• OPINION

  Anti-coup crackdown takes fatal turn

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 01/03/2021

  » Myanmar's security forces have unleashed a concerted crackdown on the country's peaceful protesters leaving 23 dead and thousands injured throughout the country in the last two days. In planned pre-emptive strikes, the police moved ruthlessly to disperse and arrest protestors preparing to join yesterday general strike. "They used teargas, stun grenades and fired live ammunition indiscriminately into the crowds," said Soe Soe, a young university student at a protest site told the Bangkok Post.

• OPINION

  Suu Kyi stands up to lawsuit avalanche

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 25/11/2019

  » Myanmar's top leaders -- both military and civilian -- have been shell-shocked by the avalanche of international legal cases they are now facing. In the space of days, three cases have been lodged in separate courts, all intended to make the Myanmar government and the country's military leaders accountable for the horrendous events that unfolded in strife-torn western Rakhine state during military operations over the last three years. These forced nearly a million Muslims, or Rohingya as they call themselves, to flee to safety in Bangladesh.

• OPINION

  The Panglong peace process is precariously poised

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 28/10/2019

  » Myanmar's stalled peace process is precariously poised, and may now be in danger of falling apart all together, as mistrust and hostility between some of the ethnic groups and the military worsened significantly. The fragile relationships between the three key players deteriorated further on the eve of the anniversary of the signing of a key peace pact, and the hopes of kick-starting negotiations and bringing the groups back to the table took a tumble for the worst.

• OPINION

  Ethnic parties give wake-up call to NLD

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 06/11/2018

  » Analysts are poring over the results of Myanmar's by-elections which took place on Saturday, vainly trying to read the tea leaves, and perhaps reading too much into them. But it was certainly a wake-up call for both major parties -- the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and the previous governing party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) -- but the lessons that can be drawn for the future are limited.

• OPINION

  Myanmar inches toward repatriation

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 04/06/2018

  » Myanmar is ready to receive all the Muslim refugees who have fled to Bangladesh who want to return, according to senior government officials. Preparations are in place for their immediate return, said the minister in charge of the repatriation and resettlement programme.

• OPINION

  Hopes rest on new president to reinvigorate govt

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 31/03/2018

  » President Win Myint has been sworn in as Myanmar's new president, raising hopes that with him at the helm government administration will be strengthened and revitalised.

• OPINION

  Myanmar's peace process stumbles on

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 19/03/2018

  » Myanmar's peace process is precariously poised with Panglong -- or the national peace conference as it is formally called -- set to meet in May. Several more ethnic groups -- including the Wa -- have agreed to sign the national ceasefire agreement (NCA). But, despite this, the peace process is in danger of disintegrating.

• OPINION

  Surakiart's Rakhine mission no easy task

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 17/02/2018

  » After a dramatically shaky start, Surakiart Sathirathai's international advisory group is getting down to tackle the Herculean task of trying to find practical solutions to Myanmar's tragic inter-communal violence. As the Myanmar government comes under increased criticism and international scrutiny, Mr Surakiart believes he and his team must help Myanmar look forward and produce a comprehensive and sustainable plan to restore peace, harmony and development to the country.

• OPINION

  Myanmar's military commander-in-chief on the rise

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 02/02/2018

  » Myanmar's military chief, Snr Gen Min Aung Hlaing, has become the man of the moment in the country's unfolding political crisis. While he and the country's civilian leader, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, may not trust each other, he has become increasingly her indispensable ally amid the increasing international turmoil surrounding the government's handling of the Rakhine crisis.

• OPINION

  Suu Kyi should heed Pope's suggestion on UN role

  News, Larry Jagan, Published on 04/12/2017

  » Pope Francis' visit to Myanmar last week was an overwhelming success and may provide the much needed spark to ignite the government's peace process and its efforts to bring reconciliation to the country's violence-torn western region of Rakhine. The Pope's message was loud and clear: the only way forward for Myanmar was "love and peace", the title used for his visit.

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