Yangon, June 8 The terrorist Myanmar military junta is using all kinds of deception to regain the trust of the international community, so the international community must pay special attention, pointed out Daw Phyo Sandar Soe, Deputy General Secretary of the Federation of Trade Unions-Myanmar (CTUM). This was presented by her at the 114th International Labour Conference (ILC) held at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6. Daw Phyo Sandar Soe said that the Myanmar military junta continues to maintain the infrastructure that openly violates workers' rights, and is using deceptive actions and fraud to evade international criticism. She stated that the release of trade union members and other political prisoners is merely the release of individuals who should not have been arrested in the first place, and that they are trying to make the world see the release of children after forcibly conscripting them as their progress. Daw Phyo Sandar Soe, Deputy General Secretary of the Federation of Trade Unions-Myanmar, said, "Should the international community praise the release of those who should never have been arrested in the first place? We are demanding that the world view the release of trade unionists who are illegally arrested, detained, prosecuted, and imprisoned as proof of compliance." Furthermore, she said that all those released have been forced to sign pledges not to engage in activities against the military junta, and many have been re-arrested or threatened, so they are not yet able to freely exercise their rights. The military junta is lying to the world that those arrested were not arrested for trade union activities but for violating national security and anti-terrorism laws. However, in reality, there are hundreds of thousands of civilian employees who have defied the military regime and participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), and their only crime is not bowing down to the military dictatorship. As a result of these actions, many people have lost their livelihoods, are forced to live in hiding or are exiled, separated from their families, and continue to survive under threats. Daw Phyo Sandar Soe pointed out, "Can workers be organized without fear?
YANGON, June 8 Five more bodies of civilians burned and killed by the terrorist military were found in the burned-out area of Myitche town, Pauktaw Township, Magway Region, bringing the death toll to nearly 50, local res
Government of National Unity - Southern Shan State Two comrades of the Inlay People's Defense Force (IPDF) have been arrested by the military group in the Inlay region, and the Inlay People's Defense Force (IPDF) has iss
Yangon, June 8 In battles that occurred in Pantaw town, Bago Region, approximately 20 soldiers were killed, and injured officers were transported to Shwe Taung military hospital, a local military source told Yangon Khit
Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, delivered a scathing critique of the U.N. Security Council on Friday, accusing the body of failing its mandate to protect Myanmar’s civil
Photo- PSLF/TNLA provides 100 million kyats in aid to each family of victims who died in the explosion in Kautat Village. Yamin Phu Pyae Aung (June 8) Mizzima. The Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) announced today (
Originally published on RSF Myanmar journalist and documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe, recently released after more than two and a half years in detention, spoke to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) about what drives her to
A woman died in a landslide that occurred in Ward 6 of Tangyan Township, Lashio District, Shan State, on the morning of June 8th, following heavy rainfall, according to the Fire Services Department of Myanmar. Firefighte
The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) has warned of a sharp rise in the trafficking of Myanmar women to China, where many are sold as brides, as conflict, displacement, and economic hardship continue to deepen a
According to the Yangon Region Government, a Myanmar delegation led by Yangon Region Chief Minister U Aung Naing Soe will discuss the current state of cooperation in urban management within the ASEAN region in Hanoi, Soc
The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology announced on the morning of June 8 at 7 AM that localized heavy rains are possible in some regions and states within two days. It is said that localized heavy rains are possibl
The National Unity Government (NUG) -In Swar Township of Bago Region, a combination of the People’s Defence Forces were able to seize the junta’s Swarmagyi (Swar Ywarma) Camp. According to Nay Pyi Taw Regional Command on
In May 2026, the trading value of shares on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) Main Board reached over 2.859 billion kyat, according to data released by YSX. During May, more than 537,000 shares were traded on the Yangon St
June 8 Mizzima. 。 Nay Pyi Taw PDF has released footage of the battle to capture Hswarmar Gyi camp, claiming that around 20 people, including officers, were killed on the junta side. The announcement stated that the junta used two fighter jets during the battle, but one revolutionary fighter was injured. According to a release yesterday (June 7), 11 G-3s, one MA-3, one MA-11, one pistol, and over 1000 rounds of various ammunition, five Inaga, two landmines, three anti-tank mines, 15 rounds of 60mm mortar, seven G3 magazines, and two MA magazines were seized. Regiment (805), Thanaug column, and Nay Pyi Taw PDF successfully captured the camp on June 3. Editor. 。
The allocation of fertilizer quotas in the Ayeyarwady Region needs to be regulated by the parliament, said U Kyi Ko Ko, Chairman of the Energy, Industry, Transport and Construction Affairs Committee of the Ayeyarwady Reg
Union Minister for Industry and MSMEs Development Dr. Charlie Than met with Indian experts participating in the No. 1 Steel Mill (Myingyan) Project at the office of the Industrial Supervision and Inspection Department in
Union Minister for Industry and MSMEs Development Dr. Charlie Than attended the coordination meeting on successful completion of the projects on Sunday. He stressed that emphasis are needed for steel production process s
Departmental combined teams are carrying out the demolishing of illegal buildings and related materials in ShweKokko and KK Park areas, in Myawady township of Kayin State. On 7th June, 3 illegal three-story building were
The government is identifying and deporting foreign nationals who entered Myanmar illegally through border areas and were involved in online gambling, online scams, and other criminal activities. They are being sent back
Mekong, June 8 The United Wa State Army (UWSA) announced on June 8 that it had repatriated 53 Chinese nationals who had entered the Wa region illegally, sending them back to China via a border gate. According to the UWSA
One woman died due to a landslide in Tangyan Township, Shan State, the Myanmar Fire Brigade announced. Around 7:30 AM on June 8, heavy rains in Tangyan Township, Lashio District, Shan State caused a landslide near a hous
Photo – Members of the People's Defence Force, Inlay People's Defence Force (IPDF) June 8 Mizzima. The Inlay People's Defence Force (IPDF) issued an urgent warning today (May 8) that two of its members are being held by
Major roads in Mandalay city, including the railway station overpass, which had been restricted for over five years, have been reopened and are now accessible again. Following the 2021 political change, roads connected t
A high-level delegation representing Myanmar’s anti-coup resistance concluded a major cross-country diplomatic tour in Canada this weekend, seeking to solidify international support and officially introduce a newly forge
Mizzima The Myanmar military junta has intensified its forced conscription campaign by launching widespread, arbitrary arrests of civilians across Kalay Township in Sagaing Region, according to the Kalay Public Strike St
Photo – Five members of a displaced family who went missing with 300 million Kyats at the Laung Chaung jetty in Rathedaung Township on April 1, 2026. (Shwe Yin Win) Po Htun Mizzima. || Five people who were on two boats h
There are moments when witnessing becomes a moral obligation. Not because one possesses answers, solutions, or influence over the forces that shape history, but because silence itself begins to feel like a form of abandonment. Today, accompanied by two dear Myanmar friends living in Mae Sot and deeply involved with the work of Joy House, I crossed the Moei River and entered an internally displaced persons camp sheltering approximately 2,000 people. The camp, like countless others scattered across Myanmar’s fractured landscape, emerged from the violence and upheaval unleashed by the military coup of February 2021. Five years later, what was once considered temporary has become a way of life. The experience defied every category that journalists, humanitarian organizations, and policymakers often employ to describe displacement. Statistics, however necessary, flatten reality. Reports quantify suffering but cannot communicate its texture. They tell us how many people have fled, how many have died, how many remain displaced, but they cannot convey the emotional atmosphere of a community suspended between endurance and uncertainty. Walking through the camp, speaking with residents, sharing tea, exchanging smiles, listening to stories translated from Burmese and Karen, I was struck not first by poverty but by dignity. The people I met were not defined by victimhood. They were teachers, doctors, mothers, fathers, elders, artists, and children struggling to preserve their humanity under conditions that would challenge the strongest among us. The camp itself consists of bamboo structures, tarpaulin roofs, dirt pathways, small gathering spaces, classrooms, and clinics. Everything bears the mark of improvisation. Yet amid material scarcity, social life continues. Women organize communal affairs. Teachers conduct lessons. Volunteers coordinate aid. Children play. Elders share memories of villages left behind. Everywhere there exists the determination to sustain community despite the forces that have sought to dismantle it. Through a gifted translator, I asked a question repeatedly throughout the day: What would you want the world to understand about your life? The answers varied in detail but converged around a common theme. People wanted to be seen. Not pitied, not romanticized, not reduced to symbols within geopolitical debates, but seen as human beings whose aspirations remain remarkably ordinary. They spoke about safety for their children. They spoke about education. They spoke about returning home. They spoke about peace. Above all, they spoke about dignity. The desire was not for extraordinary privilege but for the basic conditions under which a meaningful life can unfold. One conversation remains especially vivid. I met with the camp psychiatrist and asked about the psychological realities confronting displaced communities. His response revealed dimensions of suffering rarely captured in international headlines. He described severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and profound trauma among both adults and children. When I asked whether suicidal ideation was common, he nodded quietly. Some residents, he explained, had taken their own lives. Years of uncertainty, displacement, grief, and fear accumulate in ways that can overwhelm even the strongest individuals. The wounds of war are not confined to destroyed buildings or visible injuries. They inhabit memory, imagination, sleep, relationships, and the nervous system itself. Modern warfare leaves psychological debris that often outlasts physical destruction. Entire communities become organized around vigilance. Children learn to distinguish between different sounds in the sky. Families adapt to chronic uncertainty. Fear becomes normalized. Long after the headlines fade and international attention shifts elsewhere, trauma remains embedded within the lives of those who endured the violence. What struck me most was not merely the scale of suffering but the degree to which residents continue functioning despite it. They teach, care for one another, raise children, and attempt to preserve a sense of normalcy under profoundly abnormal conditions. The camp doctor offered another perspective. When asked about the greatest challenges facing the community, he described recurring outbreaks of malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, influenza, and diarrheal diseases. Medical resources are limited. Vulnerable populations remain exposed. During the rainy season, conditions become even more difficult. Yet what stayed with me was not his description of hardship but his response when I asked about his personal dreams. Before the coup, he said, he possessed many ambitions and plans for the future. Today his aspirations have become simpler. He focuses on the patient sitting before him, the conversation at hand, the opportunity to help another human being. There was no bitterness in his voice. Instead, there was a kind of luminous clarity born from experience. In circumstances where control over the future has largely disappeared, he has discovered meaning in presence, service, and relationship. The camp also exists beneath the constant threat of violence. Residents described how military aircraft and drones periodically force people to flee toward riverbanks and improvised shelters. Schools and clinics are intentionally separated so that a single attack cannot eliminate an entire generation of students or medical personnel at once. Such decisions reveal the extraordinary calculations required to survive in contemporary conflict zones. Education must be planned around aerial bombardment. Healthcare must account for the possibility of attack. Children grow up understanding concepts that no child should ever have to learn. Yet amid these realities, I encountered one of the most inspiring models of healing I have seen in years. Joy House approaches trauma not solely through clinical intervention but through creativity, community, and human flourishing. Children learn music, dance, theatre, puppetry, martial arts, mindfulness, meditation, and visual arts. At first glance, such activities may appear secondary compared with food, medicine, and shelter. In fact, they address something equally essential. Human beings cannot survive on calories alone. We require meaning. We require imagination. We require opportunities to experience beauty, joy, and self-expression. Learning that children sing and perform in a displacement camp
“Before COVID-19 and before the Myanmar coup, I thought that ‘memory of war’ meant only World War Two inside Myanmar. But after 2021, I realized for local people the condition is like a war now.” Hitoshi Kameyama, a Japa
Last week, one topic filled Myanmar social media: a new film about the Konbaung Dynasty, the country’s last royal family. Shooting has not started yet, but the film’s huge budget and famous cast already have people talking — and arguing. Two companies, Bellarie Production and Shwe Mann Empire Film Production, will make the film together, with director Win Lwin Htet. They plan to shoot it in five parts and spend about 8 to 10 billion kyat, hoping to release it in 2027. A press launch was held recently, and the news spread fast on Facebook. Many people are excited. They welcome the big stars said to be joining, such as Nine Nine, Myint Myat and Tai Ron. “With actors like them, this film will turn out even better,” one Facebook user writes. Another feels national pride: “Neighbouring countries are also filming our history — I want to watch our own country make it like this.” But many others are suspicious. After the 2021 coup, audiences began to boycott films made by companies linked to the military. The best known is 7th Sense Creation, co-owned by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon, who is under US sanctions. “In such hard economic times, who is spending billions like this? ” one commenter asks. Another adds: “Are these just 7th Sense films coming back under new names?
NGO Blood Money has spoken out against India’s recent invitation to the Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to visit India. The following is their statement issued on 6 June: Min Aung Hlaing is attempting to gain legiti
Mekong, June 8 Sources have revealed that a secret directive has been issued to government officials stationed in Lashio, Shan State, in northern Myanmar, prohibiting them from using land routes for travel and allowing t
A bomb exploded at the Ministry of Immigration and Population office in Sagaing City, Sagaing Region, seriously injuring 20 staff members and civilians, according to locals and relief groups. The explosion occurred aroun
A “Peace Walk for Rivers” concluded in Thailand’s Chiang Rai Province on World Environment Day June 5 with urgent calls for government action and corporate accountability over transboundary river contamination. The envir
THE Department of Rural Development under the Ministry of Cooperatives and Rural Development, Kyaukpadaung Township, Mandalay Region, conducted a field inspection of the ongoing concrete road construction project in Pauk
IN the first five months of this year, 174 YBS pickpockets were arrested, according to figures released by the Yangon Region Police Force. As the regional police force has monitored pickpocketing cases on YBS buses and Y
TWO cars were swept away in water on 5 June in Magway Region’s Natmauk Township, according to the Myanmar Fire Brigade. A car was washed away in the current while crossing a creek in Tagundine Village in Natmauk at aroun