The Day of the Coup
NAY PYI DAW – Early in the morning, soldiers from the Tatmadaw – the Burmese army – arrested State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint in their official residences in the capital.
Other senior members and local politicians associated with the National League for Democracy (NLD) were detained in unknown locations. Myanmar’s new parliament was set to meet for its first session, two months after the ruling party had won the November 2020 elections in a landslide.
February 6, 2021
Millions in the Streets
February 19, 2021
The First One Who Fell
NAY PYI DAW – As the revolutionary crowds became larger, the repression increased mercilessly. In the capital, 20-year-old Mya Thwe Thwe Khine died from a gunshot through her helmet, fired by a senior policeman. She is the first known victim of the anti-coup protest movement. After she was assassinated, policemen and soldiers unleashed…
February 28, 2021
Hunting the Media
PYAY // Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, Pyay is a major economic hub of the Bago region, which is well-connected to Yangon via the first railway built in Burma during the British colonial era. There, the anti-coup protests usually started from the State University. On this morning, soldiers and policemen blocked the entrance to the campus where…
March 3, 2021
The Death of a Poet
MONYWA // Sitting on the banks of the Chindwin River in Upper Burma, the bustling town is the center of the government of Sagaing Region. In front of the statue of General Aung San, the father of ASSK, who is considered as the founder of the Burmese nation, the Monywa Township People’s Strike Steering Committee, formed by a dozen civil society organizations…
March 12, 2021
Urban Warfare
YANGON // No one will forget the fate of Kyal Sin ‘Angel’, a 19-year-old girl killed by police during a similar protest in Mandalay ten days earlier. Minutes before she fell, a photographer took a picture of her running from the frontline as she was wearing a black T-shirt with the message: ‘Everything will be OK’. Thousands of people came to her funeral…
March 21, 2021
Destroying the Opposition
SHWE TAUNG // A small town on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River near Pyay District, the city is a NLD stronghold and home to a large number of civil servants. The main protest leaders, including Kyaw Zeya, a local politician long engaged against military rule, and Hla Thwin, who served as chairman of the Shwe Taung Township Election Commission…
2022
March 27, 2021
The Day of Shame
LASHIO // To mark the annual Armed Forces Day, the generals paraded in the capital, while their men killed more than 150 people around the country and arrested hundreds of others, on the bloodiest day since the coup.
The capital of Shan State, at the Chinese border, had already been under intense repression…
APRIL 13, 2021
Revolutionary New Year
NGAPALI BEACH // On the edge of Thandwe, an important port and the main agglomeration in South Rakhine State, lies Ngapali Beach. The beautiful spot is one of Myanmar’s most popular tourist destinations and gets particularly crowded during the Thingyan holiday. The five-day festival, which marks the beginning of the year in Theravada Buddhist nations…
MAY 5, 2021
People Defense Forces
UNDERGROUND – As pro-democracy protesters grew increasingly frustrated and desperate with means of peaceful resistance such as CDM and flash protests on motorbikes, the NUG made a clear break with the non-violence advocated by Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD since its founding.
May 26, 2021
Back to School Bombing
SALIN – All 500 villages around Salin, a township in Magway Region, central Myanmar, elected NLD candidates in the 2020 General Election. The small farmers who lived in the area lost all hope for a better life after the coup. Open protests stopped after a brutal crackdown early March, which left an engineering student dead and ten people…
AUGUST 1, 2021
The Great Fragmentation
December 10, 2021
Silence As the Loudest War Cry
Bloody Christmas
FEBRUARY 1, 2022
The Return of the Darkness (0) // The sacrifice of Ko Ko Aung
Kyaukpadaung Township, Mandalay // One year after the coup d’Etat, many Burmese people stayed indoors as a form of protest against General Min Aung Hlaing’s seizure of absolute power. During this Silent Strike, Ko Aung Aung, a Mandalay resident, stood on his own in front of the local electricity office and set fire on himself.
FEBRUARY 25, 2022
From Ukraine to Myanmar : Reflections on crime against humanity
Laung Lone, Dawei // “Slava Ukraini!”, shouted a young Burmese revolutionary in a video clip aimed at the international community. Behind him, a group of like-minded people were holding signs with blue and yellow flags to show solidarity with the Ukrainians “Glory to Ukraine”.
MARCH 29, 2022
Exam Papers Gone in Smoke
HAKHA // In Chin State’s capital Hakha, sacks of paper were scattered on the sun-burned grass of Yonetaung Valley. Just two days ahead of the nationwide university’s entrance exam, the helicopter that was bringing the Grade 10 exam papers crashed down
APRIL 13, 2022
The Dangers of Thingyan
YANGON // The beginning of the annual New Year festivities has been marred by many protests and warnings this year. Thingyan is the traditional Burmese New Year celebration and a water play festival held in the month of Tagu, which corresponds to April, in most Southeast Asian countries.
APRIL 19, 2022
The Fuel Crisis
PWIN OO LWIN, MANDALAY REGION // Early morning, the rumor of a vast fuel shortage started spreading across the whole country and crowds of consumers took petrol stations by storm.
MAY 1, 2022
A Month of Unity for Burmese and Thai Workers
BANGKOK, THAILAND // As mass pro-democracy demonstrations have become too risky in Myanmar since March 2021, hundreds of Burmese migrant workers used the May Day strike tradition to take to the streets of downtown Bangkok. They protested against the coup d’Etat in their native country and requested dignified working conditions in their host country, where they are subjected to regular abuse and exploitation for decades.
MAY 31, 2022
Junta Burning Upper Burma
Bin village, Sagaing REGION //A woman in her sixties, wearing a hat and a worn-out sweater, is weeping heavily as she is leaning against a wall. This picture went viral and attracted empathy from many people.
JUNE 3, 2022
The Shadow of Death Penalty
INSEIN PRISON, YANGON // At a press conference in Naypyidaw, SAC spokesman General Zaw Min Tun confirmed the death sentences of four men after some so-called journalists demanded the execution of the convicted prisoners: Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zaw.
JUNE 14, 2022
Shan Women Lost Dignity and Safety
Pa-O Autonomous Region, Southern Shan State // After the coup, the question whether the life and dignity of women are less valuable than a bird is over-present. In Southern Shan State, a number of women have since been sexually assaulted, shot and killed and no one took responsibility except by giving some money.
JULY 7, 2022
Remember Six Decades of Students Repression
YANGON // On July 7th, many protests happened around Myanmar to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1962 revolutionary student strike. The “Seven July” uprising was one of the first mass movement to oppose the military coup by General Ne Win’s junta.
JULY 12, 2022
Junta Gets Full Membership in the Eurasian Autocracies Gang
POB PRA, THAILAND // In this remote village at the Thai-Myanmar border, a model-sized blue Mig-29 aircraft led the cortege for Asahna Bucha Buddhist ceremony with little boys as part of a parade around their school.
AUGUST 1, 2022
In Memoriam of Journalists in Myanmar
UNDERGROUND, IN EXILE // After the military coup, journalists were among the first to be hunted down along with opposition politicians, social workers and activists. In 2021, Burma became the country that imprisons the most journalists after China. Dozens of reporters have been arrested and four have been killed by the SAC.
We remember our colleagues who lost their life or their freedom while fulfilling their mission of public information.
AUGUST 25, 2022
/Rohingyatographer/
Snaps of life in the world’s biggest refugee camp
COX BAZAR, BANGLADESH // A collective of Rohingya photographers living in the Kuputalong-Balukhali refugee camp, published their first photography magazine. Five years since the start of the genocidal campaign against the formerly Rakhine-based Muslim community, key members of the team speak about their motivations, challenges and ambitions.
September 1, 2022
Surviving in Cities of Crime and Despair
YANGON // Before the coup, it was pretty safe to go out in the late evenings in Yangon and even to walk around the night markets. Since the early days of the military takeover, violent crimes of theft and robbery have been happening every day.
SEPTEMBER 16, 2022
Airstrike Epidemic (0) // The Junta’s war on children
LAT YET KONE, SAGAING REGION // Early afternoon, the Burmese army intentionally attacked a school and a village in Depayin Township using machine guns and launchers, killing two dozen people, half of them children.
Sagaing Region is one of the strongest hotspots of resistance fighting against the junta’s troops since the coup. As daily clashes between Burmese army and PDF are recorded for a year in the area, the tragedy of Lat Yet Kone is only reinforcing the local opposition to the illegitimate military regime.
OCTOBER 7, 2022
One river, one border, two realities
RIVER MOEI, Burma-Thailand border // The endless escape of Myanmar people out of their land is worsening since the military coup of 2021. As realpolitik and national security issues topple humanitarian concerns, tragedies along the river marking the border between Thailand and Myanmar keep unfolding.
OCTOBER 23, 2022
Airstrikes Epidemic (I) // Open wounds in the heart of Kachinland
KACHIN STATE // A targeted airstrike during a concert held by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) for its 62 years anniversary in A Nang Pa killed dozens of people and traumatized the state. Kachin people will always remember this epochal traumatic event which happened on a clear October night in the context of the endemic war engulfing the state.
NOVEMBER 16, 2022
Asian summits shut eyes to dirty business in Myanmar
BANGKOK, THAILAND // Pot lids and umbrellas, symbols of resistance in Myanmar, appeared in front of Thailand’s Prime Minister’s Office and United Nations headquarters as political leaders from the region gathered in the capital to discuss free trade zones and other economic issues.
NOVEMBER 22, 2022
The women fighting on the eastern frontline
MYAWADDY, KAREN STATE // In the afternoon, Naw Eh Moo, 28, was carrying rations in a vehicle to the frontline on the Myawaddy-Wal Lay highway when her logistics team was ambushed by Burmese army soldiers. Her team supplied Cobra troops with uniforms, equipment and medicines. She leaves a five-year old daughter behind and many friends in mourning.
DECEMBER 16, 2022
Hope for international support rise as US Senate passes Burma Act Bill
WASHINGTON, USA // After many years of attempting to pass a version of the “Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2022” (as known as BURMA ACT), both houses of the U.S. Congress have finally passed the bill. This welcomed development comes after multiple failed attempts in 2019 and 2021.
JANUARY 04, 2023
No Mercy and No Media for Political Prisoners in Rakhine
SITTWE, RAKHINE STATE //Bordering the Bay of Bengal in western Myanmar, Rakhine or Arakan state has been a major center of resistance to the junta military forces. The junta’s recent actions risk provoking the restarting of an active conflict. Although the SAC released more than 7000 prisoners for Independence Day across Myanmar, not a single political prisoner from Rakhine was included.
JANUARY 15, 2023
Junta Forces Destroy the Oldest Burmese Catholic Church
CHAN THAR, SAGAING REGION // “In the early morning, soldiers burned down churches, monasteries, orphanages, the public hall, and public schools. They slept at the school and some houses the night before and in the morning they burned it all down. The military already burned down the village four times. Only 14 houses are left and a hundred were gone in the last raid.” said a local resident from Ye Oo Township. The oldest Burmese Catholic Church, dating from 1894, has also been destroyed.
JANUARY 21, 2023
Energy, Money, and Security: for whom?
ANDAMAN SEA, SOUTHERN MYANMAR // 60 kilometres offshore south of Myanmar lies Yadana, the main natural gas field of the country. Natural gas sources have become a hotspot of geopolitical involvement in the ongoing political upheaval inside Myanmar as oil and gas rank as the top profit-making businesses for the coup-making military junta.
JANUARY 24, 2023
Myanmar Youth Seeks Japan as a Work and Study Eldorado
YANGON // Two years after the coup, the Myanmar youth feel despondent about their future. One promising way abroad for them is relocating to other Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea.
FEBRUARY 20, 2023
The Return of Darkness (I) // A village gets burned for resisting
SAGAING REGION // Many people in Myanmar are losing access to electricity, a recurring fact throughout the country’s tumultuous history. Since it seized power in February 2021, the military junta has cut off internet connections and electricity lines on purpose to extract concessions from a population disgruntled by the national situation.
MARCH 8, 2023
The March of Myanmar Women
CHIANG MAI // On International Women’s Day, the town in the north of Thailand hosted the first Myanmar’s Women’s summit and women and their allies took the streets of Old Town.
MAY 1 , 2023
Workers Demand Labor Rights For All In Thailand
BANGKOK & CHIANG MAI // To mark International Workers’ Day, hundreds of migrant workers from Myanmar marched in the streets along with Thai activists in a show of unity. To this day, migrant workers cannot form a union under Thai law.
MAY 15, 2023
Thai and Myanmar residents hope for a common fair future
BANGKOK // In the week preceding the national elections, our team has asked Thai and Myanmar workers and activists about their concerns and aspirations as their respective countries share similar political issues, as well as the threats looming on their unified movement.
JUNE 26 , 2023
A talk with Chu May Paing: “If I don’t post, am I part of the revolution?”
DIGITAL MYANMAR // For the million of people who have to live in exile, social media and other digital spaces are their only way to stay updated and take part in politics.
Researcher Chu May Paing, a Bamar anthropologist currently based in the United States, has been studying since 2021 this new wave of social media activism in Myanmar. She argues that people’s interactions with social media are more than a tool of communication, and has become the way of life in dealing with not only politics but also everyday activities
JULY 8, 2023
The Return of Darkness (II) // Paying Electricity Bills At Gunpoint
YANGON // Because of the military administration lack of technology and management skills to address the terrible electricity shortage across the country, people can’t work, communicate or sleep and urban life is severely disrupted.
Black market solutions have emerged, but the burden of paying monthly electricity bills without regular access to power remains a mandatory responsibility for urban dwellers, as most of the energy produced is exported in neighboring countries.
JULY 15 , 2023
Diaspora hopes for a new dawn as Thailand votes to shed its green uniform
BANGKOK // The Thai Parliament is expected to form a new civilian government. The majority of Thai citizens as well as Myanmar people who took shelter in the neighboring country are hoping for a new era. However, the new government will have to confront the massive challenges posed by the Myanmar military.
AUGUST 25, 2023
Rohingya Remembrance Day // Talk with Razia Sultana
BANGLADESH // “Solidarity and support is not only my target, but a mechanism to bring justice by exposing perpetrators and their accomplices”.
Razia Sultana is an interpreter and researcher at Rohingya media organization Kaladan Press, and founder of the Rights for Women Welfare Society (RWWS), which supports Rohingya women survivors of large-scale abuses by armed groups.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2023
Airstrikes Epidemic (II) // Mass trauma and displacement
DEMOSO, KARENNI STATE //
“The most painful moment in my life”
Amidst the sound of fire falling from the sky, families packed three to four days’ worth of food and some clothes and headed for a place in the outskirts of Demoso, Karenni state. That departure from their house, that occurred a few months after the February 1st, 2021 coup d’Etat, was the beginning of Yuri Soe’s family’s journey to escape the war.
OCTOBER 10, 2023
Myanmar’s Mine Fields: Into the Shattered Lives of Refugees and Fighters
DEMOSO, KARENNI STATE // Armed pro-democracy fighters are thwarting the regime’s attempts to consolidate control in many parts of the country. However, the continuous battles are taking their toll on fighters and civilians alike as the Myanmar military attacks refugee camps, schools and religious buildings with the purpose of breaking popular resistance – and all forms of life itself.
An elderly refugee and a young PDF fighter speak about losing a leg due to the mine epidemic crippling the Southeast Asian nation for decades.
OCTOBER 29, 2023
United by Blood Money, Police States Stand Together
BANGKOK, THAILAND // “Will the Singaporean Government stand for blood money – or clean business, with dignity?”
A thousand days after the coup, members of the Burmese diaspora protested in front of the Singapore embassy. They were closely monitored by Thai police. Their demand: that Singapore stop selling arms used to kill their fellow citizens in Myanmar.
According to The Billion Dollar Death Trade report by the UN Human Rights Office, Singapore is the third largest dealer of arms to the Myanmar military.
DECEMBER 4, 2023
Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand not invited to first social security board election
BANGKOK, THAILAND // On Dec. 24, the Southeast Asian country will host its first social security board election. Close to one million workers from Myanmar, who contribute equally to this multi-million dollar fund, are not allowed to participate. But a Thai migrant worker rights advocate is running to represent Myanmar nationals.
DECEMBER 20, 2023
Mapping Lawless Checkpoints
ON THE STREETS, MYANMAR // Shoddy concrete structures connected to the military have become a common and menacing sight around police stations, military bases, embassies and main crossroads since the coup.
They are being used by the military as watchtowers and strongholds to impose invasive checks on civilians’ bodies, phones and vehicles, subjecting them to bullying and arbitrary arrest.
People across the country tell their stories of fear and abuse in this feature supported by Myanmar Witness.
FEBRUARY 1, 2024
Testimony from Hpa-An women prison //
“Given the chance, I would burn it to the ground” //
HPA-AN, KAYIN STATE // Naw May, a former political prisoner who spent almost two years in jail, speaks out about the abuses she faced during her two years of detention. The number of political prisoners, and especially women, has never been that high in Burma’s history.
His eyes were those of a demon, red and sparkling. Totally wired, tired and probably on methamphetamines – they all lose their human minds this way … they are like wild beasts, roaring and screaming, even when communicating with each other.
Prison administration changed after the 2021 February 1st coup. The torture, humiliation and human rights abuses that Myanmar’s prisons are notorious for are overseen by an increasingly struggling military.
FEBRUARY 26, 2024
Into the Lives of Myanmar Women Factory Workers
YANGON & BANGKOK INDUSTRIAL ZONES // Long familiar with the tiny gains and vicious crashes brought on by political shocks, workers in Myanmar now face insurmountable hardships as the fourth year post-coup gets underway. People must now decide either to shelter in place with no end in sight, or face down unknown conditions as migrant workers overseas.
Young garment factory workers share their experiences from Yangon and Samut Prakarn, in neighbouring Thailand.
MARCH 15, 2024
Airstrikes Epidemic (III) // “Not every house has a bomb shelter yet”
MIN HLA, SAGAING // At around 3:30 PM, November 10, 2023, rapid gunfire covered the village of Min Hla, the previously tranquil setting suddenly echoing with the crackling sounds of an aerial attack. It lasted fifteen minutes. A military helicopter dropped two 225kg bombs on the school and the monastery during the airstrike.
In the three years following the coup, the Myanmar military has conducted 1,652 airstrikes across the country. The Sagaing Region has been subject to the most aerial attacks to this date. Regionwide, bunkers and trenches are proliferating to protect civilians.
APRIL 28, 2024
Myanmar’s Stateless Migrant Children in Thailand
SAMUT SAKHON, THAILAND // Even though Saw Win is a legally employed migrant worker in Thailand, he still cannot access the right to register the birth of his child. This widespread issue raises questions about the birth registration process related to migrants’ workplaces and local government agencies. The problem is caused by corruption and use of discretion from government officials, as well as the denial of responsibility by employers.
MAY 5, 2024
From Yangon to Dubai, David’s Odyssey Into The Cyber Romance Scam World (I)
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES // David* worked in a scam center targeting European men in Dubai, a lifeline after fleeing Myanmar’s turmoil post-coup. His team posed as women on social media, luring targets into investing in fake platforms with promises of love and affection. Once hooked, victims were encouraged to promote the platform, unwittingly divulging personal and financial information.
His experience sheds light on the dark underbelly of migrant exploitation and the epidemic of online scams prevalent at Southeast Asian borders but also in Dubai’s shadowy job market.
June 1st, 2024
Not Just Labor // Thailand’s Fisheries Migrant Communities Show their Life
BANGKOK // Migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar who are currently employed in the fishing and seafood packaging industry in Phuket, Chanthaburi, and Phang Nga, showcased their photo stories. They captured their daily lives, showing challenging, entertaining, or mundane moments during an exhibition at the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center.
The exhibition is made of short stories straight to the point, heart-touching quotes paired with strong visuals, and the prints are different sizes according to the resolution of the phone the pictures were taken with. This exhibition is actually the story of one community where migrant and local workers alike share everything in common as humans.
Thai documentary photographer Sayan Chuenudomsavad said, “the exhibition could be the first step to realise that we – Thai people and migrant workers – live together. Then it’s so important to learn that we share things in common as human beings. This would be the starting point to let us talk more about migrant workers policies.”
JULY 8, 2024
As birth control and family care fell short in Myanmar’s civil war, women’s groups step in
KARENNI STATE // Reproductive health and family planning are more difficult than ever as the intensifying civil war enters its third year. With fear and the threat of persecution ever-present, groups of local women are coordinating healthcare and promoting women’s rights as best they can.
“Do not have kids in this current period. Even we, adults, feel that fear, so they would fear worse than us,” said Daw Anna*, a 40-year old devoted Roman Catholic believer with three children in Karenni State, the smallest state in eastern Myanmar bordering northern Thailand. Like many Karenni Christians, Daw Anna did not previously use birth control. Now, against this backdrop of civil unrest, ongoing conflict, and extreme economic hardship, she utilizes birth control and encourages other women to do so.
August 26, 2024
In Myanmar, Solar Power Isn’t Just About Being Green—It’s a Matter of Survival
For the past three years, Myanmar has been plunged frequently into darkness as the ruling junta’s corruption wreaks havoc on the country’s infrastructure.
[ Our Series ‘The Return of Darkness” ]
KARENNI STATE // In this crisis, shifting to solar energy is less about environmental consciousness and more about a desperate need for survival.
In 2021, Ma Pyae Pyae* was in her final year of studying electrical engineering at a technological university in central Myanmar. She was determined to secure a job in Myanmar’s expanding energy sector—a field not commonly pursued by young women “I was enthusiastic. I predicted higher electricity generation and nationwide coverage. But when the coup happened, all my hopes were shattered.”
While world leaders discuss transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy, conflict-riddled Myanmar has forced locals to shift toward off-grid power sources. But this option has its challenges.“In the global market, the price of solar panels is decreasing, but in our country, the cost of solar panels and related equipment continues to rise,” said Min Min*, a renewable energy expert.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2024
Unsettled Waters: Irrawaddy Dolphins Caught in the Crossfire
[ National Threatened Species Day ]
MATTAYA, MANDALAY REGION // U Aung San, a fisherman in his fifties, he moved along the river’s edge with skill, gently tapping his boat. Within a few moments, a dolphin swam up beside him. Aung San waited, watching as the dolphin raised its tail, to signal when to cast the net into the rippling water. As the dolphin struck the water’s surface, Aung San tossed his net just in time to catch the fish below. Pulling up his catch, he felt his net full of fish. By sunset, he would earn around 10,000 kyats from selling the fish.
This nostalgic scene belongs to the past – before the military coup in 2021. Over the past three years, he has witnessed intense fighting between the coup-led military and the People’s Defense Forces. Along the 350km stretch of the Irrawaddy River – from Mandalay to Katha in the Sagaing Region – this conflict has had significant impacts for people and wildlife.
NOVEMBER 3, 2024
Cartoonists hit at ‘The ASEAN Way’
BANGKOK // The exhibition “Cartooning the ASEAN Way of Non-Interference and Consensus” held at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), uses cartoons and comics to critique ASEAN’s principles of non-interference and consensus. The artworks, from a regional competition, highlight ASEAN’s shortcomings in addressing human rights crises, especially in Myanmar.
Activists such as Khin Ohmar criticized ASEAN for its failure to support Myanmar’s people amidst military violence, pointing out the ineffectiveness of its Five-Point Consensus.
Cartoonists, including Stéphane Peray and Gandjar Harta Widodo, discussed challenges in political cartooning, particularly censorship and shifting media landscapes.
Kyaw Lin’s comic criticized ASEAN’s inaction on Myanmar, advocating for majority rule instead of consensus. Kelly Twinkle I. Mangi’s work reflects youth activism across Southeast Asia, emphasizing regional unity against authoritarianism. The exhibition aims to inspire a “people-centered” ASEAN and spark critical discussions on governance and regional solidarity.
Discover the winning artworks and learn more about our “Cartoonist for Myanmar” fellowship.
To be continued