more

The parallel government has unveiled a paramilitary task force to combat abuses by the military and different resistance groups, but while many welcome such a force, some question whether it can enforce the law fairly. By FRONTIER Around 20 young men cradle guns while crawling across the mud of a military training field. At sudden intervals, four trainers in uniform fire rifles into the ground close to the young men, who keep their heads down and continue moving forward. The exercise, seen in a video shot in January, was part of a three-month training programme led by a Chin-American who serve ..read more

By AFP Myanmar’s junta has suspended the issuing of permits for men to work abroad, it said, weeks after introducing a military conscription law that led to thousands trying to leave the country. The regime, which is struggling to crush widespread armed opposition to its rule, in February said it would enforce a law allowing it to call up men to serve in the military for at least two years. The move sent thousands queuing for visas outside foreign embassies in the commercial capital Yangon and others crossing into neighbouring Thailand to escape the law, according to media reports. The labour ..read more

OPINION Resistance coordination bodies have failed to forge a unified vision of the country’s future, meaning it’s time for a better-structured, more inclusive approach. By AUNG KO KO | FRONTIER More than three years on from the 2021 military coup, armed resistance has weakened Myanmar’s junta seemingly to the point of desperation. This has prompted many to consider the consequences of regime collapse. Some fear the country will fragment violently along ethnic lines. But as the military tries to cling on to power, its usual tactic of stoking ethno-religious nationalism has been challenged by m ..read more

Families have been torn apart by the coup and beloved pets are no exception, with many owners going to great lengths to save or be reunited with their animals, while others suffer the anguish of separation. By MOE THAW DAR SWE | FRONTIER At a shelter in Yangon, around 60 cats play and sleep together while elsewhere their owners struggle against each other to decide the future of Myanmar. Some of the owners are democracy activists who have been jailed or forced to flee their homes to avoid arrest. Others are soldiers who have been deployed to the frontlines of an ever-broadening conflict to cru ..read more

The junta’s conscription drive has created fear among Myanmar young people. Many are fleeing to Thailand, but there they face new challenges, including a lack of opportunities and the risk of exploitation. This week’s story is by Doh Athan freelance journalist and is available in English and Burmese. Doh Athan is a weekly podcast about human rights issues in Myanmar. It is made by local journalists with media partners from across the country, through a partnership with Fondation Hirondelle and the support of our donors. ENGLISH VERSION: BURMESE VERSION: The post Young people losing hope du ..read more

Conditions in Myanmar’s jails are dire for all inmates, but human rights organisations say political prisoners suffer more abuses – including medical neglect that often has deadly consequences. By RACHEL MOON | FRONTIER “Emergency! Emergency!” A chorus of voices erupted from a ward of Kyaikmayaw Prison late on January 15. When the guards arrived after midnight, prisoner Ko Pyae Phyo Aung had already fainted from excruciating pain in his abdomen. He was taken to the prison hospital, but the doctor who was supposed to be on duty wasn’t there. Despite Kyaikmayaw being a major prison near the Mon ..read more

News from Myanmar in recent years have been downbeat, with many human rights abuses. But amid the suffering, there are stories of people working to improve the lives of others. In this video we meet a former rebel who has established a school for migrant children near the Thai-Myanmar border. Doh Athan is a weekly podcast about human rights issues in Myanmar. It is made by local journalists with media partners from across the country, through a partnership with Fondation Hirondelle and the support of our donors. ENGLISH VERSION: BURMESE VERSION: The post Human Rights Defenders: The former re ..read more

Young people and their families are seeking any way they can to evade the Myanmar military’s conscription drive – sometimes with the help of sympathetic local administrators. By NAW BETTY HAN | FRONTIER Junta-appointed local administrators have held meetings throughout Myanmar to pick future conscripts, usually in lottery draws, since the regime announced it would enforce an old military service law on February 10. But in a ward administration office in the Mon State capital of Mawlamyine, residents were called to an unusual meeting in the second week of March – to find ways to avoid the draft ..read more

Renewed fighting in Rakhine between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army has brought renewed insecurity. As well as a lack of work due to the destroyed economy, young people now fear being forcibly recruited into an unpopular military by its newly enforced conscription law. This week’s story is by a Doh Athan freelance journalist and is available in English and Burmese. Doh Athan is a weekly podcast about human rights issues in Myanmar. It is made by local journalists with media partners from across the country, through a partnership with Fondation Hirondelle and the support of our donors ..read more