Afleveringen
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With Ye Htet, a scholar and trainer in nonviolent resistance at the Freedom Fighter Myanmar organisation. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the Arakan Army fights on and looks set to forcibly recruit, Aung Zeya pulls back, and we discuss transitional justice and nonviolent resistance to military rule.
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Timecodesâ
1m15s :: News round-up
6m38s :: With Ye Htet, nonviolence
18m52s :: Transitional justice
33m31s :: CloseOur guestâ
Ye Htet, a scholar and trainer in nonviolent resistance at the Freedom Fighter Myanmar organisation
Rethinking justice in the present
Itâs time to rethink the CDM
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With Daw Khin Soe Win, previously chief of the Voice of America Burmese service, and Salai Dokhar, founder of India for Myanmar. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the leader of ARSA is arrested, the Arakan Army continues its military victories, we talk about the United States gutting the Voice of America, and also the new political umbrella organisation of Chin resistance groups.
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Timecodesâ
1m10s :: News from Rakhine State and the region
7m28s :: United Statesâ cuts threatening Myanmar
11m14s :: With Khin Soe Win
26m39s :: With Salai Dokhar
43m03s :: CloseOur guestsâ
Daw Khin Soe Win, previously chief of the Voice of America Burmese service:
She interviewed Dau Aung San Suu Kyi after release from house arrest in 2011, and this is one of her most cherished memories.
And Salai Dokhar, the founder of India for Myanmar, a group based in India advocating for human rights and democracy in Myanmar:
From neighbors to negotiators: Indiaâs role in resolving the Myanmar crisis
And for a press freedom insiderâs take on whatâs happened to Voice of America, try this piece by Liam Scott
And donât forget to check out Frontierâs reflection on Naing Myanmar
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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With Andrew Nachemson, former managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, and a freelance journalist. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the military signs investment deals and signals more to come, as fresh sanctions and expropriations target the regime and its cronies. Andy and I speak about the unique political and conflict context in Mon State, through the lens of the New Mon State Party and its revolutionary faction, the New Mon State Party-Anti Dictatorship.
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Timecodesâ
1m01s :: Weekly news digest
6m43s :: With Andrew Nachmeson, the New Mon State Party-AD
14m36s :: Territory under the NMSP
23m38s :: The NMSP and drones, threats to civilians
39m33s :: CloseOur guestâ
Andrew Nachemson, former Managing Editor of Frontier, and a freelance journalist.
Andy has many publications available via Google, and the article we discuss will be dropping on Frontierâs website next week. But for more context, check out his January dispatch from Karen State for Al Jazeera. And for more information on this weekâs sanctions, see the Justice for Myanmar press releases about Canada and Switzerland.
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With Dr. Evan A. Laksmana, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Southeast Asian Security and Defence, and Editor of the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing visits Russia with great fanfare, while resistance forces cohereâand attack each other. We discuss with Evan the prospects for any meaningful action on Myanmar from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
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Timecodesâ
0m52s :: Resistance fractures and coheres
4m14s :: Min Aung Hlaing goes to Russia
6m27s :: With Evan, the ASEAN 5 point consensus
29m30s :: China and Russia in relation to ASEAN
33m58s :: Election prospects for ASEAN
39m45s :: CloseOur guestsâ
Dr Evan A. Laksmana, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Southeast Asian Security and Defence, and Editor of the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mkZfQnAAAAAJ&hl=en
Frontierâs recent content referred to in the podcast:
How could I do any less?
Final crackdown
Uncertain fate for Lashio
Rethinking ASEANâs Five-Point Consensus
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With Ko Kyaw Naing, an employee since 2012 of a civil society organization in Rakhine State, and also another unnamed guest, a Rohingya youth living in Sittwe. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the military stocks drones in Karen State, more chemical weapons accusations, some scam workers go free, and we speak about the impending attack on the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe.
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Timecodesâ
1m33s :: Weekly news digest
5m07s :: With Ko Kyaw Naing, the Arakan Armyâs attack on Sittwe
11m01s :: AA administration
18m11s :: With a Rohingya youth, on the ground in Sittwe
34m41s :: CloseOur guestsâ
Ko Kyaw Naing, an employee since 2012 of a civil society organization in Rakhine State. Our second guest is an unnamed Rohingya youth, currently living in Sittwe, who declined to use a pseudonym.
There are no links or publications from our listeners this week, but we do refer to the Frontier feature from last year, No smoke without fire? Chemical weapons accusations continue. And Frontierâs other free content this week:
Rethinking ASEANâs Five-Point Consensus
Killing creativity: The juntaâs cultural crusade
Severed lifelines: Tanintharyi communities starved of food and medicine
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With Sean Turnell, Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the military ships nearly 1,000 Rohingya from Yangon to wartorn Sittwe, Chinese are repatriated from border scam compounds, and we speak about the militaryâs access to foreign exchange and other finance matters in the wake of the new report, The Military, Money, and Myanmar: Breaking the Nexus.
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Timecodesâ
1m15s :: Weekly news digest
7m35s :: With Sean Turnell, the militaryâs finances
10m40s :: Foreign exchange
13m30s :: Sanctions on Myanmarâs banks
21m16s :: Financing the resistance
28m06s :: Multilateral institutions noting the NUG
37m06s :: Close
Our guestâ
Sean Turnell, Honorary Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, Senior Fellow at the Lowy Institute, and author of the 1999 book Fiery Dragons: Banks, Moneylenders and Microfinance in Burma, and more recently, An Unlikely Prisoner: How an Eternal Optimist Found Hope in Myanmarâs Most Notorious Jail. Sean advised the National League for Democracy government on economic matters from 2016-2020, was detained and locked up by the military for 650 days following the 2021 coup, and now serves as Special Advisor to the alternative National Unity Governmentâs Interim Central Bank.
The Military, Money, and Myanmar: Breaking the Nexus
And hereâs links to the Frontier Myanmar interviews with Dr Sui Khar and Thai opposition MP Rangsiman Rome.
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With Sue-Lin Wong, Southeast Asia correspondent for The Economist. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, ASEAN continues talking consensus, Sittwe fighting begins in earnest, and we speak about the scam industry in the region, as hundreds of trafficked victims go free from Myawaddy.
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Timecodesâ
0m58s :: Weekly news digest
8m33s :: With Sue-Lin Wong, the scam industry
15m06s :: Why do people fall for scams?
17m22s :: Coercion and worker trafficking
23m11s :: Chinese experience of scams
25m26s :: Absent connection to CCP
31m45s :: Future of scams
34m52s :: Close
Our guestâ
Sue-Lin Wong, Southeast Asia correspondent for The Economist.
Introduction to Scam Inc.
Online scams may already be as big a scourge as illegal drugs
And read Frontierâs editorial this week on the dangers posed by Elon Musk.
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With Lorcan Lovett, independent journalist and Substack writer, with bylines in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, the Sunday Times and more. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, conscripts are barred from monasteries, fuel dries up at key border towns, and we discuss the final fight in the Chin National Defense Force push for Falam, in Chin State.
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Timecodesâ
0m54s :: Weekly news digest
8m14s :: With Lorcan Lovett, fighting in Falam
15m18s :: Reinforcements
18m35s :: Freedom of movement
24m08s :: Civilian and rebel life
28m40s :: Chin resistance schism
37m54s :: CloseOur guestâ
Lorcan Lovett, an independent journalist and Substack writer.
Lorcanâs Substack, âOn Myanmarâ
His first Chin State dispatch: âThey plucked out his eye with a motorbike key ⊠I wanted to kill themâ
Andâ
The Institute of Chin Affairs report referred to in this podcast can be found here.
For more context on the Chin resistance split, check out this Frontier feature from last year.
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With Erin Murphy, author of the book Burmese Haze and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, and Minnie, a Myanmar INGO practitioner actively engaged in various initiatives related to gender equality, social inclusion, democracy and human rights. Through USAID funding, her work has focused on projects that aim to create a more transparent government, civic inclusion, and include the voices of marginalized communities. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, Chinese representatives visit Lashio, Bhamo airport is lost to the Kachin Independence Army, and we talk all about the USAID funding freeze.
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Timecodesâ
1m36s :: Weekly news digest
5m32s :: With Erin & Minnie, USAID funding freeze
9m28s :: Forewarning and U.S. strategy
15m50s :: Importance of USAID to Myanmar
21m09s :: Effect on AID workers
24m59s :: Near term future
30m47s :: Close
Our guestsâ
Erin Murphy, author of the book Burmese Haze and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Minnie, a Myanmar INGO practitioner actively engaged in various initiatives related to gender equality, social inclusion, democracy and human rights.
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With Vox, a Digital Security Trainer from the Myanmar Internet Project (MIP) and Spring Revolution Security (SRS). This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the MNDAA signs a ceasefire, nearly everyone talks scam centres, the Arakan Army pushes further towards the beach resort town of Chaungtha, and we discuss the new Cybersecurity Law enacted on January 1.
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Timecodesâ
1m26s :: Weekly news digest
10m32s :: With Vox, the development of the Cybersecurity Law
14m57s :: Origins of law with NLD & experts
17m37s :: The lawâs problems
21m23s :: Influence on the economy and business
31m53s :: Close
Our guestsâVox, a Digital Security Trainer from the Myanmar Internet Project and Spring Revolution Security.
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With Hka San Lwi, Editor-in-Chief of Kachin Waves. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, a deadly landslide hits Hpakant, the National Unity Government moots setting up shop in Sagaing, the State Administration Council bans LGBT publications, and we discuss the ongoing battle for Bhamo and the importance of that city in northern Myanmar.
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Timecodesâ
1m33s :: Weekly news digest
8m38s :: The Battle for Bhamo
19m53s :: CloseOur guestâ
Hka San Lwi, Editor-in-Chief of Kachin Waves:
https://kachinwaves.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kachinwavesnews/ -
With Andrew Nachemson, former Managing Editor of Frontier Myanmar, and freelance journalist. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the military regime pardons thousands of prisoners, Arakan Army fighting expands into Ayeyarwady Region, a Chinese celebrity is trafficked and rescued in Myawaddy, and we discuss the revolution in Karen State, including the fate of the Aung Zaya column, Border Guard Force politics, and the Karen National Unionâs administration.
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Timecodesâ
0m46s :: Weekly news digest
4m40s :: Andrewâs trip details & logistics
9m14s :: Aung Zaya column
14m14s :: KNLAâs perception of Border Guard Force
19m25s :: KNU administration
23m53s :: Wider revolutionary context and KNLAâs modest gains
35m39s :: Close
Our guestâ
Andrew Nachemson, former Managing Editor of Frontier Myanmar and freelance journalist:
Myanmar anti-coup forces target Mandalay in struggle to oust military
Where the Resistance Rules in Myanmar
Myanmarâs Armed Groups And Democracy Activists Are Joining Forces
Finding Marwi in Loikaw
âWeâll never give upâ: The fight for Loikaw
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With Laetitia van den Assum, former Dutch ambassador to Myanmar and member of the 2016-2017 Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. This fortnight on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the military loses more towns in Rakhine and Chin states, internet and motion picture laws are tightened by the State Administration Council, and we discuss Bangladeshâs hopes for a conference on the Rohingya crisis and Rakhine State under Arakan Army rule from an international perspective.
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Timecodesâ
1m15s :: Weekly news digest
6m02s :: With Laetitia, the Rakhine Commission
11m18s :: Firm Arakan Army control in Rakhine State
16m50s :: The new Bangladesh UN conference
26m10s :: Future of Rakhine State33m10s :: Close
Our guestsâLaetitia van den Assum, former Dutch ambassador first posted to Southeast Asia in 1995, then accredited as ambassador to Myanmar from Bangkok, and member of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State in 2016:
Bangladesh, the Rohingya and the new reality in Rakhine
And as a bonus link, given cinema censorship is in the news again this week, check out the short film Ban That Scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gckHgn2a7fg
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With Ramona Drosner, Swiss journalist who completed a fellowship at Frontier, and Su Mon, Senior Analyst for the Asia-Pacific at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the Western Regional Military Command has fallen to the Arakan Army, mental health and addiction are being managed by communities on the Thailand border, and we do a review of conflict in the country for the year 2024.
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Timecodesâ
1m11s :: Weekly news digest
3m55s :: Mental health & addiction
17m26s :: Conflict in 2024
30m50s :: CloseOur guestsâ
Ramona Drosner, Swiss journalist who completed a fellowship at Frontier:
The damage done: Fighting drug addiction inside Thailandâs largest refugee camp
Healing wounds: How communities are tackling trauma in post-coup Myanmar
Su Mon, Senior Analyst for the Asia Pacific at the Armed Location and Event Data Project.And here is a list of Burmese language mental health resourcesâ
á áááșááœááșááŒááș, a podcast where Myanmar celebrities in exile receive call-ins and provide advice to people going through hard times
Counselling Corner, an organisation providing counselling, family and group therapy
MHPSS Working Group, a network aiming to facilitate sustainable coordination between support services in Myanmar
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With Zaw Win, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights, and Hafsar Tameesuddin, Rohingya Activist and Co-Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, Maungdaw falls under Arakan Army control and we discuss what happens to the increasing number of Rohingya people who take desperate and dangerous boat journeys south from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Email the show at [email protected]
Timecodes:
1m24s :: Weekly news digest
3m00s :: Fall of Maungdaw
21m28s :: Rohingya sea journeys
36m20s :: Trump Redux panel highlights
49m13s :: CloseOur guestsâ
Zaw Win, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights:
Myanmarâs Rohingya: From genocide to forced conscription
My Tears Could Make a Sea
Hafsar Tameesuddin, Co-Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network:LinkedIn
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With R. Lakher, independent Chin analyst. This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the MNDAA makes a (genuine?) sue for peace, and we discuss armed resistance politics in Chin and Rakhine states.
Email the show at [email protected]
Timecodes:
1m07s :: Weekly news digest
4m42s :: The lack of support for refugees in India
21m28s :: Chin and Rakhine state resistance dynamics
36m28s :: CloseOur guestâ
R. Lakher, independent Chin analyst:
India must do more for Myanmar refugees in Mizoram
R. Lakher is happy to be contacted for matters related to this discussion: +918731065896 (WhatsApp, Signal), [email protected].For listeners interested in supporting the Mizoram refugee community, he recommends the organisation Lakher Social Welfare Foundation.
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With Zarni, Senior Producer of Doh Athan, and Joe Freeman, Myanmar Researcher at Amnesty International.
This week on Whatâs Happening in Myanmar, the ICC applies for an arrest warrant for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, traumatized Rohingya arrive in Bangladesh, and we get a behind-the-scenes peek at Doh Athan, the sister podcast in the Frontier Myanmar family.
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Timecodes:
1m04s :: Weekly news digest
4m42s :: Arrest warrant requested for Min Aung Hlaing
18m06s :: Behind the scenes at Doh Athan
32m10s :: IDPs suffering malnutrition as aid declines
44m20s :: Close
Our guestsâ
Joe Freeman, Myanmar researcher at Amnesty International:
Amnesty International Myanmar: New attacks against Rohingya a disturbing echo of 2017 mass violence
A Future Myanmar Must Include the Rohingya
Zarni, Senior Producer at Doh Athan:
Doh Athan on YouTube
Doh Athan on Soundcloud
And on Facebook, the best way to contact the show
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With Ko Maung, labor rights activist, and Matthew Brunwasser, independent journalist. This week in What's Happening in Myanmar we discuss the ongoing Charis strike in Hlaingtharya and Myanmar army attacks on Bangladesh fisherman on the Naf river.
Timecodes:
1m07s :: Weekly news digest
2m10s :: Charis strikes and post-coup industrial relations
22m03s :: Life and Death on the Bangladesh Border
34m20s :: Close
Our guestsâ
Matthew Brunwasser, independent journalist:
Matthew Brunwasserâs website and articles
Ko Maung, labor activist, organizer, researcher:
Workersâ self-organisation under military rule: challenges and opportunities in post-coup Myanmar
Support the Charis strikers
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This week in Myanmar: Air strikes kill dozens of civilians and combatants, the Kachin Independence Army and Organisation stand to negotiate with civil society and China on their recent rare earth acquisitions, and Trump's 2025 Secretary of State bucks the isolationist trend.
Email the show at: [email protected] and visit http://www.frontiermyanmar.net/
Timecodes:
1m08s :: Weekly news digest
3m41s :: Trump administrationâs effects on Burmese
13m06s :: The Lucky Men Hotel
23m46s :: Kachinâs Special Region 1 & rare earths
39m42s :: CorrespondenceOur guests:
Michael Haack, activist and key organizer for passing the Burma Act in the United States, who wrote about it for Frontier:
How the BURMA Act passed congress
What happened to the BURMA Act?Emily Fishbein, independent journalist with over 50 articles published on Frontier, and many more elsewhere:
Emilyâs list of Frontier articles.
Jaw Tu Hkawng, independent journalist and activist, who with Emily and others published the Lucky Men feature discussed in this podcast:
âThe negotiation failedâ: Hpakantâs deadly standoff
He also writes with Al Jazeera.In this episode, Jaw also referred to Global Witness reports on rare earths and Hpakant in Myanmar:
Myanmar's poisoned mountains
Jade and Conflict: Myanmarâs Vicious Circle -
This week in Myanmar: Min Aung Hlaing visits China for the first time since his 2021 coup, the Republican party wins elections in the United States of America, shaking up that country's foreign policy, and teachers continue to get shafted by the enfeebled Department of Education under the military regime's State Administration Council.
Email the show at: [email protected] and visit https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/
Timecodes:
1m12s :: Weekly news digest
5m06s :: Changing U.S. policy under Trump elect
9m37s :: Min Aung Hlaing in China
15m46s :: Regime teachers getting shafted
23m16s :: Correspondence updatesOur guests:
Hunter Marston, PhD Candidate at the Australian National University, with publications:
Values over Interests: Variations in USâMyanmar Policy since 1988
The Pendulum of Non-Alignment: Charting Myanmar's Great Power Diplomacy (2011â2021)Ya Nwe, Frontier Myanmar journalist, with reporting that includes:
Unpaid and abandoned: Myanmar junta fails displaced civil servants (discussed today)
Losing count: Chaotic census kicks off
Down and out in the delta: Rakhine IDPs struggle in Ayeyarwady
Anyar rising: Myanmarâs Dry Zone PDFs up the ante - Laat meer zien
