The international community is starting to lose interest in the political situation of Myanmar, amid the eruption of violence in the Middle East. At the same time, the junta launched an attack to Laiza, Kachin state. This week round up will present the latest news from Myanmar, including France's perspective to junta's attack.

 

More than  500 Chin people were killed

 

 On 10th October, the Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA) said 528 Chin people were killed since the military takeover in February 2021 up to  01 October 2023.

 

The statement claimed 217 civilians and 311 Chin resistance fighters were killed.

 

Among the fatalities, 24 were underage people and five of them died due to land mine explosions.

 

Within two years of military rule, the junta troops killed five pastors and three deacons. Another pastor is sentenced to 23 years imprisonment with hard labor for allegedly violating Section 505(A) and Section 49(A).

 

Moreover, no less than 101 religious buildings were burned down along with over 2,100 houses. More than 1,000 Chin people were being detained and two of them passed died in prison, stated by ICA.

 

 

Bago submerged in flood

 

Starting on 07 October, most of Bago town was flooded for a week and over 13,000 people from 4,500 households were displaced and are now living in  20 evacuation   camps across the town.

 

One Bago resident told BAP, "Floods occurred in Bago Region for four times this year, the flood water was the highest in 150 years."

 

Around 80 percent of the town was covered by water and there was an outage of mobile network.

 

The Department of Fire Service said that in the morning of 13th October, the water level in some areas has subsided but the people are in dire need of food and purified drinking water.

 

In nearby  Hlegu town in Yangon, more than 10,000 people were evacuated due to the rising levels of dams.

 

 Three NCA parties will not hold talks with junta

 

On 12 October, the Karen National Union (KNU), Chin National Front (CNF) and All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) jointly declared that as long as junta is in power, they would not participate in peace talks. The above-mentioned ethnic armed groups were signatories to the  Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) since 2015 but joined the resistance movement after the military take over.

 

In a joint statement, they said the junta’s actions brought hardships to the people and worsened the armed conflicts in the country.

 

On the other hand, the SAC is arranging to hold 8th Anniversary of NCA in Naypyitaw on 15th October.

 

Around 250 members of MGBA were dismissed

 

During this week, the Myanmar Garment Manufactures Association (MGMA) dismissed 254  of its members for not paying annual membership dues.

 

Among its 819 members, 254 failed to submit their annual membership fee in 2022 so they were dismissed from MGMA. The expelled members have to pay annual membership fee and re-register as the new member, if they still want to join the association.

 

Massive killings in Kachin state

 

The junta committed massive killings on 09 October, resulting in the death of 29 innocent people, the Nation League for Democracy(NLD) said.  The political party said it was the 22nd junta attack where more than 10 people were killed at the same time.

 

According to BAP sources, 29 people including 17children, and not less than 56 people were injured when the junta bombed Mung Lai Hkyet IDP camp in Laiza in Kachin State before midnight of 09 October.

 

The international community including US, France, Canada, Australia and Britain strongly condemned the attack. France said the Myanmar junta has been committing war crimes under international laws.

 

On 11th October, SAC explained the incident was just an explosion of Ammonium Nitrate warehouse near Mung Lai Hkyet  IDP camp.

 

But the spokesperson of Kachin Independence Army(KIA), Colonel Naw Bu said  there was no explosive warehouse near  Mung Lai Hkyet IDP camp.

 

More than 1,300 people were being detained for posts in social media

 

Data for Myanmar ( DFM) released a statement on 08 October that 1,316 people were detained from February 2022 to September 2023 for their social media posts opposing the junta. On the average, 65 people were being detained in a month for their social media posts and most of them are Facebook users and some use TikTok and Telegram platforms.

 

The US based Freedom House said on 04 October Myanmar ranks fourth globally, among the countries that violates internet freedom.

 

Two military generals were under life imprisonment

 

On October 10, Deputy General Moe Myint Tun and Brigadier General Yan Naung Soe were handed life imprisonment that is equivalent to 20 years in jail.

 

The junta said they were found guilty for violating the State Secret Act, corruption, and violations of military rules.

 

Deputy General Moe Myint Tun was found guilty of corruption relating to importation of palm oil, receiving bribes from companies by taking advantage of his authority and keeping foreign currencies in hand.

 

Some political analysts said it was the first and biggest actions taken by junta since it rose to power more than two years ago.

 

Moreover, around 11 military soldiers were dismissed from the military and civil institutions within two years.

 

1,864 people were died in accidents in 9 months

 

The Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications said on 10 October that 1,864 people died in 3,634 accidents across the country.

 

The ministry said the total number of accidents declined by 650 incidents compared to the same period last year.

 

There was also a decline of 238 and 918 in the number of people who were killed and the number of people killed in accident was the highest in Magwe Region, Shan State and Yangon- Mandalay Highway. The number of accidents in the administrative capital of Naypyitaw also declined.

 

Burma Associated Press