One year after Myanmar’s Coup, bullet casings line blood-stained pavements, and the sounds of gunfire, explosions and dampened cries of protest fill the air. In an unprecedented period of civil war, violence in Myanmar has escalated, with intensifying conflict between the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s armed forces) and its opposition armed civilian groups. The conflict has resulted […]
Tag: Rohingya
Manus Island and Australia’s Complex Relationship with Humanitarianism
On July 23, 2013, Kurdish journalist and now refugee Behrouz Boochani arrived in Australia via broken-down boat after two months of travel, accompanied by 65 other refugees fleeing Iran. Boochani was leaving his home country to avoid impending arrest and imprisonment for his politically inflammatory writing, and hoped to find in Australia a new home […]
Aung San Suu Kyi and The Politics of Power in Burma
Power, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Aung San Suu Kyi was once the world’s most famous political prisoner. From her first period of house arrest which was due to her establishing the pro-democracy National League for Democracy to her last day of house arrest in November 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was under […]
Rohingya with No Rescue
Ambia Khatun rushed her two children out of her burning house on the early morning of November 23. Unable to escape in time, her husband lay with the burning remnants of their villages, killed once the Myanmar army started firing. 37-year-old Khatun is one of the 1.3 Million Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar’s […]
A Horrifying Reality: A Favorite Nobel Laureate presiding over Internment Camps
Given the choice of exile or imprisonment, Aung San Suu Kyi chose to suffer fifteen years as a political prisoner in defiance to Myanmar’s brutal military dictatorship. The world needs more of such selfless devotion to democracy and human rights in the face of certain opposition. This November, in the first free elections in a […]