Myanmar Morning News For January 23

Reuters reporters accused under Official Secrets Act due in Myanmar court
Two Reuters journalists detained in Myanmar are due to appear in court on Tuesday, when a judge could review a bail request for the pair accused of violating the country’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act.
— Reuters

Rohingya Muslims’ repatriation to Myanmar postponed
The gradual repatriation of more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees to Myanmar from Bangladesh has been postponed amid widespread fears that refugees would be forced to return against their will, a Bangladeshi official has said.
— The Guardian

Drug production in Laos and Myanmar still a major threat
In December 2017, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released its latest report on opium production in Myanmar and, at face value, the news was good. Since 2015, the area of cultivated opium poppy in Myanmar’s Shan and Kachin states has decreased by 25% to 41,000 hectares.
— The Strategist

Myanmar tragedy
A pair of highly respected envoys are to arrive in Myanmar today, and it is hoped the government and army are ready to listen. Top priority for ex-foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai and the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, is the fate of two Reuters reporters who face trial on absurd national security charges. Myanmar has already asked the Thai and American experts for help with their self-made crisis over the Rohingya of Rakhine state.
— Bangkok Post

Myanmar’s Rakhine needs calm minds
The declaration last Sunday by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa), that it has no choice but to fight the Myanmar government, is precisely the sort of unhelpful stance that sparked the deadly response by the Myanmar authorities on the entire Rohingya population last year.
— The Straits Times (paywall)

FDI expected to hit $3 billion in six months
From April to September this year, the country’s inflow of foreign investments is expected to reach as much as US$3 billion (4.06 trillion kyat), said Than Aung Kyaw, deputy director-general of the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration.
— Eleven Myanmar

4 company security staff drown in northern Myanmar
Four company security staff have drowned in mud water from two old mining companies in Phakant mining area in Myanmar’s northernmost Kachin state, the Information Ministry said Monday.
— Xinhua Net

What Did the Russian Defense Minister’s Myanmar Visit Accomplish?
The trip put the focus on ongoing activity in the bilateral military relationship which has been on the uptick of late.
— The Diplomat

French-Myanmar Joint Venture To Install 500 ‘Smart’ Bus Stops in Yangon
A French-Myanmar joint venture has won an exclusive 20-year contract to sell advertising on street furniture in the commercial capital Yangon, including the installation of 500 hi-tech bus stops.
— Irrawaddy

Protesters Demand Release of Ethnic Nationalists in Myanmar’s Rakhine State
Around 150 protesters gathered in Munaung township, in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, Monday to demand the release of two ethnic Rakhine nationalists who were arrested and charged with incitement last week amid fallout from a deadly clash between members of the minority group and police.
— Radio Free Asia

Medical group to raise alarm about malaria
Myanmar Medical Association (MMA), aims to expand its activities in the fight against malaria, by recruiting more volunteers and setting up an early detection and warning mechanism in communities prone to the deadly disease.
— Myanmar Times

Myanmar’s rush to resolve Rohingya crisis backfires
The repatriation process for the estimated 650,000 or more Rohingya Muslims that have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh will not begin as planned on Tuesday, officials from both countries have confirmed, after the two sides failed to keep up with their rushed timeline for bringing the refugees home.
— Nikkei Asian Review

Bangladesh says will coordinate with UN over Refugee return
Bangladesh on Sunday sought to reassure the international community that a planned repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to conflict-scarred western Myanmar would be “voluntary” and in coordination with the United Nations.
— Mizzima

Divisions harden over coal power plant in Kayin State
DIVISIONS ARE hardening in Kayin State over a planned coal-fired power plant that the government says is needed to support development but is opposed by some community groups due to worries about its possible impact on the environment.
— Frontier Myanmar

Lured with a happily-ever-after dream, Rohingya girls sold in India
At 15, Raheema left her home in Rakhine state in Myanmar, crossed two international borders and was sold to be married to a man in India just a few years younger than her father.
— The Peninsula Qatar

Feature photo Brian Holsclaw

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Myanmar morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Myanmar news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Myanmar Morning News For January 23 added by Leakhena Khat on January 23, 2018
View all posts by Leakhena Khat →

Bio
Latest Posts

Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.