COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
"...The Government of Bangladesh should immediately take all necessary steps to protect Rohingya refugees and nearby host communities in Cox’s Bazar District from COVID-19 infection, said Fortify Rights and 49 human rights organizations in an open letter today. The authorities should immediately lift all restrictions that prevent Rohingya refugees from freely accessing mobile communications and the internet and also halt the construction of fencing aimed to confine Rohingya refugees in camps. On March 12, the World Health Organization’s Director-General declared the outbreak of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus, to be a “controllable pandemic.” The disease poses a particular risk to populations who live in close proximity to each other, such as refugees in camps..."
Date of publication:
2020-04-02
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-18
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Sub-title:
Urgently Act to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak in Refugee Camps
Description:
"...The Bangladesh government’s internet blackout and phone restrictions at Rohingya refugee camps are obstructing humanitarian groups from addressing the COVID-19 threat, Human Rights Watch said today. The shutdown is risking the health and lives of over a million people, including nearly 900,000 refugees in Cox’s Bazar and the Bangladeshi host community by hindering aid groups’ ability to provide emergency health services and rapidly coordinate essential preventive measures.“The Bangladesh government is in a race against the clock to contain the spread of coronavirus, including in the Rohingya refugee camps, and can’t afford to waste precious time with harmful policies,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch..."
Source/publisher:
Human Right Watch
Date of publication:
2020-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description:
"...Responding to the rescue of nearly 400 Rohingya refugees from the Bay of Bengal after a two month-long failed attempt to reach Malaysia, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director, Biraj Patnaik, said..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2020-04-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Format :
PDF
Size:
5.01 MB
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Description:
"...COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh – All around the world, the numbers are climbing. Each day registers thousands of new cases and lives lost. In Europe, now the epicenter of the pandemic, governments know that the worst is yet to come and are implementing increasingly restrictive measures to enforce social distancing and isolation.In Cox’s Bazar we have been watching the world and holding our breath for the first confirmed case of Covid-19. With reports of the first confirmed case in the local community in Cox’s Bazar, it’s just a matter of time until the virus reaches the vulnerable population living in cramped conditions in the largest refugee settlement on Earth. Thousands of people could die...."
Source/publisher:
Asia Time
Date of publication:
2020-03-25
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description:
"...Be sure to share the prevention advice and audio files of COVID-19 key messages in 18 ethnic languages from different states and regions, which have been airing via Myanmar National Radio Programs..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Information Management Unit (The MIMU)
Date of publication:
00-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-15
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Online health resources, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
more
Description:
"...Bangladesh has begun lockdown in all 34 Rohingya refugee settlements in the country’s southern district of Cox’s Bazar as part of its effort to stem coronavirus pandemic. Authorities have asked more than one million members of the persecuted Rohingya community, who have migrated from Myanmar’s Rakhine province, to stay inside their makeshift camps until further notice.“Since this morning [Wednesday] we have started s lockdown in all Rohingya camps as per guidelines issued by the government due to the prevailing scare over coronavirus outbreak,” said Md Mahbub Alam Talukder, Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC)...."
Source/publisher:
AA.com
Date of publication:
2020-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description:
"Ye Ni: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, we’ll discuss the closure of factories and resultant redundancies. Chairman of the Confederation of Trade Unions in Myanmar (CTUM) U Maung Maung and U Nandar Sitt Aung, director of Our Generation Network, join me to discuss this. I’m The Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ye Ni.Dozens of factories have closed and around 10,000 jobs have been lost. How worrying is this situation? Do you think there will be redundancies on a wider scale? Around 500,000 people are employed in the garment industry. Should they be worried?..."
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2020-03-21
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-21
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description:
"...Dear Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,As authorities around the world struggle to cope with the spread of COVID-19, it is crucial that States act to protect the most vulnerable, including refugee populations.We, the 50 undersigned organizations, have welcomed the Bangladesh government’s efforts to host the Rohingya refugees who were forced to flee atrocities perpetrated by the Myanmar Army. We also commend the Bangladesh Government for working closely with the humanitarian community on COVID-19 preparedness and response in Cox’s Bazar District, including efforts to establish isolation and treatment facilities.Now we write to urge you to lift ongoing mobile internet restrictions and halt the construction of barbed wire fencing around the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar District. These measures threaten the safety and well-being of the refugees as well as Bangladesh host communities and aid workers, in light of the growing COVID-19 pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
Human Right Watch
Date of publication:
2020-04-01
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description:
"...More than 100,000 Rohingya live in Malaysia after fleeing from Myanmar, but they are considered illegal immigrants. Their status would likely make many of them reluctant to identify themselves to get tested for the coronavirus even if they showed symptoms, other sources, in the Rohingya community, said. Malaysia’s search for the Rohingya highlights the challenge for governments trying to track the virus among communities living without official papers and wary of authorities.The religious gathering late last month at a mosque on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur was attended by some 16,000 people, including the Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, one source said...."
Reuters
Source/publisher:
New Straits Times
Date of publication:
2020-03-19
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-21
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Sub-title:
Maximum of one land checkpoint per border province will be allowed to remain open
Description:
"...The Interior Ministry has ordered most border provinces to leave only one international checkpoint open as the country tries to block arrivals to contain the coronavirus outbreak that has caused a sharp jump in cases this week. Key checkpoints to temporary shut are the first Thai-Mayanmar Friendship Bridge in Tak, which will be closed until further notice. The Phu Nam Ron and Three Pagodas passes linking Kanchanaburi and Myanmar will be shut from Saturday to April 3. On the eastern front, Ban Khao Din in Sa Kaeo, opposite Cambodia, which will be closed from Monday to April 5. Checkpoints with Malaysia were already closed for all intents and purposes after the Malaysian government locked down the country for two weeks from last Monday. Malaysia has reported 900 Covid-19 cases, the most in Southeast Asia....."
Bangkok Post
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post
Date of publication:
2020-03-20
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-21
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Thailand-Burma relations
more
Description:
"...YANGON: More than a quarter of Myanmar's prison population is to be released, the president's office announced Friday, as calls grow to ease pressure on overcrowded jails with coronavirus fears gripping the country.The Southeast Asian nation grants an annual amnesty to thousands of prisoners to mark its April New Year holiday, but this is the largest ever recorded.It comes as governments around the world -- including the US, parts of Europe, and Colombia -- grapple with overcrowded prisons as fears spiral of virus outbreaks behind bars....So far Myanmar has officially confirmed 85 cases of Covid-19, including four deaths, but experts fear the real number is many times more due to the low numbers tested..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post
Date of publication:
2020-04-17
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-18
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
more
Description:
"...Myanmar, like the entire world, is facing not only an unprecedented health crisis, but an unprecedented economic crisis as well. Myanmar's economy has already been severely hit by disruptions in global trade and tourism. Thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of people - including migrant workers - are already suffering the consequences. With the spread of the coronavirus and necessary lockdowns the situation could become ten times worse.We can take strong measures to stop the spread of the virus and at the same time not only save the economy but strengthen it for the future..."
Thant Myint-U
Source/publisher:
Mizzima
Date of publication:
2020-04-03
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description:
"....Responding to the failure to release prisoners of conscience and activists jailed solely for exercising their rights in Myanmar during a presidential amnesty of nearly 25,000 prisoners, Clare Algar, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy and Policy, said:....“It’s appalling that prisoners of conscience and peaceful activists were largely excluded from yesterday’s presidential amnesty. They should not be in prison in the first place and are victims of repression, harassment and arbitrary arrests by the Myanmar authorities, both the civilian-led government and the military..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2020-04-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
more
Description:
What will happen when COVID-19 hits refugee camps? That's what Dr. Paul Spiegel and a team of researchers have been examining. They've been looking at how the coronavirus might affect the densely populated camps outside Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh — home to 850,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. As of Monday, there are 49 cases in the country, including one person in the town of Cox's Bazar. The researchers will use the findings to make recommendations to the United Nations and global aid groups on how to deliver medical care and check the spread of the coronavirus in similar refugee settings.Spiegel, a former senior official at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Humanitarian Health, explains why these camps are ripe for disease outbreaks — and what aid groups must do now to help. This interview has been edited for length and clarity...."
MALAKA GHARIB
Source/publisher:
npr.org
Date of publication:
2020-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description:
"...KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): The UN refugee agency and Rohingya community leaders in Malaysia are stepping up efforts to get refugees who attended a gathering to come forward for Covid-19 checks, after cases linked to the event jumped across South-East Asia. More than 670 infections in the region have been linked to the gathering last month at a mosque on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. A total of 16,000 people of many nationalities attended the four-day event. Reuters reported on Thursday (March 19) that authorities were trying to track down an estimated 2,000 Rohingya who had attended the gathering. Rights groups said "several hundred" Rohingya attended and that the overall estimate included other refugees, such as ethnic Burmese Muslims.Refugees are considered illegal immigrants in Malaysia and activists say they may fear coming forward for testing..."
Source/publisher:
The Star
Date of publication:
2020-03-20
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-21
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
"...Thai officials reportedly sent two Myanmar migrant workers back after finding they had a high fever and temperature when they entered Ranong, Thailand after doing extension of their visas at Kawthoung border gate.A rumour circulated among local residents of Kawthoung and on social media that the two Myanmar workers were infected with the COVID-19 virus.Kawthoung hospital medical superintendent (MS) Dr. Khin Zaw told Mizzima that the news of two Myanmar workers infected with COVID-19 and sent back by Thai officials from Ranaung border gate was false and it was just a rumour..."
Source/publisher:
Mizzima
Date of publication:
2020-03-21
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-22
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
more
Description:
"...Two Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand tested positive for coronavirus, Surasak Thanaisawanyangkoon, chief of the AIDS, TB and Sexually Transmitted Infection bureau within Thailand's Ministry of Public Health, wrote on his social media page. Surasak Thanaisawanyangkoon told Mizzima one of the workers is a 34-year-old woman who worked as a waitress in the entertainment industry. She is receiving treatment in a Bangkok health centre...."
Chan Nyein
Source/publisher:
Mizzima
Date of publication:
2020-03-20
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-21
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
"...The United Nations Myanmar office has just confirmed that one of their international staff who has just returned from Switzerland has tested positive for the coronavirus or COVID-19. According this the press release issued 28 March, the member of staff is in self quarantine as a precaution in a local hospital. The UN expressed its appreciation of the help provided by the Myanmar authorities in this case. The UN says it is fully committed to support Myanmar in its efforts to prevent the spread of this virus and strengthen national capacity to manage cases as they occur..."
Source/publisher:
Mizzima
Date of publication:
2020.03.28
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
more
Individual Documents
Description:
"Myanmar on Friday (Jan 22) received 1.5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine supplied by India to inoculate 750,000 people, the first vaccine batch delivered to the Southeast Asian country as it fights one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the region.
India is donating millions of doses of vaccines to a string of countries in Asia, drawing praise from neighbours and pushing back against China's dominating presence in the region. Shipments of AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest producer of vaccines, have already gone to the Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
READ: Sanitation worker gets first shot as India launches 'world's largest' COVID-19 vaccination campaign
Myanmar was among the countries next in line to get free consignments as India moved before China which has also pledged to supply vaccines to its neighbour.
"This is a gift from India to Myanmar," Saurabh Kumar, India's ambassador to Myanmar, told reporters at Yangon airport, where he oversaw the arrival of the vaccine. Myanmar health ministry spokeswoman Khin Khin Gyi said the vaccine would be kept in Yangon in special refrigerated rooms before being rolled out next week.
"Healthcare workers will be first priority and elderly people will be next," she said, noting Myanmar has more than 110,000 medical workers.
Despite the arrival of vaccines, Khin Khin Gyi urged people in Myanmar not to get complacent and follow health protocols to prevent further spread of the virus..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2021-01-22
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Beijing will "pressingly" deliver COVID-19 vaccines to Myanmar to help its Asian neighbor control the pandemic, according to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday.
Just on Sunday alone, Myanmar's Ministry of Health and Sports reported 555 more COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 130,604.
"I believe the friendship between China and Myanmar will deepen further through test of the COVID-19 pandemic," Wang told Myanmar President U Win Myint in Nay Pyi Taw, capital of Myanmar. The Chinese diplomat has just embarked on his six-day Southeast Asia tour, just a day after his Africa visit.
On his part, the Myanmar president first spoke highly of the relationship between the two countries. "Although in time of a global pandemic, [Wang] still came visit as one of the first [diplomats]," he said.
He also vowed to deepen the ties and is willing to cooperate with Beijing in sectors including COVID-19 vaccine, culture and tourism..."
Source/publisher:
CGTN (China)
Date of publication:
2021-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar on Monday on a critical two-day visit. It is intended to further strengthen Chinese influence in the country, in light of the changing international dynamics in the region, amid fears that China's sway is beginning to wane.
Beijing is increasingly concerned with a plethora of issues, including recent Indian and Japanese initiatives with Myanmar, which Beijing fears may prove to be to their detriment, but also to take stock of the continued economic cooperation, strengthen its support for the peace process and to boost China's support for Myanmar's battle to control the Covid pandemic. Mr Wang's primary purpose on this visit is to show China's unswerving support for the country and its civilian leader, the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi -- and to congratulate the National League for Democracy (NLD) on its landslide electoral victory. He will be the first international diplomat to visit Nay Pyi Taw in person since the elections last November.
The visit seems to have been arranged at short notice -- and tagged onto Mr Wang's current trip to Africa. It is low-key and being handled discreetly, according to Myanmar government sources. Foreign diplomats believe this may reflect some discomfort on the part of Nay Pyi Taw at the visit, and what is seen as "vaccine diplomacy"..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2021-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Border opens to prevent Thais sneaking back in
Description:
"The border district of Mae Sot is on alert for a large number of Thais working in a casino in Myawaddy to flee the continued spread of the coronavirus in Myanmar.
Opas Kankawinpong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, expected hundreds of Thai workers at a casino in the cross-border town to move back through the district in Tak soon after the province temporarily reopens the checkpoint to allow them through.
“We have estimated hundreds of Thais are stuck there. We don’t know how many of them have been infected,” a video clip posted on the department Facebook page on Sunday quoted him as saying. The latest batch of Thai returnees -- believed to number 40 -- arrived on Thursday. Seventeen of them tested positive and were sent to Mae Sot Hospital. They worked for the Sky Complex casino, just across the Moei River that separates Mae Sot and Myawaddy..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-01-10
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A long-running war and COVID-19 muddle development in Kyaukphyu, Myanmar.
Description:
"Kyi Kyi Hnin sits beneath a fan on a bright morning in her village along the coast of Kyaukphyu, a township in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
“The government just signs laws, but they are committing violations,” she says. “The government should consider the communities’ desires and interests.”
Kyi Kyi Hnin is a local community organizer and her speech is quick and resolute: She knows the challenges facing Kyaukphyu and spends her days working to support local residents. Kyaukphyu is home to a cluster of busy fishing towns and villages. But in the past few years, the township has been thrown into the center of geopolitics, armed conflict and, more recently, Myanmar’s struggle against COVID-19.
For months, the country recorded relatively few cases of the virus, until a new outbreak began in August with Rakhine at the epicenter. After the state capital, Sittwe, Kyaukphyu has recorded the most cases of any township in Rakhine for much of the outbreak..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2020-12-03
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
A coronavirus outbreak in Tachileik has shone a rare spotlight on border-based hotels, KTVs and casinos with links to powerful armed groups, whose open flouting of pandemic restrictions has put Myanmar and Thailand in danger.
Description:
"On November 25, Ma Nang, 18, lost her sense of smell.
Known as anosmia, it is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. In hotspots across Myanmar, thousands of people have reported losing their sense of smell, and many have later tested positive for the coronavirus.
But Ma Nang was not in a COVID-19 hotspot, and had neither travelled to an area with COVID-19 cases nor seemingly been in contact with any infected people.
The resident of Tachileik, in eastern Shan State on the border with Thailand’s Mae Sai, had been working as a KTV singer at 1G1-7 Hotel until November 16, when she quit her job. She travelled north to Kengtung for a few days with friends but fell ill after returning to her hometown.
“I went to a fever clinic but I wasn’t worried – there were no cases in Tachileik,” Ma Nang said. “I was shocked when the test came back positive.”
Until her positive test, Tachileik, which is sometimes referred to as the capital of the Golden Triangle – the notoriously lawless area where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet – had seemingly escaped Myanmar’s “second wave” of COVID-19. Since the first cases emerged in Rakhine State and Yangon in late August, the virus has gradually spread across most of the country. Eastern Shan State is one of the few exceptions: it has recorded the lowest number of cases outside Kayah State, which only registered its first patient in October.
In the week before Ma Nang tested positive, several other cases had been detected in Tachileik but they had all been among people undergoing quarantine, with no evidence to suggest the virus had spread in the community.
In response to her positive test, the Tachileik District COVID-19 Prevention and Rapid Response committee issued a notice on November 28 advising residents to stay at home, to adhere to a curfew and not to hold gatherings. Restaurants were told to only sell take-away, and anyone with COVID-19 symptoms was advised to immediately visit a fever clinic. Residents needed little warning; the streets would be mostly deserted for the next two weeks. “Of course, I’m worried about the virus,” said U San Shwe Myint, owner of Happy restaurant. “In the circumstances I decided it would be better to close my restaurant completely.”
By mid-December the outbreak was mostly under control, with few new cases of community transmission. But the emergence of COVID-19 in eastern Shan State raises serious questions about the enforcement of prevention measures, including the closure of high-risk venues, monitoring of overland travellers and control of international borders..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-12-23
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the lives of millions across Myanmar, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is expanding its support to the Government of Myanmar's national response.
On 16 December, UNHCR handed over 50,000 Cobas SARS-CoV-2 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test kits to the Union Ministry of Health and Sports in Nay Pyi Taw.
The arrival of the test kits adds on to an earlier contribution of 20,000 kits by UNHCR and WFP in July. Collectively, over 145,000 test kits have been handed over to Government by the wider United Nations system as part of a joint response to date.
“UNHCR continues to support the Government’s nationwide efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that vulnerable communities are not left out”, said UNCHR Representative in Myanmar Ms. Hai Kyung Jun.
The Refugee Agency has so far equipped over 400 quarantine centres with basic items such as beds, blankets, kitchen sets and hygiene kits, and distributed 685,200 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line workers and vulnerable communities, including gloves, masks, disposable gowns and face shields. An additional batch of 367,000 N95 masks is expected to arrive by the end of the year and will be distributed to counterpart ministries.
UNHCR has also stepped-up campaigns to raise awareness on COVID-19 prevention in camps and sites for internally displaced people and stateless persons, as well as health, water, sanitation and hygiene services in these locations by installing new water points and distributing hygiene items such as soap and hand sanitizer.
To date, over 670,000 people across Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states as well as the South East region of Myanmar have benefitted from the collective efforts of the Government, UNHCR, sister UN agencies and partner humanitarian organizations in providing life-saving assistance to those in need..."
Source/publisher:
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-12-17
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
468.96 KB 482.59 KB
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Sub-title:
The latest outbreak was first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, prompting a flare-up in online hate speech.
Description:
"“Wherever you see Myanmar people, shoot them down,” read one Thai comment on YouTube after a surge of coronavirus cases among workers from Myanmar.
The outbreak, first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, has prompted a surge in online hate speech as well as questions over Thailand’s treatment of millions of migrant workers.....“Myanmar people are being labelled for transmitting COVID-19, but the virus doesn’t discriminate,” said Sompong Srakaew of the Labour Protection Network, a Thai group helping migrant workers.
Shifting sentiment has had real consequences, he said, with workers from Myanmar, previously known as Burma, being blocked from buses, motorcycle taxis and offices.....“Myanmar people are being labelled for transmitting COVID-19, but the virus doesn’t discriminate,” said Sompong Srakaew of the Labour Protection Network, a Thai group helping migrant workers.
Shifting sentiment has had real consequences, he said, with workers from Myanmar, previously known as Burma, being blocked from buses, motorcycle taxis and offices..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication:
2020-12-24
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination: standards and mechanisms, Thailand-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Sub-title:
climate change has the potential to destabilise various systems and institutions while simultaneously deepening the schisms between communities.
Description:
"climate change has the potential to destabilise various systems and institutions while simultaneously deepening the schisms between communities. The unpredictable and pervasive nature of COVID-19 has influenced security conflicts across the globe in numerous ways. A few broad trends have come to light. Firstly, terrorist and extremist groups have used the pandemic as an opportunity to step up their attacks across different conflict theatres. These include Nigeria where Boko Haram is active, and Syria and Iraq where the so-called Islamic State has been ramping up its presence.
Such an escalation of violence is due to the increased governmental reliance on military troops across different regions to handle the pandemic, reducing their capacity to effectively protect targets from attacks. For instance, the Indian military in Kashmir has been called on to engage with quarantine facilities as well as enforcement of social distancing, thus allowing terrorist groups to conduct more cross border attacks.
Secondly, terror groups have also launched viral misinformation campaigns to increase the mayhem and chaos that has stemmed from the crisis, and various governments’ (mis)handling of the situation. This included highlighting the failing official responses as a reason to contend against the legitimacy of different governments, as highlighted in Egypt and Libya, targeting minorities as the cause of spreading the virus as was done by far right groups in the West as well as Hindu extremists in India. This also helped in capitalising on the polarisation of society to recruit more people, as was attempted by pro-Islamic State entities in India.
Lastly, terrorist groups have also been engaged in providing emergency aid services to affected populations. This is both a matter of necessity, especially for terrorist groups that control territory (such as the Taliban), and an opportunity for those who want to underscore their ability to perform better than the government..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of publication:
2020-07-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar
Language:
more
Description:
"The Union government has unbundled a controversial Chinese-backed multibillion-dollar new city project across the Yangon River from Myanmar’s commercial hub and is finalizing the hiring of an international consultant to assist in the selection of a developer for the newly compartmentalized project.
Known as the New Yangon City project, it is an element of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CMEC will connect Yunnan province in China to Mandalay in central Myanmar, Yangon New City in the south and the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in the west.
The Yangon regional government-backed New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) initially signed a US$1.5-billion (2.03-trillion-kyat) framework agreement in 2018 with Beijing-based China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) to draw up a proposal for the infrastructure project. The 20,000-acre (nearly 8,100-hectare) New Yangon City project is slated to include five resettlement areas, two bridges, an industrial estate, and commercial and residential areas as well as related infrastructure. The Yangon government’s 2019 guidebook listing the city’s projects—the Yangon Project Bank— estimates the New Yangon City project’s total cost at $8 billion.
However, the project has been a source of controversy due to its flood-prone location as well as CCCC’s involvement. The Hong Kong-listed, Chinese state-owned company has been accused of engaging in corruption and bribery relating to development deals in at least 10 countries in Africa and Asia.
Since its formation, the NYDC has said that while CCCC was the frontrunner for the project, the selection process to find the developer would follow the so-called “Swiss Challenge” model, in which other candidate firms would be invited to beat CCCC’s bid. However, the huge amount of the initial investment required has all but deterred other investors.
On Wednesday, a senior official familiar with the project told The Irrawaddy that the $1.5-billion project has been unbundled by the Union government due to the sheer scale of the mega-investment required, making it possible for other companies to join the Swiss Challenge..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-07-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar reported three more imported cases of COVID-19 on Friday night, bringing the total number of infections to 346, according to the Health and Sports Ministry.
The newly-confirmed cases are under quarantine in Chin and Kayin states after their recent arrivals from India and Thailand.
According to the ministry, 286 patients have recovered as of Friday.
Myanmar reported its first two confirmed cases on March 23, and the death toll stands at six..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-07-24
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"To date, ASEAN has over 200,000 coronavirus infections across all 10 member states, with more than 6,000 fatalities as a result of the deadly disease. Although other regions such as Europe and the Americas have recorded more COVID-19 cases compared to Southeast Asia – the pandemic has still managed to ravage livelihoods and local industries in the latter region.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that growth in Southeast Asia will decelerate from 4.4 percent in 2019 to one percent this year before rebounding to 4.7 percent in 2021.
“The evolution of the global pandemic – and thus the outlook for the global and regional economy –is highly uncertain. Growth could turn out lower, and the recovery slower, than we are currently forecasting,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist. For ASEAN member state Myanmar, despite the low reported cases of COVID-19 in the country which stands at 343 infections as of 23 July – the social and economic effects could be severe, noted the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
An IMF publication titled, ‘Six Charts on Myanmar's Economy in the Time of COVID-19’ states that the pandemic shock has affected the economy’s key growth engines. It explains that the kingdom has seen a sharp decline in exports, remittances, and tourist arrivals. At the same time, domestic economic activity has been constrained by strict measures to curb the virus. According to a recent report by the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organisation (MTPO), the tourism industry has been hit hardest by the pandemic, followed by the garment industry. Other sectors that have been feeling the pinch include the rubber export and manufacturing sectors.
Local media in the country reported that nearly one third of all companies in the country have temporarily shuttered due to the pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2020-07-24
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Returns from Thailand through border checkpoints continued in the first half of July, with 10,985 (4,536 female, 6,449 male) returns from 1 to 16 July. A total of 86,449 migrants (33,023 female, 53,426 male) returned from Thailand from 22 March to 16 July, with the majority of migrants who returned through Myawaddy-Mae Sot returning to Bago Region (10,948 people), Mon State (7,391) and Kayin State (6,964 people).
Returns from China through border checkpoints also continued in the first half of July, albeit at a slower rate than in June, with a total of 2,887 (1,211 female, 1,676 male) returns from 1 to 16 July. A total of 44,051 migrants (15,564 female, 28,478 male) returned from China from 16 April to 16 July.
As of July 16, based on available data, a total of 130,817 migrants have returned to Myanmar from Thailand, China and Laos. A further 8,543 Myanmar nationals have returned via Government Assisted Relief Flights from various countries in Asia and beyond, including from Australia, Philippines, India and the United States.
The Government of Myanmar announced the extension of COVID-19 restrictions until 31 July. This is the third extension following a similar decision on 1 July and it retains:
• The nationwide daily curfew from 00:00 AM to 04:00 AM;
• The ban on international commercial flights into and out of Myanmar;
• The temporary suspension of visas on arrival and e-visas;
• Temporary suspensions for overseas employment processes (including MOU recruitment procedures), and all pre-departure orientation and skills trainings.
The Myanmar Labour Attaché Office in Thailand launched an online survey for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, aiming to collect information on the total number of Myanmar migrant workers currently in Thailand and their situation, including occupation, income and migration status. Results will inform evidence-based programming by the Government of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"International Organization for Migration (IOM)" (Switzerland) via reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-07-20
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), IOM Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
641.24 KB
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Description:
"On International Workers’ Day, May 1, President U Win Myint offered a statement about the government’s commitment to tranquil workplaces, fair and proper dispute settlement processes, freedom for independent trade unions, and workers’ safety through tripartite efforts. However, the message had a caveat: “You [Workers] also need to be especially aware that outside instigators can incite unlawful demonstrations and unrest for personal or political gains.” Indeed, if the government is effectively protecting labor rights and is dedicated to tripartite efforts, then there seems no need or justification for protest. But the government’s rhetoric is a far cry from reality.
The government has, in fact, dismissed unionists’ suggestions, disregarded their formal disputes, and used COVID-19 to justify intimidation and arrests of protestors. Employers have ignored COVID-19 related concerns raised by unionists, exploited their inability to strike, and used the pandemic as an opportunity to sack unionists en masse. The government and employers have weaponized COVID-19 to union-bust so that unionists have had to scramble and employ different tactics to protect themselves and other workers..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-07-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar Vice-President Henry Van Thio says the country is unlikely to open to international commercial passenger flights until October.
At a meeting of the National Tourism Development Central Committee on Tuesday, the vice-president said that airports are expected to resume operations for international commercial passenger flights only after the third quarter of this year.
The Myanmar government has said that when airports can resume operation, it will announce the reopening of its tourism sector to ASEAN and Asian countries. The government also plans to take part in “travel bubbles” with Thailand and Vietnam, including direct flights to and from Myanmar.
“Travel bubbles” are exclusive partnerships between countries that have demonstrated considerable success in containing and combating the COVID-19 pandemic within their respective borders. The program will allow people to travel within the zone without having to undergo quarantines on arrival.
The vice-president also said that, if the initial travel agreements are successful, the Myanmar government will establish travel bubbles with Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Macao, as he said they have achieved considerable success in containing the coronavirus.
Myanmar has banned all international commercial passenger flights since March 31. The government has extended the ban a number of times since then, with the latest ban in effect until July 31. Relief, cargo, medical evacuation and special flights approved by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) as well as domestic flights, however, are not affected by the ban..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-07-11
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) convened the first ever Non-Governmental Online Conference on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which CPEC is the flagship, which was attended by 8 countries. The conference, which lasted for 2 hours and 45 minutes, had participants from Pakistan, China, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Myanmar & Sri Lanka. There was a wide-ranging discussion on different dimensions of BRI, which was followed by a 35-minute Question and Answer session.
Five key consensus areas regarding BRI emerged from the conference: The coronavirus crisis has underlined the need for global interdependence to forge closer cooperation to tackle common challenges; BRI is the way forward as it promotes regional connectivity, based on the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit while acclaiming CPEC as "BRI success story".
The propaganda about the so called 'Debt trap' was rejected by participants as in the case of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, total debt from China is a very small percentage of what is owed to other countries or multilateral institutions; 'New Cold War', demonization or stigmatizing any country using COVID19 as a political weapon or targeting BRI on geopolitical grounds were rejected; The India factor was recognized by countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka as they are neighbors and they would like good relations with both China and India and it was made clear that neither BRI is a military alliance nor it is directed either against India or against any Western country.
Senator Mushahid Hussain, in his opening remarks, termed BRI as the biggest and most significant Diplomatic and Developmental initiative of 21st century. He said that CPEC, as flagship of BRI, is already a success story and has entered its the second phase successfully. Energy and infrastructure projects have been completed on schedule, 75,000 Pakistanis have got jobs in BRI projects and 28,000 Pakistani students are studying in China.
He also thanked China for support to Pakistan during COVID-19 crisis and he mentioned the two resolutions passed by the Pakistan Senate, February 12 and May 14, in which the parliament of Pakistan appreciated China's role and support. Afghanistan’s former Ambassador to Pakistan and China, Janan Musazai, gave a specific five-point plan for Afghanistan’s role in BRI and he referred to CPEC as well, since Afghanistan can be a land bridge for connectivity and he said that China could facilitate to provide market access for BRI countries..."
Source/publisher:
"china.org.cn" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-07-10
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"argue that heeding lessons from Cyclone Nargis can help Myanmar to overcome the impact of the pandemic response.
The second of May 2020 was the twelfth anniversary of Cyclone Nargis, a category 4 tropical storm that hit the Ayeyarwady Delta of Myanmar. With the loss of over 140,000 lives, the temporary displacement of up to 800,000 people, and estimated damages and losses of US$ 4 billion, Nargis was the most devastating natural disaster in Myanmar’s recorded history.[1]
Myanmar is now facing yet another major disaster, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). By June 24, around 9.3 million people have tested positive for the virus globally, and over 478,000 have died. That same day, the reported number of COVID-19 infections in Myanmar still stood at only 293, with 6 deaths. The government’s containment policy may succeed in keeping the direct effects of the coronavirus in Myanmar limited. However, its indirect, socioeconomic impacts for the country as a whole may end up being as dramatic as those of Nargis were for the Delta.
In this article, we first look into the impacts of Cyclone Nargis on affected villages and their path to economic and social recovery. We then discuss the early impacts of COVID-19 on select economic sectors and in some of the Nargis-affected areas. Next, we briefly review the government’s emergency aid measures and reflect on their usefulness in light of lessons learned from post-Nargis aid. Finally, we argue in favour of a holistic policy to make rural communities more resilient to future crises..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-07-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"WFP is providing food and nutrition assistance to 41,450 returning migrants at Myawaddy border gate, as well as 43,000 inside quarantine sites in 10 out of 14 states and regions, as requested by the authorities.
• WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are currently conducting a joint food security and livelihood assessment in COVID-19 affected areas in seven states and regions across Myanmar.
• The price of the four main food commodities in Myanmar remained stable in June, according to the WFP Market Monitor.
Situation Update
• According to the Ministry of Health and Sports, there are 316 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Myanmar as of 7 July, including six deaths. To curb the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Myanmar has extended temporary travel and international flight restrictions until 31 July.
• WFP’s Market Monitor for June indicated a stable average price of the four main food commodities in Myanmar, as some COVID-19-related restrictions were eased. Most of the monitored markets are functioning normally, apart from the conflict-affected Paletwa Township in Chin State..."
Source/publisher:
World Food Programme (WFP) (Rome) via reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-07-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
WFP (World Food Programme), COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
92.05 KB
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Sub-title:
History shows pandemics can lead to profound political change in Myanmar
Description:
"Covid-19 lockdowns and internal travel restrictions have been lifted across Myanmar but that doesn’t mean its virus crisis is over – far from it.
Myanmar has officially confirmed only 316 Covid-19 cases and six related deaths, figures that many observers doubt are an accurate portrayal of the nation’s underlying viral situation.
But even if Myanmar’s Covid-19 figures are unrealistic, economic, social and political fallout from the health crisis is nearly certain.
Myanmar’s economic growth is projected to drop from 6.8% in fiscal 2018-2019 to just 0.5% in 2019-2020, according to World Bank estimates released on June 25. That assessment, considering the impact of lockdowns on the nation’s already impoverished population, could understate the human suffering to come.
Economic distress, meanwhile, is impacting politics as the country gears up for November 8 elections that will pit State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling New League for Democracy (NLD) against the rival military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The NLD is widely expected to win another five-year term, but observers in the commercial center Yangon wonder if military authorities will impose Covid-related restrictions on rallies and potentially use social controls to tilt the electoral playing field more in the USDP’s favor..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-07-07
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties
Language:
more
Description:
"A girl wearing a face mask plays with soap bubbles at a park in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, July 7, 2020. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 316, with three more confirmed cases on Monday, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-07-07
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"The UN in Myanmar has come together as one to support COVID-19 preparedness and response. The next in a series of articles highlights UNODC's contribution.
UNODC provided guidance on how to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Kachin State, Myanmar. The guidance is aimed at parents and caregivers on how to keep their children safe and healthy. In crowded conditions, such as one found in IDP camps, protecting children’s health is difficult at the best of times. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, raising a family has become even more challenging. To provide support to parents and caregivers, UNODC has provided 10,000 leaflets to families in IDP camps across Kachin State, providing guidance on how to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. UNODC also provided an interactive workshop to local NGOs and camp service providers, so they can also meaningfully support IDP’s health and wellbeing. "We’ve seen that quite a number of parents were using alcohol and illegal drugs to cope with their stress. Due to the increased pressure they’ve faced during the pandemic, they may not be parenting as effectively as they normally do.” said Naw Bawk, Health Poverty Action’s Community Mobilization Team Leader, one of the local NGOs distributing the leaflets. “These leaflets will be very useful for parents to cope with their stress in a better way." The leaflets, “Information for Parents and other Caregivers in Crowded Communities or Refugee Settings during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” provide straightforward and actionable advice to parents living in Kachin’s IDP camps. They cover an overview of how parents can reduce their children’s potential exposure to COVID-19, and how to manage children’s stress under lockdowns and curfews. The leaflets also touch on the mental health of parents..."
Source/publisher:
UNCT Myanmar via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-07-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Myanmar, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 313 as of Saturday, according to latest figures released by the Health and Sports Ministry.
The newly confirmed cases were returnees who are under facility quarantine in Yangon region after their recent arrivals from India, Bangladesh, Laos, Thailand and Singapore, the ministry's release said.
As of Saturday, a total of 81,977 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country and 240 patients have recovered.
Myanmar reported its first two cases of COVID-19 on March 23 with six deaths so far..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-07-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has experienced a relatively lower number (290 as of 22 June 2020) of COVID-19 cases compared to many other countries, but the socioeconomic impacts of the government-imposed restrictions are having severe impacts on the population, especially older women and men. While the restrictions officially remain in place, many people cannot get by without a regular income and have returned to work, raising fears about a second wave. For government and humanitarian actors to understand the consequences of the restrictions for older people, HelpAge International in Myanmar conducted a multi-sector rapid needs assessment in May 2020 to inform programming and policy decisions..."
Source/publisher:
HelpAge via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-07-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
169.61 KB (7 pages)
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Sub-title:
The total number of patients infected with COVID-19 in Myanmar has exceeded 300 after the health ministry at 8pm on July 1 reported four new cases from returnees.
Description:
"These include a 38-year-old man, Case-300 in the ministry’s list, who lives in Hlegu township and a 24-year-old man, Case-301, from Kaya township in Yangon. They are both returnees from the United Arab Emirates and were undergoing facility quarantine at a centre in South Dagon township when they tested positive. The ministry says they did not have contact with a positive patient upon arriving in Myanmar.
The other two patients are also from Yangon and they are a 28-year-old man, Case-302, from Thaketa and a 32-year-old man, Case-303, from Taikkyi. The two returned from England and did not have contact with a COVID-19 patient in Myanmar. They were also undergoing facility quarantine at a center in Hlegu Township when they tested positive. All four have been admitted to the South Okkalapa Specialist Hospital for treatment.
Myanmar has so far reported 303 COVID-19 cases including six deaths and 222 recoveries.
From May 16 to July 1 at 8pm, a total of 117 returnees have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the health ministry.
These comprise 50 returnees from India, 23 from Thailand, 17 from Malaysia, ten from the United Arab Emirates, nine from Bangladesh, three from Qatar, two from Italy, two from England and one from China..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-07-01
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Twelve cases confirmed in Rakhine State with one local transmission from a known contact in Buthidaung Township and eight among people with travel history in Bangladesh.
• Limited local transmission with majority of cases confirmed among returning migrants. No cases have been reported in camps for internally displaced people (IDP) or displacement sites. A total of 293 cases, six fatalities and 215 recoveries have been confirmed across the country.
• More than 111,600 migrant workers have returned, including 71,735 from Thailand since March, per the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
• Four humanitarian flights arrived in Myanmar in June, carrying sets of protective items, medical supplies as well as humanitarian and relief personnel.
• Nearly 1,000 schools in conflict-affected areas used as quarantine facilities are disinfected and being prepared for classes as Government plans to reopen schools in mid-July.
• Preparedness and response activities across camps and displacement sites, as well as in quarantine centers, continue by government and humanitarian actors.
• The Addendum to the 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) has been revised, with a total of 915,000 people targeted and financial requirements of US$275.3 million.
• A total of US$54 million has been contributed to the 2020 HRP, including $15 million to the COVID-19 Addendum– FTS..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
314.73 KB 231.83 KB
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Description:
"The Myanmar government has lifted the stay-at-home orders in all designated townships after seeing no new COVID-19 cases in the areas, a health official told Xinhua on Tuesday.
The government imposed partial lockdown, named "Stay at Home" in 10 townships of Yangon region and one in Sagaing region as the townships registered most infection cases of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, Insein, one of the townships in Yangon region, was last removed from the stay-at-home measures while others were removed separately in May and earlier this month.
"We have brought the pandemic under control to some extent in the country, with everyone's participation," said Director of Health Literacy Promotion Unit, Public Health Department under the Health and Sports Ministry, Than Naing Soe.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said in a post on social media on Monday that the effective measures may prevent the country from the second wave of COVID-19 in a couple of months while restrictions of mass gatherings are still in effect and urged people to be alert of asymptomatic transmissions.
According to the ministry's figures, Myanmar has reported 299 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with six deaths while the number of recovered patients reaches 221 as of Tuesday morning..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-30
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"As of 29 June 2020, there have been 299 confirmed cases, including six fatalities and 218 recoveries across the country. The rate of local transmission has been low so far with cases confirmed mainly among people returning from abroad..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-30
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
924.7 KB
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Sub-title:
Myanmar has approved a K92 billion COVID-19 relief plan for the domestic food production industry, U Hla Kyaw, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, said on June 26. The approved funding will enable the ministry to support people in the rural areas amid the pandemic.
Description:
"Under the government’s plan, nearly K15 billion will be spent on establishing contract farming jobs on 100,000 acres of farmland. Investment capital totalling K41 billion will be allocated to more than 1700 villages in all the states and regions.
Around K25 billion will be used to acquire and distribute agricultural machinery to farmers in 11 regions and states including Nay Pyi Taw. Furthermore, about K6 billion will be spent on assisting local fish farms and training, while K1.5 billion will be used to create jobs in the livestock industry in 100 townships.
“The goal is to create jobs for as many people as possible. Our plan will benefit more than 120,000 families,” said U Hla Kyaw.
The plan was announced on the same day the World Bank approved a US$200 million credit from the International Development Association to increase agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance market access for Myanmar farmers. The funds will go towards supporting income retention for farmers by improving the quality and utilisation of agricultural inputs, and generate labour-intensive cash-for work-activities to create jobs for poor households, in particular for migrants returning to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The government’s efforts to improve its testing capacity for COVID-19 is moving at a snail’s pace due to a lack of money, with a laboratory in Lashio township in Shan State unlikely to be ready for at least three months.
Description:
"While Myanmar has so far effectively mitigated the spread of the disease through quarantines, contact-tracing and targeted lockdowns, testing remains one of the most effective ways of quickly identifying cases.
Myanmar has five testing centres – one in Mandalay, one in Mawlamyine in Mon State, and three in Yangon, which is the epicentre of the virus outbreak in the country.
As of June 28, these laboratories had tested 71,692 people, according to the Health and Sports Ministry.
Dr Than Soe Naing, director of the ministry, said it would take about three months for Lashio township to get its own COVID-19 tests as the laboratory isn’t finished yet. But he added that the testing facility in Taunggyi township in Shan could start operating early next month. Dr Thuzar Chit Tin, head of the state’s Public Health Department, said a donor who was supposed to finance construction of the laboratory in Taunggyi had backed out, so the Shan government had to find other funding sources..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"The total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 296, with three more confirmed cases reported on Sunday morning, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.
According to the release, the newly confirmed cases are returnees who were under quarantine after their recent arrivals from Thailand and India.
As of Sunday morning, a total of 71,692 samples were tested for COVID-19 and 5,878 patients are under investigation at present, the ministry's figures said.
According to the ministry's figures, 216 patients have recovered from the disease so far.
Myanmar reported its first two positive cases of COVID-19 on March 23 and six deaths have been reported so far..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-28
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"The latest edition of the half yearly Myanmar Economic Monitor- June 2020 of the World Bank has devoted its analysis to the economic impact of COVID-19 and how to recover from the disruptions caused by the pandemic and associated measures for the prevention of its spread.
“The pandemic and associated containment measures are undermining aggregate demand, disrupting value chains, and reducing the labor supply, following strong activity in the first 5 months of the year”. The crisis has had an especially negative effect on wholesale and retail trade, tourism-related services, manufacturing and construction. Sectors like agriculture and telecommunications appear to have demonstrated resilience compared to others.
The pandemic has impacted the firms of all sectors (agriculture, industry and services) severely as per the survey conducted in May 2020 by the World Bank. About 16 percent of the firms it has surveyed reported closing their operations for an average of eight weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but this figure rose to 39 percent among service sector firms. By contrast, just 12 percent of manufacturers and 6 percent of agricultural firms reported temporary closures. 89 percent of manufacturers reported a reduction in sales, compared to 75 percent of agricultural firms. Adaptation of firms to changing scenario in terms of production, sale and marketing strategies appear to be slow. And very few firms have applied to seek support from the government announced package of relief measures. This reflects the need for adopting an outreach strategy to support the firms in a more systematic way..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-28
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"The leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the key to China's fast development and its increasingly important role in the world economy, a renowned Myanmar expert has said.
Under CPC's leadership, China has become the world's second largest economy and successfully transformed from a planned economy to a socialist market one, Monywa Aung Shin, member of the Central Committee of Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy and editor-in-chief of D-wave Journal, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
"As far as I see, China plays a growing role in the world economy and becomes a fastest growing country, thanks to the leadership of the party," said Aung Shin.
Highlighting the concerted efforts of the party's leadership and the Chinese people in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Aung Shin said he is in favor of the CPC's political practice, namely the "people-centered governance."
During the pandemic, the Chinese government has presented a prompt response and strenuous efforts by sending health personnel to the frontlines and building make-shift hospitals, said Aung Shin.
"As the people trusted and strictly followed the guidance of the government, the epidemic was contained in a short time, which portrayed the unity of the people," he said.
With the notion of "a community with a shared future," China shared its firsthand experience and provided medical assistance to neighboring countries during the pandemic, which makes the idea more meaningful, Aung Shin said.
Aung Shin also expressed his belief that China will achieve its goal of poverty elimination.
"Since poverty, somehow, relates to education, health, social development and employment opportunities, China has been making endeavors to fight for poverty eradication not only in China but also in its neighboring countries including Myanmar," the expert said..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-28
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter on what you need to know, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis.
Myanmar is imposing a 15-day extension of its virus measures and directives until July 15 to prevent the spread of the pandemic from inbound travelers and within the country.
The restrictions include a temporary suspension of international flights, a ban on issuing all visas and visa-exemption services, as well as a three-week quarantine for Myanmar nationals returning home by relief flights and across borders, according to a statement Saturday by the Central Committee on Covid-19 Control. On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the temporary ban on foreigners’ entry will be extended to July 31.
A nightly 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. curfew remains in place, along with the ban of gatherings of more than five people, according to the Central Committee on Covid-19 Control, which is led by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Exceptions are made for funerals and work-related matters.
United Nations officials, diplomats and foreign nationals who need to enter Myanmar on relief flights or other transport arrangements for urgent meetings and for compelling purposes must obtain exceptions from a Myanmar mission. The committee also asked all visitors to follow the instructions of the Ministry of Health and Sports.
As of June 28, Myanmar confirmed 296 cases of coronavirus including 216 recoveries and six casualties, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports..."
Source/publisher:
"Bloomberg News" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-28
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors have approved a $200 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to increase agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance market access for Myanmar farmers, with a strong focus on inclusion for smallholder farmers, women and other vulnerable groups.
Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Myanmar—including the temporary shutdown of wet markets and animal feed factories, movement restrictions, the disruption of logistics and transport systems, and tightened restrictions on cross-border flows—has created disruptions in the agriculture and food system. Supply chain disruptions have resulted in market losses and increased feed costs to poultry farmers, small enterprises, and meat producers.
According to the Myanmar Economic Monitor, released by the World Bank on June 25, economic growth is estimated to drop from 6.8 percent in FY18/19 to just 0.5 percent in FY2019/20, with significant downside risks. Agriculture is the source of livelihood for nearly 70 percent of the population and accounts for nearly 30 percent of national GDP and merchandise exports. It is the main sector of employment for the poor with 85 percent of the rural population living in a household with one or more members engaged in agriculture..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-28
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Syndicate Market Research has recently added the latest report, titled “Myanmar Automobile Market by Product Type (Alkaline Batteries, Acid Battery, Neutral Batteries, Organic Battery Electrolyte Solution), by Application (Passenger Vehicle, Commercial Vehicle) – Overall In-depth Analysis, Global Market Share, Top Trends, Professional & Technical Industry Insights 2020 – 2026“, which examines the overview of the various factors enabling growth and trends in the global industry. The global Myanmar Automobile market report portrays an in-depth analysis of the global Myanmar Automobile Market that assesses the market size and market estimation for the predicted period. The leading performers of the Myanmar Automobile Market are profiled in the report along with the systematic details referring to their revenue, segmentation, earlier improvements, product segmentation, and a complete outline of their businesses. This report covers the impact of the corona-virus on leading companies in the Myanmar Automobile sector and also gives a comprehensive study of Covid-19 impact analysis of the market
This report includes market status and forecast of global and major regions, with the introduction of vendors, regions, product types and end industries; and this report counts product types and end industries in global and major regions..."
Source/publisher:
"Cole of Duty"
Date of publication:
2020-06-27
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has attracted over 4.4 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investments as of third quarter of this fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 and is expected to reach its target, state-run media reported on Saturday.
Myanmar set its target of foreign direct investments (FDI) to 5.8 billion U.S. dollars in present FY 2019-2020 which lasts from October, 2019 to September 2020.
"We only need 1.4 billion U.S. dollars to meet our target. We need to make sure to follow our guidelines such as less economic impact by the COVID-19 pandemic, encouragement through COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan, giving priority to creating job opportunities and paying attention by the government over the recovery of the economic impact by the pandemic," Director-General U Thant Sin Lwin of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) was quoted as saying.
During the COVID-19 period, some existing investment businesses have increased capital amount of investment while new investments are flowing into the country, he said.
During the first nine months of this FY, power sector attracted most foreign investments, accounting for 25 percent of total inward investments..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-27
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, Political, social and economic dimensions of investment in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $200 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to increase agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance market access for Myanmar farmers, with a strong focus on inclusion for smallholder farmers, women and other vulnerable groups.
Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Myanmar—including the temporary shutdown of wet markets and animal feed factories, movement restrictions, the disruption of logistics and transport systems, and tightened restrictions on cross-border flows—has created disruptions in the agriculture and food system. Supply chain disruptions have resulted in market losses and increased feed costs to poultry farmers, small enterprises, and meat producers.
According to the Myanmar Economic Monitor, released by the World Bank yesterday, economic growth is estimated to drop from 6.8 percent in FY18/19 to just 0.5 percent in FY2019/20, with significant downside risks. Agriculture is the source of livelihood for nearly 70 percent of the population and accounts for nearly 30 percent of national GDP and merchandise exports. It is the main sector of employment for the poor with 85 percent of the rural population living in a household with one or more members engaged in agriculture.
The National Food and Agriculture System Project will support parts of the government’s COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP), which aims to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 and facilitate the country’s economic recovery..."
Source/publisher:
World Bank via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-26
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
" Myanmar authorities have brought back 5,171 Myanmar nationals home from abroad by relief flights as of Thursday, according to a release from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Due to the suspension of international commercial flights during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has been making efforts to bring back its citizens stranded in foreign countries, in cooperation with the authorities concerned.
On Thursday morning, 143 Myanmar citizens stranded in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain arrived at the Yangon International Airport.
It was learnt that a total of 139 Myanmar nationals including 28 seamen from the Philippines and 15 nationals including seamen from Bangladesh will arrive late on Thursday.
According to the release, all returnees will be put under quarantine at designated facilities or hotels in Yangon region for 21 days on their arrivals.
Myanmar has reported 293 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with six deaths as of Thursday, said the latest figures by the Health and Sports Ministry..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-25
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Informal settlements in Yangon house an estimated 400,000 people, approimately 8 per cent of the city’s total population. Due to the nature of informal settlements with high density, lack of access to water, sanitation, hygiene practices and inadequate housing, the risk of mass COVID-19 transmission within Yangon’s informal settlements is high. The vast majority of these settlements do not have access to municipal infrastructure such as piped water or sanitation and have poor drainage systems. UN-Habitat’s rapid assessment survey conducted last May found that 81 per cent of the households in informal settlements have at least one member who lost their job and 94 per cent experienced a fall in income due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Furthermore, UN-Habitat’s study from 2016 had warned that a combination of factors in informal settlements has resulted in “a serious public health emergency in informal settlements in Yangon, although it is one which is largely not recognized by government agencies or international aid agencies.” Therefore, it is imperative that governments and international agencies recognize and support the informal settlements with immediate responses to COVID-19..."
Source/publisher:
UN-HABITAT (Kenya) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-25
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
HABITAT - Burma/Myanmar, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.17 MB
more
Description:
"The global COVID-19 pandemic is dealing a severe blow to Myanmar's economy. Economic growth in a baseline scenario is projected to drop from 6.8 percent in FY18/19 to just 0.5 percent in FY2019/20, according to the World Bank's Myanmar Economic Monitor, released today.
If the pandemic is protracted, the economy could contract by as much as 2.5 percent in FY2019/20, with the expected recovery in 2020/21 subject to further downside risks.
The slowing economic growth threatens to partially reverse Myanmar's recent progress in poverty reduction while reducing the incomes of households that are already poor. Under the baseline scenario, in which the domestic spread of the coronavirus is brought under control, the global economy swiftly recovers, and Myanmar's GDP growth rate is projected to bounce back to 7.2 percent in FY2020/21, poverty rates would increase in the short term and will not return to pre-crisis levels until FY2021/22. Under the downside scenario, poverty rates would remain above their pre-crisis level until at least FY2022/23.
The report also looks at the Myanmar government's response to the crisis through the COVID-19 fund and Economic Relief Plan (CERP), which includes measures to offer relief and initiate a resilient recovery - including tax relief, credit for businesses, food and cash to households, as well as policies to facilitate trade and investment.
"At the moment the medium-term outlook for Myanmar's economy is positive, but there are significant downside risks due to the unpredictable evolution of the pandemic. Robust policy actions are urgently needed. It will be important for the government to boost the effectiveness of the CERP by ensuring flexibility in spending targets, extending support to smaller enterprises and ensuring all poor households can benefit from the plan," said Mariam Sherman, World Bank Country Director for Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR..."
Source/publisher:
World Bank via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-25
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The reopening of private schools would be decided by the township committees in charge of COVID-19 prevention, the head of an education group said.
Description:
"U Twal, chair of the Myanmar Private Teachers Federation, said the regulation was agreed at a meeting with the parliament Education Enhancement Committee. U Aung Phyo Thu, founder of Yar Pyae private school in Pyinmana township in Nay Pyi Taw, “We are ready to abide by the social distancing rule. If our school is not allowed to reopen, it may result in fewer students passing the matriculation examinations, especially those from low-income families.”
Private schools in Pantanaw township in Ayeyarwady Region have been permitted to reopen by the township COVID-19 committee, but private schools in Pyinmana are still awaiting their township committee’s decision.
U Nay Win Khaing, chair of the Myanmar Teachers Federation in Pyinmana, said if Nay Pyi Taw rejected the schools’ request to reopen, it could lead to the growth of unofficial schools and financial problems for teachers. The government has set the reopening of schools for July 21, starting with high schools, and followed by primary and middle schools two weeks later..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-25
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"WFP is providing food and nutrition assistance to 55,000 returning migrants inside or in transit to quarantine sites in Bago, Kachin, Kayin, Magway, Mon, Shan, Tanintharyi and Yangon, as requested by the authorities.
• WFP is providing a two-month targeted protection ration by doubling the monthly ration size of fortified blended food for pregnant and lactating women in stunting and wasting prevention programmes.
• WFP continues to operate weekly aid flights connecting Kuala Lumpur to Yangon, allowing humanitarian cargo and personnel to enter Myanmar.
Situation Update
• According to the Ministry of Health and Sports, there are 293 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Myanmar as of 26 June, including six deaths. To curb the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Myanmar has extended several restrictions, including the suspension of international commercial flights until 30 June.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted economic activities in Myanmar and is expected to have a long-term impact on various sectors. According to a poll conducted by the Asia Foundation, nearly one third of companies in Myanmar have temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown and the vast majority of those operating have reported lower sales..."
Source/publisher:
World Food Programme (WFP) (Rome) via reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-26
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
WFP (World Food Programme), COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
171.93 KB
more
Description:
" The Myanmar government has provided 31.8 billion kyats (22 million U.S. dollars) loans to the most vulnerable business affected by the COVID-19, an official from the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry told a press briefing on Wednesday.
"Under the country's COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan, the loans had been given out as of June 18 to 832 vulnerable businesses in the garment manufacturing sector, hotels and tourism as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at 1 percent interest rate with one-year period," said Maung Maung Win, deputy minister of Planning, Finance and Industry.
Meanwhile, the government will also provide 50,000 kyats (35.7 U.S. dollars) loans per acre as COVID-19 Special Relief loans to the local farmers at 5 percent annual interest rate starting this month to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the agricultural sector, he said.
It was learnt that a total of 600 billion kyats (428 million U.S. dollars) special relief loans will be given out for 12 million acres until September along with annual monsoon agricultural loans to the farmers.
Myanmar has reported 293 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with six deaths as of Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-24
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Workers in Myanmar say management targeted union supporters under pretense layoffs were related to coronavirus
Description:
"Hundreds of workers at two factories in Myanmar that produce clothing for Zara and Primark were fired days after forming a union in a move workers say targeted union supporters under the pretense that layoffs were related to the coronavirus. Zara is the main brand of Inditex, the largest clothing retailer in the world. At the Huabo Times factory, days after filing a registration for their union, workers noted management terminated over 100 workers, primarily union members and supporters, and transferred 200 non-union workers from a different factory to replace them four days after the dismissals.
At the Rui-Ning factory, 298 union members were fired from the factory in early May 2020. The union registered at Rui-Ning in February 2020.
“I see the firing as clearly union-busting under the pretext of the pandemic. The factory fired most of the union members, including myself,” said Kyaw Thu Zaw, a worker at the Rui-Ning factory for about 10 months and president of the union. “They gave the excuse of difficulty in transporting products to Europe, but in reality there was no difficulty as the factory transported a bulk of products to destination countries on 12 May.” He noted regular shifts consisted of 10-hour work days, six days a week, with workers expected to regularly work overtime in order to make enough money to survive. Workers at the factory make around $3 per day..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of publication:
2020-06-24
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"The spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has presented new challenges for existing humanitarian response operations in Burma and in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar District due to COVID-related access restrictions and the vulnerability of IDPs in Burma, as well as refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar. As armed clashes intensify in Burma’s Chin and Rakhine states, COVID-19-related restrictions have further reduced humanitarian access to IDP sites, and humanitarian staff in Burma have expressed concern regarding insufficient COVID-19 preparedness and response capacity in conflict-affected states.
As of June 23, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided more than $245 million in FY 2020 funding to continue the response to humanitarian needs of crisis-affected populations in Burma and Bangladesh, including COVID-19-specific funding, and USG partners have adapted existing programming to incorporate COVID-19 mitigation measures to ensure the continued provision of critical assistance..."
Source/publisher:
USAID ( Washington, D.C.,)
Date of publication:
2020-06-23
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Bangladesh-Burma relations
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
274.59 KB
more
Description:
"Hundreds of thousands of people trapped near fierce fighting in Myanmar's far west may know nothing of Covid-19 thanks to a yearlong internet shutdown, according to rights groups.
Last June, the Myanmar government, led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, cut internet access to nine townships in the area due to concerns that it was being used to inflame clashes between the Myanmar military and insurgents.
One township its service restored in May, but eight others, with a total population of about 800,000 people, remain in an information blackout.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say the extended shutdown is putting lives at risk, not only because it's preventing people from reporting possible human rights abuses -- but because it has cut off them off from public health campaigns about the coronavirus pandemic.
"With armed conflict between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Rakhine State amid a pandemic, it's critical for civilians to get the information needed to stay safe," Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal adviser at Human Rights Watch said in a statement..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of publication:
2020-06-24
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Revenue from Myanmar's fruit exports have reached US$370 million in the current fiscal year, which is on par with revenues generated over the same period in the previous fiscal year despite COVID-19, according to the Myanmar Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Producer and Exporter Association.
Description:
"This was due to higher demand from China for good quality Myanmar bananas produced from local tissue culture, which offset a decline in exports of other fruits like watermelons and cucumbers.
In fact, if it wasn't for COVID-19, Myanmar could have enjoyed a net increase in fruit export revenues this year if proper storage facilities had been available at the Myanmar-China border to store fruits while traders waited to clear longer procedures and other delays due to the pandemic. "Our fruit export income would have increased by a lot more if we had a better system to manage wastage at the border. Currently, about 80 percent of locally produced fruit has gone to waste as a result of disruptions from COVID-19," said Daw Sandar Myo, secretary of the association.
Fruits are mainly exported to China at the border. Before COVID-19, watermelons and cucumbers were the main fruit exports and revenue had been on the rise each year due to increasing demand.
This year, the decline in exports of watermelons and cucumbers was offset by a surge in demand for bananas at the start of the year, said U Khin Maung Lwin, assistant secretary of the Ministry of Commerce..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-23
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, International Trade, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"Since March 2020, the Karen National Union (KNU) has been organizing a widespread campaign to
protect communities in their areas against Covid-19. They have organised virus prevention trainings
for health personnel in each district, and distributed protective materials and thermometers. These
personnel have conducted health awareness campaigns, and, together with local communities, set up
screening checkpoints on key access roads for anyone entering their areas.
This rapid mobilizing was made possible by the KNU health department’s long experience in developing
responsive, culturally appropriate programming in rural areas, as necessitated by decades of civil war
and structural flaws in the Burmese government health system – whose rigid centralized approach has
proven woefully inefficient and unaccountable in addressing basic health needs of ethnic populations.
By April, the KNU Covid-19 Response Team had set up 49 screening posts in seven districts, including
along the Thai-Burma border.
But in the last week of April, the Burma Army began shutting down these Karen screening posts. Four
posts were ordered shut in Doothahtoo (Thaton) district (KNU Brigade 1), and on May 6, the Burma Army
set fire to two checkpoints in southern Mutraw (Hpa-pun) district (KNU Brigade 5), causing armed clashes
with the KNU and displacing over 480 villagers from Wa Tho Khoh village, where the Burma Army had shot
and injured two elderly civilians in January this year. . On June 2, another screening post was destroyed by
the Burma Army in Kler Lwe Htoo (Nyaunglebin) district (KNU Brigade 3)..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN) via Burma Campaign UK
Date of publication:
2020-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Public Health, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
779.07 KB 1.12 MB
more
Description:
"Yangon, Myanmar, 18 June 2020 – UN-Habitat supported a team of community volunteers in five informal settlements in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon who have contacted over 13,2000 households to provide accurate information about COVID-19 and dispel false rumours.
Information leaflets were shared with communities in Hlaingthayar, Shwepyitha, Dala, South Dagon, and Dagon Seikkan with information about COVID-19 preventive actions including how to keep your family safe, working or shopping in a markets selling fresh meat and fish and how to make a mask at home.
The 61 community volunteers were trained remotely by UN-Habitat and provided with a Personal Protective Equipment kit consisting of masks, full face visors, gloves, and hand sanitizers.
A rapid assessment of informal settlements conducted by UN-Habitat revealed that a third of families could not afford to buy masks to protect themselves and the volunteers also distributed 102,000 masks to the households.
UN-Habitat is working with existing community development committees in the informal settlements. In Hlainthayar, UN-Habitat partnered with Bedar Social Development Group and the Urban Poor Network.
Nyein Chan, a community organizer said the project helped them reach the community in the time of an emergency.
“We had several meetings on how to manage the project and reach out effectively to the community. I feel that we did not just distribute things, we were able to organize ourselves together to accomplish this,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
UN-HABITAT (Kenya) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-23
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
HABITAT - Burma/Myanmar, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"A total of 286 cases with six fatalities and 187 recoveries have been confirmed in Myanmar. Sixteen cases have been confirmed in Rakhine State, including six with recent travel history in Bangladesh. Contacts are being traced and identified contacts are in quarantine.
• Two cases confirmed among healthcare workers in Momauk Township of Kachin State and in Muse Township of northern Shan State - two of three local transmissions in June so far. No cases have been confirmed in camps or sites for internally displaced people (IDPs).
• Close to 100,000 migrants returned between 22 March to 10 June, according to IOM, with some 62,650 of this returning from Thailand.
Small scale returns continue to be recorded on a daily basis.
• Government and humanitarian partners continue to undertake COVID-19 preparedness and response, while maintaining life-saving humanitarian operations across camps and displacement sites.
• The next iteration of 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan COVID Addendum is underway, with updated planning scenarios and figures, is expected to be finalized by end of June.
• Myanmar Humanitarian Fund has allocated US$3.8 million to 10 new projects, while 21 ongoing projects have been reprogrammed for a total of $0.35 million for COVID-19 preparedness and response..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-22
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
435.5 KB
more
Description:
"Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter on what you need to know, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis.
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the most severe economic impact from the novel coronavirus outbreak is expected in the final four months of this year.
“We’d like to reassure the people that we’re well prepared to address the impacts,” Suu Kyi said in a panel discussion via video conference on Tuesday. “We believe we’ll be able to overcome them through inclusive cooperation.”
The Southeast Asian nation is due to receive $1.25 billion in emergency loans from international organizations, Thaung Tun, investment and foreign economic relations minister, said in the same panel..."
Source/publisher:
"Bloomberg News" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
""When the lockdown occurred, we saw very, very quickly that refugees ... lost their jobs," the UNHCR's Gillian Triggs told an online discussion hosted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation on challenges facing refugees in the COVID-19 era.
Half of refugees in Lebanon and Colombia have lost their income source, and almost two thirds of recently settled refugees in the United States may have lost their jobs, panelists said.
The pandemic has also increased xenophobia and discrimination and led to a big rise in evictions, added Triggs, the UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.
She said refugees must be included in national health systems, not just for their own safety but for everyone's. "If one person is sick with COVID, we all are," she added.
Gideon Maltz, executive director of the Tent Partnership for Refugees comprising more than 100 major companies, said some businesses were already taking action to help refugees.
In the Netherlands, electronics giant Philips is supporting an initiative hiring refugees to produce masks from filter material used in its vacuum cleaner bags.
It is producing 150,000 masks a week, Philips said.
"Businesses have a vital role to play," said Maltz. "There's a huge opportunity for all of them to step up."
Prior to COVID, he said companies like IKEA and Starbucks had already made their hiring process more inclusive.
Five countries account for two-thirds of the world's refugees: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar. Most refugees seek asylum in a neighbouring country.
Maltz urged governments to use taxes and other incentives to encourage businesses to employ refugees.
Maltz suggested the European Union could give Turkey preferential access for its agricultural products if it helped Syrian refugees to work in the sector..."
Source/publisher:
World Economic Forum (Switzerland)
Date of publication:
2020-06-19
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Desperate for cash and low on work, rural households are turning to high-interest loans from informal moneylenders as microfinance companies are forced to cut back on credit.
Description:
"On May 11, a storm swept through a village in Magway Region and battered the house of Ko Win Kyaw Soe. The need for repairs was urgent, he said, but without the money to cover costs or the time to jump through the hoops of a microfinance loan application, he reluctantly turned to an illegal moneylender.
The decision has beckoned another storm – one of high interest rates and spiralling debt, and the possibility of threats and violence. But the economic turmoil brought by COVID-19 restrictions has left desperate borrowers like Win Kyaw Soe with little choice.
For Win Kyaw Soe, the monthly interest of 20 percent on the K100,000 sum to fix his home in Tat Kone village in Magway Township would have been steep at the best of times. But measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus had recently forced the temporary closure of the beer station where he was a waiter in Magway town, and for the time being he has no income.
“I’m not sure I can pay back the capital, much less the interest,” Win Kyaw Oo told Frontier. “But I will do my best to pay the interest, at least.” Support independent journalism in Myanmar. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
If he is unable to clear the loan within 30 days, he will have the choice of paying K20,000 to cover the interest or having it added to his loan. If he makes no repayments for 10 months, he will owe the principal plus K200,000 in interest.
The moneylenders who provide quick cash to people like Win Kyaw Oo in desperate situations are often portrayed as predatory, seeking to trap their clients in an ever-spiralling burden of debt.
But Win Kyaw Oo’s lender, who spoke to Frontier on the condition of anonymity, said this was exactly what she didn’t want. Yes, her interest rates are high, but this reflects the risk that she will not be paid back. And without such loans, people in need would have few other ways to access cash quickly, she added..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
" More than 8,000 people were prosecuted in nearly three months across the country for breaching COVID-19 rules, according to the President’s Office.
Myanmar reported the first COVID-19 cases on March 23 and has since reported 286 cases with six deaths and more than half of the patients recovering.
Several COVID-19 restrictions, including a ban on public events and large gatherings, suspension of travel visas and international flights were extended until June 30 after the continuation of imported cases as nationals returned from overseas and a few infections inside the country were reported.
President’s Office spokesman U Zaw Htay told the media on Friday that 8,470 people have faced action since late March under the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law and 176 people under the Natural Disaster Management Law.
Businesses which failed to follow the government’s coronavirus prevention instructions have also been prosecuted.
Violations have included assaulting and abusing health care workers, refusing to stay in or fleeing from quarantine centers, organizing religious gatherings and weddings or other defiance of the ban on gatherings and failing to follow nighttime curfews.
Last month, Yangon’s chief minister U Phyo Min Thein, his wife and members of his cabinet were reported with the Yangon police for allegedly breaking the Natural Disaster Management Law for attending a Buddhist event. The chief minister denied the accusations and the police did not accept the report.
The National League for Democracy told the media that it had warned the chief minister against breaching restrictions on gatherings.
The communicable diseases law carries a maximum punishment of six months in prison while those prosecuted under the disaster law can face up to three years in prison.
Topics: Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, coronavirus, COVID-19, Natural Disaster Management Law, Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law, quarantine..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-06-19
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Sub-title:
One more Myanmar citizen returning from Bangladesh has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the health ministry at 8am on June 18. Meanwhile, six more patients are on the road to recovery.
Description:
"Myanmar has so far reported 263 COVID-19 cases including six deaths and 185 recoveries.
The latest patient is a 17-year-old Rakhine Muslim girl, Case-263, from Buthidaung township in Rakhine State. The girl was undergoing community-based facility quarantine at a centre in Buthidaung township where she tested positive. “[Case-263] is one of the family members of a 63-year-old Rakhine Muslim, Case-262, who entered to Maungdaw township from Bangladesh. According to our contact tracing of Case-262, we discovered a total of 34 close contacts. Case-263 was among those who tested positive,” Dr U Soe Win Paing, assistant director and spokeperson of the Rakhine State Public Health Department told The Myanmar Times.
“The remaining tested negative. The girl has now been admitted to Buthidaung General Hospital for treatment,” he added.
The Rakhine State Public Health Department also confirmed that 32 close contacts of Case-234, 47 close contacts of Case-244, nine close contacts of Case-247 and Case-248, and eight close contacts of Case-250 tested negative, according to National Health Laboratory (NHL) from Yangon. Up until June 18 morning 8am, Rakhine State has reported nine confirmed cases.
They are four returnees from Maungdaw, three from Buthidaung, one from Taunggok and one from Thandwe Township. Among them, a 35-year-old is on the road to recovery, the health ministry said on June 15. The recovered patient in Rakhine State is a returnee from Malaysia.
From January 31 to June 17, 1083 samples from Rakhine State have been sent over to NHL in Yangon for testing, according to the State Public Health Department..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar government planned to provide special relief loan to farmers to relieve the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agricultural sector, according to Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry on Thursday.
Local farmers will be provided 50,000 kyats (35.7 U.S. dollars) loans per acre at 5 percent annual interest rate starting this month.
This loan program will be effective for this year as part of the government's relief measures for agribusiness affected by COVID-19, a ministry's official told Xinhua.
Both paddy and crop farmers are eligible to apply for the special relief loan until September.
Meanwhile, the government has been providing annual monsoon agricultural loans to farmers since May 15 this year..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-18
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"Civil society organizations and residents in Sagaing Region’s Tamu Township on the Indian border have objected to plans to use a sports hall as a quarantine center for returnees from India.
More than 100 migrants, who have been stranded in the Indian state of Manipur by COVID-19, are due to return soon through the Tamu-Moreh border.
The Tamu Township authorities planned to place returnees in the sports hall for 21 days.
But 28 organizations and community elders on June 15 submitted a letter to the National Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment on COVID-19 opposing the plan, according to representative Ko Aung Thu Chan.
He told The Irrawaddy that were asking for the committee to find an alternative site if the township must receive the returnees.
It also asked for the committee to send returnees to be quarantined in their home townships, bypassing Tamu.
“The township’s sports hall is unsuitable for quarantine as it is in the town center, surrounded by many restaurants and temporary markets, which could risk spreading coronavirus,” said Ko Aung Thu Chan.
The letter expressed concern that returnees were coming from Manipur, a COVID-19 hotspot in India..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-06-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), India-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation and Myanma Insurance began talks on June 15 aimed at providing insurance coverage for the hundreds of thousands of Myanmar people working in Thailand.
Description:
"The talks were being conducted in preparation for the workers’ return to the kingdom, which usually has over 2 million documented and undocumented Myanmar workers, said U Peter Nyunt Maung, vice chair of the federation.
“If workers test positive for COVID-19 abroad and decide to be treated there, who would pay?” he said. “Free medical treatment is available only in Myanmar, so we are negotiating for insurance coverage there.” Myanma Insurance already offers COVID-19 insurance on the local market. Compensation for such coverage in Thailand would be paid in local currency.
The federation negotiated to pay based on the current exchange rate of the Myanmar and Thai currencies.
“A lot of workers want to go abroad, but the government would not allow them yet,” he said. “Other countries are prepared to accept workers, so official permission may not take too long.”
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-17
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Migrant worker' registration in Thailand - articles/commentary, Thailand-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
consider the specific vulnerabilities women face in Myanmar in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Description:
"Women are playing an indispensable role in the global response against the coronavirus pandemic. Acting as healthcare workers, scientists, researchers, social mobilizers, political leaders and caregivers, women are at the forefront of this fight. However, while everyone is affected by COVID-19, this pandemic amplifies pre-existing gender inequalities and makes women particularly vulnerable, a reality that policy-makers have yet to take into account.
In Myanmar, women face various obstacles as internally displaced peoples, garment workers, unpaid labourers, and victims of overarching conflict. Not only has COVID-19 affected these populations’ capacities to support themselves, the impact in these sectors serve to elucidate existing gender inequalities women face in Myanmar. This article was written as part of an International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-funded project–a collaboration between the University of Toronto and the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security–on gender and decentralization in Myanmar. Drawing on some of the data collected in Myanmar from 2018 to 2019, this text will reflect on women’s vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of a global pandemic.
COVID-19 in Myanmar
Myanmar’s healthcare system has improved drastically since transitioning to semi-civilian rule in 2011, but remains underfunded and understaffed. The COVID-19 crisis is thus taking place amidst an already overstretched healthcare system that faces important challenges, such as gaps in access between rural and urban communities; the lowest number of intensive care beds per capita among lower and lower-middle-income countries of the region (except Bangladesh)[1]; and fewer than 200 ventilators.
So far, the government of Myanmar’s response has been haphazard, at best. The country, most likely, has a higher number of COVID-19 cases than it purports. However, the actual number is difficult to assess given limited testing capacity and heavily regulated media. The government spokesperson Zaw Htay first responded to the pandemic by stating that “lifestyle and diet measures” protected Myanmar citizens from the coronavirus infection, reporting its first case only at the end of March. Although the government has distanced itself from these initial remarks, its response continues to be inadequate..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-15
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Women's rights, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is taking a rising toll. It will hinder any effort to contain COVID-19 or resolve the Rohingya crisis. Rather than trying to defeat the Arakan Army, Naypyitaw should negotiate with ethnic Rakhine, endeavouring to convince them of electoral democracy’s benefits.
Description:
"The armed conflict being waged between government forces and the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army in western Myanmar is currently the most serious by far of the country’s multiple, decades-old internal wars, with some of the most sustained and intense fighting seen in many years. After the conflict escalated significantly in early 2019, the government ordered a tough military response and on 23 March designated the Arakan Army as a terrorist organisation. These measures have exacerbated the grievances underlying the conflict and made a negotiated end to the fighting more difficult to attain. At the same time, neither side will be able to achieve their military objectives. The government needs a political strategy, now missing, to negotiate with Rakhine leaders, address their community’s grievances, and demonstrate that electoral democracy and political negotiation offer a realistic and effective path to realising their aspirations. The trajectory of the armed conflict is alarming, complicating problems in a state already traumatised by the separate crisis that resulted in the violent expulsion of more than 700,000 minority Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2016-2017. Over the last eighteen months, clashes have increased in regularity and intensity, their geographical scope has expanded and the civilian toll has grown. Despite the significant loss of life on both sides, nothing suggests that Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, is wearing down the Arakan Army or degrading its ability to operate. But nor is there reason to believe that the Arakan Army can achieve its aim of greater political autonomy on the battlefield. Civilians are paying a heavy price, caught in the crossfire or targeted as Arakan Army partisans or for harbouring fighters in their villages. Schools and medical facilities have been hit with alarming regularity, with each side usually blaming the other. It is difficult to see how general elections, which were provisionally slated for November, could be held in many parts of Rakhine State, the conflict’s locus..."
Source/publisher:
"International Crisis Group (ICG)" (Belgium)
Date of publication:
2020-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
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Sub-title:
Beijing also terms Huawei executive’s detention ‘serious political incident’ after release of Canadian spy agency report
Description:
"China said Monday it has resumed work on bilateral projects with Myanmar as the two nations move past the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“China and Myanmar have launched a fast lane to facilitate essential travel and resume work and production,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lijian Zhao, addressing a news conference in Beijing.
China had closed its borders with Myanmar in April amid the coronavirus pandemic. The closure was scheduled to last for two months until June 24.
“Personnel at critical posts at oil and gas, electricity and infrastructure projects have already traveled both ways and resumed work,” Lijian said.
The coronavirus was first detected in China’s Wuhan city last December, from where it spread to at least 188 countries and regions and has affected more than 7.96 million people worldwide.
Over 3.8 million people have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
The pandemic has so far claimed more than 434,000 lives. The US, Brazil, Russia and India are currently the worst-hit countries.
Meanwhile, slamming the case against Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s chief financial officer as a “serious political incident,” Zhao urged Canada “to release Meng Wanzhou at once.”
Referring to a two-page report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Lijian said: “It fully reveals the political intention of the US to deliberately oppress Chinese high-tech companies like Huawei, and Canada is acting as an accomplice.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of publication:
2020-06-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"The Covid-19 pandemic has brought forward the role of the governments in not only addressing the health crisis but also on how to address issues of vulnerability and disruptions that the population has faced due to the restrictive measures related to public events, transport, trade, businesses and stay at home orders during the past three months to contain the spread of the virus.
In several parts of the world, the pandemic curve is still ascending and countries and their people are facing hardships of unimaginable proportions. Social protection has been identified as a significant short to medium term intervention. Call for universal basic income and social protection for all have come to the fore of conversations among economists, policymakers and activists across the globe.
Several advanced, as well as emerging economies, have identified the need for supporting the poor and vulnerable as well as the businesses as a policy response in order to stave off the adverse downturn of the economy. Both on the supply as well as the demand-side stimulus has been proposed. And this has opened up the limitations of market based economic development approach which could not cope with the impact of the pandemic which has not spared any sector. The increased role of the government in the economy can be seen from the way countries have responded swiftly by providing social protection to the poor and vulnerable during the pandemic. A global real-time review on social protection response of countries, compiled by World Bank and UNICEF staff, has identified that currently 195 countries/territories have planned or introduced social protection measures in response to COVID-19. Cash transfers, universal one-off cash disbursement, child care support and social pensions have been the measures taken by countries as social assistance programs to meet the needs of the vulnerable. Apart from these, in-kind food/vouchers for food, and school feeding programs and public works programs (food for work, cash for work) have also been initiated in order to stabilize the families. These support measures, ranging from 1 month to 12 months (with an average of 3 months) across the globe are estimated to reach to about 1.7 billion people (costing 0.4% of global GDP). While the amount of assistance may vary depending on the stage of development of the country, it is important to underscore that massive government intervention to stabilize incomes of the people is an important element of COVID-19 response across most countries. New stimulus measures in an advanced economy like the USA included cash transfers involving an average one-off payment of US$1200 to adult member and US$500 for a child to low earning families, emergency food stamps assistance, subsidized utility payments, paid sick leave and emergency withdrawals of old-age pension contributions, etc. In the USA new cash transfers are expected to reach 24 per cent of the population..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar's Foreign Affairs Ministry Monday announced further extension of temporary entry restrictions for visitors from all countries until June 30.
The extension will be applied to the ministry's previous announcements of precautionary measures which will expire on Monday night.
The extension is done to continue effective response measures to protect the population of the country from the risks of importation and spread of COVID-19, the ministry's announcement said.
The restrictions, of which effective period is extended, include entry restrictions of all incoming travellers, suspension period of all types of visas including social visit visas and visa exemption services.
According to the announcement, foreign nationals including diplomats and the United Nations officials, who want to visit Myanmar for urgent official missions or compelling reasons, are asked to contact the Myanmar mission for possible exception for visa restrictions.
Meanwhile, the effective period of suspension of operating all international commercial passenger flights at Yangon International Airport was also extended until the end of June, said a recent notice issued by Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited (YACL), operator of the airport..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-15
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Sub-title:
Another Rakhine man who returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Health and Sports Ministry at 8am on June 15.
Description:
"So far, Myanmar has reported a total of 262 COVID-19 cases including six deaths and 167 recoveries.
The latest case is a 63-year-old Rakhine Muslim man, Case-262, from Buthidaung township in Rakhine State. The man was undergoing the mandatory community-based facility quarantine at a centre in Buthidaung township, where he tested positive.
“[Case-262] entered to Maungdaw township from Bangladesh. Health workers accompanied him by ambulance to Buthidaung Hospital. Authorities are still currently tracing his contact history,” U Tun Aung Thein, a State legislator from Buthidaung constituency No 2 told The Myanmar Times.
The health ministry reported that the man did not have any contact with a positive patient. He has been admitted to Buthidaung General Hospital for treatment. “The patient currently lives in Buthidaung township. We have sent his five family members, who tested negative, to Hla Phoe Khaung Transit Camp. Moreover, 19 people who had close contacts with Case-262 are also being quarantined at the centre in Buthidaung. We’re currently tracing his contact history,” Dr U Soe Win Paing, spoke person of the Rakhine State Health Department said. So far, Rakhine State has reported eight confirmed cases of COVID-19. Four are from Maungdaw, two from Buthidaung, one from Taunggok and one from Thandwe township.
From May 16 to June 15 at 8pm, a total of 77 Myanmar citizens who returned from overseas have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports. These comprise 45 returnees from India, 13 from Malaysia, eight from the United Arab Emirates, six from Bangladesh, two from Thailand, two from Italy, and one from China..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-15
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"As Myanmar’s efforts to contain the coronavirus continue, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi warned on Saturday that anyone who has illegally entered the country and anyone aiding them will face legal action.
“Those who come into the country illegally, those who receive them knowingly, and those who cover up will be dealt with strictly and severely according to the law,” she wrote, reiterating the government’s stance.
Prior to her warning, the National-Level Central Committee for Prevention, Control and Treatment of COVID-19 said Wednesday that some Myanmar nationals have reentered the country illegally, despite government efforts to process returnees at official reception centers in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The committee warned that “if anyone enters Myanmar through any unauthorized entry point from a foreign country and if such person has been accepted with the knowledge that such person has entered the country illegally, it is hereby notified that legal action would be taken in accordance with prevailing laws.”
Health care staff and authorities have been conducting temperature checks and health screenings of returnees at international airports, ports and border entry points. Since mid-May, all returnees have been placed into 21-day quarantine and tested for the coronavirus before being released.
As of Sunday, 27,502 migrants have returned to Myanmar through land borders from Thailand since May 23 and thousands more have returned from China. Since April 30, 3,762 Myanmar nationals have returned on repatriation flights.
“All of us need to prevent and severely restrict illegal border crossing,” the State Counselor wrote on her Facebook. She added, regarding those who entered illegally and did not go into quarantine, that “if they carry [COVID-19] disease, it could spread to others.”
She said that conducting contact tracing for illegal returnees and placing those who were potentially exposed into quarantine is “a huge burden” for the country but a necessary measure for the people’s safety..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-06-15
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Returns from Thailand and China continued in the past two weeks, with 13,539 and 3,354, respectively, from 1 to 10 June. A total of 99,058 migrants returned through border checkpoints from 22 March to 10 June, including 62,647 returns from Thailand (22 March—10 June), 36,280 returns from China (16 April—10 June), and 131 returns from Lao PDR (8 May).
An additional 4,105 Myanmar nationals returned via Government-assisted relief flights from various countries in the region and beyond, including 95 from Germany on 4 June, over 130 from Republic of Korea, Canada, and the United States on 6 June, over 80 seamen working for a Norwegian cruise liner on 7 June, and 170 from Belgium,
Canada, Spain, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, France and the US on 8 June.
The Thai cabinet approved visa extensions until 31 July for about 1 million migrant workers from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar to ease potential labour shortages as the country’s economy reopens. 6,108 migrants have returned to Bago Region from Thailand, the highest number of returnees across all states and regions.
Between 5 and 12 June, five cases of COVID-19 involving returns with recent travel history from Bangladesh, were identified in Rakhine State. Four of the cases have been quarantined in Maungdaw Township, and one asymptomatic case in Buthidaung Township..."
Source/publisher:
International Organization for Migration (IOM) ( Switzerland) via "Reliefweb" (New York) (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-14
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
IOM Burma/Myanmar, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
679.31 KB
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Sub-title:
Earlier, a 71-year old man died at isolation centre of Rohingya camp on June 1
Description:
"Two more Rohingya men died from coronavirus on Monday, taking total death in the Rohingya camp to three.
One of them was 58 years old and a resident of camp-10 while another was 70 years and a resident of camp-7 in Ukhiya, said Dr Abu Toha MRH Bhuiyan, health coordinator of the Refugee, Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
Besides, five more Rohingyas were diagnosed with coronavirus on Monday, he said adding that total number coronavirus cases rose to 35 till Monday.
Meanwhile, two Rohingya men made recovery from coronavirus. Earlier, a 71-year old man died at isolation centre of Rohingya camp on June 1.
Earlier on May 16, two more Rohingyas were diagnosed with coronavirus at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar, forcing the local administration to put some 5,000 Rohingyas at the camp under complete lockdown.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas, most of them entered Bangladesh since August 25, 2017..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of publication:
2020-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The fisheries industry says it deserves more help from the government to deal with a downturn caused by the pandemic, but some government officials insist that it’s business as usual in the sector.
Description:
"Myanmar had its sights set on a record-breaking year for fishery exports until the coronavirus pandemic swept away orders, closed factories and jeopardised millions of jobs. Now industry sources say the sector needs government support to remain strong and survive well into the future.
However, private sector stakeholders and the government offer vastly differing assessments of the impact of COVID-19 on the fisheries industry, one of the nation’s most important export earners.
The Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation believes the sector has continued to thrive despite COVID-19, and has figures to justify its rosy assessment. They show exports are strong and rising, averaging just over $81 million a month in the fiscal year beginning last October, up from $60.16 million a month in 2018-19. Exports in the eight months to the end of May totalled US$651 million, compared to $722 million for the entire previous fiscal year and $700 million in 2017-18.
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But industry figures poured water over any suggestion Myanmar could meet a $1 billion target set last year. They say exports began to slump from February, as buyers cancelled orders and Myanmar factories, including processing plants, were forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19 prevention measures..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Sub-title:
Especially since the internet was cut off in Rohingya refugee camps, bicycles and rickshaws play a vital role in sending messages
Description:
"Social distancing is a crucial aspect of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. But that poses challenges to the flow of key information during a time when being well-informed is also critical to public health.
Especially since the internet was cut off in Rohingya refugee camps, bicycles and rickshaws play a vital role in sending messages far and wide.
In Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continues to explore new ways to bring key messages to Rohingya and host community members throughout the district.
Initiatives like passing on messages via rickshaws and IOM’s Interactive Voice Response system are making huge contributions in ensuring that the public is kept informed.
However, gaps remain where phone and road access are limited.
To amplify key messaging and ensure that no one is left without access to lifesaving information, IOM’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) unit in Cox’s Bazar began delivering information throughout the Rohingya settlements by bicycle.
In line with the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations “green recovery” recommendations to encourage a culture of cycling, IOM is supporting Rohingya participants to use bicycles procured and painted locally to ride throughout pre-identified sections of the camp. Thye cyclists use megaphones to deliver pre-recorded messages to each area.
The initiative is conducted by Rohingya refugees, for Rohingya refugees, and has already reached approximately 67,000 beneficiaries across the camp. Scaled-up messaging will continue as Covid-19 numbers rise..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of publication:
2020-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
more
Description:
"UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Unilever are working together to enhance sanitation and hygiene for families in need in Myanmar, including those in displacement settings and host communities. The multinational company has donated some 608,000 bars of soap to prevent COVID-19.
“Handwashing remains the most basic yet effective way to prevent the disease spreading,” said Cecile Fradot, Representative ad interim for UNHCR in Myanmar. “Ensuring those most vulnerable can clean their hands, can save lives, and I thank Unilever for this generous donation.”
Displaced people are among the most marginalized and vulnerable members of our community. They are particularly at risk during this coronavirus outbreak as they often live in close quarters with intergenerational families and may face limited access to water and sanitation systems and health facilities. The hygiene items have been dispatched to Kachin, northern Shan, Rakhine, as well as Kayah and Kayin states, and will be distributed in camp settings for displaced families and other communities in need. They will also be distributed to support health departments and local authorities mitigate against the infection and spread of COVID-19..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-14
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"While life in Yangon city appears to have returned to normal with the usual traffic congestion and reopening of restaurants and gyms, measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have nonetheless been further extended.
International flight restrictions to and from Yangon International Airport have been further extended to June 30 from June 15, according to the Department of Civil Aviation. This aligns with the latest decision by the National Central Committee for Prevention, Control, and Treatment of COVID-19 to further extend temporary measures to control the spread of the coronovirus in Myanmar to June 30 from June 15. Both announcements were made on June 12.
Other measures to manage COVID-19 are still in place. These include: 1. Compulsory wearing of face masks in public; 2. A Yangon-wide curfew between 12am to 4am;
3. Lockdowns at Insein and Mayangone townships;
4. Gatherings of five persons or more, with exemptions.
The latest exemptions are:
1. Performance of duties at government departments, organisations, companies, factories and workshops;
2. Attending government, private and monastic schools;
3. Attending seminars, meetings and training at government departments, organisations, companies, factories and workshops conducted in accordance with health ministry guidelines;
4. Dining at food and beverge outlets permitted to operate dine-in services by regional governments in accordance with health ministry guidelines;
5. Working at businesses deemed essential under a May 3 notification issued by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population. Other exemptions to the gathering of five or more person ban include traveling to and from the workplace or hospital, trading at permitted markets and malls, transport of goods, court proceedings and funeral affairs.
Meanwhile, all government staff have been ordered to return to work as usual, while basic education schools will reopen from mid-July. High schools will recommence on July 21, with primary and middle schools starting two weeks later. Many businesses, including factories, hotels and restaurants, have also been permitted to reopen after passing government inspections..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-13
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Font:
Zawgyi
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Description:
" Myanmar government announced late Friday further extension of effective period for preventive measures against COVID-19 until the end of June.
The national-level Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment on COVID-19 issued the announcement of extension measures as part of efforts to contain the spread of the disease.
It was learnt that the extension will not have effect on the measures which were lifted, but measures such as restrictions of gathering five persons or above, mass gatherings and others continue to remain in effect.
Meanwhile, some restrictions have been lifted in the areas related to the operation of factories, workshops and workplaces.
Essential businesses related to public service sector are being allowed to operate in accordance with the guidelines, Yangon Region Social Affairs Minister Naing Ngan Lin told Xinhua.
All government staff have been ordered to return to work as usual earlier this month, after temporary restriction of half of the staff to stay at home in recent months.
Meanwhile, the government is planning to reopen basic education schools in mid-July, by classifying groups of schools -- some will be reopened in regular hours while others in shifts.
As of Saturday morning, Myanmar has reported 261 COVID-19 positive cases with six deaths, according to latest figures released by the Health and Sports Ministry..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-13
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"A health worker at the checkpoint in Lwe Je on the Chinese border in Kachin State tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and nearly 150 people who had contact with her have been traced, according to health officials.
On Thursday, 12 positive cases were reported and the 24-year-old midwife from Kachin State, who had no travel history or reported contact with coronavirus patients, was among them, the Ministry of Health and Sports said.
According to Kachin State’s COVID-19 control and emergency response committee, the midwife was part of the health team at Lwe Je border in May and early June to perform medical checkups for returnees from China.
“We think she was infected by someone returning from China as she has no history of travel or contact with a known patient. Currently, she is in good health and was taken to the general hospital in Bhamo Township,” said U Tint Naing, the deputy director of the committee.
Swabs from 20 health workers at the border were sent for lab tests on June 4 with the midwife testing positive on June 11.
Now 21 health, administration and immigration staff who worked with her at the border are being held in quarantine.
The midwife is from Wein Kham village in Momauk Township in Kachin State. She has also vaccinated children in the village and went to Momauk hospital for training.
Since she worked at Lwe Je checkpoint – through which over 10,000 migrant workers have returned from China since April – it is suspected the midwife was infected by a silent carrier.
The committee said approximately 150 people in contact with her were being traced and 71 swabs were being taken on Friday.
“Swabs were already taken from 71 people and more will come. We will send swabs to the Yangon lab. Home quarantine for the children and her family in Wein Kham and Momauk has already been ordered,” U Tint Naing added..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2020-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Along with restaurants, bars and shops, it’s normal for gyms to close during Thingyan – Myanmar’s week-long new year’s celebrations.
Description:
"But this year, the government introduced stringent restrictions after the Thingyan holidays, effectively closing many businesses until the first week of June.
This included gyms, which have only just started to reopen – albeit with strict booking requirements, so as to avoid many patrons working out at the same time. Some have remained closed, however, leaving many owners and instructors without income or a place to stay in shape. But amidst the closures people started browsing platforms like YouTube for new home-based remedies. Some instructors took to the internet, seeking to recapture the minds and bodies of Myanmar’s energetic gym-goers, changing the way people dance, work-out and lift weights.
One such enterprising instructor was Ko Zayar Lynn, who can be seen in his trademark bright yellow stretch pants, punching out a Zumba rhythm to the beat of Burmese pop songs.
His videos were recorded during his popular classes at the Battle Ground Gym and Fitness Studio, but are now accessed by hundreds of students following his every move at home. “We can’t go to gym right now, as many have had to close. So, I created an online group for Zumba students so that they could work-out at home,” Ko Zayar Lynn said. His new company is called Stay Home Wellness.
“All the instructors were affected by the closures, and many weren’t even paid – so they had to quit their jobs. Before the pandemic I rented an apartment and turned it into a gym hall. The lease was for three years, but we only used it for eight months before being forced to close,” Ko Zayar Lynn said.
“It was depressing, but we still wanted to continue our classes, so we offered them to our students online,” said Ko Zayar Lynn..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-13
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"Who could have supported ACTED Covid-19 home-visit interventions in refugee camps better than the residents themselves?
To prevent the virus from entering Ban Mai Nai Soi and Ban Mae Surin refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border, 36 Myanmar refugees joined ACTED to conduct information sessions on Covid-19 and Hygiene Kits distribution to all camp residents.
We asked four of them to share their experience with us.
From ACTED ex-trainees to ACTED camp-based workers
Aged 19 to 51 years old, they speak Burmese, Karen and/or Karenni (local languages from Myanmar). When they heard of the opportunity to join ACTED for a month, all of them were familiar with the organization.
In 2015, both Akamin and Be Bya Na, only 15 years old at the time, graduated from ACTED Motorcycle and Electric Wiring and Sewing trainings in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, attending each day after school. Be Bya Na remembers enrolling to the latter training as she wanted to get additional skills after school to increase her chances to become a successful businesswoman one day.
To learn about office work, Kee Ler Htoo, a 50-year old mother of nine children, graduated from ACTED’s advanced computing course in 2015 and has been working ever since in the Camp Livelihoods Committee of her camp, as a Livelihood coordinator.
Interested in IT for years, Yar Ree Htoo, a 51-year-old gardening enthusiast, enrolled in the computer course in 2019. “I learned how to use Microsoft, Excel, Photoshop, among many other things and it was so helpful.”
This year, the four of them became camp-based workers, with the ultimate goal to support and inform their community about Covid-19. When asked about why it was important for everyone to be aware and understand how to be protected from it, Be Bya Na responded “to help and save other lives.”
Involving camp-residents through Hygiene Kits distribution and home visit sensitization
To conduct their activities, camp-based workers worked in pairs. Akamin and Be Bya Na, long-time friends, decided to conduct their home visits together, first participating in hygiene practice trainings and receiving Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), namely a cloth mask, gloves and hand sanitizers.
Each day, they visited approximately five households, always ensuring to wear a mask and to respect a 2-meter social distancing while interacting with their fellow camp-residents..."
Source/publisher:
ACTED via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Refugees and immigrants in Thailand - Thailand's international treaty obligations and relevant Thai legislation, Thailand-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar authorities have been making strenuous effort for the recovery of local employment which was affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, an official from Labour, Immigration and Population Ministry told Xinhua Friday.
"The ministry is doing its utmost to connect local employers and employees to boost the local employment opportunities," said U Myo Aung, permanent secretary of the ministry.
The number of newly employed workers significantly dropped in April and May during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Over 9,300 local employments were offered to workers in the country's regions and states in April while over 6,000 local employments were created in May, down from over 24,000 in March, the ministry's figures said.
The number of unemployed workers from factories, workshops and workplaces reached about 17,000 this year and the months of COVID-19 period registered the highest unemployment rate in the country, the permanent secretary said.
Aiming to promote the development of the country and help people increase their incomes, the ministry has been offering local and overseas employment opportunities.
Meanwhile, the ministry announced suspension of sending migrant workers abroad and the issuance of employment contracts and overseas employment identity cards in March, as part of COVID-19 containment measures..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Labour issues in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar is one of the last nations to acknowledge Covid-19 cases within its borders. But the exiled human rights activist, Khin Ohmar, is skeptical of the 248 Covid-19 cases reported in a country whose healthcare systems in 2000 was ranked by the WHO as one of the world’s worst–and with a deep-rooted custom of “saving face.”
Over 100 ethnic groups comprise the 54 million Southeast-Asian country of Myanmar (formerly Burma) that borders India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand.
The 74-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi–human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate turned politician– leads the National League for Democracy (NLD) and has placed the military to lead the country’s Coronavirus emergency response. Suu Kyi’s NLD and the military-backed party politicize pandemic prevention as part of their November re-election strategy by distributing supplies and cash donations with their campaign insignia.
The government hails its Myanmar Leaves No One Behind in its Fight Against Covid-19 campaign. Meanwhile, in western Rakhine and Chin States, ethnic Rakhine, Rohingya and Chin communities are subjected to Myanmar military’s air strikes, torture, extrajudicial killing, rape, and mass displacements–and attacks on the ad hoc groups distributing preventive supplies to ethnic communities..."
Source/publisher:
"Forbes" (USA)
Date of publication:
2020-06-11
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The Ministry of Education will allow private schools to add classrooms so they can comply with the government’s guidelines on social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Description:
"The ministry has scheduled schools to start on July 21, beginning with high schools and followed by primary and middle schools two weeks later.
U Nay Oke, chair of the Myanmar Private Schools Federation, said private schools need more classrooms to ensure that students stay at least six feet away from each other. According to law, only rooms registered with the ministry are allowed to be used as classrooms, so private schools sought permission to add more classrooms.
“The minister approved our proposal to use other buildings on the same street or adjacent to the schools as classrooms,” U Nay Oke said. However, the ministry has not yet decided whether to allow private boarding schools to reopen in July, he said.
U Nay Oke said private schools have to comply with more rules to reopen than government schools, so he called on education officials to impose the same rules for both.
The rules for private schools require listing the travel history of students and their family members in the past month, the address of each student, and the people with whom they have had contact.
It also urged the ministry to allow schools to use online teaching as well as classroom teaching. Some private schools have been teaching their students online since May.
But State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected online teaching, saying Myanmar is not ready for it because it lacks the necessary infrastructure.
“Some students in those countries oppose learning online,” she said in an online meeting with education officials and parents on May 19.
She said education is not just about passing examinations, but also about socialising and teamwork, which only classroom learning can provide..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-11
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description:
"81 per cent of the households in informal settlements have at least one member who lost their job in the past 30 days. The percentage of job loss (either the respondent or a member of their household) for women respondents was 87.7 per cent; 13.2 percentage points higher than for men at 74.5 per cent.
94 per cent of households in informal settlements report a fall in income over the past 30 days. 90 per cent of households reported having no alternate sources of income.
Household Debt
69 per cent of households have taken a loan in the past 30 days.
Households in informal settlements were already highly indebted before the outbreak of COVID-19. Average household indebtedness was MMK 555,000. 61 per cent of households taking out a new loan in the past 30 days took out a loan of value greater than MMK 100,000.
88 per cent of households used the loan taken out in the past 30 days to buy food.
Food Security
60 per cent of households in informal settlements reported receiving food assistance from the government.
However, food insecurity remains high. All households (100 per cent) in the sample reported that they are worried their stock of food would run out before having money to buy food.
Security of Tenure
53 per cent of households in informal settlements do not feel secure from eviction.
More women respondents reported eviction-related insecurity (57 per cent) compared to men (49 per cent). Access to Healthcare
90 per cent of households live within 15 minutes of a health facility.
For 65 per cent of households, the nearest health facility is a public hospital.
Knowledge, Awareness and Practices (KAP) related to COVID-19
Households reported high awareness of three key actions for the prevention of COVID-19 - handwashing, use of masks and physical distancing.
However, 62 per cent of households in informal settlements do not have space for physical distancing; a third of all households do not have money to buy masks.
Majority of households rely on television and/or government notices and announcements for information on COVID-19..."
Source/publisher:
UN-HABITAT (Kenya) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-10
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), HABITAT - Burma/Myanmar, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
9.59 MB
more
Description:
"UNODC and the Myanmar Police Force (MPF) took an important step towards improving border security and mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 today, as UNODC handed over significant quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE) for use at border liaison offices (BLOs) across Myanmar. UNODC provided the MPF with 20,000 surgical masks, 200 pairs of goggles, 8,000 pairs of disposable gloves, 160 protective suits and 60 contactless temperature scanners, which will now be used by frontline border officers at 13 land border crossings. The equipment was supplied by China’s Ministry of Public Security, who donated the PPE to UNODC for distribution across the BLO network.
“To ensure Myanmar’s border checkpoints are secure, frontline officers need to know they can carry out their job without unnecessary risk of contracting COVID-19,” said UNODC Officer in Charge for Myanmar, Marie Pegie-Cauchois. “Which is why UNODC has prioritized getting PPE and personal safety guides to those working in BLOs. It’s an essential step in preventing organized crime from taking advantage of the situation more than they already have. Human trafficking, migrant smuggling, wildlife and timber trafficking, and, particularly urgent given the situation in Myanmar, illicit drug flows, are at risk of increasing if border checkpoints are not operating as effectively as possible. We believe today’s handover of PPE is a significant step forward in mitigating these risks as we move forward.”
he handover takes place at a crucial point, as discussions of reopening borders and increasing trade between Myanmar and its neighbours are ongoing. As borders reopen, increased trade flows are expected, particularly in the initial days following border openings, emphasizing the importance of preparing BLOs and frontline officers now. Alongside the equipment being handed over are personal safety guides developed by UNODC providing detailed information on officer safety, effectively using PPE, as well as how standard operating procedures can be effectively adapted to allow licit goods to cross borders with minimal friction in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
UNODC (Austria)
Date of publication:
2020-06-11
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNODC Burma/Myanmar, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Drugs and Burma: general links, reports and articles
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
164.48 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"The United Nations agencies, funds and programmes are continuing to provide strong support to the Government of Myanmar’s efforts to prepare and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Testing remains one of the most effective ways of quick identification of cases, ensuring medical support for people who contracted the virus and immediate isolation to prevent its spread. Whilst providing supporting on preparedness and response across a broad range of areas, the United Nations in Myanmar has given specific emphasis to supporting the Government to increase its testing capacity.
Since the first recorded confirmed case in Myanmar, the United Nations has come together to mount a collective response to boost support to the Government of Myanmar’s testing strategy and has handed over 73,000 test kits to the Ministry of Health and Sports and its relevant laboratory facilities.
The first batch of 3,000 test reagents provided by the World Health Organization and its partners arrived in country late March. The Access to Health Fund, funded by the United Kingdom, Sweden, United States and Switzerland and managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has handed over more than 55,000 test kits in two separate batches, complimented by 20,000 more test kits procured by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), also delivered in two batches during the last two months. The Access to Health Fund also delivered two automated sample extraction machines to the National Health Laboratory to improve the accuracy of testing.
United Nations support to respond to COVID-19 has also focused on providing protection for frontline healthcare workers and communities, support to strengthening existing capacities across various levels of government and at grassroots level to effectively prepare and respond, risk communication and community engagement, and ensuring continuity of ongoing development, and humanitarian programming.
Central to the UN’s collective response has been the launch of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) weekly aid flights between Yangon to Kuala Lumpur in light of the temporary suspension of commercial flights. Initially funded by the European Union and Switzerland, these WFP flights have facilitated the regular delivery to Myanmar of supplies, including test kits and other vital equipment, and the arrival of humanitarian and development personnel..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-11
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Children
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
144.51 KB 195.26 KB
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Description:
"The Covid-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) that the government rolled out in the last week of April is a welcome initiative for a country that is suffering from both the assault of the novel coronavirus and the massive economic impact of the nationwide lockdown that the government has imposed to stop its spread. More than 50 measures were laid out in the 15-page document. But the plan is more of a wishful shopping-list, with only two items being assigned specific amounts: up to K500 billion (US$360 million) in loans for small- and medium-sized businesses in selected sectors; and K100 billion ($72 million) for trade financing. There are also a number of important measures for containing the novel coronavirus that are missing.
Logic of CERP is Unexplained
The narrative that explains the logic of the plan is absent. How the different measures are integrated is unclear. There is no prioritization of measures. Everything seems to be a priority so that, in effect, nothing is a priority. Without clear prioritization, allocating resources becomes a very haphazard process.
It has since become known that the total budget comes to 2.09 to 2.8 trillion kyat, or $1.5 to $2 billion. How this figure is arrived at is unknown but, comparing it to economic relief or stimulus packages in other countries, it is on the low side. It comes to less than 3 per cent of Myanmar’s GDP of $77 billion in 2019. In contrast, it has been reported that the economic relief fund of Thailand comes to almost 9 per cent of GDP and that of Singapore to 8 per cent. Perhaps what is coming in as emergency foreign aid from the World Bank and bilateral donors has not been factored in the CERP. But, even if one adds a generous figure of $1 billion in aid, that would make the CERP only slightly lower than 4 per cent of GDP..."
Source/publisher:
"TNI"
Date of publication:
2020-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"As Myanmar’s Kachin conflict reaches nine year milestone, these powerful photos show daily life for the 120,000 people living in internal displacement camps who are now facing COVID-19
It was nine years ago today that the Kachin conflict in northern Myanmar re-ignited. A 17-year ceasefire agreement between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army collapsed. As a result of the armed conflict, more than 120,000 civilians have been displaced.
The Kachin conflict is not well known and gets little media coverage. The armed conflict on Myanmar’s north began over six decades ago, and continues to this day, creating huge humanitarian needs. For the last nine years, displaced people have lived in over 170 displacement camps across Kachin State and northern Shan State in Myanmar.
On top of the everyday challenges and hardships of living in the crowded camps, the COVID-19 virus has now arrived in Myanmar. Restrictions in travel and movement have caused serious food shortages and decreased opportunities for people in camps to earn an income. Access to camps has been restricted meaning that it is also difficult to get essential humanitarian support in. Daily life has become even more difficult to endure. Ziun camp in the town of Myitkyina has been locked shut since 8th April 2020. This action has been taken in order to prevent the spread of the pandemic and people are not allowed to exit or enter the camp.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, all regular children’s activities, such as summer school, Sunday school, church meetings and awareness sessions have all been stopped in the camps..."
Source/publisher:
"Trócaire" via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Description:
"CSOs are essential for any country’s successful COVID-19 response. In Myanmar, civil society organisations are working quickly and efficiently on the frontlines, supporting the communities and Government in their immediate COVID-19 response. The CSOs receive both direct and indirect funding from various international organisations.
Of the 153 organisations engaged in LIFT’s COVID-19 response, 128 (or 84%) are local or national organisations - present, committed, quick and responsive to the emerging needs.
LIFT also estimates that more than 80% of the response activity is undertaken by local partners - it is they who go to villages, factories, quarantine centers, camps and border gates (while international staff and sometimes national staff from international organisations are not allowed) and it is they who provide the awareness training through loudspeakers and pamphlets, visit families in their homes, and support quarantine centers with essential materials.
By example, LIFT’s five strategic civil society partners (Karuna Mission Social Solidarity, Land Core Group, Metta, Network Activities Group, and Gender Equality Network) alone reached almost a million beneficiaries, of which half are women, within the first month of their emergency response. Their COVID work has also extended to influencing policy and practice, for example GEN's work with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement to announce nation-wide GBV data in collaboration with all CSOs and international organisations.
LIFT’s Decent Work and Labour Mobility programme delivered emergency support to 355,673 direct beneficiaries (of which 58% are women), across multiple states and regions of Myanmar, covering Yangon, Kayin, Mon, Shan, Tanintharyi, Bago, Chin, Mandalay, Magway, Bago and Ayeyarwaddy. A key factor behind the effectiveness of this response in these difficult times is the engagement of local civil society and labour organisations in the management and implementation before and during the crisis. With local organisations’ ability to mobilise quickly, their high level of personal commitment and their extensive local knowledge, these organisations have formed the backbone of LIFT’s support to migrants in border areas, communities of origin and communities of destination.
Our local CSO partners have also supported internal migrants through the provision of shelter and food and financial support to women in crisis, particularly the garment workers who have lost their jobs due to widespread factory closures in Yangon. LIFT-funded CSOs have also provided legal assistance to migrant workers to claim compensation for terminated employment and resolve labour disputes, both of which have increased dramatically during the pandemic, they supported community-level quarantine facilities and raising of awareness in Yangon’s Hlaing Thar Yar Township..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations Office for Project Services (Denmark) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-10
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
100.51 KB
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Description:
"Bangladesh and Myanmar are at odds over the origin of two coronavirus cases confirmed among the latter’s Rohingya community.
The dispute started when Myanmar’s Health Ministry confirmed that two Rohingya men -- a Muslim and a Hindu -- had tested positive for COVID-19 in the country.
Some media outlets in Myanmar, citing local lawmakers, reported that both men had recently returned from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh, home to more than 1 million Rohingya refugees.
However, on Tuesday, Dhaka rejected the reports as “totally false and baseless.”
Mahbub Alam Talukder, Bangladesh's commissioner for refugees, relief, and repatriation, said the claim was a continuation of Myanmar’s “fabricated speeches.”
“This is completely wrong and inaccurate information. No Rohingya has returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh in the past few years,” he told Anadolu Agency.
He said such a journey would be particularly hard right now due to the coronavirus restrictions imposed in Rohingya camps.
“It’s quite impossible for any Rohingya person to go from Bangladesh to Myanmar amid the virus restrictions,” said Talukder.
On June 4, Myanmar said a Rohingya man who tested positive for COVID-19 was admitted to a hospital in Maungdaw, a town near its western border with Bangladesh.
Soe Aung, district administrator for Maungdaw, said the 38-year-old patient was among five Rohingya people who returned to Rakhine state from Bangladesh on May 30, according to local online website Narinjara.
Then, late on Monday, the Health Ministry said a 25-year-old Rohingya Hindu man was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19.
“Villagers said he arrived alone on June 3. Some people who have come into contact with him have also been shifted to a quarantine site for 21 days,” Aung told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
Myanmar has a total of 244 cases, including six deaths and 159 recoveries, while Bangladesh’s overall count is at 71,675, with 975 deaths and over 15,300 recoveries.
According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a brutal crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017, bringing the number of the persecuted people in Bangladesh to above 1.2 million.
Although a plan to repatriate Rohingya refugees has stalled, Myanmar in April claimed that more than 600 Rohingya had returned from Bangladesh of their own volition.
In a statement last week, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen accused Myanmar of not accepting a single Rohingya person in the last three years since the community’s August 2017 exodus..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of publication:
2020-06-10
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The government’s struggle to increase testing capacity amid shortages of equipment and staff is beginning to pay off and will leave Myanmar much better prepared for future pandemics.
Description:
"On April 22, three container trucks carrying parts of a Swiss-made Cobas 6800 Analyser arrived at the National Health Laboratory in Yangon to much fanfare. Donated by a local company, AA Pharmaceutical, the machine was trumpeted as a gamechanger in Myanmar’s response to COVID-19, because it would enable a significant scaling-up of testing.
Previously the NHL had been conducting just a few hundred tests a day, up to a maximum daily capacity of around 300. From early May, the Ministry of Health and Sports said, it would be able to conduct an additional 1,400 tests a day with the Cobas analyser.
Further steps were soon taken to boost testing capacity. The Department of Medical Research also began conducting COVID-19 tests on April 23, and the ministry revealed plans to establish new laboratories outside Yangon. Meanwhile, a few days after the donated machine arrived at the NHL, the military announced it had two more of the Cobas machines available, and offered to use them to test samples from civilians.
Yet, in spite of these initiatives, testing barely increased for almost a month. Only since mid-May has the number of tests regularly hit 500 a day. By June 9, only 38,123 tests had been performed overall in a country of 54 million. Support independent journalism in Myanmar. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
The slow scale-up of testing suggests there is no silver bullet. A range of factors need to be in place to test on a wide scale – not just the machines to perform the tests, but also testing kits, chemical reagents, human resources, supply chains and policies..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-10
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
more
Description:
"The Chinese government has donated the fourth batch of medical supplies to Myanmar to assist in the fight against COVID-19, according to a release from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar.
The medical supplies, including disposable masks, N95 masks, googles and personal protective equipment (PPEs), were handed over to the Myanmar side on Monday.
Noting that Monday marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Myanmar, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai said he hoped that the donation could support Myanmar's efforts in fighting against the disease, adding that China is willing to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation and other pragmatic cooperation with Myanmar to benefit peoples of the two countries.
During the handover ceremony, Myanmar's Union Minister for Health and Sports Myint Htwe expressed gratitude for the Chinese government for donating medical supplies as well as sending medical expert teams earlier to help Myanmar in the prevention, treatment and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Tuesday morning, Myanmar has reported 244 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with six deaths, according to latest figures released by the Health and Sports Ministry..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), China-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"In the early weeks of 2020, the signs pointed to progress in Myanmar’s convoluted effort to finally end 70 years of ethnic strife in its border areas. On Jan. 8, representatives from the government and the 10 ethnic armies that are party to a 2015 cease-fire deal convened in the capital, Naypyidaw, where they reached an eight-point agreement on the next steps to continue implementing that cease-fire. They also vowed to meet for a fourth national peace conference by the end of April, to build on three earlier summits held between 2016 and 2018.
That fourth summit would have signaled the timely revitalization of Myanmar’s troubled peace process, which Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, has dubbed the “21st Century Panglong,” after the agreement that her father, independence hero Aung San, signed with representatives of several ethnic groups in 1947. Making progress in the peace talks after several recent setbacks would have provided a boost to Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, as they prepare for a general election later this year.
But plans for the peace conference now threaten to be derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. Myanmar confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 on March 23, prompting the government and ethnic armed groups to postpone all meetings and push the summit back to July.
Government spokesman Zaw Htay told reporters on May 30 that the government still plans to hold the summit next month, albeit with strict social distancing measures in place and a reduced number of delegates. Myanmar currently has some 230 official cases of COVID-19. July may represent the last chance to restart talks this year, with elections looming. The government has effectively ruled out holding the summit during the election campaign, set to run for 90 days between August and October..."
Source/publisher:
"World Politics Review (WPR)"
Date of publication:
2020-06-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
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Description:
"This policy bulletin has three main objectives: (i) to outline key risks and policy options to address COVID-19 impacts on the agriculture and food sector in Myanmar, (ii) to facilitate policy dialogue with MOALI around concrete policy objectives to address the COVID-19 emergency in the short and long-term, and (iii) to support coordination of Myanmar‟s Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Coordination Group and its key recommendations.
Myanmar‟s social and economic fabric, like most countries around the world, is being strained by COVID-19. Health systems are under enormous pressure, people are experiencing high levels of stress due to restricted mobility and fear of outbreaks, and economies and food system are under increasing pressure. On 10 March 2020, Myanmar‟s State Counsellor H.E. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi noted that Myanmar‟s economy “was suffering from the fallout of the COVID 19 outbreak that has already spread worldwide.” In tandem, The World Bank has predicted a slowing of economic growth in Myanmar, down from 6.3% to 2 or 3% in the 2019-20 fiscal year. As reported in The Frontier on March 30th, “In Myanmar, the 'cure' for COVID could be deadlier than the disease”.
There are a number of potential impacts of COVID-19 on food security and livelihoods in Myanmar.
These include i) disruption of food product market chains due to decreased production and transport constraints affecting both producers and consumers; ii) volatility of prices that could create social tensions and conflict iii) decline in household income sources, livelihoods and purchasing power; iv) and fatalities, should COVID-19 spread seriously across urban and rural areas. It can be expected that households with direct incidences of COVID-19 will be the most severely affected through the loss of labour opportunities and income, incurred expenses, and decreased agricultural production. Those already economically disadvantaged, suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition, or vulnerable to socio-economic shocks, natural hazards and conflict are more likely to suffer severely from COVID-19 as it will deepen their vulnerability in the short and long-term..."
Source/publisher:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (Rome) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-06-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
254.83 KB
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Sub-title:
The closure of dozens of illegal trade gates along the border with Thailand to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is causing shortages of everything from beer and energy drinks to detergent and cosmetics, highlighting the vast scale of informal trade with Thailand.
Description:
"For decades, billions of dollars of goods have crossed the Thai-Myanmar border through dozens of illegal trade gates in Kayin State’s Myawaddy Township that are run by armed groups.
Each day, hundreds of trucks drive to the Thai side of the Thaung Yin (or Moei) River in Mae Sot, where their cargo is processed by Thai Customs, unloaded by hand onto small boats, ferried across the narrow stretch of water to Myawaddy and stored in warehouses for distribution throughout Myanmar. Most of this happens in broad daylight, and is legal on the Thai side and tacitly approved in Myanmar.
Through conflict, natural disaster and political instability, these “boat gates” have nearly always remained open, providing a steady stream of imported goods to markets around the country.
Not only do the gates provide a financial lifeline to the armed groups that control them, they enable businesses to skirt trade regulations – and Customs duties – on everything from fabric and liquor to cars and used refrigerators, costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost tax revenue. Government officials acknowledge the gates are illegal, but insist they are powerless to close them.
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But then came COVID-19. For the past two months the illegal gates have been closed, and cross-border trade has been limited to a single official crossing, the No 2 Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge. Although some traders have tried to switch to legal channels, many of the goods, such as liquor, that cross through the illegal gates cannot be imported legally. Trade has fallen from about US$10 million a day in February to as little as $3 million a day in April, according to the Myawaddy Chamber of Commerce. Stocks of imported goods have run out, while exports to Thailand have also been hit hard..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2020-06-08
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Thailand-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"As conflict escalates in western Myanmar amid the rise of coronavirus cases in the country, there is growing concern of a deepening humanitarian crisis. As of May 26, Myanmar has recorded 206 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6 deaths. Clashes between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), an armed group seeking greater autonomy for ethnic Rohingya people, have displaced hundred thousand people since conflicts started over a year ago.
Recent spike in conflicts since late March have left 32 deaths, 71 injuries and forced more people to flee their homes. Last month, former UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee accused the Myanmar army of new atrocities and called for investigation into “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in the country’s Rakhine and Chin states. Developments in the past month suggest that the situation in conflict-affected areas may further deteriorate and put vulnerable people at risk during the pandemic.
On May 10, the Myanmar military announced a unilateral “ceasefire” with the objective it claimed was to help contain and prevent the spread of the global pandemic. However, the ceasefire left out Rakhine state and Paletwa township of Chin state, where clashes between the AA and the Myanmar military have been intensifying in recent weeks. Earlier in March, the Myanmar government designated the AA as a terrorist group.
The Myanmar military’s decision to keep Rakhine and Chin states out of the ceasefire seems to be driven by its calculation that the pandemic provides an opportunity for it to focus on the AA, as the ceasefire allow it to keep the peace with other ethnic armed organizations in different parts of the country and even explore ways to work together in the fight against the pandemic.
A recent reshuffle of the Myanmar military’s top brass, a report suggests, was primarily aimed at concentrating on the Rakhine conflict. Citing “insiders”, the report claims that “moderate” officers have been replaced in key positions with direct implications on the Rakhine conflict. The visit of Myanmar commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to Shan state and his meetings with leaders of ethnic armed groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) are also believed to have links with the development in Rakhine state..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of publication:
2020-05-30
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
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Sub-title:
Auxiliary firefighters had a bad reputation under military rule, but these days, communities celebrate their heroics as they battle blazes and the pandemic.
Description:
"The public address system blared into life and triggered a burst of activity among the five volunteer firefighters. “Level 2 fire! At Myaungtagar, Hmawbi. Go now! Go now!” ordered the Fire Services Department.
The team on duty in the community hall in Wei Lu Win ward that doubles as the headquarters of the Sanchaung Township-North Auxiliary Fire Brigade rushed to put on their protective clothing and load equipment into two ambulance vans before speeding off with the sirens wailing at about 3pm to Hmawbi on Yangon’s northern outskirts.
It was a battery factory up in flames; a 15-deep pit shot up fire and spat out acid. About 100 firefighters, including members of two volunteer brigades, used foam and water to drive back the blaze. After eight hours, they deployed sand to soak up the heat of the smouldering wreck. Two full-time firefighters were treated for dehydration; everyone was exhausted, and the Sanchaung volunteers headed home.
In Yangon, when a major fire breaks out, a volunteer usually shows up to help put it out. Often risking their lives for no compensation, auxiliary firefighters are not only tackling blazes these days, but also a new and more concealed enemy: the coronavirus.
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Playing a frontline role transporting patients, disinfecting roads, and in rescue operations, they are praised as local heroes who rescue the vulnerable in their time of need. Their bravery might also be playing a part in overcoming memories of a time when the recruits were used as henchman by the military..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 240 so far, with four new cases on Saturday night, according to figures released by the Health and Sports Ministry.
Four people who were under quarantine after their recent arrival from India tested positive.
It was learnt that the newly confirmed cases were from Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw.
A total of 35,432 samples have been tested as of Saturday, since the disease was first detected in Myanmar on March 23.
According to the ministry's release, a total of 156 patients have recovered with six deaths so far..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-06
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
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Sub-title:
Lift Restrictions on Movement, Health Care, Internet, Aid
Description:
" The Myanmar government should take urgent steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission among the estimated 350,000 people displaced by conflict and violence across the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Overcrowding, a mobile internet shutdown, blocks on humanitarian aid, and movement restrictions have left displaced communities in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, Chin, and Karen States especially vulnerable to a virus outbreak. While concerns have been raised about Myanmar’s capacity to manage the coronavirus given its poor healthcare infrastructure, the country’s displaced populations face even greater risks. Most are trapped in dangerously overcrowded camps with severely substandard health care and inadequate access to clean water, sanitation, and other essential services. Many displaced people have underlying medical conditions and chronic diseases, putting them at high risk of suffering serious effects from the virus.
State media announced the government was drafting a COVID-19 response plan for internally displaced persons (IDPs), but humanitarian workers told Human Rights Watch they had not been consulted on the draft or given guidance about responding to a potential spread. “Years of conflict, neglect, and abusive policies by Myanmar’s government and military have left hundreds of thousands of displaced people sitting in the path of a public health catastrophe,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The authorities need to ensure these groups have access to information, humanitarian aid, and health services, including prompt testing and isolation for those who show symptoms.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication:
2020-03-30
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
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Sub-title:
Nearly 2500 students have volunteered at schools all around Myanmar to assist teachers during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Description:
"A total of 2488 students from 25 education colleges and two universities of education across the country will send in their names to volunteer in the basic education schools, said Ko Ye Yint Aung, president of the students union of Thingangyun Education College.
“More than 2000 teachers are needed every year. More teachers are needed to fill in the vacant positions which are left by the retirees. Normally the teachers are busy with teaching, so we want to share some responsibilities like taking temperatures,” he said.
After the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Education has temporarily stopped offering of postings for education college and university graduates.
So, the students requested the education ministry to offer their postings first as it is only months away, said some students who are waiting for their postings to be offered and are teaching in the government schools for free.
The students volunteered to teach as their colleges and universities are closed, they will have to go back when these institutions reopen, said Ko Ye Yint Aung..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Description:
"A total of 663 hotels, about one-third of the hotels in Myanmar, reopened across regions and states so far after temporary suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official from the Hotels and Tourism Ministry told Xinhua late Thursday.
"There are 2,053 hotels operating in the country and one-third of them have reopened after getting health and safety inspection passes by the authorities concerned as of May 29," said Deputy Director General U Aung Aye Han of the ministry.
As of May 29, Yangon region topped the list with 284 re-operating hotels, followed by Shan state with 94 hotels while hotels in Mandalay region, Chin and Kachin states have not been reopened.
Putting health in first place, the ministry has been exerting efforts for tourism development and for the convenience of the travellers in the country, the official said.
Meanwhile, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourist arrivals in Myanmar had dropped by 45 percent in the first four months of this year, compared to the corresponding period of last year, U Hlaing Oo, deputy permanent secretary of the ministry told Xinhua recently.
As part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Foreign Affairs Ministry also extended temporary entry restrictions for travellers from all countries until June 15..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-05
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
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Description:
"Vaccinations for children have resumed after a temporary pause due to COVID-19, but some parents aren’t yet taking their children to be vaccinated, because they have a fear of crowding and a lack of hygiene at the hospitals.
We take a look at the precautions being taken to ensure the health and safety of parents and infants at Myanmar’s vaccination clinics.
Doh Athan is a weekly podcast which looks at human rights issues, produced by Frontier with media partners from around the country, through a partnership with Fondation Hirondelle. It is supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Myanmar and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-05
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Children
Language:
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Description:
"COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Rohingya refugees infected with coronavirus are fleeing quarantine in their Bangladesh camps because they fear being transferred to an isolated island in the Bay of Bengal, community leaders said on Thursday (Jun 4).
At least two infected refugees have gone missing since testing positive for the virus after the first COVID-19 death was reported on Tuesday, they said.
About one million Rohingya - most of whom fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 - are packed into camps along the Bangladesh border, and the coronavirus has become the latest cause of misery.
Aid agencies have long warned that the virus could cause chaos in the overcrowded camps, where social distancing is virtually impossible.
So far only 29 infections have been detected, although 16,000 Rohingya are in quarantine zones within the camps.
It was not immediately clear how many tests have been conducted in the camps, but a senior health official said two people who proved positive had "fled the isolation hospital". He added that only 20 refugees agreed to be tested in the past two days because they believe those infected will be sent to Bhashan Char island in the Bay of Bengal.
"It has created mass panic," Nurul Islam, a community leader, told AFP.
Bangladesh authorities have long wanted to establish a camp for 100,000 people on the isolated island, and have already sent 306 Rohingya there..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of publication:
2020-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
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Sub-title:
38-year-old man is among 5 Rohingya who reportedly returned to Myanmar's Rakhine state from Bangladesh
Description:
"A Rohingya man in Myanmar tested positive for the novel coronavirus, authorities said on Thursday, the first confirmed case in the persecuted Muslim minority in the country's western Rakhine state.
The Rohingya man is being treated at a public hospital in Maungdaw, a town near Myanmar’s western border with neighboring Bangladesh, the Health and Sports Ministry announced.
The 38-year-old man was among five Rohingya people who returned to Rakhine from Bangladesh on May 30, according to Narinjara, an online news outlet based in the state capital Sittwe.
Citing Maungdaw district administrator Soe Aung, it said a five-member family of returnees from Bangladesh to Myanmar has been quarantined at a transition camp since May 31.
Maung Ohme, a lawmaker from Maungdaw, confirmed the return of a Rohingya family on May 30.
"Swab samples of five people who returned from Bangladesh were sent to Yangon for testing, and one tested positive," he told Anadolu Agency by phone on Thursday.
"He is now in hospital, but his four fellow family members, who tested negative, are still at Hla Phoe Kaung transition camp," he added..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of publication:
2020-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
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Description:
"A total of 14 frontline health workers have been infected with COVID-19 so far since the disease was first detected in March in Myanmar, a health official told Xinhua on Thursday.
Of them, six health personnel are working under the Ministry of Health and Sports and the rest are health care professionals from private clinics.
"Health care personnel are at the frontlines in fight against COVID-19. The ministry has been providing physical and mental support to them," Than Naing Soe, director of Health Literacy Promotion Unit of the Public Health Department under the ministry, told Xinhua.
All of those infected health care workers are in good condition and some of them have recovered, he said.
Myanmar reported first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 23 and the total number of infections has reached 234 as of Thursday morning.
In over two-month period, 145 patients have recovered and six deaths were reported so far, according to the ministry..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2020-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
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