Return to home
Military regime: http://www.myanmar.com The capital of Yangon was formerly known as Rangoon
(renamed in 1988).
(SFC, 6/30/96, A11)
Myanmar has over 100 recognized minorities. The Karen are the
largest of several ethnic groups astride the Burma borders with
China and Thailand. others include the Kachin, Karenni, Shan, Mon
Burma has an 8-day week with Wednesday morning and afternoon counted
as 2 days for religious reasons.
(SFEC, 10/22/00, p.T8)
38Mil BC Fossils of jawbones and
teeth dating to this time were found in 2005 near Bagan, Myanmar.
They suggested that the common ancestors of humans, monkeys and
apes, known as anthropoids, evolved from primates in Asia, rather
3400BC According to Rakhine legend their first
recorded kingdom arose, centered around the northern town of
Dhanyawadi, in the 34th century BCE and lasted until 327 CE.
600-1600 (See entries under Myanmar) Pagan was the
seat of Burma’s greatest dynasty and the site shows the remains of
more than 7,000 temples and monuments of this period.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
1057 King Anawratha, founder of
the first Burmese empire, conquered the Mon kingdom to the south and
introduced Theravada Buddhism to the Burmese people. He and his
heirs oversaw building projects and Bagan (Pagan) became a center of
(WSJ, 1/23/09, p.W12)
1162-1227 Genghis Khan was born in the Hentiyn
Nuruu mountains north of Ulan Bator. His given name was Temujin,
“the ironsmith." He seized control over 5 million square miles that
covered China, Iran, Iraq, Burma, Vietnam, and most of Korea and
Russia. "In Search of Genghis Khan" is a book by Tim Severin. He was
succeeded by his son Ogedai, who was succeeded by Guyuk. Ogedai
ignored numerous pleas from his brother Chaghatai to cut down on his
drinking and died of alcoholism as did Guyuk.
(SFC, 4/14/96, T-10)(WUD, 1994, p. 591)(WSJ,
1287 The forces of Kublai Khan
overran Burma. The royal city of Bagan was abandoned under threat
from Kublai Khan in the 13th century. The brick temple of Ananda
Pahto is in Bagan. More than 4,400 pagodas and 3,000 other religious
structures of bricks and stones were built in Bagan, Myanmar's
former capital, during a 243-year period from the 11th to 13th
centuries, the result of extraordinary Buddhist fervor.
(SFEC, 10/22/00, p.T9)(DC, 10/10/98)(AP, 12/1/03)
1476 In Burma (later Myanmar) a
270-ton bell, believed to be one of the largest ever cast, was made
on the order of King Dhammazedi and donated to the revered Shwedagon
pagoda. In the early 1600s, it was stolen by Portuguese despot
Philip de Brito, but his rickety vessel sank where the Yangon and
Bago rivers meet the Pazundaung creek.
1548 In Thailand King Chakrapat
was saved by his wife Suriyothai, who maneuvered her elephant in
front of the invading Burmese King Tabinshweeti and took the sword
thrust intended for her husband. The 1999 historical film
“Suriyothai" was directed by Chatri Chalerm Yukol. It was about the
16th Queen Suriyothai who saved her husband King Thianracha during a
war with invaders from Myanmar.
(SFC, 9/30/99, p.E6)(WSJ, 8/30/01, p.A11)
1569 Burmese King Bayinnaung
invaded Thailand and took as hostage Princess Suphankalaya. It was
later believed that the princess gave up her freedom in exchange for
her kingdom's independence from Burma. In 1999 The Thai government
offered to help Burma restore a palace in exchange for information
about the princess.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A11)
1571 Siam’s Naresuan the Great
(8) was taken hostage by Burmese invaders. It was the custom of the
time for the victorious nation in a battle to take a royal child of
the defeated monarch home as insurance against further aggression.
1586 Ralph Fitch, the first
Englishman to record his impressions of Burma, took note of the
qualities of the Schwedagon. Archeologists later said the 320-foot
high golden pagoda was built in the 10th century by the Mon people.
(WSJ, 2/23/08, p.W14)
1590 Prince Naresuan (35)
became King upon the death of his father (the puppet monarch).
Naresuan continued to drive the Burmese from the Kingdom of
1767 Burmese invaded the port
city of Ayutthaya (Siam-Thailand), sacked the city and left it in
ruins. The capital was then moved to Bangkok.
(WSJ, 4/21/05, p.D7)
1784-1785 The Mrauk U kingdom was conquered by the
Konbaung dynasty of Burma, after which Rakhine became part of the
Konbaung kingdom of Burma.
1825 The British conquered the
Burmese state of Arakon (aka Rakhine), called Rohang by early
Muslims, and administered it as part of British India. Muslims are
believed to have arrived here in as long ago as the 8th century.
(Econ, 6/13/15, p.38)
1840 The Australian merchant
ship “Success" was built in Burma. In 1857 prisoners from
Success murdered the Australian Superintendent of Prisons John
Price, the inspiration for the character Maurice Frere in Marcus
Clarke's novel “For the Term of His Natural Life."
1850 Dec 28, Rangoon, Burma,
was destroyed by fire.
1862 Nov 7, The body of exiled
Bahadur Shah Zafar II was lowered into an unmarked grave in Rangoon
(Burma-Myanmar). Zafar II, the last Mughal emperor in India, was
deposed in the 1857 sepoy mutiny. In 2006 William Dalrymple authored
“The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857."
(Econ, 11/11/06, p.96)
1870 Dec 18, Saki, [Hector Hugo
Munro], author (Reginald, When William Came), was born in Burma.
1888 The sewer system of
Yangon, Burma (later Myanmar), was built.
(Econ, 1/31/15, p.35)
1895-1896 Prince Henri d’Orleans encountered the
dwarf T’rung people of Burma during a journey to the sources of the
(CW, Fall ‘03, p.9)
1897 Feb, China’s Qing dynasty
ceded the Kokang region to British Burma under the Beijing
Convention. Kokang became part of Burma’s Shan state.
1902 May 6, British SS Camorta
sank off Rangoon and 739 died.
1902 John Furnivall
(1878-1960), British Fabian socialist, arrived in Burma as an
administrator. He left the colony in 1931 but returned in 1948 to
advise its first post-independence governments.
1907 May 25, U Nu, premier
Burma (1948-58, 1960-62), was born.
1909 Jan 22, U Thant, Secretary
General of United Nations General Assembly (1962-1972), was born in
Burma. He played a major role in the Cuban crisis.
(HN, 1/22/99)(MC, 1/22/02)
1914 The Burma Companies Act,
which set the rules for corporate activity, was enacted by the
British. It was left untouched until 2014 when the Asian Development
Bank began helping the Myanmar government to update it.
(Econ, 10/18/14, p.70)
1920 Burmese students rebelled
against British rule.
(WSJ, 12/6/96, p.A1)
1923 A Burma State Secrets Act,
pertaining to trespassing in a prohibited area with prejudicial
purpose, was enacted as Burma (later Myanmar) was a British colony.
1923 Pablo Neruda was appointed
as Chile’s consul to Burma.
(SFC, 7/15/04, p.E11)
1924 Feb 14, Patricia Edwina
Victoria Mountbatten, the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, was
born in London.
1933 Feb 2, Than Shwe, later
military ruler of Myanmar (1992), was born.
1934 George Orwell published
his 1st novel “Burmese Days." In 2005 Emma Larkin authored “Finding
George Orwell in Burma."
(SFEC, 10/22/00, p.T9)(SSFC, 6/5/05, p.B3)
1937 Burma was made a crown
colony of Britain.
(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)
1940 Oct 18, Britain reopened
the Burma Road linking Myanmar with China, three months after
1940-1942 U Saw served as PM of Burma. As head of
the Myochit party, U Saw became prime minister of the then British
colony in 1940. When the British entered the war against
Japan, U Saw pressed the British for full independence, while
secretly negotiating with the Japanese. Upon learning of his
contacts with Japan, the British arrested him and removed him from
office. U Saw was responsible for the assassination of his rival
Aung San after the war.
1941 Bertram Smythies (d.1999
at 86), British naturalist, published "The Birds of Burma." Most of
the original copies were lost but a 2nd edition in 1953 was
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A20)
1941 In Burma Aung San founded
the Burmese Army. He is considered the father of the nation.
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Parade p.4)
1942 Jan 16, Japan’s advance
into Burma began. [see Jan 19]
1942 Jan 19, Japanese forces
invaded Burma. [see Jan 16]
1942 Feb 9, Chiang Kai-shek met
with Sir Stafford Cripps, the British viceroy in India. Detachment
101 harried the Japanese in Burma and provided close support for
regular Allied forces.
1942 Feb 22, India’s Capt. Sam
Manekshaw (1914-2008) was severely wounded in a counteroffensive
against Japanese forces on the Sittong River in Burma. In 1969
Manekshaw became the 8th chief of the Indian army.
(SFC, 7/1/08, p.B5)
1942 Mar 8, Japanese captured
Rangoon, Burma, during World War II.
(AP, 3/8/98)(HN, 3/8/98)
1942 Apr 11, Detachment 101 of
the OSS, a guerrilla force, was activated in Burma.
1942 Apr 29, Japanese troops
marched into Lashio and cut off the Burma Road.
1942 May 2, Japanese troops
occupied Mandalay Burma.
1942 May 14, The British, in
retreat from Burma, reached India.
1942 May 20, Japan completed
the conquest of Burma.
1942 Sep 21, British forces
attacked the Japanese in Burma.
1942 Dec 19, British advanced
40 miles into Burma in a drive to oust the Japanese from the colony.
1942 British forces in Burma
crated and buried some 60 Spitfire aircraft to keep them out of the
hands of the invading Japanese. In 2012 aviation enthusiast David J.
Cundall signed an agreement with the Myanmar government for their
1943 Jan 26, The first OSS
(Office of Strategic Services) agent parachuted behind Japanese
lines in Burma.
1943 Feb 8, British General
Wingate led a guerrilla force of "Chindits" against the Japanese in
Burma. Detachment 101's support of Maj. Gen. Orde Wingate's Chindits
and Maj. Gen. Frank Merrill's Marauders was crucial to the Allied
success in Burma and to the eventual victory in Southeast Asia.
1943 Oct 25, Japanese
forces held an official ceremony for the 415-km Thailand-Burma
railroad. The rail was completed Oct 17 at Konkuita, Thailand.
During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died
and were buried along the “Death Railway." An estimated 80,000 to
100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly
forced labor brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or
conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). The movie “The
Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) was a part of this effort and is
today a big tourist attraction in Thailand.
1943 Nov 7, British troops
launched a limited offensive along the coast of Burma.
1944 Feb 24, Merrill's
Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, began
their ground campaign against Japan into Burma. They were led by
Brigadier General Frank Merrill (b.1903-1955), the first US infantry
combat force to fight the Japanese on the mainland of Asia.
1944 Mar 7, Japan began an
offensive in Burma.
1944 Dec 18, The Japanese were
repelled from northern Burma by British troops.
1944 Feb 4, The Japanese
attacked the Indian Seventh Army in Burma.
1945 Jan 22, The Burma highway
1945 Feb 19, On Ramree Island
off the coast of old Burma, some 900 Japanese soldiers retreated
from British soldiers into an alligator filled swamp. Only about 20
(SFEC, 2/23/96, Z1 p.2)(MC, 2/19/02)
1945 Apr 29, Japanese army
1945 May 3,
Allied forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.
1945 Jun 14, Burma was
liberated by the British.
1945 Jun 19, Aung San Suu Kyi,
Myanmar poet, Nobel peace laureate (1991), was born. In 1998
Barbara Victor published “The Lady, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Laureate
and Burma’s Prisoner."
(HN, 6/19/01)(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)
1945-1949 A series of wars for independence during
this period spread from India to Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and
Singapore. In 2007 Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper authored
“Forgotten Wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia."
(WSJ, 8/9/07, p.D7)
1947 Jan 27, Britain agreed to
give Burma independence following negotiations with nationalist
leader Aung San.
1947 Feb 12, General Aung San
and 21 delegates of the national races of the mountain regions, the
Shan, Kachin and Chin, finally signed the historic Pinlon Accord
(Panglong Agreement). They unanimously agreed to independence, not
for a fragmented country, but for what later become known as the
Union of Myanmar.
(AP, 2/12/06)(Econ, 2/2/13, p.31)
1947 Jul, Aung San, an
independence hero, was assassinated on the eve of becoming Burma’s
first prime minister. 6 other members of his interim government were
also killed. His daughter was Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize.
(SFEC, 8/23/98, BR p.4)(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)
1948 Jan 4, Britain granted
independence to Burma (later renamed to Myanmar). Aung San had
arranged for national independence on this day but was assassinated
before the event by political rivals. The new rulers tried to limit
citizenship to those whose roots predated 1823 and British rule.
(SFEC, 1/19/97, Par p.4)(AP, 1/4/98)(Econ,
1948 A conflict for power began
that involved the Karen, a group of people from eastern and southern
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A10)(WUD, 1994, p.779)
1950 Burma enacted An Emergency
Provision Act that provided up to 20-year jail terms for inciting
unrest and disturbing the peace and tranquility of the state.
(SFC, 8/15/98, p.A14)
1950 Sein Lwin commanded a
military unit that tracked down and shot dead the leader of a
rebellion against the government of Burma by the country's ethnic
1954 Jun, China’s Premier Zhou
Enlai visited India and Burma. The joint Statement of the Prime
Ministers of China and India issued on 28 June and the Joint
Statement of the Prime Ministers of China and Burma issued on 29
June both affirmed that the Five Principles of Peaceful Existence as
guiding principles in their bilateral relations and the Five
Principles were formally proposed as the norms governing
1960 Apr 1, Burma elected U Nu
1961-1971 U Thant of Burma served as the
Secretary-General of the UN.
(SFC, 12/14/96, p.A1)
1962 Mar, Army commander Ne Win
staged a coup against a civilian government and took over control of
(SFC, 5/22/96, p.C-1)(SFC,12/31/97, p.A10)(AP,
1962 Jul 7, In Burma Sein Lwin
headed the army unit that shot dead Rangoon University students
protesting Ne Win's rule.
1962 Nov 30, U Thant of Burma
was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, succeeding the
late Dag Hammarskjold.
1962 The junta that seized
power in Burma (later Myanmar) began expelling hundreds of thousands
of Indians, Chinese and other non-Burmese in an attempt to smash the
pleural society and create an artificially homogenous Burman one.
(Econ, 8/2/14, p.30)
1962 Burma under military rule
established the Printers and Publishers Registration Act. It
threatened loss of license for threats to peace and security and
harm to the reputation of a government department.
(Econ, 8/25/12, p.32)
1962-1988 Gen’l. Ne Win ruled over Burma. During
his rule he periodically reorganized the government with a purge
where powerful opponents were either jailed or banished.
1963 The military junta of
Burma (later Myanmar) nationalized the banks.
(Econ, 10/25/14, p.75)
1967 The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed by Vietnam, Laos,
Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
(SFC, 12/17/98, p.C6)
1972 In Burma Sein Lwin headed
the army unit that exacted a deadly suppression of workers'
1974 Nov 25, Former U.N.
Secretary-General U Thant died in New York at age 65.
1974 In Burma Sein Lwin headed
the army unit that suppressed demonstrations by students and
Buddhist monks in connection with the funeral of former U.N.
Secretary General U Thant.
1975 Jul 8, An earthquake
struck Pagan (Bagan), Burma, and destroyed many monuments.
1982 Burma enacted a
Citizenship Act. It used a list inherited from British colonialist
and did not recognize Rohingyas, the Muslim minority in Rakhine
state, as an ethnic group leaving them stateless.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.14, 44)(Econ, 4/5/14, p.36)
1983 Oct 9, The president of
South Korea, Chun Doo Hwan, with his cabinet and other top officials
were scheduled to lay a wreath on a monument in Rangoon, Burma, when
a bomb exploded. Hwan had not yet arrived so escaped injury, but 17
Koreans, including the deputy prime minister and two other cabinet
members, and two Burmese were killed. North Korea was blamed. In the
“Rangoon Massacre" a terrorist attack plotted by North Korea killed
17 South Korean officials on a visit to Burma.
(WSJ, 9/9/96, p.A18)(HN, 10/9/98)
1984 Karen refugees from
Myanmar began settling in camps in Thailand. By 2011 some 140,000
refugees were living in 9 camps behind barbed wire near the border
town of Mae Sot.
(Econ, 5/21/11, p.44)
1986 Karen refugees established
the Huay Ko Lok refugee camp in Thailand. The camp was burned 3
times between 1996-1998 by the Burmese military. Residents were
relocated in Aug, 1999, to Um Phien.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, Z1 p.4)
1987 Burma’s military junta
withdrew most banknotes late this year, which sparked massive
protests in 1988.
(Econ, 10/6/07, p.44)
1988 Mar, Burmese riot police
shot to death 200 demonstrators as students began an uprising for
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Parade p.5)(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)
1988 Jul 27, Sein Lwin (d.2004)
then became chairman of Burma's ruling party and the country's
president, but the pro-democracy protests grew. Instead of
negotiating, Sein Lwin tried to end the protests by force, and the
capital became a bloody battleground.
1988 Aug 8-1988 Aug 13, Police
in Burma (Myanmar) killed nearly 3,000 protesters in the streets of
Rangoon. The massive nationwide strikes became known as “8888."
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Par. p.5)(SFEC, 10/22/00,
p.T8)(Econ, 8/10/13, p.38)
1988 Aug 12, Sein Lwin resigned
from the presidency of Burma. He was succeeded by a civilian, Maung
Maung, who in turn was ousted by the military after just a month in
1988 Sep 18, In Burma
Gen’l. Saw Maung (d.1997 at 69) became chairman of a military junta,
called The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). He had
been the army chief of staff and defense minister before leading the
coup. The junta took power and put under house arrest Aung San Suu
Kyi, the elected president. After years of economic distress the
junta released Aung San in 1995 in hopes of gaining foreign economic
aid. The junta announced that Burma would henceforth be called
Myanmar, and the capital, Rangoon, Yangon.
6/30/96, A11)(SFC, 7/25/97, p.A18)
1988 Sep 24, In Burma Win Tin
(1929-2014) and Aung San Suu Kyi formed the National League for
Democracy (NLD) party.
(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)(Econ, 5/3/14, p.82)
1988 Sep, In Burma over 10,000
students led by Htun Aung Gyaw took to the jungles to organize an
armed resistance against the military regime. Gyaw was arrested by
Thai authorities in 1992 and took refugee status in the US. Military
rulers killed thousands of pro-democracy activists during the
suppression of demonstrations. Hundreds of pro-democracy supporters
were killed in Rangoon. A film was made called Beyond Rangoon that
depicts the terror and bloodshed of the period.
(SFC, 5/22/96, p.C-1)(SFC, 5/25/96, p.A12)(SFC,
9/3/96, p.A7)(SFEC, 8/23/98, Par p.10)
1988 Burma’s dictator Ne Win
(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.A15)
1988 The Chin army began
fighting a low-level rebellion for more autonomy for the mainly
Christian Chin in Burma's northwest, where government troops have
been trying to force them to convert to Buddhism.
1989 Jun 19, Burma’s government
renamed the country Myanmar. Rangoon was renamed Yangon.
(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)
1989 Jun 30, Gen. Khin Nyunt,
Myanmar’s prime minister and intelligence chief, brokered a
ceasefire and autonomy deal with Sai Leun (Lin Mingxian), warlord of
Mongla, who built the area into a gambling destination for Chinese
tourists. The Kokang guerrillas, the main fighting force for the
Burmese Communist Party, signed a cease-fire with the military
1989 Jul 20, Myanmar military
authorities placed Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo under
house arrest where she was confined for the next 6 years.
(SFEC, 8/23/98, BR p.4)(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)
1990 Apr 7, In Myanmar a
double-decker ferry sank in Gyaing River during a storm and 215
people were believed drowned.
1990 May 27, The political
opposition of Burma (Myanmar) scored a victory in the country’s
first free, multiparty elections in three decades. The military
rulers allowed democratic elections but ignored the results when the
National League for Democracy (NLD) of Aung San Suu Kyi won 392 of
485 contested seats.
(SFC, 5/25/96, p.A12)(AP, 5/27/00)(Econ, 7/23/05,
1990 Nov 11, In Myanmar Rangoon
students Soe Myint and a friend hijacked a plane enroute from
Bangkok to Yangon. They made it fly to Calcutta (later Kolkata) by
pretending that a bar of soap inside a statuette was a bomb. Myint
then launched a news service covering Myanmar from India using
(http://tinyurl.com/kz4vs6d)(Econ, 8/10/13, p.38)
1990-2005 Global Witness estimated that Myanmar
lost 18% of its forests during this period. The country once had
four-fifths of the world’s teak.
(Econ, 4/21/12, p.58)
1991 Oct 14, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
for her non-violent promotion of democracy. Her award was accepted
by her husband, Michael Aris (d.1999 at 53) and their sons. A
collection of her writings is titled "Freedom From Fear."
(SFC, 5/22/96, p.C-1)(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.D6)(AP,
1991 Khun Sa (1934-2007),
Myanmar drug warlord and head of the Shan United Army, became head
of the Shan State Restoration Council.
(Econ, 11/10/07, p.106)
1992 Apr 23, Myanmar Gen’l. Saw
Maung stepped down as chairman of SLORC because of illness. He was
replaced by Gen’l. Than Shwe.
(SFC, 7/25/97, p.A18)
1992 The Asian Development Bank
began building and improving transport and telecom links between
China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
(Econ, 11/8/03, p.42)
1992 The Greater Mekong
Subregion was created grouping 5 South-East Asian countries
(Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) and 2 Chinese
1992 Bangladesh began refusing
refugee status to Rohingyas, a dark-skinned Muslim minority from
(Econ, 12/1/07, p.56)
1993 Aug, A 370-pound heroin
shipment was seized in New Orleans. In 1997 Thai police seized a
Myanmar man, Liu Wen Ming, for organizing the shipment. Ming was
suspected of being an associate of drug kingpin Khun Sa.
(SFC, 4/1/97, p.A12)
1993 In Myanmar the Mong Tai
Army took up arms against the government.
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A10)
1993 In Myanmar the pro-junta
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) was formed.
(Econ, 4/12/08, p.28)
1994 In Myanmar the Kachin
Independent Army (KIA) agreed to stop fighting. Hostilities were
resumed 17 years later.
(Econ, 11/27/10, p.52)(Econ, 5/25/13, SR p.11)
1994 Myanmar leased the 2 Coco
Islands in the Indian Ocean to China. China proceeded to establish
surveillance stations there.
1994 The Orient-Express
purchased a floating hotel on the Rhine, converted it and renamed
it to the "Road to Mandalay" for 4 day excursions on the
Irrawaddy from Bagan to Mandalay.
(SSFC, 4/4/04, p.D12)
1995 Jan, Myanmar government
forces overran the Karen National Union’s stronghold at Manerplaw
and forced refugees to take refuge in Thailand.
(SFEC, 6/4/00, p.C15)
1995 July 10, Aung San Suu Kyi
was released after six years of house arrest. She later
charged that the Myanmar military regime doesn't want democratic
(SFC, 5/22/96, p.C-1)(WSJ, 11/30/95, p.A-1)
1995 In Myanmar more than 500
people died this year in the 48-year long conflict with Karen
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A10)
1995 Berkeley, Ca., became the
first city to adopt sanctions against Myanmar due to the repressive
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A13)
1995-1998 The Yadana pipeline and offshore natural
gas production facilities were built by a consortium of Total,
Unocal and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.
(SFC, 4/29/08, p.D1)
1996 Jan, Khun Sa, a Myanmar
opium warlord in command of some 15,000 Shan troops, surrendered to
the government. He agreed to disband his private army, give up the
drug trade and submit to a form of house arrest in exchange for
protection and freedom to pursue business opportunities.
(SFC, 4/15/98, p.C14)(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A14)
1996 Jan, Lu Maw, Par Par Lay
and Lu Zaw performed as the Moustache Brothers in a skit outside the
home of Aung San Suu Kyi. They satirized Myanmar’s ruling SLORC and
were charged with “disrupting the stability of the Union." A 2-month
public, but juryless trial followed and they were sentenced to
prison. They were released in July 2001.
(WSJ, 7/10/02, p.D8)
1996 May, The Myanmar military
regime has jailed 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to
block a pro-democracy meeting. General Maung Aye, commander and
deputy chairman of the military regime warned that the government
will annihilate anyone who disturbs the country’s peace and
(SFC, 5/22/96, p.C-1)
1996 May 24, Roger Truitt,
president of Atlantic Richfield Co. was pictured in negotiations
with Myanmar General Khin Nyunt, head of the secret police.
(SFC, 5/25/96, p.A12)
1996 Jun 6, The Myanmar
military regime banned the weekly meetings at the house of Aung San
(SFC, 6/7/96, p.A15)
1996 Oct 3, In Myanmar SLORC
was in arrears in payments on crude-oil imports. The main foreign
exchange earners, rice and timber, were in production slowdowns.
(WSJ, 10/3/96, p.B11A)
1996 Nov 1, A government
program to attract visitors, “Visit Myanmar Year," began with
tighter security measures.
(SFEC, 11/10/96, p.T5)
1996 Dec 3, Myanmar riot police
dispersed hundreds of student demonstrators and detained dozens
outside Rangoon at the Schwedagon Pagoda.
(SFC, 12/3/96, p.A13)
1996 Dec 26, Two bombs exploded
in Rangoon during an exhibit of a tooth believed to have belonged to
Buddha. The military regime blamed student and ethnic Karen
insurgents based in eastern Myanmar. Five people were killed.
(WSJ, 12/27/96, p.A1)
1996 Dec, The Myanmar
universities were closed.
(SFC, 5/27/97, p.A11)
1996-1998 A 1998 Amnesty Int’l. report accused the
Burmese army in the torture and killings of hundreds of ethnic Shan
villagers in the Shan state during this period.
(SFC, 4/15/98, p.C14)
1996-2001 In 2002 the Thailand-based Shan Human
Rights Foundation filed a report that Myanmar government military
forces raped at least 625 girls and women in Shan state over this
period in an effort to bring the area under control.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A16)
1997 Jan 28, PepsiCo Inc. said
it was ending business in Myanmar due to human rights problems. It
joined Eddie Bauer, Levi Strauss and Liz Claiborne.
(USAT, 1/29/97, p.8A)
1997 Feb 14, In Myanmar some
3,000 Karen refugees fled into Thailand to escape fighting. The
Karen National Union had been fighting for autonomy since 1948.
Thailand said 16,000 Karens were crossing over its border.
(SFC, 2/15/97, p.A10)(WSJ, 2/14/97, p.A1)
1997 Feb 26, Thai soldiers
pushed Karen refugees back across the border into Myanmar as Burmese
troops massed for an offensive.
(WSJ, 2/27/97, p.A1)
1997 Apr 6, A bomb exploded at
the Rangoon home of Lt. Gen’l. Tin Oo and killed his daughter, Cho
Lei Oo (34).
(WSJ, 4/8/97, p.A1)(SFC, 4/8/97, p.A10)
1997 Apr 21, Pres. Clinton
approved a ban on new American investment in Myanmar due to human
rights abuses. It also banned visas for senior Burmese government
(SFC, 4/22/97, p.A6)(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.A15)
1997 May 31, The 7-member ASEAN
alliance, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, met in Kuala
Lumpur and agreed to allow Myanmar to become a member in July. Laos
and Cambodia were also admitted. The members were Thailand,
Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
(SFEC, 6/1/97, p.D3)
1997 Jul 23, The ASEAN trade
bloc admitted Laos and Myanmar but barred Cambodia.
(SFC, 7/24/97, p.A12)
1997 Jul, In Myanmar SLORC
renamed itself State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
(SFC, 5/7/02, p.A9)
1997 Oct 15, It was reported
that only 2 of the 31 in the elite Junta have university degrees and
that Chinese business people had virtually taken over in Mandalay,
which had been the heart of Burmese culture.
1997 Nov 15, In Myanmar the
21-member SLORC was dissolved and a new State Peace and Development
Council headed by 4 top generals and commanders of various regions
1997 In Myanmar Thein Sein
became had of the Triangle Region Military Command and continued to
(Econ, 4/21/12, p.58)
1997 In Rangoon talks between
the Karen National Union and Burmese officials broke down when the
Karen refused to disarm. After the talks broke the Burmese army
swept through Karen territory and forced thousands of refugees into
(SFEC, 4/2/00, Z1 p.4)
1997 In Myanmar Sai Leun (Lin
Mingxian), warlord of Mongla, declared his fief an “opium-free
(Econ, 1/29/05, p.42)
1997 A US federal judge allowed
a lawsuit to proceed against Unocal, accusing the oil company of
complicity in human rights abuses on the Yadana project in Myanmar.
The decision opened the door to suing US corporations on their
(SFC, 4/29/08, p.D1)
1998 Mar 1, Myanmar's military
regime arrested 40 people it accused of planning to assassinate
leaders and bomb buildings.
(WSJ, 3/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 31, It was reported
that in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, women of the Padaung tribe
of Myanmar were attracting tourists with their necks elongated by
wearing brass coils. They began fleeing Myanmar’s Kayah state over a
(SFC, 3/31/98, p.B4)
1998 Apr 2, Ethnic Karen rebels
launched attacks against Myanmar troops and killed 30 people.
(SFC, 4/4/98, p.A16)
1998 Apr 21, The Myanmar
military regime sentenced San San to 25 years in prison for a BBC
interview that criticized the government.
(WSJ, 4/22/98, p.A1)
1998 May 15, It was reported
that the Myanmar junta was expanding opium production while
collecting money from the UN for destroying poppy fields.
(SFC, 5/15/98, p.A14)
1998 May 27, Myanmar democracy
activists gathered to mark their 1990 victory, that was annulled by
the junta. It was their first legal gathering since then.
(WSJ, 5/28/98, p.A1)
1998 Jun 1, The Myanmar
military sentenced Aung Thein and Ko Hla Myint to 14 years in prison
for handing out copies of a letter from the Shan State Army
addressed to Lt. Gen’l. Khin Nyunt, the head of military
intelligence, back in March.
(SFC, 6/9/98, p.A14)
1998 Jun 2, In Myanmar 26
farmers were gunned down near Murng-Kerng.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 27, Myanmar soldiers
of the Light Infantry Battalion 246 shot and killed 23 villagers in
Kaeng Tawn. The dead included 7 children and 2 women.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A12)
1998 Aug 15, In Myanmar (Burma)
18 detainees, arrested for passing out literature and charged with
violating the 1950 Emergency Provision Act, were forced to leave the
country. A 5-year prison term was imposed if they break Burma’s laws
(SFC, 8/15/98, p.A14)
1998 Aug 19, In Myanmar Aung
San Suu Kyi was in her 8th day of a roadside protest in her 4th
attempt to travel to Bassein.
(SFC, 8/20/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 24, In Burma Aung San
Suu Kyi bowed to medical problems and ended her 13-day roadside
standoff against the government.
(SFC, 8/25/98, p.A8)
1998 Sep 17, Ten dissidents
voted to annul all laws passed by the Myanmar junta in the last 10
years after constituting themselves as the elected parliament of
(WSJ, 9/18/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep, Air Myanmar F-27 with
39 people crashed near Tachilek in Shan state. Shan tribesmen looted
the wreckage. 5 adult male survivors were tortured and an air
hostess was raped for days. A surviving baby was left to die. 30
villagers were arrested.
(SFC, 9/25/98, p.A12)
1998 EU foreign ministers
banned visits by Myanmar officials, withdrew trade privileges and
imposed an arms embargo due to the repression of civil and political
(SFC, 4/11/00, p.D4)
1998 Burmese refugees in
Thailand created the Backpack Health Worker Team to effectively
sneak health into eastern Burma (Myanmar), where the military junta
provides little health care.
(SSFC, 3/22/09, p.A8)
1999 Apr 19, One of the annual
Goldman Environmental Prizes went to: Ka Hsaw Wa of Myanmar for
reporting on the plight of indigenous people and environmental
abuses on a Unocal gas pipeline across Thailand and Myanmar.
(SFC, 4/19/99, p.A2)(SFC, 4/7/00, p.A14)
1999 Jun 19, Aung San Suu Kyi
encouraged women to fight for democracy on the unofficial Women of
Burma Day, which was created by her followers to coincide with her
(SFEC, 6/20/99, p.A5)
1999 Oct 1, In Thailand the
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors took 38 diplomats as hostages at
the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok. Two Thai officials were exchanged
for the hostages and 12  students were reported to have flown to
the Thai-Myanmar border by helicopter, where they were released. The
students demanded the release of political prisoners, dialogue
between the military and Aung San Suu Kyi and an elected parliament.
(SFC, 10/2/99, p.A12)(SFEC, 10/3/99, p.A25)
1999 Oct 2, Bo Mya, leader of
the Karen National Union, said he would grant sanctuary to the
Burmese students who were flown to the Thai-Myanmar border following
a 26 hour takeover of the Myanmar Embassy in Thailand.
(SFEC, 10/3/99, p.A25)
1999 In Myanmar the twins
Luther and Johnny Htoo (12) led God's Army, a band of some 100
guerrilla fighters that operated from the Ka Mar Pa Law village near
the Thailand border.
(SFC, 12/16/99, p.C9)
Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation was
set up, mainly on China’s initiative. It aimed at greater
integration of trade and investment between the four countries.
(Econ, 5/25/13, SR p.9)
2000 Jan 24, In Thailand
security forces stormed a hospital and ended a 22-hour standoff with
Burmese guerrillas. 10 rebels of the "God's Army" were reported
killed. The hostage-takers were executed after surrendering to
(SFC, 1/25/00, p.A10)(SFC, 1/27/00, p.A12)
2000 Jan 26, In Myanmar Bo Mya,
legendary 24-year leader of the Karen National Union (KNU), was
voted out of the chairmanship. Saw Ba Thin was elected as the new
chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU).
(SFC, 1/28/00, p.A14)(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)
2000 Jan, The Karen celebrated
their new year 2739. Some 300,000 Karen were believed to be
internally displace within Myanmar.
(SFEC, 4/2/00, Z1 p.4)(SFEC, 6/4/00, p.C15)
2000 Apr 10, EU foreign
ministers toughened sanctions against Myanmar due to the increased
repression of civil and political rights.
(SFC, 4/11/00, p.D4)
2000 Apr, Over 40 youth members
of the opposition National league for Democracy were arrested by
Myanmar authorities over the mid-month Thingyan (New year) festival.
The information was smuggled in on video from Suu Kyi.
(SFC, 4/28/00, p.D6)
2000 Jun 12, The Bangkok Post
reported that Johnny and Luther Htoo, the 12-year-old leaders of
God’s Army, had laid down their arms and were living in a Christian
ethnic Karen village.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A11)
2000 Jul 24, Myanmar university
students returned to classes nearly 3.5 years after the military
shut down schools due to antigovernment protests. Loyalty pledges to
the government were required and political activity was barred.
(WSJ, 7/25/00, p.A1)(SFC, 8/23/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 24, Aung San Suu Kyi
and 14 supporters tried to leave Rangoon for political activities in
the countryside. Police stopped her party and a stand-off began.
After 9 days the party was forced back to Rangoon.
(SFC, 9/2/00, p.A12)
2000 Sep 14, The Myanmar
military lifted restrictions against Suu Kyi and 8 other leaders of
the National League for Democracy.
(SFC, 9/16/00, p.A10)
2000 Nov 10, Some 125 Karen
guerrillas overran the Bianaw Myanmar military camp near the Thai
border. 30 escaped and one soldier was killed.
(SFC, 11/11/00, p.C18)
2000 Dec 6, Pres. Clinton gave
the US Presidential Medal of Freedom to Alexander Aris, the son of
Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, on behalf of his mother who was held
under house arrest.
(SFC, 12/7/00, p.C10)
2000 Ross Dunkley, an
Australian editor, founded the Myanmar Times, an English-language
newspaper with a business emphasis, during a period of relative
liberalization under the ruling junta.
2001 Jan 9, The UN announced
that in Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi and the military junta had held
more than round of talks since October.
(SFC, 1/10/01, p.A10)
2001 Jan 16, Luther and Johnny
Htoo, twin adolescent leaders of an ethnic Karen rebel group,
surrendered to Thai border police.
(WSJ, 1/17/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb 19, A helicopter crash
killed Myanmar junta Lt. Gen. Tin Oo (67) and left 14 missing.
(SFC, 2/20/01, p.A10)
2001 Feb, Russia’s Atomic
Energy Ministry announced plans to build a 10-megawatt nuclear
research reactor in central Myanmar. The deal was finalized in July.
(WSJ, 1/3/02, p.A6)
2001 Mar 30, It was reported
that the forests of Myanmar had dropped from 21% coverage in 1949 to
less than 7% today.
(SFC, 3/30/01, p.A17)
2001 Russia sold Myanmar 10
MiG-29 fighter aircraft for $130 million.
(WSJ, 1/3/02, p.A6)
2001-2013 Myanmar lost 1.7 million hectares of
forest during this period, a portion of which was smuggled over from
Kachin to China’s Yunnan province.
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.38)
2002 Jan 22, The Myanmar army
was charged by Amnesty Int’l. of killing and torturing hundreds of
ethnic Shan villagers. Some 300,000 Shan villagers have been forced
to flee their homes in the past 2 years.
(SFC, 1/23/02, p.A6)
2002 Jan, Adrian Levy and Cathy
Scott-Clark authored “The Stone of Heaven," and history of jadeite
and their experiences in northern Myanmar at the world’s the biggest
(WSJ, 2/15/02, p.W6)
2002 Mar 7, In Myanmar Aye Zaw
Win (54) and 3 adult sons, 4 relatives of former dictator Ne Win,
were arrested and some military officers were dismissed for planning
a coup. Later Ne Win and his daughter were put under house arrest.
Aye Zaw Win and his 3 sons were convicted and sentenced to death Sep
(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.A15)(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A7)(SFC,
2002 May 5, In Myanmar the
military government released Aung San Suu Kyi (56) after 19 months
of house arrest in Rangoon.
(SFC, 5/6/02, p.A1,3)
2002 May, In Myanmar a trial
began for a number of soldiers, members of a security unit guarding
former dictator Ne Win, in connection with an abortive plot to
overthrow the country's ruling junta. In Sep a Myanmar military
tribunal sentenced 83 soldiers to 15-year jail terms.
2002 Jul 28, Myanmar's military
government released 32 political prisoners, among them 14 members of
the opposition, ahead of the visit next month of top U.N. envoy
2002 Aug 9, Myanmar's junta
freed 14 political prisoners, but the move was far short of the
release of all prisoners of conscience that opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi has demanded as a precondition for national
2002 Dec 5, Ne Win (91), former
general and dictator, died in Yangon. His 26 years in power
bankrupted Myanmar (Burma) economically and spiritually.
(SFC, 12/6/02, p.A30)(WSJ, 12/6/02, p.A1)
2002 Pascal Khoo Thwe (b.1967)
won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for his memoir “From the
Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey."
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.M1)
2002 In Bangladesh Operation
Clean Heart rooted thousands of Rohingyas, dark-skinned members of a
poor, Muslin minority from Myanmar, from local villages. Myanmar’s
ruling junta called them residents of Rakhine state, pressed them
into slave labor and severely restricted their rights to travel and
marry. This led to the Rohingya border camp named Tal, on the banks
of the Naf River in Bangladesh.
(Econ, 12/1/07, p.56)
2003 Mar 7, Nai Shwe
Kyin (90), a veteran guerrilla leader from Myanmar’s Mon ethnic
minority, died. He founded the Mon Freedom League in 1947. He also
helped found the Mon People’s Front in 1952 and the New Mon State
Party in 1958. The party signed a cease-fire agreement with
Myanmar’s military government in 1995.
2003 Mar 27, In Yangon,
Myanmar, a bomb went off in front of a state telecommunications
office, killing at least one person and wounding three as the
country marked Armed Forces Day.
2003 May 21, In Myanmar bombs
exploded on the border with Thailand, killing four people.
2003 May 30, In Myanmar a
pro-government drunken mob of some 3,000 ambushed a 400-person
convoy carrying Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League
for Democracy. At least 70 people were killed.
(SFC, 6/12/03, p.A6)(SFC, 7/5/03, p.A16)
2003 Jun 1, Myanmar's military
junta closed universities and shut down offices of pro-democracy
leader Ang San Suu Kyi's party, after she and some of her key aides
2003 Jun 16, The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations urged Myanmar's military government to free
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
2003 Nov 23, Myanmar's military
government released 4 top opposition party members from house
arrest, but pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 4 others
continued in detention.
2003 Nov 28, A Myanmar court
sentenced 9 people to death for high treason, including the editor
of a sports magazine. The government said the suspects were accused
of plotting to overthrow Myanmar's military junta through bombings
2003 Nov 29, Bhaddanta Vinaya
(93), one of Myanmar's most revered Buddhist monks and a spiritual
adviser to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, died.
2003 Dec 23, Myanmar's largest
guerrilla group said it is committed to peace talks with the
military government, but it wants future rounds held in the Thai
capital to preserve neutrality.
2003 Myanmar’s SPDC unveiled a
17-point “road map" to democracy.
(Econ, 7/23/05, p.24)
2003 In Myanmar opium was
banned in Kokang Special Region No. 1. This forced nearly a third of
the population to leave their homes in search of money and food.
(Econ, 2/12/05, p.42)
2003 Myanmar reported 42% of
the world’s official malaria deaths. WHO statistics were not very
accurate as half of Africa’s countries did not submit any data.
(Econ, 12/9/06, p.86)
2004 Jan 17, Myanmar's junta
said it freed 26 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National
League for Democracy party.
2004 Mar 30, Myanmar's military
government said it will take the first step on a self-proclaimed
"road to democracy" by reconvening a constitutional convention that
was suspended eight years ago.
2004 Apr 7, In Malaysia 3 men
armed with firebombs, machetes and an axe attacked Myanmar's
embassy, hacking one senior official and starting a fire that
destroyed the building.
2004 Apr 9, Sein Lwin (81), who
served briefly as Myanmar's president in 1988, died.
2004 May 17, Myanmar held a
(WSJ, 5/17/04, p.A1)
2004 May 19, A cyclone that
swept through western Myanmar and left more than 140 people dead or
missing, and about 18,000 people homeless.
2004 Oct 7, An Asia-Europe
forum accepted Myanmar and 12 other new members ahead of a summit
strained by Yangon's human rights record. ASEM comprises 39 members:
25 from Europe, 13 from Asia and the European Commission.
2004 Oct 19, Myanmar's state
radio and television announced that PM Gen. Khin Nyunt was replaced
by a top member of the country's ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Soe Win.
2004 Nov 18, Myanmar's military
government said it had begun releasing thousands of prisoners who
may have been wrongly imprisoned by a recently disbanded military
2004 Nov 19, Myanmar's junta
freed Student democracy leader Min Ko Naing, the nation's number two
political prisoner, as part of a release of 3,937 inmates. After 15
years in jail he became head of the “88 Generation students’ Group."
(AFP, 11/20/04)(Econ, 8/25/07, p.39)
2004 Nov 25, Myanmar announced
it is to free more than 5,000 prisoners on top of the nearly 4,000
announced last week.
2004 Dec 11, Myanmar's state
media announced the military junta would release a further 5,070
2004 Myanmar enacted its
Electronic Transactions Law. This allowed a person to be imprisoned
for up to 15 years for distributing via the internet information
that courts deem harmful to the state.
(Econ, 8/25/12, p.32)
2005 Feb, Bao You Xiang, head
of Myanmar’s Wa Special Region No. 2, allowed farmers one last opium
harvest prior to enforcing and absolute ban. The region was
controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which produced heroin
and methamphetamine to buy weapons.
(Econ, 2/12/05, p.42)(Econ, 11/27/10, p.52)
2005 Mar 27, The head of
Myanmar's ruling junta said the country was moving toward democracy
but gave no indication of when the military would relinquish its
43-year grip on power.
2005 Apr 4, Chevron announced
plans to purchase Unocal Corp. for $18.4 billion. Chevron’s eventual
acquisition of Unocal included a stake in the Yadana project in
Myanmar, in which Unocal invested in the 1990s along with France’s
Total, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and the petroleum Authority of
Thailand. Total with a 31% stake operated the project. The Yadana
project brought in an estimated $969 million to the government
undercutting international sanctions to isolate the regime.
(SFC, 4/5/05, p.A1)(SFC, 10/4/07, p.A10)(SFC,
2005 Apr 26, A bomb exploded at
a busy market in Myanmar's key tourist city of Mandalay, killing at
least two people and wounding 15 others.
2005 Apr, Unocal agreed to
settle a lawsuit, for an undisclosed sum, concerning human rights
abuses on the Yadana project in Myanmar.
(SFC, 4/29/08, p.D1)
2005 May 7, In Myanmar 3
explosions rocked the capital, Yangon, killing at least 19 people
and wounding 162 others.
(AP, 5/8/05)(Reuters, 5/15/05)
2005 Jun 25, India said police
forces have destroyed one of the largest Mynamarese rebel bases in
India, deep in the mountainous jungles of the remote northeast. Some
200 guerrillas and supporters living in the Chin National Army camp
fled before the attack.
2005 Jul 6, Myanmar's military
government released about 240 prisoners, including political
detainees and opposition politicians.
2005 Jul 22, Former Myanmar PM
Khin Nyunt received a 44-year suspended sentence after being
convicted on eight charges including bribery and corruption.
2005 Jul 26, Myanmar agreed to
forgo its chairmanship of Southeast Asia's bloc next year to avoid a
damaging Western boycott of the group's meetings.
2005 Oct 18, An environmental
watchdog alleged that Chinese logging companies in Myanmar have
illegally exported huge amounts of timber in collusion with the
military government and ethnic guerrillas, destroying ecologically
unique forest areas.
2005 Nov 6, Myanmar’s military
junta began moving key ministries to Pyinmana, a secret location in
the mountains and dense forest. The ruling junta had shifted
headquarters to a series of underground bunkers in Pyinmana, in
(Econ, 7/23/05, p.24)(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.A18)
2005 Nov 8, The US State
Department issued its 7th annual report to Congress on religious
freedom. It cited Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam as restricting religious freedom.
2005 Dec 3, Myanmar’s
government confirmed for the first time that it has extended
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention for six months.
2005 Dec 5, Myanmar's military
junta reopened a key national constitutional convention.
2005 Dec 23, In Myanmar at
least four government battalions began shelling and attacking
villages and internal refugee hide-outs in southern Karenni State
and areas of neighboring Karen State, forcing some 3,000 people to
flee their homes.
2005 Myanmar’s ruling junta
arrested the leader of the Shan State National Army (SSNA) along
with other members of the Shan minority.
(Econ, 7/23/05, p.24)
2005 AIDS in Myanmar was
estimated at 1.2% of the population. It was reported that 100,000
new cases of TB were being detected annually.
(Econ, 7/23/05, p.25)
2005 In Myanmar fossils were
found near Bagan that later suggested the common ancestors of
humans, monkeys and apes, known as anthropoids, evolved from
primates in Asia, rather than Africa. The 38 million-year-old pieces
of jawbones and teeth were part of a growing body of evidence that
helped scientists to understand the origin of primates.
2006 Jan 8, The UN envoy to
Myanmar, Razali Ismail of Malaysia, said he had quit his post after
being refused entry for the past 2 years to the military-ruled
country where he pushed for reforms.
2006 Jan 31, Myanmar's military
government adjourned a constitution-drafting convention after almost
two months of deliberations, delegates said, amid growing
frustration with the slow pace of democratic reforms. Karen
insurgents, marking nearly six decades of fighting, said there was
little chance Myanmar's military rulers would come to the
negotiating table and end their bloody campaign against the ethnic
2006 Feb 10, In Myanmar
government officials said Win Aung, a former foreign minister ousted
in a Cabinet reshuffle by the country's ruling military junta, has
been put on trial for corruption charges.
2006 Feb 12, Myanmar's leader
Senior General Than Shwe lashed out at the US and the EU over their
sanctions against his regime, amid rising global pressure for it to
2006 Mar 13, Myanmar reported
its first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.
2006 Mar 26, A rights group
said Myanmar's military rulers have launched an offensive against
separatist guerrillas, attacking villages and forcing thousands to
flee in an attempt to quash a five-decade insurgency by Karen ethnic
2006 Apr 27, Reports from
Myanmar and Thailand said Myanmar troops were waging their biggest
military offensive in almost a decade and have uprooted more than
11,000 ethnic minority civilians in a campaign punctuated by
torture, killings and the burning of villages.
2006 May 5, The US State
Department said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has waived a law
to make Myanmar refugees, almost all of whom back an armed group
fighting the Yangon military junta, eligible for resettlement into
2006 May 13, Myanmar's ruling
military acknowledged that its army is targeting the Karen ethnic
minority, saying the offensive is necessary to suppress bombings and
other anti-government attacks.
2006 May 18, A Karen group said
Myanmar troops, who have driven an estimated 15,000 Karen villagers
from their homes, are throwing more battalions into a widening
offensive against the ethnic minority.
2006 May 27, A Myanmar
government official said Nobel Peace Prize-winning pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi will remain under house arrest for another
2006 Jun 11, Amnesty
International released a report saying China's sales of military
vehicles and weapons to Sudan, Nepal and Myanmar have aggravated
conflicts and abetted violence and repressive rule in those
2006 Jul 17, One of two young
twin brothers who led a small band of ethnic rebels calling
themselves "God's Army" surrendered to Myanmar's military
government. Johnny Htoo (18) and 8 fellow members of the group
surrendered with weapons in two separate groups on July 17 and 19 at
the coastal region military command in southeastern Myanmar.
2006 Jul, In Myanmar the
daughter of junta supremo Than Shwe (73) was married. In November a
leaked video of the lavish wedding sparked outrage among ordinary
people in the military-ruled and deeply impoverished nation.
2006 Aug 1, US sanctions on
Myanmar were extended for up to three years under a law signed by
President Bush, an attempt to increase pressure on the government to
follow through with democratic reforms.
2006 Sep 15, Over strong
opposition from China, the UN Security Council put Myanmar on its
agenda in what US officials called a "major step forward" in
American efforts to increase pressure on the country's military
2006 Oct 16, In central Myanmar
Thet Win Aung (34), who had been serving a 59-year sentence since
1998 after protesting for educational reform, died in jail.
2006 Oct 21, The death toll
from severe flooding in Thailand and neighboring Myanmar has jumped
to 143 after Thai authorities confirmed another 16 victims. The
severe flooding began in late August in Thailand's central and
2006 Oct 23, The military
regime in Myanmar ordered the International Red Cross to close five
key field offices in the country.
2006 Nov 6, Transparency
International, a watchdog group, reported that nearly three-quarters
of 163 countries ranked in a new survey suffer from a perception of
serious corruption, while in nearly half it is seen as rampant.
Finland, Iceland and New Zealand ranked as the least corrupt, while
Haiti, Guinea and Myanmar ranked as most corrupt.
(AP, 11/6/06)(Econ, 11/11/06, p.69)
2006 Nov 11, In Myanmar senior
UN official Ibrahim Gambari met detained opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and the ruling junta's top leader.
2006 Nov 30, Human Rights Watch
said Myanmar army attacks against a rebellious minority have forced
thousands of civilians to flee their homes, with many trekking as
far as the Thai border for food and shelter.
2006 Dec 14, Myanmar's military
junta has told Red Cross officials that the humanitarian group can
reopen field offices that the government had ordered shut in
2006 Dec 24, Bo Mya (79), a
longtime leader of the Karen National Union, died in Thailand. The
KNU was Myanmar's largest guerrilla group.
2006 Thant Myint-U authored
“The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma," a memoir and
history of Myanmar.
(WSJ, 12/7/06, p.D8)
2006 Myanmar’s population
numbered about 51 million.
(Econ, 9/2/06, p.39)
2007 Jan 3, Myanmar's military
government freed nearly 3,000 convicts, but key political prisoners
were not among those released.
2007 Jan 10, A new report
alleged that Myanmar's military junta is allowing gold mines to
pollute the world's largest wild tiger reserve and has promoted
development that is destroying ethnic Kachin communities.
2007 Jan 12, China and Russia
blocked the Security Council from demanding an end to political
repression and human rights violations in military-ruled Myanmar,
rejecting a resolution proposed by the United States. South Africa
sided with China and Russia.
(AP, 1/13/07)(Econ, 1/27/07, p.47)
2007 Jan 18, Myanmar’s state
media accused pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi of evading taxes
by spending her money from the 1991 Nobel Peace prize and other
2007 Feb 12, A report issued by
a human rights group accused Myanmar's military of killing, raping
and torturing ethnic Karen women as part of its battle against the
minority group over the past 25 years.
2007 Feb 23, In Myanmar at
least five protesters who took part in a rare demonstration that
urged the ruling military junta to improve health care, education
and economic conditions were taken into custody.
2007 Mar 15, The EU said it
would put pressure on members of the Southeast Asian regional
grouping ASEAN at talks in Germany to urge Myanmar to improve its
human rights record.
2007 Apr 12, An international
conservation group tens of thousands of villagers could be displaced
and a fragile ecosystem destroyed by a hydropower project being
built on northeastern Myanmar's Salween River.
2007 Apr 26, Myanmar and North
Korea signed an agreement to resume diplomatic ties during a visit
to Myanmar by the North Korean vice foreign minister.
2007 May 14, Nearly 60 former
heads of state, including three ex-American presidents, demanded
that Myanmar's military regime release Nobel peace laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi from house arrest.
2007 May 22, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen met with junta head Senior General Than Shwe in military-ruled
Myanmar, as the two nations moved to improve tourism links.
2007 May 25, Myanmar's military
government extended the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi by another year.
2007 Jul 30, In the Philippines
southeast Asian foreign ministers agreed to set up a regional human
rights commission, overcoming fierce resistance from military-ruled
Myanmar. Myanmar agreed not to veto discussion over the human rights
commission at a November summit.
(AP, 7/30/07)(Econ, 8/4/07, p.36)
2007 Aug 22, In Myanmar
hundreds of pro-democracy activists marched to protest the
government's fuel price hikes. The military junta arrested 13 top
dissidents and deployed gangs of spade-wielding supporters on the
streets of Yangon. The unannounced price hike sparked
anti-government protests that led to the "saffron rebellion," which
was crushed by the military government leaving at least 15 dead and
(Reuters, 8/22/07)(AP, 1/1/12)
2007 Aug 23, In Myanmar defiant
pro-democracy activists took to the streets for the third time this
week, forming a human chain to try to prevent officers from dragging
them into waiting trucks and buses.
2007 Aug 24, Myanmar's military
junta moved swiftly to crush the latest in a series of protests
against fuel price hikes, arresting more than 10 activists in front
of Yangon City Hall before they could launch any action.
2007 Aug 25, Myanmar's state
media reported that military junta has detained at least 63
activists who protested massive fuel-price hikes over the last week,
as the government pursued its clampdown on the increasingly daring
2007 Aug 27, About 50
pro-democracy activists were arrested outside Yangon, as the Myanmar
junta clamped down on dissent following a series of protests last
week against a sharp hike in fuel prices.
2007 Aug 28, Pro-democracy
supporters expanded their protests against Myanmar's military,
marching through the streets of the port town of Sittwe while
attempting to rally in the main city Yangon.
2007 Aug 29, In Myanmar
pro-government gangs on trucks staked out key streets in Yangon as
the country's military rulers sought to crush a rare wave of dissent
by pro-democracy activists protesting fuel price increases.
2007 Sep 19, More than 2,000
monks protested across Myanmar for a 2nd straight day against the
2007 Sep 20, Almost 1,000
Buddhist monks, protected by onlookers, marched through Myanmar's
biggest city for a third straight day and pledged to keep alive the
most sustained protests against the military government in at least
2007 Sep 21, In Myanmar about
1,500 Buddhist monks marched through downtown Yangon to protest
against Myanmar's military government, beginning their fourth day of
demonstrations at a pagoda that has long served as a national symbol
2007 Sep 22, In the central
Myanmar city of Mandalay, a crowd of 10,000 people, including at
least 4,000 Buddhist monks, marched in one of the largest
demonstrations since the 1988 democracy uprising. About 1,000 monks,
led by one holding his begging bowl upturned as a sign of protest,
marched in Yangon for a 5th straight day. The anti-government
demonstrations touched the doorstep of democracy heroine Aung San
2007 Sep 22, To date 144
countries had ratified the UN Convention Against Torture. Holdouts
included Sudan, North Korea, Myanmar, Zimbabwe and India.
(Econ, 9/22/07, p.72)
2007 Sep 23, In Myanmar some
20,000 people, led by Buddhist monks, protested against the junta.
Riot police and barbed wire barricades blocked hundreds of monks and
anti-government demonstrators from approaching the home of the
detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a new show of force
against a rising protest movement.
2007 Sep 23, Indian Oil
Minister Murli Deora witnessed the signing of three accords between
state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and the state-run Myanmar
Oil and Gas Enterprise at Nay Pyi Taw, the administrative capital of
2007 Sep 24, In Myanmar as many
as 100,000 protesters led by a phalanx of barefoot monks marched
through Yangon. The movement has grown in a week from faltering
demonstrations to one rivaling the failed 1988 pro-democracy
2007 Sep 25, Soldiers,
including an army division that took part in the brutal suppression
of a 1988 uprising, converged on Yangon, Myanmar's largest city,
after thousands of monks and sympathizers defied government orders
to stay out of politics and protested once again. The Buddhist monks
marched out for an eighth day of peaceful protest despite orders to
the Buddhist clergy to halt all political activity and return to
their monasteries. Military leaders imposed a nighttime curfew and
banned gatherings of more than 5 people.
(AP, 9/25/07)(WSJ, 9/26/07, p.A1)
2007 Sep 25, President George
W. Bush announced new US sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers
and urged other countries to follow suit amid Myanmar's biggest
anti-government protests in 20 years.
2007 Sep 26, In Myanmar at
least four people including three Buddhist monks were killed as
security forces used weapons and tear gas to crush protests that
have erupted nationwide against the military junta.
2007 Sep 26, Transparency
International's 2007 index ranked Myanmar and Somalia as the most
corrupt nations. Both received the lowest score of 1.4 out of 10.
Denmark, Finland and New Zealand were ranked the least corrupt, each
2007 Sep 27, In Myanmar troops
cleared protesters from the streets of central Yangon, giving them
10 minutes to leave or be shot as the Myanmar junta intensified a
two-day crackdown on the largest uprising in 20 years. At least nine
people were killed, including a Japanese national. In December a UN
investigator documented 31 people killed by the end of the crackdown
(Reuters, 9/27/07)(AP, 12/7/07)
2007 Sep 27, China issued an
evenhanded plea for calm in Myanmar, calling on all sides to show
2007 Sep 28, Myanmar soldiers
clubbed and dragged away activists while firing tear gas and warning
shots to break up demonstrations before they could grow, and the
government cut Internet access, raising fears that a deadly
crackdown was set to intensify. The US administration slapped visa
bans on more than 30 members of the Myanmar junta and their
(AP, 9/28/07)(AFP, 9/29/07)
2007 Sep 29, UN envoy Ibrahim
Gambari flew into Myanmar carrying worldwide hopes he can persuade
its ruling generals to use negotiations instead of guns to end mass
protests. The streets of Myanmar's two biggest cities were eerily
quiet after a brutal crackdown on demonstrators seeking to end 45
years of military rule. Soldiers quickly snuffed out one small
demonstration in Yangon, dragging several men to waiting trucks.
2007 Sep 30, Myanmar's
government unexpectedly allowed the country's leading opposition
figure, Aung San Suu Kyi, to leave house arrest briefly and meet
with a UN envoy trying to persuade the junta to ease its crackdown
against a pro-democracy uprising. Thousands of troops locked down
Myanmar's largest cities, and scores of people were arrested
overnight. In Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, security
forces arrested dozens of university students who staged a street
(AP, 9/30/07)(AP, 10/1/07)
2007 Oct 1, Myanmar's junta
leader stalled a UN envoy for yet another day, delaying his chance
to present international demands for an end to the crackdown on the
largest protests in two decades. A Norway-based dissident news
organization, the Democratic Voice of Burma, said pro-democracy
activists estimate 138 people were killed in the recent protests.
Shari Villarosa, the top US diplomat in Myanmar, said her staff had
visited up to 15 monasteries around Yangon and every single one was
empty. She put the number of arrested demonstrators, monks and
civilians, in the thousands.
(AP, 10/1/07)(AP, 10/1/07)
2007 Oct 2, Myanmar's reclusive
junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, finally granted an audience to
a UN envoy hoping to broker an end to Myanmar's crackdown on
2007 Oct 3, Soldiers said they
were hunting pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar's largest city and
the top US diplomat in the country said military police had pulled
people out of their homes during the night. The European Union
agreed in principle to punish the junta with sanctions.
(AP, 10/3/07)(AFP, 10/3/07)
2007 Oct 5, In Myanmar acting
Ambassador Shari Villarosa met with Deputy Foreign Minister Maung
Myint in the remote jungle capital of Naypitaw (Naypyidaw). During
her visit, she was expected to repeat the US view that the regime
must meet with democratic opposition groups and "stop the iron
crackdown" on peaceful demonstrators. The US said it would propose a
UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Myanmar if the
government there does not "respond constructively" to international
concern about repression of pro-democracy protests.
(AP, 10/5/07)(Econ, 4/12/08, p.27)
2007 Oct 6, Myanmar's junta
tried to cool growing UN pressure over its deadly crackdown on
peaceful protests, offering talks with democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, and relaxing its blockage of the Internet. A day of global
protests against Myanmar's junta began in cities across Asia, after
the military regime admitted detaining hundreds of Buddhist monks
when troops turned their guns on pro-democracy demonstrators last
(AFP, 10/6/07)(AP, 10/6/07)
2007 Oct 7, Myanmar's military
leaders stepped up pressure on monks who spearheaded pro-democracy
rallies, saying that weapons had been seized from Buddhist
monasteries and threatening to punish all violators of the law.
2007 Oct 10, A Myanmar exile
group, made up of former political prisoners, said authorities had
recently informed the family of Win Shwe (42), that he had died
during interrogation in the central Myanmar region of Sagaing. He
and five colleagues were arrested on Sept. 26. The Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners said that at least seven people
have been arrested in the past two days in Yangon, including Hla Myo
Naung (39), a leader of the '88 Generation Students.
2007 Oct 12, Myanmar PM Gen.
Soe Win (59), reviled for his role in a bloody attack on opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers in 2003, died after a long
illness. Myanmar's military junta rejected a UN statement calling
for negotiations with the opposition, insisting that it would follow
its own plan to bring democracy to the country.
2007 Oct 13, Amnesty
International said 4 prominent political activists were arrested in
Myanmar as the ruling junta kept up its crackdown on pro-democracy
2007 Oct 14, Myanmar's ruling
junta restored Internet access but kept foreign news sites blocked,
partially easing its crackdown as a UN envoy headed to Asia to
convey the world's demands for democratic reforms in the country.
2007 Oct 16, In Myanmar
relatives said 5 pro-democracy activists had been sentenced to long
(WSJ, 10/17/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 16, Japan, Myanmar's
largest aid donor, said it had canceled a multimillion dollar grant
to protest the military-ruled nation's crackdown on pro-democracy
2007 Oct 17, Myanmar's military
junta acknowledged that it detained nearly 3,000 people during a
crackdown on recent pro-democracy protests, with hundreds still
remaining in custody.
2007 Oct 19, Pres. Bush imposed
new financial sanctions against Myanmar, freezing YS assets of 11
additional members of the military government.
(SFC, 10/20/07, p.A3)
2007 Oct 20, Myanmar announced
that it was lifting a curfew and ending a ban on assembly imposed
after a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the latest sign that
the government believes it has extinguished the largest
demonstrations in decades.
2007 Oct 24, A day of global
protests against Myanmar's junta began in Bangkok as democracy
leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi marked a cumulative
12 years in detention.
2007 Oct 25, Suu Kyi, detained
since May 2003, met with a newly appointed Myanmar government
official as part of a UN-brokered attempt to nudge her and the
military junta toward reconciliation. At least 70 people detained by
the military government following protests in Myanmar, including 50
members of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, were
2007 Oct 26, In Myanmar
one-time drug warlord Khun Sa (b.1933), variously described as among
the world's most wanted men and as a great Shan liberation fighter,
(AP, 10/30/07)(Econ, 11/10/07, p.106)
2007 Oct 30, Myanmar's military
government freed seven members of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy
party, who had been held for more than a month. Human Rights Watch
charged that Myanmar’s military government is recruiting children as
young as 10 into its armed forces.
(AP, 10/30/07)(WSJ, 10/31/07, p.A1)
2007 Oct 31, More than 100
Buddhist monks marched in northern Myanmar for nearly an hour, the
first public demonstration since the government's deadly crackdown
last month on pro-democracy protesters.
2007 Nov 14, Myanmar's military
junta arrested three more activists, surging ahead with a crackdown
even as it hosted a UN human rights investigator and insisted that
all arrests had stopped.
2007 Nov 17, State media
reported that China has called on Myanmar to speed up democratic
reforms, an unusual move for Beijing, which has traditionally
refrained from criticizing the military regime.
2007 Dec 4, State media said
Myanmar's military junta has completed the release of 8,585
prisoners, but it was unclear if any of those released were among
those detained during the crackdown.
2007 Dec 10, Australia accepted
seven asylum seekers from Myanmar as refugees as the country's new
Labor government began unwinding tough immigration laws which force
boatpeople into detention on Pacific island nations.
2007 Dec 14, Indonesia, the
nation hardest hit by bird flu, announced its 93rd death due to the
H5N1 virus. In China, the military in eastern Nanjing banned the
sale of poultry this week after a father and son came down with the
disease earlier this month. Health officials confirmed the
24-year-old man died from the virus a day before his father, 52,
became sick. It was the country's 17th bird flu death. The WHO
confirmed Myanmar's first human case of bird flu and praised the
secretive country for its quick and open handling of the infection.
State media reported a girl (7) was hospitalized on Nov. 27 and
released on Dec. 12 in good condition after being treated with the
antiviral drug Tamiflu.
2007 Myanmar slashed real
estate taxes to 15% from 50%. Drug traffickers seized the
opportunity to convert their cash to real estate.
(SSFC, 6/7/15, p.A17)
2007 Myanmar’s population was
around 53 million. Myanmar is rich in natural resources, but 90
percent of its people lived on less than $1 a day. 30% lived below
the poverty line.
(AP, 9/29/07)(Econ, 4/12/08, p.29)(Econ, 5/10/08,
2008 Jan 2, Myanmar's military
junta dramatically raised the annual fee for TV satellite dishes, an
apparent move to block the foreign news channels that beamed in
global criticism of its recent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
2008 Jan 4, Myanmar's
Independence Day was marked by opposition calls for the freeing of
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners as the
military rulers urged national discipline.
2008 Jan 20, In Myanmar a bus
plunged over the side of a road and flipped over, killing 27
passengers and injuring 10 others.
2008 Feb 5, The US Treasury
Dept. said it is imposing financial sanctions against family members
of the military-run government of Myanmar and individuals it
identified as key members of the financial empire of Tay Za.
(SFC, 2/6/08, p.A7)
2008 Feb 12, In Myanmar
supporters of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi protested to demand
democracy in Myanmar, days after the military regime said it would
hold elections in 2010 under a new constitution likely to entrench
the junta's powerful position.
2008 Feb 19, Myanmar's ruling
junta said the country's new draft constitution, which will replace
one scrapped in 1988, has been completed.
2008 Mar 3, In Myanmar 5 people
were killed in execution-style shootings in the wealthy Yangon
neighborhood where democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is under house
2008 Mar 3, The Sri Lankan navy
said it rescued 71 Burmese Bangladeshi citizens aboard a vessel that
had drifted for 12 days in the Indian Ocean. 20 others had died from
lack of food and water.
(SFC, 3/4/08, p.A3)
2008 Mar 5, In Myanmar
pro-democracy party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
said they had failed in a bid to sue the military government for not
recognizing their 1990 election victory.
2008 Mar 21, In Myanmar a man
set himself on fire at Shwedagon pagoda, Yangon's most famous
landmark in a political protest against the military junta. He died
of his injuries in April.
(www.mysinchew.com/node/8895)(WSJ, 4/23/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 27, Myanmar's junta
chief insisted that he is not power-hungry and intends to hand
control of the government to the winners of elections in 2010.
2008 Apr 2, Myanmar democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party urged voters to reject a
military-backed draft constitution, saying it was undemocratic and
drafted under the junta's direct control.
2008 Apr 10, In Thailand 54
illegal migrant workers from Myanmar suffocated in the back of an
unventilated truck, while the rest of the passengers being smuggled
to Thailand pounded on the container and screamed in vain for the
driver's help. 37 of the dead were women and 17 were men. A Thai
court the next day convicted some 64 survivors of illegal entry and
rule to send them back to Myanmar.
(AP, 4/10/08)(Reuters, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr 12, Myanmar reportedly
had about 500,000 soldiers, twice the 1958 number.
(Econ, 4/12/08, p.29)
2008 May 1, Pres. Bush imposed
new sanctions against property owned or controlled by the military
junta in Myanmar.
(WSJ, 5/2/08, p.A8)
2008 May 3, A tropical cyclone
slammed into Myanmar's main city of Yangon, ripping off roofs,
felling trees and raising fears of major casualties. Later counts
guessed that some 138,000 died or went missing due to the cyclone.
Foreign countries mobilized to rush in aid after the country's
deadliest storm on record. In 2010 Emma Larkin authored “Everything
Is Broken: A Tale of Catastrophe in Burma."
(AP, 5/4/08)(AP, 5/6/08)(Econ, 5/1/10, p.86)
2008 May 6, Myanmar's junta
decided to postpone voting on a new constitution in areas
hardest-hit by a devastating cyclone as the death toll soared above
2008 May 7, The international
relief effort for hundreds of thousands of Myanmar cyclone victims
picked up speed as India dispatched two planeloads of aid and
Myanmar authorized the UN to send its own air shipment.
2008 May 8, Relief supplies
from the United Nations began arriving in Myanmar, but US military
planes loaded with aid were still denied access by the country's
isolationist regime five days after a devastating cyclone. Some
feared that lack of safe food and drinking water could push the
death toll above 100,000.
2008 May 9, Myanmar's junta
seized UN aid shipments headed for hungry and homeless survivors of
last week's devastating cyclone prompting the world body to suspend
further help. According to state media, 23,335 people died and
37,019 are missing from Cyclone Nargis.
2008 May 10, Myanmar's military
regime distributed international aid but plastered the boxes with
the names of top generals in an apparent effort to turn the relief
effort for last week's devastating cyclone into a propaganda
exercise. Voting on a new constitution began in all but the hardest
hit parts of the country. The UN said at least one million survivors
remain without aid more than a week after the deadly cyclone.
(AP, 5/10/08)(AFP, 5/10/08)
2008 May 11, In Myanmar a Red
Cross boat carrying rice and drinking water for cyclone victims
sank, while the death toll jumped to more than 28,000 and aid groups
warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.
2008 May 12, Myanmar state
television put the death toll for Cyclone Nargis at 31,938 with
29,770 people missing. The US White House said it was extending an
extra 13 million dollars in aid as the first US flight of emergency
supplies landed in the country.
(AP, 5/12/08)(SFC, 5/13/08, p.A3)
2008 May 14, Experts said the
1.5 million people left destitute by Myanmar's cyclone are in
increasing danger of disease and starvation, but the ruling junta
said no to a Thai request to admit more aid workers. The Red Cross
said the death toll could reach nearly 128,000. Another powerful
storm headed toward Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta and the UN
warned that inadequate relief efforts could lead to a second wave of
deaths among the estimated 2 million survivors.
(AP, 5/14/08)(WSJ, 5/15/08, p.A1)
2008 May 15, Myanmar's junta
warned that legal action would be taken against people who trade or
hoard international aid as the cyclone's death toll soared above
43,000. Myanmar announced that a constitution won massive support in
a referendum, a claim slammed by a leading rights group as an insult
to the country's people.
2008 May 16, The EU aid chief
said that Myanmar's junta still would not budge on accepting foreign
relief workers, two weeks after the cyclone tragedy that has left
more than 71,000 dead or missing.
2008 May 17, Frustrated world
leaders tightened the pressure on Myanmar, raising the allegation of
crimes against humanity over the regime's slow-moving response to
the cyclone disaster. Diplomats witnessed "huge" devastation in the
Irrawaddy delta and the toll of dead and missing from the cyclone
rose above 133,000 people.
(AFP, 5/17/08)(Reuters, 5/17/08)
2008 May 18, A senior UN envoy
went to Myanmar to urge its military junta to accept more
international aid for cyclone survivors. A British minister
suggested the isolationist regime may be relenting.
2008 May 19, Myanmar declared
three days of mourning for cyclone victims after agreeing to an
international aid effort led by its Southeast Asian neighbors to
help two million survivors in dire need.
2008 May 20, The UN's top
humanitarian official made fresh pleas to Myanmar's military
government to allow in more foreign aid for cyclone survivors, as
the country began three days of mourning for the 134,000 dead and
2008 May 21, UN chief Ban
Ki-moon began a mission for Myanmar's cyclone victims, saying "our
focus now is on saving lives," as the military government gave
approval UN helicopters to distribute aid.
(Reuters, 5/21/08)(WSJ, 5/22/08, p.A1)
2008 May 23, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Myanmar's junta agreed to allow
all aid workers into the country after weeks of refusing access to
foreign relief experts seeking to help cyclone survivors.
2008 May 25, A 52-nation
international conference pledged tens of millions of dollars for
some 2.4 million Myanmar survivors in need of aid. Official
estimates put the death toll at about 78,000, with another 56,000
missing. Myanmar has estimated the economic damage at about $11
2008 May 27, Myanmar's military
junta extended opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention by one
year, ignoring worldwide appeals to free the Nobel laureate who has
been detained for more than 12 of the past 18 years.
2008 May 30, Myanmar's ruling
junta lashed out at foreign aid donors, saying cyclone victims did
not need supplies of "chocolate bars" and could instead survive by
eating frogs and fish.
2008 Jun 5, Amnesty
International said Myanmar's military regime has forced cyclone
survivors to do menial labor in exchange for food and stepped up a
campaign to evict displaced citizens from aid shelters.
2008 Jun 9, UN helicopters
fanned out across Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, ferrying critical
supplies to villages struggling to survive since a devastating
cyclone struck more than five weeks ago.
2008 Jun 12, ASEAN said
Southeast Asian and UN experts will have full access to
cyclone-devastated parts of Myanmar, where more than a million
people have still not received any foreign help.
2008 Jun 12, In central Myanmar
at least 11 people died over the last 24 hours when their homes
collapsed from landslides caused by heavy rain.
2008 Jun 24, Myanmar's ruling
junta announced that 84,500 people perished in Cyclone Nargis in
May, up from an earlier confirmed toll of 77,700.
2008 Jul 1, In Myanmar a ferry
named "Myo Pa Pa Tun" sank in the Yway river in the cyclone-battered
Irrawaddy delta, killing 38 people. 44 others were rescued.
2008 Jul 6, Myanmar's state-run
newspaper said the overwhelming election victory by Aung San Suu
Kyi's party in 1990 has been nullified by the approval of a
military-backed constitution and her National League for Democracy
party should prepare for a new vote in 2010.
2008 Jul 8, State-media said
Myanmar's military regime has approved visas for more than 1,500
international aid workers to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, with
half of them involved in relief operations in storm-hit regions.
2008 Jul 21, A UN-led report
said Myanmar needs at least $1 billion over the next three years to
put the survivors of Cyclone Nargis back on their feet, in the first
comprehensive assessment of damage caused by the disaster that
killed more than 84,000 people.
2008 Jul 25, A UN official said
as much as 25 percent of cyclone relief aid in Myanmar is being lost
because of the military government's foreign exchange system.
2008 Jul 29, Pres. Bush signed
a bill freezing the assets of political and military leaders in
Myanmar and banning the importation of rubies and jade from Myanmar
to the US. The legislation also gave incentives to Chevron to divest
its natural gas program there. The US Treasury announced financial
sanctions on 10 companies suspected of being owned by Myanmar’s
(SFC, 7/30/08, p.A4)
2008 Aug 6, President George W.
Bush flew into Bangkok on the latest leg of a pre-Olympics Asian
tour, although his focus in Thailand is mainly on the "outpost of
tyranny" junta in neighboring Myanmar.
2008 Aug 7, In Thailand first
lady Laura Bush, meeting with refugees who fled a brutal campaign by
Myanmar's military junta, urged China and other countries to join
the US in imposing sanctions against the country.
2008 Sep 1, In Myanmar Saw
Myint Than, a magazine journalist was arrested on a charge of
violating the Electronics Law, which regulates all forms of
electronic communication and carries a maximum five-year prison
term. He was freed on Oct 20 after police determined he had not
provided information to The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based Web site run
by Myanmar exiles.
2008 Sep 5, The political party
of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi urged Myanmar's
military government to ensure her well-being as she continued to
refuse food deliveries to protest her detention.
2008 Sep 16, A Buddhist monk
slashed his throat in a suicide attempt at Myanmar's most sacred
temple, the scene of several pro-democracy protests that erupted a
year ago. A trustee of the Shwedagon temple said the monk became
desperate after running out of money to pay for medical care.
2008 Sep 23, Myanmar's
longest-serving political prisoner, journalist Win Tin, was freed
after 19 years behind bars and vowed to continue his struggle to
achieve democracy in the military-ruled country. Altogether Myanmar
freed 9,002 prisoners. Win Htein (64), a former aide to Myanmar
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was re-arrested less than 24
hours after being freed by the military government in the mass
(AP, 9/23/08)(SFC, 9/24/08, p.A4)(AP, 9/26/08)
2008 Nov 11, Myanmar sentenced
23 activists, including 5 Buddhist monks arrested during anti-junta
protests last year to 65 years each in jail, in what rights groups
branded a fresh attempt to stifle dissent. Min Ko Naing, considered
as one of Myanmar's top activists, was among those sentenced.
(AP, 11/11/08)(AFP, 11/14/08)(AFP, 11/15/08)
2008 Nov 13, Myanmar courts
handed down sentences of between six and eight years for 4 Buddhist
monks and two to 16 years for members of Nobel Peace Prize winner
Aung San Suu Kyi's party for involvement in last year's massive
protests against the military junta. 14 more activists from the NLD
were sentenced the next day at different courts in Yangon for
between two to 16 years, all in relation to last year's protests.
2008 Nov 14, In Myanmar
journalist Ein Khaing Oo, who had been detained for five months, was
sentenced to two years in prison for her coverage of a protest over
the lack of government relief for victims of a devastating cyclone.
She was convicted in a closed-door trial on charges of "disturbing
2008 Nov 17, Courts in
military-ruled Myanmar sentenced at least seven democracy activists
to prison, continuing a crackdown that saw about 70 people jailed
2008 Nov 19, A court in
military-ruled Myanmar sentenced a student activist to 6 1/2 years
in jail, a week after his father received a 65-year prison term for
his own political activities and a decade after his grandfather died
in custody. Di Nyein Lin was one of three student activists
sentenced by a court in a suburb of Yangon for various offenses,
including causing public alarm and insulting religion.
2008 Nov 21, Courts in
military-ruled Myanmar handed long prison sentences to a prominent
Buddhist monk and Zarganar, a popular comedian active in the
country's pro-democracy movement, rounding out two weeks of an
intensive judicial crackdown on activists.
2008 Nov 27, A court inside
Myanmar's notorious Insein prison sentenced a comedian who has
criticized the government's cyclone response to 14 more years,
bringing his total prison term to 59 years, his lawyer said.
Comedian and activist Zarganar was given a 45-year prison sentence
last week after he was convicted on charges related to interviews he
gave to foreign media outlets.
2008 Nov 28, In Myanmar 2
journalists were jailed for seven years each on charges of
undermining the military junta after they were caught with a UN
human rights report. A court in a northeastern suburb of Yangon
sentenced Thet Zin, editor of the local Myanmar-language journal
News Watch, and Sein Win Maung, the paper's manager, under the
country's draconian Printing and Publishing Law.
2008 Dec 29, The Indian Coast
Guard rescued two people off India's east coast during a search for
more than 300 illegal immigrants missing for the past four days and
feared dead. Survivors told Indian authorities that more than 300
people from Bangladesh and Myanmar, members of the ethnic Rohingya
minority, had jumped from a rickety boat that had been drifting for
13 days in the Indian Ocean and tried to swim to shore near the
Andaman Islands. On Jan 16 a refugees' advocacy group accused the
Thai navy of tying up four illegal immigrants and throwing them into
the ocean before abandoning hundreds of others on a barge in open
water, where some 300 drowned. At least 100 were rescued in Indian
waters. Survivors at the time told Indian authorities they had been
detained by Thai authorities, who towed them into the open sea and
(AP, 12/30/08)(AP, 1/16/09)(SSFC, 1/18/09, p.A5)
2009 Jan 17, Two dehydrated men
from Myanmar were found bobbing in an ice box in the Torres Strait
off Australia. They told authorities they had spent 25 days adrift
after their fishing boat sank. There was no sign of 18 other crew
2009 Jan 26, The Thai navy
detained a boat filled with 78 illegal Rohingya migrants, many of
whom had lacerations and burns they said were inflicted by Myanmar
2009 Jan 28, A new UN report
said Myanmar faced food shortages in many parts of the country,
largely because of last year's cyclone and a rat infestation that
destroyed crops. A human rights group said the Chin people,
Christians living in the remote mountains of northwestern Myanmar,
are subject to forced labor, torture, extrajudicial killings and
religious persecution by the country's military regime.
2009 Jan 28, A Thai court
convicted 66 barefoot, disheveled migrants detained at sea of
illegally entering the country, raising the prospect they could be
sent back to Myanmar despite fears they would be persecuted there.
2009 Jan 30, Indonesia said it
will repatriate 174 "economic migrants" who fled Myanmar claiming
persecution, as new accounts emerged of their harrowing sea journey
and alleged abuse by the Thai navy. The 174 Rohingya and 19
Bangladeshis being kept at an Indonesian naval base landed in Weh
Island off northern Sumatra on January 7.
2009 Feb 2, Indonesia's navy
picked up 198 starving, dehydrated boat people from Myanmar who said
they drifted for three weeks after authorities in Thailand forced
them to sea in a boat without an engine. Indonesian fishermen had
discovered the 40-foot (12-meter) boat off Aceh's coast in northern
Sumatra and towed it to shore.
2009 Feb 13, Myanmar's military
government extended the house arrest of the deputy leader of Aung
San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party for one year, despite recent calls
from the United Nations for the release of political prisoners.
2009 Feb 20, In Myanmar the
government announced an amnesty for 6,300 prisoners. Only a handful
of political detainees were among those released.
(SFC, 2/21/09, p.A2)(AFP, 2/22/09)
2009 Mar 17, Authorities in
Myanmar were reported to have arrested five members of detained
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party from March
6-13. the report came a day after the UN called for the release of
more than 2,000 political prisoners in the military-run country.
2009 Apr 21, In Myanmar
authorities arrested Chit Pe, the pro-democracy deputy chairman, and
party member Aung Saw Wei in Twante township. Both took part in a
prayer service for the release of political prisoners which was held
at a pagoda, about 20 miles south of Yangon. The two were charged
with insulting religion, which carries a possible two-year jail
2009 Apr 24, Malaysia's PM
Najib Razak vowed to investigate a scathing report by US lawmakers
saying thousands of Myanmar refugees were handed over to human
traffickers and ended up working in Thai brothels.
2009 May 14, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was charged with breaking the terms of her
house arrest and faces up to five years in jail after John Yettaw,
an American intruder, sneaked into her lakeside home.
(AP, 5/14/09)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.44)
2009 May 22, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty at her trial and blamed
the regime's lax security for allowing an American intruder to swim
uninvited to her lakeside home.
2009 Jun 5, In Myanmar refugees
began streaming out of the Ler Per Her camp in eastern Karen state
and into Thailand as Myanmar forces shelled near a camp where they
2009 Jun 6, Myanmar forces
started launching mortar attacks during fighting with Karen
2009 Jun 6, It was reported
that Chinese aid to Myanmar totaled some $400 million over the past
five years. US aid to Myanmar was said to be worth $12 million a
(Econ, 6/6/09, p.59)
2009 Jul 4, In Myanmar UN chief
Ban Ki-moon gave a rare public speech outlining his vision for a
democratic Myanmar, just hours after the ruling junta refused to let
him meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
2009 Aug 1, The Sydney Morning
Herald reported that North Korea is helping Myanmar build a secret
nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction plant to build an atomic
bomb within five years, citing the evidence of defectors. "In the
event that the testimony of the defectors is proved, the alleged
secret reactor could be capable of being operational and producing
one bomb a year, every year, after 2014."
2009 Aug 8, Myanmar government
troops seized a weapons factory near the Chinese border after being
informed about it during a ministerial meeting with China on
combating transnational crime. This triggered several days of
clashes with an ethnic militia that sent more than 30,000 refugees
fleeing across the border into China.
2009 Aug 11, A Myanmar court
convicted Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi of violating her
house arrest by allowing John Yettaw, an uninvited American, to stay
at her home. The head of the military-ruled country ordered the
democracy leader to serve an 18-month sentence under house arrest.
Yettaw was also convicted, and had just spent a week in a prison
hospital for epileptic seizures.
(AP, 8/11/09)(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 13, The EU said it was
extending its sanctions on Myanmar to cover members of the judiciary
responsible for the verdict in the trial of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
2009 Aug 15, In Myanmar US Sen.
Jim Webb won the release of John Yettaw (53), an American prisoner
convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for swimming
secretly to the residence of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu
2009 Aug 24, Myanmar police
seized more than 100 blocks of heroin and nearly 3 million
methamphetamine tablets near the border with Thailand in one of the
military-ruled country's largest drug seizures.
2009 Aug 25, US Senator Jim
Webb, back from a rare trip to Myanmar, called sanctions against the
military regime "overwhelmingly counter-productive" and asked the
opposition to consider taking part in upcoming elections.
2009 Aug 27, In Myanmar fresh
fighting erupted between government forces and an armed ethnic group
in the remote northeast, forcing tens of thousands to flee across
the border into China.
2009 Aug 29, Fighting erupted
in northeast Myanmar after days of clashes in which the leader of
ethnic forces said more than 30 government troops had been killed.
Hundreds of ethnic rebels fled clashes in northeastern Myanmar,
surrendering their weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and
crossing to safety after several days of skirmishes with Myanmar
government troops. The UN and Chinese officials said up to 30,000
civilian refugees have streamed into China to escape the fighting.
(Reuters, 8/29/09)(AP, 8/30/09)
2009 Aug 30, The Myanmar junta
ended a news blackout about clashes with ethnic rebels near the
China border, saying three days of fighting killed 26 government
forces and at least eight rebels.
2009 Aug 31, Thousands of
Myanmar refugees headed home from China as fighting between
government troops and a rebel militia that left more than 30 people
dead appeared to be over.
2009 Sep 3, Myanmar-born Kyaw
Zaw Lwin, an American citizen also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, was
arrested when he arrived at Yangon airport. Lwin started a hunger
strike on Dec. 4 to protest conditions of political prisoners in
Myanmar. He ended his hunger strike Dec. 15 and was subsequently
placed in solitary confinement. On Jan 1, 2010, Lwin was charged for
forgery and violation of the foreign currency act. Lwin (40) was
released on March 18, 2010.
(AP, 12/29/09)(AP, 1/1/10)(AFP, 3/18/10)
2009 Sep 17, Myanmar's junta
announced amnesty to 7,114 convicts at prisons across the country,
but it was not immediately known if they included political
2009 Sep 18, Myanmar released
at least 25 political detainees as part of an amnesty program. The
country was believed to be holding some 65,000 prisoners including
over 2,200 political detainees.
(SFC, 9/19/09, p.A2)
2009 Sep 29, The US signaled a
new approach to Myanmar as Kurt Campbell, assistant to the US Sec.
of State, met in NY with U Thaung, Myanmar’s minister of science,
technology and labor.
(Econ, 10/3/09, p.52)
2009 Oct 9, Myanmar's detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was granted a rare meeting with
top Western diplomats to discuss sanctions imposed on the
2009 Nov 3, The US began a new
policy of engagement with Myanmar's ruling military junta, sending
two senior diplomats for the highest-level visit in more than a
2009 Nov 4, In Myanmar a top US
official held talks with Aung San Suu Kyi as the ruling junta gave
the democracy icon a rare break from house arrest during
Washington's highest-level visit here in 14 years. Assistant
Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell
also met PM Thein Sein as part of efforts by the Obama
administration to re-engage with the hardline military regime.
2009 Nov 6, Japan pledged $5.5
billion in aid over 3 years for Southeast Asia's 5 Mekong River
nations (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam), seeking to
deepen ties with the region amid growing influence from China.
2009 Nov 15, In Myanmar a ferry
carrying nearly 200 passengers sank after colliding with an oil
barge in the Ngawun River, killing at least 31 and leaving more than
a dozen missing.
(AP, 11/16/09)(AP, 11/17/09)
2009 Dec 16, In Myanmar 6
people were killed and 12 injured when a time bomb exploded in Karen
2009 Dec 31, In Myanmar
Freelance reporter Hla Hla Win (25) was sentenced by a court in
Pakokku for an alleged violation of the country's Electronics Act.
She was arrested in September after visiting a Buddhist monastery in
the northern town of Pakokku. The jailed reporter had worked with
the Myanmar exile broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), based
in Oslo, Norway. A man accompanying her was sentenced to 26 years in
2009 Dec, Myanmar began its
Myitsone hydropower project. All the electricity was to be exported
to China with revenues going to the Myanmar government.
2010 Jan 1, A free-trade
agreement between China and the 10 members of the Association of
Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) came into effect. The 6 richest
members scrapped tariffs on 90% of goods. The 4 poorest (Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar) will not need to cut tariffs to the same
level until 2015.
(SSFC, 1/3/10, p.A4)(Econ, 1/9/10, p.44)
2010 Jan 4, Myanmar's ruling
junta chief confirmed that the country's first general elections in
two decades will be held this year but gave no date for the
balloting, which is expected to exclude pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
2010 Jan 26, In Myanmar the
Palaung Women's Organization reported that opium cultivation in Shan
State has tripled in certain areas over the past three years. The
Palaung are an ethnic minority in the northern state.
2010 Feb 10, In Myanmar a court
sentenced Nyi Nyi Aung, a Burmese-born American, to 3 years of hard
labor for carrying a forged identity card, undeclared US currency
and for not renouncing his nationality after becoming a US citizen.
He was arrested last September when he returned to visit his mother,
an imprisoned democracy activist suffering from cancer.
(SFC, 2/11/10, p.A2)
2010 Feb 13, In Myanmar Tin Oo
(82), the deputy leader of the pro-democracy party, was released by
the military regime after almost seven years in detention and said
he hoped the party's leader Aung San Suu Kyi would also soon gain
2010 Feb 15, Myanmar sentenced
four activists to prison terms with hard labor as special UN envoy
Tomas Ojea Quintana arrived to assess progress on human rights in
the country. The four women were arrested last October after being
accused of offering Buddhist monks alms that included religious
2010 Feb 17, In Myanmar Gaw
Thita, a Buddhist monk, was quietly sentenced to seven years in
prison violating immigration laws by taking a trip to Taiwan last
2010 Feb 23, In Myanmar a
Cameroon football player fled temporarily to the French embassy in
Yangon as he was being taken to court by police for allegedly
counterfeiting currency notes. He surrendered to police a short time
later could face life imprisonment.
2010 Feb 28, In Myanmar Sai
Thein Win, a former major in the army, defected and brought papers
confirming Myanmar’s intent, if not yet capacity, to enrich uranium
and eventually build a bomb.
(Econ, 6/12/10, p.48)(http://tinyurl.com/35vxtvh)
2010 Mar 8, Myanmar announced
the enactment of long awaited laws that set the stage for the
country's first election in 20 years to be held sometime this year.
2010 Mar 13, In Myanmar ethnic
rebels in Nam Zam township, Shan State, killed 20 government
troops in an ambush aimed at deterring the military government from
launching an offensive against them ahead of elections this year.
2010 Mar 25, China agreed to
share water level data at 2 dams to ease pressure from nations
downstream, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
(SFC, 4/6/10, p.A3)
2010 Mar 29, Myanmar's biggest
opposition party said it would not register for this year's
election, meaning Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party will
have no role in the military-led political process.
2010 Apr 15, In Myanmar 3 bombs
exploded at a water festival in the former capital Yangon, killing 8
people and wounding 94. State TV blamed "destructive elements" for
2010 Apr 17, In northern
Myanmar a series of bombs exploded at a controversial hydropower
project site being jointly built by a Chinese company.
2010 Apr 29, In Myanmar
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi filed a lawsuit with the
country’s Supreme Court in an attempt to prevent the dissolution of
her party under a controversial new election law.
2010 May 4, Tin Tun Aung,
secretary of the Myanmar Travel Entrepreneurs Association, said
tourist visas, which are normally arranged days in advance at an
embassy abroad, will be now be available at international airports
in Mandalay and the biggest city, Yangon.
2010 May 6, Myanmar leaders of
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party said they would
continue working as a social movement after a new election law
forced its dissolution as a political party at midnight.
2010 May 7, In Myanmar a
faction of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition declared it will form its
own political party to contest Myanmar's first elections in two
decades, a day after the democracy icon's party disbanded to boycott
the vote it says will be flawed.
2010 Jun 4, Robert Kelley, a
former senior UN nuclear inspector, said secret documents and
hundreds of photos smuggled out of Myanmar by an army defector
indicate its military regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons
and long-range missiles.
2010 Jun 17, Officials and
reports said floods and landslides triggered by incessant monsoon
rains in Bangladesh and Myanmar have killed more than 100 people.
2010 Jun 18, Myanmar state
media reported that days of flooding and landslides caused by
monsoon downpours have killed 57 people in its northwest.
2010 Jul 10, Myanmar state
media reported that a new party formed by renegade members of
detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's disbanded party has
received a permit to participate in Myanmar's first elections in two
2010 Jul 15, In Myanmar Win
Htein, a former aide to Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, was released from prison after 14 years behind bars.
2010 Jul 30, In Myanmar
official talks between North Korea and Myanmar entered a second day.
The US said it is carefully watching the budding secretive
relationship between the 2 countries for signs of nuclear
2010 Aug 14, The EU told
military-run Myanmar that its Nov. 7 elections, the first in two
decades, will not be considered legitimate in the eyes of the world
unless it can ensure the vote is free and fair.
2010 Aug 27, Myanmar's junta
carried out a major military reshuffle Friday that retired more than
a dozen senior leaders, in an apparent move to prepare for November
2010 Sep 30, Lawyers said
courts in military-ruled Myanmar have given long prison sentences to
13 people, including a Buddhist monk, who were accused of planning
bombings and other activities to disrupt upcoming elections.
2010 Oct 5, In Myanmar detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi launched a legal battle against
the ruling military junta, suing to keep her political party intact
after it was disbanded earlier this year under Myanmar's new party
2010 Sep 7, Myanmar’s ruling
junta leader, Gen. Than Shwe, began a 4-day visit to China. This
year alone China had already invested over $8 billion in Myanmar.
(Econ, 9/11/10, p.52)
2010 Oct 18, Myanmar election
officials said foreign journalists will not be allowed to cover its
Nov 7 elections, the first in 20 years.
(SFC, 10/19/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 21, Military-ruled
Myanmar unveiled a new national flag. The new flag has horizontal
stripes of yellow, green and red with a big white star in the
middle. (These horizontal colors are identical to the Lithuanian
2010 Oct 25, Myanmar state
television reported that at least 27 people were killed and tens of
thousands displaced when Cyclone Giri struck its western coast a
(SFC, 10/26/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 26, An annual report
by Transparency Int’l. marked Somalia as the most corrupt county in
the world, followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar and Iraq. Denmark, New
Zealand and Singapore tied as the world’s least corrupt nations. The
US declined to 22nd from 19th last year.
(SFC, 10/27/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 27, Scientists said a
new type of snub-nosed monkey has been found in a remote forested
region of northern Myanmar, which is under threat from logging and a
Chinese dam project.
2010 Nov 2, Myanmar election
authorities canceled voting in Nov 7 elections in 12 more village
tracts in six constituencies in Kayah state, where restive ethnic
minorities are dominant. The commission in September announced the
cancellation of voting in about 300 village tracts in 33 townships
where restive ethnic minorities are dominant. Six armed ethnic
groups in Myanmar forged an agreement to join forces, fearing they
will be attacked by the regime after the elections. The "landmark
deal" was struck in the Thai-Myanmar town of Mae Hong Son and
included organizations from the Karen, Karenni, Chin, Kachin, Mon
and Shan minorities.
(AP, 11/2/10)(AP, 11/4/10)
2010 Nov 7, Myanmar held its
first election in 20 years under tight security, a scripted vote
that assured army-backed parties an easy win. Complex rules for the
election thwarted any chance of a pro-democracy upset as Myanmar
ended half a century of direct army rule. Minority Karen rebels
seized government buildings in clashes with troops in the border
town of Myawaddy. Myanmar's biggest military-backed party won the
country's first election in 20 years by a landslide, after a
carefully choreographed vote denounced by pro-democracy parties as
rigged to preserve authoritarian rule.
(Reuters, 11/7/10)(Reuters, 11/8/10)(Reuters,
2010 Nov 8, In Myanmar fighting
between ethnic rebels and government troops has sent at least 10,000
refugees fleeing into Thailand just after a widely criticized
election expected to usher in a parliament sympathetic to the
military regime. Thai officials said that fighting had died down,
and government troops had regained control of Myawaddy.
2010 Nov 9, About 20,000
refugees from Myanmar headed home after fleeing to Thailand as
fighting followed a general election that is certain to keep
Myanmar's military and its allies in power.
2010 Nov 9, A UN report
suggesting North Korea may have supplied Syria, Iran and Myanmar
with banned nuclear technology headed to the Security Council. The
latest report by the so-called Panel of Experts on Pyongyang's
compliance with UN sanctions was delivered to the Security Council's
North Korea sanctions committee in May, but did not move for nearly
six months due to Chinese objections.
2010 Nov 12, An ally of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said an order for her release
has been signed by Myanmar's ruling generals, as hundreds of
supporters gathered at her political party headquarters and near her
residence in anticipation.
2010 Nov 13, Myanmar's military
government freed its archrival, democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
(65), after her latest term of detention expired. Several thousand
jubilant supporters streamed to her residence.
2010 Nov 14, In army-ruled
Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for freedom of
speech, urged thousands of supporters to stand up for their rights,
and indicated she may urge the West to end sanctions.
2010 Nov 16, Myanmar's military
government warned against filing complaints over the Nov. 7
election, a move that could spell trouble for pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi who has vowed to probe alleged voting
2010 Nov 19, A UN General
Assembly committee passed resolutions condemning human rights
violations in Iran, North Korea and Myanmar, provoking a furious
reaction from their delegations. The committee passed the resolution
by 80 votes to 44, with 57 abstentions.
2010 Nov 21, A global tiger
summit meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, approved a wide-ranging
program with the goal of doubling the world's tiger population in
the wild by 2022 backed by governments of the 13 countries that
still have tiger populations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China,
India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam
and Russia. Experts said wild tigers could become extinct in 12
years if countries where they still roam fail to take quick action
to protect their habitats and step up the fight against poaching.
2010 Nov 26, Myanmar published
laws, signed by junta chief Gen. Than Shwe, stipulating that
parliamentarians will be allowed freedom of expression unless their
speeches endanger national security, the unity of the country or
violate the constitution. They also provide a two-year prison term
for those who stage protests in the parliament compound or
physically assault a lawmaker on its premises.
2010 Dec 14, A report, "High
and Dry," by the Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization and the Shan
Women's Action Network, said local trade and transport on the river
in northern Myanmar near a border trade crossing with China has been
severely affected by unpredictable daily changes in the water level
since the completion in mid-2010 of the 360-foot (110-m) tall
Longjiang Dam about 19 miles (30 kilometers) upstream.
2010 Emma Larkin authored
“Everything Is Broken: A Tale of Catastrophe in Burma."
(Econ, 5/1/10, p.86)
2010 In Myanmar the annual
income per person was about $459.
(Econ, 8/21/10, p.34)
2011 Jan 30, The Myanmar
opposition group led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi launched its
first official website: http://www.nldburma.org/.
2011 Jan 31, In Myanmar an
elected parliament convened for the first time in half a century but
inspired scant enthusiasm among a skeptical public convinced it is
just a smokescreen for continued military rule.
2011 Feb 1, Myanmar's first
parliament in more than two decades nominated five vice-presidential
candidates, one of whom will become president and lead the new
2011 Feb 3, Myanmar's new
parliament elected Thein Sein, prime minister in the outgoing
military junta, as one of three vice presidents, making him a likely
contender for president in the new military-dominated government.
2011 Feb 4, Myanmar's newly
elected parliament named Thein Sein (65), a key figure in the
long-ruling military junta, as president, ensuring that the first
civilian government in decades will be dominated by the army that
has brutally suppressed dissent.
2011 Feb 16, Indonesian marine
police said they have up 129 starving men from Myanmar off the coast
of Aceh. The refugees all belonged to the Rohingya minority, who are
not recognized by Myanmar’s military rulers.
(SFC, 2/17/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 8, Authorities in
Myanmar announced a ban on massage parlors and restrictions on
restaurants and karaoke lounges in the country's remote capital,
Naypyitaw, in a bid to curb disguised prostitution.
2011 Mar 23, In Myanmar
Benedict Rogers, author of "Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant,"
was deported from the country after being identified by secret
2011 Mar 24, In Myanmar a 6.8
earthquake struck the northeast, shaking buildings as far away as
Bangkok. At least 75 people were killed and 111 injured.
(AP, 3/24/11)(Reuters, 3/24/11)(AP, 3/25/11)(AFP,
2011 Mar 26, Myanmar reportedly
earned more than $2.8 billion from the sale of jade, gems and pearls
at its annual gems auction, held this month in the capital,
2011 Mar 30, Myanmar made way
for a nominally civilian government after almost half a century in
power, as the junta was disbanded and a new president talked of a
2011 Apr 4, Myanmar reported
that nearly 700 fishermen were missing after a three-day burst of
unseasonable storms that ripped apart rickety fishing boats in the
Andaman Sea. The March 14-17 storms had whipped up 70 mph (112 kph)
2011 May 17, Myanmar began
releasing 17,000 prisoners, under a clemency program that sparked
outrage from critics as it leaves more than 2,000 political
detainees languishing in jail.
2011 May 18, In Myanmar a bomb
exploded on a passenger train near the capital, killing two people
and injuring nine.
2011 May 27, China bestowed a
pomp-filled welcome on Myanmar's Pres. Thein Sein, conferring
legitimacy on the country's new, nominally civilian government and
ensuring continued Chinese access to its neighbor's natural
2011 Jun 9, In northern Myanmar
fighting began 9 when government troops allegedly shelled a Kachin
base in a bid to force the rebel fighters from a strategic region
where China is constructing major hydropower plants.
2011 Jun 14, Myanmar government
troops battled rebel fighters of the Kachin Independence
Organization in an effort to force them from a strategic region
where China is building major hydropower plants. The fighting has
left 20 people dead and forced 2000 to flee.
(SFC, 6/15/11, p.A2)
2011 Jun 16, In northern
Myanmar more than 10,000 people were reported to have fled fighting
between government troops and the Kachin ethnic minority group's
militia. They were living in temporary camps near the Chinese border
2011 Jun 22, The Myanmar
military-backed government deported Hollywood actress Michelle Yeoh,
who stars as pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an upcoming
movie, on the same day as she arrived in Yangon. The Luc Besson
movie about Suu Kyi's life, "The Lady," is due out later this year.
2011 Jun 24, In Myanmar 4 bombs
exploded in three cities, wounding at least two people.
2011 Jun 29, Myanmar's state
media warned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi that her planned
tour to meet supporters outside Yangon could trigger riots.
2011 Jun, UN Statistics
Division said 70 territories would be holding censuses in 2011. Only
Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia, Uzbekistan and Western Sahara would
fail to hold a count in this ten-year round.
(Econ, 6/4/11, p.71)
2011 Aug 2, In northern Myanmar
Kachin rebels ambushed a car carrying workers from a Chinese-backed
hydroelectric project, killing seven people.
2011 Aug 14, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi tested the limits of her freedom by taking
her first political trip into the countryside since being released
from house arrest.
2011 Aug 18, Myanmar's
state-run media said the government has officially invited armed
ethnic groups to join peace talks for the first time.
2011 Aug 19, Myanmar
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi held her first meeting with
the military-dominated country's new President Thein Sein. It was
her highest contact with the new government since her release from
house arrest last November.
2011 Aug 31, In western Myanmar
7 people, including 2 children, were killed when a World War II bomb
they found in a river exploded in Rakhine state.
2011 Sep 13, Myanmar said it
has released about 20,000 prisoners this year as of the end of July
under an amnesty program.
2011 Sep 16, Myanmar's new
government was reported to have stopped blocking some foreign
websites this week, such as the BBC and YouTube, in a gesture toward
openness tempered by remaining harsh laws that still keep readers of
such sites at risk of arrest.
2011 Sep 26, Myanmar democracy
activists freshly tested the new government's avowed tolerance for
dissent by gathering peacefully at a central landmark in the
country's biggest city in honor of giant protests four years ago.
2011 Sep 30, Myanmar's
President Thein Sein ordered a halt to construction of the Myitsone
dam, a controversial $3.6 billion mega dam, following rare public
opposition over the Chinese-backed hydropower project. Myitsone was
just one of 7 dams planned for the upper Irrawaddy.
(AFP, 9/30/11)(Econ, 10/8/11, p.51)
2011 Oct 5, Thai PM Yingluck
Shinawatra met Myanmar's president during her first visit to the
military-dominated country since she took office in August.
2011 Oct 5, Suspected drug
traffickers hijacked two Chinese cargo ships on the Mekong River in
northern Thailand. The bodies of 13 crew members were found near
Chiang Rai, Thailand on Oct 7,8 and 10. Burmese drug lord Naw Kham
was arrested in Laos in May. In Nov, 2012, he and 3 of his
associates were sentenced to death by a court in Kunming. Thai
police continued to search for 9 Thai soldiers believed to have been
(AP, 10/10/11)(Econ, 11/10/12, p.43)
2011 Oct 11, Myanmar's newly
elected civilian government announced it will release 6,359
prisoners in an amnesty that could help patch up the country's human
rights record and normalize relations with Western nations. Only 200
turned out to be political prisoners.
(AP, 10/11/11)(Econ, 10/15/11, p.52)
2011 Oct 11, Myanmar’s
government signed legislation allowing the establishment of trade
2011 Oct 12, Myanmar released
at least 184 political prisoners, including Zarganar, one of its
most famous comedians, in a tentative sign of change in the
authoritarian state after decades of repression.
2011 Oct 28, Myanmar police
filed charges against seven people who staged a peaceful protest
against alleged unfair confiscation of their land, which comes as
the outside world watches the government's stated commitment to
democratic reforms. Those charged included labor rights lawyer Pho
Phyu, who was with more than 30 farmers who staged a sit-in a day
earlier in front of the government housing department in Yangon.
2011 Oct 31, China, Laos,
Myanmar and Thailand signed a regional security agreement pledging
to share intelligence and to engage in joint patrols along a stretch
of the Mekong between China and the Golden Triangle.
(Econ, 11/19/11, p.45)
2011 Nov 4, Myanmar's President
Thein Sein signed new legislation on political parties seen as
encouraging Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy to reregister as a party.
2011 Nov 20, Myanmar ended 2
days of peace talks with 5 ethnic armies on the Thai-Burma border.
More meetings were scheduled in upcoming months.
(SFC, 11/23/11, p.A7)
2011 Nov 24, Myanmar's
Parliament approved a law guaranteeing the right to protest, one of
a series of reforms under the new elected government.
2011 Nov 29, A Myanmar
government delegation held talks in China with representatives of
the Kachin Independence Organization, led by its chairman Zaung
Hara, with which it has had armed clashes since June.
2011 Nov 30, US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton arrived in Myanmar on the first top-level US
visit for half a century.
2011 Dec 2, Myanmar's Pres.
Thein Sein formally approved a bill allowing citizens to protest
peacefully if they have permission, in one of a series of reformist
moves by the regime. Shan State Army-South rebel group, one of the
main ethnic rebel groups battling Myanmar’s government, was reported
to have signed a preliminary cease-fire.
(AFP, 12/3/11)(AP, 12/2/11)
2011 Dec 13, Myanmar
authorities gave Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party the green light
to rejoin mainstream politics, paving the way for the Nobel laureate
to run for a seat in the new parliament.
2011 Dec 21, A blast in
Myanmar's commercial hub and former capital Yangon killed one woman
and wounded another.
2011 Thant Myint-U authored
“Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia."
(Econ, 8/20/11, p.75)
2011 Myanmar land for opium
poppies increased 17% this year, the 6th consecutive year of annual
increase. Myanmar growers represented about 10% of the world’s
heroin supply, second only to Afghanistan.
(SFC, 11/1/12, p.A5)
2012 Jan 1, In Myanmar gas
prices unexpectedly rose more than 30 percent for the new year and
sparked fears of other goods costing more as well.
2012 Jan 3, Myanmar began
releasing some prisoners, but activists and relatives said a
government clemency fell short of national reconciliation promise.
2012 Jan 5, Myanmar's
government approved the National League for Democracy to run in
upcoming by-elections that will return Aung San Suu Kyi's party to
mainstream politics after two decades.
2012 Jan 12, Myanmar's
government signed a cease-fire agreement with ethnic Karen rebels in
a major step toward ending one of the world's longest-running
insurgencies and meeting a key condition for better ties with the
West. Myanmar also said it will release 651 prisoners starting Jan
13 under a new presidential pardon, with anticipation mounting that
many of those to be freed will be political detainees.
2012 Jan 13, Myanmar freed some
of its most famous political inmates, sparking jubilation outside
prison gates while signaling its readiness to meet Western demands
for lifting economic sanctions. The Thai-based Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said that 272 political
prisoners were released, while more than 1,000 remained locked up.
President Thein Sein ordered the military not to attack any ethnic
minority groups except in self-defense.
(AP, 1/13/12)(AFP, 1/13/12)(AFP, 1/17/12)
2012 Jan 19, Myanmar's
government and ethnic Kachin rebels met for cease-fire talks to end
several months of armed clashes near the northern border with China,
but their preliminary meeting did not make any major breakthroughs.
2012 Jan 30, Myanmar’s Pres.
Thein Sein began a 3-day visit to Singapore. During the visit he
signed agreements on cooperation in areas from tourism to the law.
2012 Feb 1, In Myanmar an
agreement was reached by authorities in Mon State and the rebel New
Mon State Party. They agreed to allow the rebel group to open a
liaison office and freely travel without weapons.
2012 Feb 11, In Myanmar some
5,000 software developers and bloggers gathered in Yangon for
BarCamp, a get-together of geeks founded 7 years ago in Silicon
Valley. The first BarCamp was held in Palo Alto, California, from
August 19–21, 2005, in the offices of Socialtext.
2012 Feb 20, Myanmar
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party said that the
authorities had lifted campaign restrictions ahead of closely
watched by-elections, just hours after it made a complaint.
2012 Feb 22, In Myanmar
thousands came to the diamond-studded Shwedagon Pagoda for the
return of an annual festival that was banned for more than 20 years
by the former military regime. This marked what is being billed as
the 2,600-year anniversary of the temple, which according to legend
houses eight strands of Buddha's hair. A group of 12 monks are to
take turns chanting nonstop until the full moon on March 7, when the
2012 Mar 16, Myanmar signed an
agreement with the International Labor Organization to end forced
labor by 2015. The main problem involved adults and youngsters
pressed into working for the army.
2012 Mar 19, Myanmar released
the senior leader of the ethnic Karen National Union rebel group,
Mahn Nyein Maung, from Yangon's Insein prison under a presidential
pardon. He was arrested last year by Chinese authorities, who
deported him to Myanmar, where he was sentenced last week to 20
years in jail.
2012 Apr 1, Myanmar held
landmark elections. The by-election was called to fill just 45
vacant seats in Myanmar's 664-seat national Parliament. Supporters
of the opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi erupted in euphoric cheers
after her party said she won a parliamentary seat in a landmark
election. Her National League for Democracy stormed to victory in 43
of the 44 constituencies where it fielded candidates.
(AP, 4/1/12)(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 4, ASEAN leaders
called for Western countries, including the European Union, to
immediately lift punitive sanctions imposed on Myanmar now that the
once-pariah nation has embraced democratic reforms.
2012 Apr 4, The Obama
administration lifted a travel ban on some Myanmar senior leaders
and eased investment restriction as the government confirmed the
opposition’s electoral sweep in democratic elections.
(SFC, 4/5/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 7, Myanmar's Pres.
Thein Sein held his first meeting with Karen rebels, as the
government intensifies efforts to bolster peace with the country's
oldest insurgent group.
2012 Apr 8, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with Karen ethnic minority rebels in her
first significant foray into politics since her election to public
office a week earlier.
2012 Apr 13, In Myanmar British
PM David Cameron and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi issued a
joint call for the suspension of sanctions against the former pariah
state after landmark talks. Cameron also met reformist President
Thein Sein as he became the first Western leader in decades to visit
2012 Apr 16, Australia said it
will lift sanctions against Myanmar's president and more than 200
others who are currently under travel and financial bans, after a
series of reforms in the past year.
2012 Apr 19, The European Union
said it will suspend most sanctions against Myanmar for a year while
it assesses the country's progress toward democracy.
2012 Apr 21, Japan said it will
take steps to forgive about 300 billion yen ($3.7 billion) of
Myanmar's debt and resume full-fledged development aid as a way to
support the country's democratic and economic reforms.
2012 Apr 29, Myanmar state
media said a series of attacks in the conflict-hit north have left
at least four officials dead in Kachin state, in rare
acknowledgement of ethnic unrest that has marred the regime's
2012 Apr 30, In Myanmar the
opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi agreed to end its weeklong
boycott of parliament and swear an oath to a Constitution that it
(SFC, 5/1/12, p.A3)
2012 May 4, A Myanmar state-run
newspaper said recent battles between government troops and Kachin
ethnic rebels had killed 31 people. The New Light of Myanmar
reported 11 clashes in the last week of April, including what it
said was an attack by rebels of the Kachin Independence Army on a
government border guard base.
2012 May 8, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi received her first passport in 24 years
ahead of a planned trip to Norway and Britain.
2012 May 14, President Lee
Myung-Bak arrived in Myanmar on the first visit by a South Korean
leader since a North Korean attempt to assassinate one of his
predecessors in Yangon almost three decades ago. His two-day trip
was aimed at promoting economic ties and encouraging the country's
recent political reforms. Lee Myung-Bak won a promise from Myanmar
to refrain from military cooperation with nuclear-armed North.
(AFP, 5/14/12)(AFP, 5/15/12)
2012 May 17, The US Obama
administration announced that it would ease the ban on investments
(SFC, 5/18/12, p.A3)
2012 May 20, In Myanmar
protests began over chronic power outages in the central city
2012 May 24, In Myanmar
demonstrators protesting electricity outages clashed with police,
and several were arrested in Pyay. The protests in Pyay began on May
21 with a small group of people and have grown to more than 1,000.
2012 May 28, In Myanmar India’s
PM Manmohan Singh with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw and signed
12 agreements as part of a 3-day visit aimed at boosting trade and
energy links and contesting the influence of regional rival China.
(AFP, 5/28/12)(SFC, 5/28/12, p.A2)
2012 May 28, In Myanmar a
Buddhist woman (27) was raped and murdered. Three Muslim Rohingyas
were detained for the killing, which killing helped set off communal
violence in which more than 50 people died. On June 18 a court
sentenced two men to death. One of the three defendants in the case
had hanged himself while in custody.
2012 May 31, In Thailand Aung
San Suu Kyi used her first foreign trip in 24 years to fight for her
Myanmar countrymen suffering abroad, millions of economic migrants
unable to work at home but vulnerable to exploitation elsewhere.
2012 Jun 1, In Myanmar Tint
Swe, head of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department (PSRD),
said he will release its iron grip on the country's media, effective
from the end of June, in the latest significant reform for a country
emerging from decades of repression.
2012 Jun 1, In Thailand Suu Kyi
spoke to the World Economic Forum in Bangkok where she urged the
international community to exercise "healthy skepticism" toward
Myanmar's much-touted reform process.
2012 Jun 3, In northwestern
Myanmar 10 Muslims were beaten to death in Rakhine state.
(SFC, 6/4/12, p.A2)
2012 Jun 7, Australia said it
will lift remaining sanctions against Myanmar and more than double
its foreign aid to encourage democratic reforms.
2012 Jun 8, In western Myanmar
7 people were killed in religious clashes, where police opened fire
and the authorities declared a curfew to tackle the escalating
unrest. Rohingya rioted in Maungdaw township killing 10 Buddhists
and torching over 460 Buddhist homes. This was in reaction to a
Buddhist attack on Muslim pilgrims in southern Rakhine sparked by
rumors of a gang rape by Muslim men. In the following months
security forces, according to villagers, beat Rohingya, looted
valuables and raped women.
(AFP, 6/8/12)(AP, 6/9/12)(SFC, 11/28/13, p.A24)
2012 Jun 9, Myanmar police and
army reinforcements were deployed to Rakhine State, which borders
Bangladesh, to quell the violence after villagers' homes were set
2012 Jun 10, Myanmar's Pres.
Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in a western state where
sectarian tensions between Buddhists and Muslims have unleashed
2012 Jun 12, In Myanmar people
fled their burning homes and security forces struggled to contain
communal violence in a western region where state media reported the
death toll had climbed to 21 since June 8. A Myanmar official said
around 25 people have been killed and a further 41 people wounded in
five days of unrest.
(AP, 6/12/12)(AFP, 6/13/12)
2012 Jun 12, Bangladesh turned
away 3 boats carrying 1,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in
Myanmar, bringing to 1,500 the number of refugees blocked in recent
2012 Jun 13, Bangladesh refused
three more boatloads of Rohingya Muslims fleeing sectarian violence
in Myanmar, despite growing calls for the border to be opened. A UN
rights envoy warned that violence posed a threat to Myanmar’s shift
towards democracy, as the death toll from almost a week of unrest
rose to 28.
(AFP, 6/13/12)(AFP, 6/14/12)
2012 Jun 16, State mouthpiece
the New Light of Myanmar said 50 people have been left dead with 54
injured between May 28 and June 14 in Rakhine state, convulsed by
violence between local Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya.
2012 Jun 16, Myanmar’s Suu Kyi
presented her Nobel Prize acceptance speech in Oslo 31 years after
winning the world's highest diplomatic honor in 1991.
2012 Jul 3, Myanmar's reformist
government granted amnesties for at least 20 political prisoners,
but opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for the release of
hundreds more still behind bars.
2012 Jul 7, Myanmar authorities
released all of the student leaders detained in the country's
biggest crackdown on activists since the dissolution of the junta.
At least 20 people were detained ahead of today’s commemoration a
1962 crackdown, sparking calls for their immediate release.
2012 Jul 10, Myanmar state
media said dozens of Thai nationals will face charges after they
were held for illegally crossing the border to run rubber
2012 Jul 11, The US government
formally eased sanctions on Myanmar.
(SFC, 7/12/12, p.A2)
2012 Jul 12, Myanmar's Pres.
Thein Sein told the UN that refugee camps or deportation was the
"solution" for nearly a million Rohingya Muslims in the wake of
communal unrest in the west of the country.
2012 Jul 14, In Myanmar General
Electric became the first American company to invest in the former
pariah state, signing deals to provide medical equipment to a pair
of hospitals in the country's biggest city.
2012 Aug 2, Bangladesh said it
has ordered three international charities to stop providing aid to
Rohingya refugees who cross the border to flee persecution and
violence in Myanmar.
2012 Aug 5, In Myanmar renewed
violence between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya left 3 people dead,
amid growing international concern about the sectarian unrest. The
fighting in western Rakhine state has killed 80 people from both
sides since June.
2012 Aug 8, Myanmar authorities
warned that it was facing a deepening drug crisis after seizing
narcotics including more than 1.4 million amphetamine pills and 116
kilos of heroin in July.
2012 Aug 20, Myanmar abolished
direct censorship of the media in the most dramatic move yet toward
allowing freedom of expression in the long-repressed nation. But
related laws and practices that may lead to self-censorship raise
doubt about how much will change.
2012 Aug 24, In Myanmar Kachin
rebels said China has pushed thousands of Kachin refugees from
Yunnan province back across the border into a province wracked by
fighting between government troops and ethnic guerillas.
2012 Aug 25, Myanmar officials
said at least 85,000 people have fled their homes as the worst
monsoon flooding in years submerged hundreds of thousands of acres
of rice fields.
(SSFC, 8/26/12, p.A5)
2012 Sep 6, In Myanmar all nine
judges on the presidentially appointed Constitution Tribunal
abruptly resigned after the lower house of parliament voted to
impeach them in a standoff within the nascent government.
2012 Sep 17, The government of
Myanmar said it was releasing 514 prisoners.
(SFC, 9/18/12, p.A2)
2012 Sep 19, The US Congress
presented Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar the Congressional Medal of
Honor, which she was awarded in 2008 while still under house arrest
for her peaceful struggle against military rule.
(SFC, 9/20/12, p.A6)
2012 Oct 21, Myanmar's
reformist Pres. Thein Sein held his first press conference for local
press, a milestone after years of secrecy and censorship by the
former military regime. In western Myanmar fresh clashes between
Muslims and Buddhists broke out, leaving at least three people dead
and hundreds of homes burned to the ground in Rakhine state’s Min
(AP, 10/21/12)(AP, 10/23/12)(SFC, 10/24/12, p.A2)
2012 Oct 24, In Myanmar 3 days
of clashes in Mrauk-u, a tourist center in Rakhine state, turned the
area into a war zone. Officials said at least 80 people have been
killed and some 4,600 homes destroyed in the latest outbreak of
ethnic violence in four Rakhine state townships. This latest
violence between the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya
communities broke out on Oct 21.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.44)(AP, 10/26/12)
2012 Oct 28, Victims of
Myanmar's latest explosion of Muslim-Buddhist violence fled to
already packed displacement camps along the country's western coast,
with a top UN official saying the unrest has forced more than 22,000
people from their homes.
2012 Oct 29, Myanmar's
government said it has boosted security in a western state hit by
ethnic and sectarian unrest as the number of displaced rose to
28,000 people, mostly Muslims.
2012 Nov 7, Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and lawmakers from ethnic minority parties
urged the government to explain its policies on handling the ethnic
conflict in Rakhine state.
(SFC, 11/8/12, p.A6)
2012 Nov 7, A boat capsized off
the coast of Bangladesh. Fishermen helped rescue 23 people, but
about 50 illegal migrants, mostly Rohingya Muslims, remained
(SFC, 11/8/12, p.A3)
2012 Nov 8, Myanmar's
government launched a major operation aimed at verifying the
citizenship of Muslims in western Rakhine state, the coastal
territory that has been torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim violence since
2012 Nov 9, In Myanmar a tanker
train exploded some 500 miles north of Rangoon killing 25 people and
injuring over 90 others. Dozens had rushed to skim fuel from
overturned carriages before the blast.
(SSFC, 11/11/12, p.A9)
2012 Nov 11, Northern Myanmar
was struck by a magnitude-6.8 earthquake, collapsing a bridge and a
gold mine, damaging several old Buddhist pagodas and leaving as many
as 12 people feared dead.
2012 Nov 15, Myanmar's
reformist government ordered more 452 prisoners freed in an amnesty
apparently intended as a goodwill gesture ahead of a historic visit
by President Barack Obama next week.
(AP, 11/15/12)(SFC, 11/16/12, p.A3)
2012 Nov 18, Myanmar State
television said that President Thein Sein had ordered 66 detainees
released, but it was not clear whether any political prisoners would
be among them. This was ahead of a historic visit to the country by
President Barack Obama on Nov 19.
2012 Nov 19, President Barack
Obama made a 6-hour stop in Myanmar. In a notable detour from US
policy, the president referred to Burma as Myanmar in his talks with
President Thein Sein. Obama then became the first US president to
set foot in Cambodia, a country once known for its Khmer Rouge
2012 Nov 29, Myanmar security
forces used water cannons, tear gas and smoke bombs to clear
protesters from a copper mine in the northwest, wounding villagers
and Buddhist monks in by far the biggest use of force against
demonstrators since the reformist government of President Thein Sein
took power last year. Protesters who opposed the mine's
environmental and social impact had occupied the area for 11 days.
2012 Nov 30, Myanmar’s
government appointed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to lead a
30-member commission to investigate the recent violent dispersal of
peaceful protesters at a copper mine. Suu Kyi said authorities must
apologize for a violent crackdown on monks and other foes of a mine
in the northwest. She also stuck to the government's view that the
country must follow through on its commitment to build the project.
(AP, 11/30/12)(SSFC, 12/2/12, p.A5)
2012 Dec 1, Myanmar’s
government appointed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to lead a
30-member commission to investigate the recent violent dispersal of
peaceful protesters at a copper mine.
(SSFC, 12/2/12, p.A5)
2012 Dec 25, In Myanmar an Air
Bagan flight packed with Christmas tourists crash-landed on a road
in central Shan state, killing 2 people and injuring 11, including 4
(AP, 12/25/12)(AP, 12/26/12)
2012 Dec 26, Myanmar Pres.
Thein Sein publicly criticized his government for rampant
corruption, bribery and inefficiency.
(SFC, 12/27/12, p.A2)
2012 The population of Myanmar
numbered about 60 million. Transparency Int’l. ranked the country
180th out of 183 for ease of doing business.
(Econ, 3/3/12, p.78)
2013 Jan 1, Myanmar rang in
2013 with its first public New Year's Eve countdown and a grand
fireworks display, a celebration unprecedented in the former
2013 Jan 2, Myanmar's military
acknowledged launching airstrikes against ethnic Kachin rebels in
the north and said it captured a hilltop post on Dec 29 from where
the insurgents had attacked government supply convoys.
2013 Jan 19, Ethnic Kachin
rebels in Myanmar said clashes in the country's north continued
despite a government promise to cease fire, casting doubt over hopes
that the bloody conflict there could end soon.
2013 Jan 26, Myanmar government
forces, after several days of fighting, took a hilltop stronghold of
the Kachin rebels 5km from Laiza, the administrative headquarters of
the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
(Econ, 2/2/13, p.30)
2013 Jan 29, Myanmar’s
state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported that Order No 2/88, a ban
on public gatherings of more than five people that was ordered in
1988, was abolished.
2013 Feb 3, In Myanmar
Rangoon’s first int’l. literary festival ended after drawing
together some 80 Burmese authors.
(SFC, 2/6/13, p.A2)
2013 Mar 9, In Myanmar the
opposition National League for Democracy, founded in 1988, began its
first ever national congress.
(Econ, 3/16/13, p.41)
2013 Mar 10, In Myanmar Aung
San Suu Kyi was selected to continue as head of the main opposition
party, keeping her leadership post even as the party undergoes a
makeover to adjust to the country's new democratic framework.
2013 Mar 12, In Myanmar
opponents of a nearly $1 billion copper mine in the northwest
expressed outrage over a government-ordered report that said the
project should continue and that refrained from demanding punishment
for police involved in a violent crackdown on protesters.
2013 Mar 18, In Australia
visiting Myanmar President Thein Sein welcomed closer ties with
Australia as he asked for continued support through his country's
transition to "peace, democracy and prosperity," a mission that he
said "has no parallel in modern times."
2013 Mar 20, Myanmar's
parliament agreed to set up a commission to review the pro-military
2008 constitution, a process that could eventually change the
political landscape and allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to
contest the presidency.
2013 Mar 20, In Myanmar unrest
between local Buddhist and Muslim residents erupted in Meikhtila.
The troubles began after an argument broke out between a Muslim gold
shop owner and his Buddhist customers. Over 30 people were killed
and some 70 others injured.
(AP, 3/22/13)(Econ, 3/30/13, p.39)
2013 Mar 22, Myanmar's
president declared a state of emergency in the central city of
Meikhtila shaken by sectarian bloodshed that killed 44 people.
Thousands of minority Muslims fled and overwhelmed riot police
crisscrossed the still-burning town seizing machetes and hammers
from enraged Buddhist mobs.
(AP, 3/22/13)(SSFC, 7/21/13, p.A2)
2013 Mar 25, Myanmar's
government warned that religious violence could threaten democratic
reforms after anti-Muslim mobs rampaged through three more towns in
the country's predominantly Buddhist heartland.
2013 Apr 1, In Myanmar 4
privately run daily newspapers hit newsstands for the first time in
2013 Apr 2, In Myanmar a
pre-dawn fire swept a religious dormitory, killing 13 children in
2013 Apr 5, In Indonesia’s in
North Sumatra province Buddhist fishermen and Rohingya Muslim asylum
seekers from Myanmar brawled with knives and rocks at an immigration
detention center, leaving eight dead and another 15 injured.
2013 Apr 23, Myanmar's
president pardoned 93 prisoners, including at least 59 political
detainees, a day after the EU lifted sanctions against it.
2013 Apr 30, In Myanmar
hundreds of Buddhists armed with bricks stormed a clutch of Muslim
villages in the closest explosion of sectarian violence yet to hit
the Yangon region. At least one person died and nine left injured.
Police detained 18 attackers who destroyed 157 homes and shops and
at least two mosques in the town of Okkan, 50 miles (80 km) north of
Yangon, and three outlying villages.
2013 May 3, In Indonesia up to
2,000 police were deployed to secure the Myanmar Embassy and its
ambassador's house before a demonstration by the Islamic Defenders
Front. Several hundred protesters showed up dressed in white with
some holding banners that read: "We want jihad" and "Stop genocide
2013 May 14, The UN said an
overcrowded boat capsized while trying to escape a cyclone bearing
down on Myanmar, tossing dozens of Rohingya Muslims into the sea. 8
bodies were found and more than 50 people were missing and feared
2013 May 20, Former general
Thein Sein became the first Myanmar president to be welcomed to the
White House in almost 47 years.
2013 May 21, A Myanmar court
sentenced 7 Muslims to prison, one of them to a life term, in the
killing of a Buddhist monk. Deadly sectarian violence has been
overwhelmingly directed against minority Muslims but has not led to
any criminal trials against members of the country's Buddhist
2013 May 25, Authorities in
Myanmar's western Rakhine state said they have imposed a two-child
limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to
Buddhists in the area and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing
in the aftermath of sectarian violence. The measure was enacted a
week ago after the commission recommended family planning programs
to stem population growth among Muslims.
2013 May 26, Myanmar’s Pres.
Thein Sein welcomed Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe to Naypyidaw. Abe became
the first Japanese PM to visit Myanmar since 1977. He cancelled $1.8
billion of debt and promised another $500 million in aid loans.
(Econ, 6/1/13, p.44)
2013 May 28, In northeastern
Myanmar unrest began after Ne Win (48), a Muslim man, splashed
gasoline on a Buddhist woman and set her alight. On June 11 a court
sentenced Ne Win to 26 years in prison after he was convicted of
attempted murder, causing serious injury and possession and use of
(AP, 5/29/13)(AP, 6/12/13)
2013 May 29, In northeastern
Myanmar overnight violence between Buddhists and Muslims left one
person dead and four injured.
2013 May, In Myanmar Famoso
Clothing, a Japanese owned operation set up in Yangon in 2002, paid
its workers about $100 per month to make men’s suits. It was in the
process of closing its last Chinese factory where wages had become
four times as high.
(Econ, 5/25/13, SR p.8)
2013 Jun 4, In Myanmar at least
3 women from the Rohingya minority were shot dead in a clash with
security officials over new housing arrangements.
2013 Jul 6, In Myanmar Lo Hsing
Han (~80), heroin king and business tycoon, died. He was the founder
of Asia World, a preeminent builder of the country’s infrastructure.
(Econ, 7/27/13, p.78)(SSFC, 6/7/15, p.A17)
2013 Jun 30, Malaysia urged
Myanmar to take stronger action to prevent persecution of Muslims
and bring the perpetrators to justice, the latest sign that the
inter communal violence is straining ties in Southeast Asia.
2013 Jun, Norway’s Telenor and
Qatar’s Ooredoo won an auction for mobile licenses in Myanmar. They
will compete with each other and a loca lstate-owned outfit.
(Econ, 9/28/13, p.68)
2013 Jul 10, A Myanmar court
sentenced seven Buddhists to between three and 15 years in jail for
their roles in the March 20-21 massacre at an Islamic boarding
school that left dozens of students and teachers dead, while a
Muslim convicted in one related killing received a life sentence.
2013 Jul 11, In Myanmar 25
Buddhists were sentenced over the last two days to as many as 15
years in prison for murder and other crimes during a night of
rioting, burning and killing in central Myanmar, following weeks in
which it seemed only Muslims were being punished for sectarian
violence aimed primarily at members of their own religion.
2013 Jul 12, Myanmar's
president disbanded a security force accused of rights violations
against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State in the west of the
country, scene of deadly violence between Muslims and majority
Buddhists in the past year. His one-line statement was dated July
12, but posted on his website on July 14.
2013 Jul 20, Myanmar’s Pres.
Thein Sein lifted a state of emergency, declared last March 22, in
the central part of the country.
(SSFC, 7/21/13, p.A2)
2013 Jul 23, Myanmar said it is
releasing another 73 political prisoners and more could be freed in
coming months to honor a commitment made by the president during a
recent trip to Europe.
2013 Jul 24, Afghanistan's
first woman governor and a Myanmar civil society organizer were
among five winners of Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize this
year. The Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation singled
out Afghanistan's Habiba Sarabi, a 57-year-old doctor, for her "bold
exercise of leadership to build up a functioning provincial
government against great odds." The Foundation also recognized
Lahpai Seng Raw from Myanmar, for her "quietly inspiring and
inclusive leadership in the midst of deep ethnic divides and
prolonged armed conflicts."
2013 Jul 29, China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said it has switched on a pipeline
bringing natural gas from Myanmar. The project has raised concerns
in Myanmar's nascent civil society about whether its giant
neighbor's resource grabs will benefit local people.
2013 Aug 7, The United States
updated sanctions on Myanmar to maintain a ban on importing rubies
and jade amid a relaxation of curbs on US trade with the Southeast
2013 Aug 9, In Myanmar a
dispute over custody of a dead Rohingya quickly escalated into a day
of clashes in which police raked Rohingya crowds with gunfire in
Ohntawgyi village outside Sittwe, Rakhine state.
2013 Aug 20, In southern
Thailand 87 Muslim Rohingya asylum-seekers escaped from an
immigration detention center, highlighting the growing desperation
of a stateless minority fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar.
2013 Aug 24, In northwestern
Myanmar hundreds of Buddhists carrying sticks and swords went on a
rampage in a village, torching dozens of homes and shops following
rumors that a young woman had been sexually assaulted by a Muslim
2013 Sep 2, Myanmar’s state
Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee of monks, responsible for regulating
the Buddhist clergy, prohibited the creation of formal organizations
based around the 969 movement, led by Wirathu. The numerals 969,
which refer to the attributes of the Buddha, his teachings and the
monkhood, have come to symbolize a movement aimed at isolating
Muslims, who make up 5% of Myanmar's 60 million people.
(Reuters, 9/11/13)(Econ, 11/2/13, p.46)
2013 Oct 1, Myanmar security
forces raced to contain deadly violence in Rakhine state, after mobs
torched Muslim homes and Buddhist villagers were attacked in a third
day of unrest in a region plagued by intractable sectarian tensions.
At least 7 people were killed, 5 of them Muslims. Mobs burned down
at least 100 homes and shops in Thandwe city.
(Reuters, 10/1/13)(SFC, 10/2/13, p.A2)(Econ,
2013 Oct 8, Myanmar’s Pres.
Thein Sein pardoned 56 political prisoner, after the country vowed
to release all prisoners of conscience by the end of the year.
(AFP, 10/8/13)(SFC, 10/9/12, p.A2)
2013 Oct 10, Myanmar took a
long-coveted role as chairman of ASEAN, the regional grouping of
2013 Oct, In Myanmar a blast at
the Trader's Hotel, later known as the Sule Shangri-La, in the heart
of Yangon, ripped apart a guest's room and wounded an American woman
(43). On July 3, 2015, a court convicted Saw Myint Lwin (26) on
three charges related to the bombing and sentenced him to life
imprisonment and hard labor. Two others were acquitted and the
alleged mastermind, said to be a member of the Karen National Union
ethnic rebel group, remained at large.
2013 Nov 3, A boat carrying at
least 70 Muslim Rohingya capsized and sank off the western coast of
Myanmar. Only eight survivors were found.
2013 Nov 15, Myanmar released
69 political prisoners in an amnesty the government described as an
act of "loving kindness" in line with President Thein Sein's promise
to free all prisoners of conscience by year-end.
2013 Nov 21, Myanmar rejected a
UN resolution urging it to grant citizenship to the Rohingya, a
stateless Muslim minority group, and accused the United Nations of
impinging on its sovereignty.
2013 Dec 5, Myanmar’s Rangoon
Univ. reopened to undergraduates. It had been closed since 1988
following failed student uprisings.
(SFC, 12/5/13, p.A6)
2013 Dec 6, The UN called for
an urgent investigation into allegations in a Reuters report that
Thai immigration officials moved Myanmar refugees into human
2013 Dec 11, Myanmar freed 41
political detainees, bringing the country close to fulfilling a
pledge by President Thein Sein to release all prisoners of
conscience by the end of the year.
2013 Dec 30, Myanmar's
reformist President Thein Sein granted a pardon to people convicted
of or charged with a variety of political offenses. It wasn't
immediately clear how many people are covered by the pardon.
2013 Dec 31, Myanmar freed five
prisoners and more were expected to be released next week as part of
a pledge by the country's president to free all political prisoners
by the end of 2013.
2014 Jan 2, Myanmar's Pres.
Thein Sein gave his backing for amending a military drafted
constitution and indicated support for changes that would make Nobel
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi eligible to lead the country.
2014 Jan 7, In Myanmar dozens
of journalists staged a rare demonstration in Yangon to protest a
jail term given to a reporter who was working on a story about
2014 Jan 14, In Myanmar a
Buddhist mob reportedly killed at least 48 Muslims, including many
women and children, in Du Char Yar Tan, Rakhine state. Security
forces had surrounded Du Char Yar Tan after Rohingya Muslim
residents allegedly abducted and killed a police sergeant.
(AP, 1/16/14)(AP, 1/23/14)(AP, 1/24/14)
2014 Jan 27, The World Bank
warned Myanmar against corruption as it unveiled a $2-billion aid
package designed to provide better health care and improve supplies
2014 Feb 6, Myanmar media
reported that the government has arrested 4 journalists of a private
weekly following the publication of a story about the construction
of a defense factory in Pauk. The Unity journal quoted villagers as
saying the factory was for the production of chemical weapons.
(SFC, 2/7/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 21, A Myanmar state
minister said a jade boulder weighing up to 50 tons was discovered
by miners just over a week ago in the northern region of Hpakant.
(SFC, 2/22/14, p.A2)
2014 Feb 25, An independent
human rights group presented evidence directly implicating the
Myanmar government in abusive and discriminatory policies targeting
members of the Rohingya Muslim minority.
2014 Feb 28, Doctors Without
Borders said it has been expelled from Myanmar and that tens of
thousands of lives are at risk. The decision came after the
humanitarian group reported it treated nearly two dozen Rohingya
Muslim victims of communal violence in Rakhine state, which the
government has denied.
2014 Mar 16, In Myanmar Rakhine
mobs, egged on by Wirathu, a Buddhist-chauvinist monk, protested
against a census that would allow Rohingyas to be able to define
(Econ, 3/22/14, p.44)
2014 Mar 23, In Myanmar dozens
of protesters began a 2,400-km (1,500-mile) march to northern
Myanmar, calling for the cancellation of a Chinese-backed
hydroelectric dam project over environmental concerns.
2014 Mar 25, Myanmar said it
will ban the export of logs starting April 1 to reduce deforestation
and boost its wood-based industry by exporting only value-added
products. Myanmar's forest cover shrank from 57.9 percent of its
total land area in 1990 to 47.6 percent in 2005.
2014 Mar 25, Thai police seized
147 kg (323 pounds) of heroin they believe was from Myanmar and
destined for Australia. The single haul exceeded some of Thailand's
recent yearly seizure totals.
2014 Mar 26, Myanmar’s Energy
Ministry said major oil companies including Total, Chevron, Woodside
Energy and Shell have won bids for offshore oil and gas exploration
blocks off its western and southern coasts.
2014 Mar 27, In Myanmar
Buddhist-led mobs tore through streets hurling stones at the offices
and residences of international aid workers in western Rakhine
state, prompting the evacuation of almost all non-essential staff.
One girl (11) was killed when police fired into the air to disperse
(AP, 3/27/14)(SFC, 3/29/14, p.A5)
2014 Mar 29, Myanmar said that
Muslims would not be allowed to register as "Rohingya" in its first
census since 1983 despite UN assurances, on the eve of a survey that
has fanned sectarian tensions.
2014 Mar 30, Myanmar began its
first census since 1983. Those who identified themselves as Rohingya
were not counted.
2014 Apr 1, In northern Myanmar
illegal Chinese logging and demand for monkey bones threatened the
rare snub-nosed monkey according to British-based Fauna & Flora
International. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) estimated that only 260 to 330 survive in the wild.
2014 Apr 12, In Myanmar a
passenger bus collided with a car and burst into flames along a
highway, killing 12 passengers and injuring five others.
2014 Apr 20, Myanmar reported
that fighting between government troops and ethnic Kachin rebels has
left 22 people dead this month.
(SFC, 4/21/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 21, In Myanmar Win Tin
(84), one of the founders of Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition and
its longest-serving political prisoner (1989-2008), died. He strove
for decades to bring freedom to a nation under military
2014 Apr, Myanmar banned
foreign sales of logs.
(Econ, 9/19/15, p.38)
2014 Apr, In Myanmar Zaw Pe, a
video reporter for the independent Democratic Voice of Burma media
group, and Win Myint Hlaing were convicted of trespassing and
obstructing a civil servant after filming inside an education
department office while investigating the selection process for a
Japanese scholarship program in 2012. Both were freed on July 4
after an appeals court reduced their sentences from one year to
2014 Apr, It was reported that
Myanmar’s Shan state produced over one billion pills of yaba, a form
of methamphetamine, a year.
(Econ, 4/12/14, p.29)
2014 May 5, A magnitude 6.3
earthquake hit Myanmar and northern Thailand leaving at least one
(SFC, 5/6/14, p.A2)
2014 May 10, In Myanmar
Southeast Asian foreign ministers voiced "serious concerns" over
naval clashes between Vietnam and China as the ASEAN’s top official
urged Beijing to step up efforts to advance talks on maritime
2014 May 11, Myanmar hosted the
Southeast Asian summit (ASEAN) as Vietnam and the Philippines
pushed for stronger action to confront China's aggressive behavior
in the South China Sea.
2014 May 19, In Myanmar
community activists freed two contractors working for a Chinese
company operating a copper mine in Monywa that is the subject of a
long-running land dispute. The two Chinese were abducted a day
earlier by a group calling itself the "Student Network of Mandalay."
2014 May 22, The United Nations
children's agency defended a decision to pay nearly $90,000 a month
for its new office in Myanmar — a three-story house owned by the
family of Maj. Gen. Nyunt Tin, who was slapped with US sanctions
during the country's dictatorship.
2014 Jun 9, A rights group said
Myanmar security forces "systematically" torture civilians in
conflict-racked Kachin state on the third anniversary of renewed
fighting between government forces ethnic minority insurgents in the
2014 Jun 25, Myanmar's state
media reported that parliament has reduced the prison terms for
violating a law that regulates public protests. The amended law also
appears to allow protests as long as permission is sought.
2014 Jun 28, Chinese President
Xi Jinping feted neighbors India and Myanmar, dusting off the 60th
anniversary of a now rather obscure agreement signed in the early
days of the Cold War to pledge a rising China's commitment to peace.
2014 Jul 1, In Myanmar violence
began late today in Mandalay when a group of about 300 Buddhists
converged on a tea shop owned by a Muslim man accused of raping a
Buddhist woman. On March 18, 2015, a court in Pyinmama town
sentenced five people for spreading rumors and creating panic.
(AP, 7/4/14)(AP, 3/22/15)
2014 Jul 2, Myanmar police
fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds of Buddhists and Muslims
facing off in the second-largest city of Mandalay, in the latest
outbreak of trouble in two years of sectarian unrest. A Buddhist man
was stabbed to death.
(Reuters, 7/2/14)(AP, 7/4/14)
2014 Jul 3, In Myanmar Buddhist
mobs on motorbikes drove through Mandalay in a second night of
attacks on minority Muslims. In response authorities imposed a 9
p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. A Muslim man was killed, beaten to death
early today on his way to morning prayers.
(AP, 7/3/14)(Reuters, 7/4/14)
2014 Jul 4, Myanmar police
cordoned off Mandalay's Muslim neighborhood as hundreds of Buddhists
wielding knives, swords and bamboo poles roamed the city.
2014 Jul 10, In Myanmar four
reporters and the chief executive of the magazine they work for were
sentenced to 10 years of hard prison labor for violating the
country’s national security by writing and publishing stories about
a weapons factory.
2014 Jul 17, In Myanmar more
than 700 workers protested in front of the South Korean Embassy to
demand officials help them after a Korean-owned factory closed
without paying their wages.
2014 Aug 8, In Myanmar the
ASEAN regional summit opened for talks among ministers from 10
Southeast Asian countries. It will expand over the weekend to
comprise 27 countries who are members of the so-called ASEAN
2014 Aug 9, Japan and South
Korea vowed to "deepen communication" in the future during a rare
meeting in Myanmar ahead of the ASEAN Regional Forum.
2014 Aug 28, The US Embassy in
Myanmar said that two 150 megawatt solar energy plants in the
Mandalay region could account for 10 percent to 12 percent of
Myanmar's power generation when completed in 2016 after ACO
Investment Group and Myanmar’s Ministry of Energy inked a $480
million deal to build two solar energy plants.
2014 Aug 29, A South
Korea-based pageant said that a Myanmar beauty queen, who was
stripped of her title for allegedly being rude and dishonest, has
run off with the $100,000 jeweled crown. On Sep 2 May Myat Noe (16)
said she won't return her bejeweled crown until pageant organizers
apologize for calling her a liar and a thief.
(AP, 8/29/14)(AP, 9/2/14)
2014 Aug, Myanmar’s census,
conducted from March 30 to April 10, revealed that the population
numbered about 51.4 million, some 9m fewer than than the 60m thought
by the government.
2014 Sep 15, In Thailand
British tourists Hannah Witheridge (23), and David Miller (24) were
found battered to death on a beach on Koh Tao, a small island in the
Gulf of Thailand. An autopsy indicated that Witheridge had been
raped. On Oct 2 police said two workers from Myanmar have confessed
to the murders. On Oct 21 Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, both 21, sent a
retraction letter to prosecutors handling their case claiming they
were tortured and forced to confess under police custody.
(AP, 9/15/14)(AP, 10/2/14)(AP, 10/22/14)
2014 Sep 22, Myanmar gave
citizenship to 209 Muslims displaced by sectarian violence, after
the first phase of a project aimed at determining the status of
about a million Rohingya whose claims to nationality have been
rejected in the past.
2014 Sep 30, In Sri Lanka Ashin
Wirathu, a Myanmar Buddhist monk, and a Sri Lankan ultranationalist
both known for campaigning against Muslims formally signed an
agreement to work together to protect Buddhism, which they say is
2014 Oct 1, Myanmar awarded
licenses to the first foreign banks allowed to operate in the
country in a half-century. It granted nine of them preliminary
licenses. The military junta had nationalized the banks in 1963.
(AP, 10/1/14)(Econ, 10/25/14, p.76)
2014 Oct 4, Myanmar's army shot
dead a journalist who was detained while covering clashes between
the army and ethnic rebels at the rugged border, saying he reached
for a soldier's gun during an attempted escape. Freelance journalist
Par Gyi was detained by the army on Sept. 30 after photographing
clashes between the military and the rebel Democratic Karen
Benevolent Army (DKBA). On Nov 5 authorities exhumed his body. A
rights activist said the body bore what he thought were marks of
(AP, 10/24/14)(Reuters, 11/5/14)
2014 Oct 7, The Myanmar
government pardoned 3,073 prisoners, but advocacy groups said no
political prisoners were included despite a pledge by the president
to free all such detainees by the end of this year.
2014 Oct 11, Thai authorities
arrested 53 Rohingya migrants and two suspected Thai traffickers en
route to neighbouring Malaysia. Myanmar views its population of
roughly 800,000 Rohingya -- described by the UN as one of the most
persecuted minorities in the world -- as illegal Bangladeshi
immigrants, and denies them citizenship.
2014 Oct 17, A Myanmar court
sentenced the ex-religious affairs minister to 13 years in prison
for embezzling state funds and sedition. Hsan Sint was removed from
office in June following allegations he misused $10,000 to build a
pagoda near Naypyitaw.
2014 Oct 25, It was reported
that the number of Rohingya Muslims from western Myanma, who have
fled by boat since communal violence broke out two years ago, is now
topping 100,000 with an average of 900 people per day piling into
cargo ships parked off Rakhine state.
2014 Oct 31, The US Treasury
blacklisted Aung Thaun, a hard-line lawmaker of Myanmar's ruling
party, accusing him of undermining political and economic reforms.
2014 Nov 6, An independent
investigation by the Harvard Law School reported that troops
commanded by Myanmar's powerful interior minister and two other
senior officials tortured and killed civilians while fighting an
ethnic rebellion in Karen state from 2005-2008.
2014 Nov 10, Thailand police
said 259 migrants will be put back on boats and sent back to
Myanmar. The Rohingya migrants were found at sea on Nov 8 and were
arrested for illegal entry.
2014 Nov 13, Speaking in
Myanmar China's PM Li Keqiang proposed a friendship treaty with
Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN) and offered $20 billion in loans
but held firm on the line that Beijing will only settle South China
Sea disputes directly with other claimants.
2014 Nov 13, US President
Barack Obama met with democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi and other
Myanmar lawmakers as he sought to turn around the Southeast Asian
nation's "backsliding" on much celebrated political reforms.
2014 Nov 13, US Pres. Barack
Obama, in Myanmar for the East Asian summit, held his first formal
meeting with Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dong.
2014 Nov 19, Myanmar's army
launched a new offensive against ethnic Kachin rebels in the steep
hills around their headquarters on the Chinese border, killing over
20 people in a mortar attack and skirmishes that lasted the whole
2014 Nov 21, The UN General
Assembly's human rights committee approved a resolution urging
Myanmar to allow its persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority access to
full citizenship on an equal basis.
2014 Dec 10, In northern
Myanmar Kokang rebels attacked an army outpost, killing 7 government
troops and wounding 20 others.
2014 Dec 11, Malaysia police
said they have arrested 20 people in a widening investigation into
the murder of at least 18 Myanmar nationals in the state of Penang
since January. Police said twelve Myanmar migrants have confessed to
their role in nine of the murders.
2014 Dec 17, In Myanmar a
prominent former official with the main opposition party was
detained and faced charges of insulting religion, which stemmed from
a speech intended to discourage extremist interpretations of
2014 Dec 20, State media
reported that China has offered more than $3 billion in loans and
aid to neighbors Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos to
improve infrastructure and production, and to fight poverty.
2014 Dec 22, In northwestern
Myanmar a woman was fatally shot during a crackdown on protesters at
a controversial Chinese-backed copper mine.
2015 Jan 6, Myanmar’s defense
ministry said its army has arrested more than 100 foreigners and 20
Myanmar nationals for illegal logging near the Chinese border.
2015 Jan 11, In Myanmar North
Korean Ambassador Kim Sok Chol met with Myint Swe, the chief
minister of the Rangoon division. Myanmar police soon began seizing
pirated copies of the film "The Interview", a comedy about a
fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with
media saying the move followed pressure from the North Korean
embassy in Yangon.
2015 Jan 16, In Myanmar
hundreds of protesters led by Buddhist monks rallied to denounce a
visit by a human rights envoy of the UN, which has urged the
government to grant citizenship to persecuted Rohingya Muslims.
2015 Jan 20, In Myanmar a
Chinese embassy spokesman in Yangon said more than 100 Chinese
citizens trapped by fighting between government troops and
insurgents in the north, have been arrested and are being held by
the Myanmar government.
2015 Jan 21, Doctors Without
Borders announced that it has returned to Myanmar's troubled state
of Rakhine nine months after it was ordered out by the government
for hiring members of the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.
2015 Jan 28, Myanmar opened
trial operations of a deep sea port off its western coast, part of a
$2.45 billion port and pipeline project that will carry crude oil
from the Middle East to China.
2015 Feb 5, Myanmar's
government accused students who are protesting against state
educational policies of being manipulated by groups seeking to
destabilize the country.
2015 Feb 9, Myanmar troops
fought Kokang ethnic rebels in clashes near the Chinese border that
the government says the guerrillas provoked. Warlord Phone
Kyar Shin, aka Peng Jiasheng, launched attacks on the government
army around Laukkai.
(AP, 2/10/15)(Econ., 3/14/15, p.40)
2015 Feb 11, Myanmar's
government reached an agreement with student protesters who have
been marching to Yangon to seek education reforms, but the deal
announced by the two sides still needs parliamentary approval.
2015 Feb 11, Myanmar's
president declared that a system of temporary identification cards
for people seeking citizenship will become invalid at the end of
March, negating an earlier decision that would have allowed card
holders to vote in an upcoming constitutional referendum. The
temporary identification cards, popularly called "white cards," were
created by the former military regime for the 2010 elections in
which it relinquished power to a nominally civilian government.
2015 Feb 13, Myanmar state
media said heavy fighting between the army and rebels has killed 47
soldiers, sending a flood of people across the border with China and
overshadowing hopes for a national ceasefire as a crucial election
looms. The army used airstrikes to repel the attacks.
(AFP, 2/13/15)(AFP, 2/14/15)
2015 Feb 15, Myanmar state
media said troops fighting ethnic rebels near the Chinese border
have recovered the bodies of 13 insurgents and captured eight others
following heavy government losses this week.
2015 Feb 17, Myanmar President
Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the Kokang region in the
east and imposed a three-month period of martial law there.
2015 Feb 18, Myanmar's
government accused three more ethnic rebel groups: the Kachin
Independence Army, the Shan State Army (South) and the Ta'ang
National Liberation Army, of being involved in armed clashes in
northeastern Shan state, where a week of fighting against Kokang
rebels has left dozens of soldiers dead and sent tens of thousands
of refugees fleeing to neighboring China.
2015 Feb 19, In Myanmar about
4,000 workers were striking at clothing factories outside Yangon,
demanding that their overtime pay of 17 cents an hour be doubled.
Workers vowed to camp outside their factories unless employers meet
their demand, claiming they cannot live on pay amounting to 80,000
kyats ($80) a month as the cost of living rises.
2015 Feb 28, Myanmar police
arrested a photojournalist who posted a satirical message on
Facebook that mocked a historic battle and the country's leader.
Police detained Aung Nay Myo, a freelancer, on a charge of violating
the 1950 Emergency Provision Act.
2015 Mar 2, In Myanmar
truckloads of police prevented hundreds of students from continuing
their march to Yangon to protest a new law that they say curbs
2015 Mar 5, Myanmar police
cracked down on students and other activists opposing a new
education law, charging protesters with batons and dragging them
into trucks at a well-known pagoda in the heart of Yangon. Police
arrested five students from among a crowd of about 200 protesters.
(AP, 3/5/15)(Reuters, 3/5/15)
2015 Mar 6, Scientists said a
tiny, brown bird long thought to be extinct has been rediscovered in
Myanmar's grasslands, but its fragmented habitat is threatened by
human encroachment. The Jerdon's babbler was first discovered in the
1860s but had not been reported in 74 years.
2015 Mar 10, Myanmar police
beat students, monks and journalists with batons as they dispersed a
protest against a proposed new education law after a standoff that
lasted more than a week.
2015 Mar 13, In northwestern
Myanmar a crowded double-decker passenger ferry capsized late today
after being slammed by huge waves. At least 61 people were killed
with 169 known survivors.
(AP, 3/14/15)(AP, 3/17/15)
2015 Mar 13, A bomb from a
Myanmar aircraft reportedly fell in Chinese territory and killed 4
Chinese people. Myanmar denied that any bomb from its forces had
fallen in China and said the rebels might have fired into China to
2015 Mar 17, In Myanmar Philip
Blackwood, a New Zealand bar manager, and his two Myanmar colleagues
were jailed for two and a half years with hard labor by a Yangon
court for using a Buddha image to promote a cheap drinks night.
2015 Mar 27, In eastern
Indonesia an estimated 4,000 foreign fishermen were reported
stranded on a number of remote islands, including men reported to
have been enslaved. Some migrant workers from Myanmar said they had
been brought to Indonesia from Thailand and forced to work on
trawlers with Thai captains.
2015 Mar 30, Myanmar peace
negotiators agreed the draft text of a historic nationwide ceasefire
agreement, as the country edged closer to ending decades of conflict
between ethnic minority groups and the government.
2015 Apr 20, The annual Goldman
Environmental Prize was awarded in San Francisco to six activists.
They included: Marilyn Baptiste (44) of Canada, for her work to stop
the development of an open pit gold and copper mine that threatened
lakes in British Columbia; Berta Caceres (42) of Honduras for her
efforts fighting the Agua Zarca Dam, which threatened to cut off the
water and hunting grounds of the Lenca people; Phyllis Omido (35) of
Kenya for her work exposing lead fumes from a smelting plant; Jean
Wiener of Haiti (50) for his efforts to protect and restore marine
wildlife; Howard Wood (60) of Scotland for his efforts to restore
undersea ecology; and Myint Zaw (39) of Myanmar for halt the
construction of a hydroelectric plant on the Irrawaddy River that
would submerge 50 villages and displace 18,000
(SFC, 4/20/15, p.A6)
2015 Apr 23, In Myanmar the
Arakan Army ethnic insurgent group said it has opened up a new front
in western Rakhine state, aiming to pressure the government to
include it among rebel groups engaged in peace talks.
2015 May 4, Thailand police
arrested two Padang Besar deputy village chiefs and a member of the
Padang Besar municipal council a day earlier. They faced a variety
of charges related to human trafficking. Police said they also
arrested a Myanmar citizen, Zaw Naing Anu (40), or Anwar, who had
previously been arrested in Thailand for fraud and for kidnapping
2015 May 10, In Indonesia
rescuers brought ashore 469 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh
after their wooden boat arrived off Aceh.
2015 May 11, Indonesian and
Malaysian authorities said nearly 2,000 boat people from Myanmar and
Bangladesh have been rescued or swum to shore, warning that yet more
desperate migrants could be in peril at sea.
2015 May 12, In Myanmar corpses
began to wash ashore in Rakhine state. By May 24 47 bodies had
washed up on beaches and the mouths of rivers. Some were believed to
be Rohingya Muslims and others Bangladeshis trying to escape
(SFC, 6/3/15, p.A2)
2015 May 12, Malaysia said it
would turn away any more migrant boats packed with Rohingya and
Bangladeshis unless they were sinking.
2015 May 15, Myanmar's
parliament extended martial law for three months in a region along
its border with China as clashes between government troops and a
rebel group continue.
2015 May 15, In Indonesia more
than 1,000 weak, hungry people fleeing persecution in Myanmar and
poverty in Bangladesh came ashore, describing murder, extortion and
near starvation after surviving a harrowing journey at sea. Dozens
were reported killed in violent clashes between the Bangladeshis and
Rohingya on board. A group of 106 people were found on a Thai
2015 May 18, Myanmar
acknowledged international "concerns" about waves of boatpeople,
many of whom are fleeing from persecution, but denied it is solely
to blame as thousands languish in dire straits at sea.
2015 May 19, Myanmar's
President Thein Sein signed off on the Population Control Health
Care Bill requiring some mothers to space their children three years
apart despite objections by a visiting senior US diplomat and rights
activists, who worry it could be used not only to repress women, but
also religious and ethnic minorities.
(AP, 5/23/15)(Econ, 6/6/15, p.32)
2015 May 19, Gambia's
government said it is willing to resettle Muslim Rohingya migrants
stranded at sea after fleeing predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
2015 May 22, Myanmar’s navy
said it has carried out its first rescue of a migrant boat when
scores of bare-chested men were found crammed into the hull of a
wooden fishing vessel and taken to shore. Officials the next day
said all 208 men are from Bangladesh and will soon be returned
2015 May 24, Malaysia’s home
minister said mass graves and suspected human-trafficking detention
camps have been discovered by police in towns and villages bordering
Thailand. The mass graves were believed to contain the bodies of
hundreds of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
2015 May 27, In Myanmar some
300 protesters led by Buddhist monks marched through the streets of
Yangon to denounce foreign criticism of the country's treatment of
stateless Rohingya Muslims.
2015 May 29, Myanmar released
the results of its first nationwide census in 30 years, but the
survey excluded the country's Muslim Rohingya minority, who complain
of deep state-sanctioned discrimination. Myanmar’s population stood
at 51.4 million.
2015 May 29, In Thailand
southeast Asian nations agreed to intensify search and rescue
efforts to help vulnerable "boat people" stranded in the region's
seas. Myanmar said its navy had seized a vessel off its coast with
more than 700 migrants aboard.
2015 Jun 4, Myanmar's armed
forces discharged 51 child soldiers from its ranks, bringing the
total number of discharges this year so far to 93.
2015 Jun 9, In eastern India
police killed at least 12 Maoist rebels in a clash early today in
one of their strongholds in Palamau district in Jharkhand state.
Indian special forces attacked rebel camps in Myanmar and claimed to
have killed 40 rebels, but locals said there were no fatalities.
(AP, 6/9/15)(CSM, 6/24/15)
2015 Jun 10, UNESCO, the UN's
cultural agency, said it has named Inle Lake, with its diverse
plants and animals and floating gardens, as Myanmar's first
biosphere reserve to help safeguard natural ecosystems while
promoting sustainable economic development.
2015 Jun 14, In Myanmar
Buddhist hardliners backed by monks protested in troubled Rakhine
state against help being offered to desperate migrants found adrift
on boats in the Bay of Bengal.
2015 Jun, In Myanmar members of
the Kachin Anti-Drug Committee arrested a woman with the ledger who
was among Hpakant's biggest drug dealers. They found two notebooks
listing a combined $500,000 in payoffs to authorities in Kachin
state including an army commander, top police officials, anti-drug
officers, township officials and others. The group also confiscated
$3 million in cash and a "huge amount" of drugs during the arrest.
The suspect was awaiting trial.
2015 Jul 8, Myanmar ratified
the chemical weapons convention, bringing the treaty a step closer
to its goal of acceptance by every country in the world. It will
become the organization's 191st nation when it comes into force 30
days after the ratification.
2015 Jul 12, In Myanmar several
hundred workers rallied for a higher minimum wage despite a warning
by factory owners that the demand might put them out of business.
The daily minimum wage stood at 3,000 kyat ($2.65).
2015 Jul 12, Myanmar’s navy
rescued the last of 102 Bangladeshi migrants stranded for nearly a
month on Saung Gauk Island.
2015 Jul 21, A Myanmar court
fined two editors of a weekly newspaper 1 million kyat ($809) each
after finding them guilty of violating the country's media law by
insulting the president.
2015 Jul 22, A court in
northern Myanmar sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life in prison
after convicting them of illegal logging in a case that has already
strained relations with Beijing.
2015 Jul 26, Police in
Myanmar's seized more than 26 million stimulant tablets after an
inspection of a parked vehicle in Yangon's northern suburbs, in what
appeared to be the country's biggest such seizure ever. The pills,
identified by police as amphetamine hydrochloride, had an estimated
street value of over $100 million.
2015 Jul 27, Myanmar’s
state-run Kyemon daily reported that recent flooding due to heavy
rains falling in the northwest has killed at least 14 people.
2015 Jul 30, Myanmar freed over
150 Chinese workers sentenced to life in prison for illegal logging
under a massive presidential pardon that included 6,966 prisoners.
2015 Jul 31, Myanmar
authorities said 21 people died in July following heavy rains, and
that between 67,000 and 110,000 people were "severely affected" by
2015 Aug 1, Myanmar officials
said heavy rains have caused more flooding and left 9 people dead,
devastating several townships and forcing more than 18,000 people
into temporary shelters.
2015 Aug 5, Myanmar’s director
of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement warned
that the Irrawaddy Delta, the country's rice bowl, was at critical
risk of calamitous flooding. Floods had already caused 69 deaths and
affected 260,000 people after more than a month of heavy monsoon
rains and a cyclone.
2015 Aug 9, Myanmar’s
government said the number of people affected by flooding across the
country approached 1 million, with waters in the low-lying
southwestern delta inundating homes and forcing villagers into
temporary shelters. The death toll was on the verge of topping 100.
2015 Aug 12, Myanmar's health
minister scrapped plans to fill more of the 300 vacancies at his
ministry with military personnel, after thousands of people joined a
rare online protest against eight initial appointments. The Black
Ribbon Movement, launched this week by medical workers and doctors
following the appointments, called on the government to end the
"militarization" of the ministry.
2015 Aug 13, Myanmar's
military-backed ruling party announced the ouster of Shwe Mann, its
politically popular chairman, hours after security forces seized the
party headquarters, preventing some members from leaving. Shwe Mann
was seen as a leading candidate for the presidency in upcoming Nov 8
2015 Aug 18, Myanmar's
parliament voted to again extend martial law for three months in a
restive area along the country's border with China, where there have
been clashes between the military and an armed ethnic group since
2015 Aug 26, Myanmar's Pres.
Thein Sein signed two laws restricting religious conversion and
2015 Aug 29, Myanmar banned
political parties from criticizing the army or the
military-dominated constitution in state media during campaigning
for the Nov 8 elections.
2015 Aug 31, Myanmar's Pres.
Thein Sein signed into law the last of four controversial bills
championed by radical Buddhists. The Monogamy Bill sets punishments
for people who have more than one spouse or live with an unmarried
partner other than the spouse. The measures are part of four "Race
and Religion Protection Laws" championed by Ma Ba Tha, the Committee
for the Protection of Nationality and Religion.
2015 Oct 4, Thousands of
Myanmar's nationalist monks and their supporters prayed, clapped and
held speeches at a large rally in Yangon, in a show of growing clout
of radical Buddhists ahead of a Nov. 8 election.
2015 Oct 6, Myanmar’s army
began clashing with the Shan State Army-North, one of the ethnic
armed groups that did not sign an Oct 15 ceasefire deal. 37 clashes
took place b October 19 with 7 SSA-N members killed. The army
suffered an unspecified number of casualties.
2015 Oct 6, In Myanmar Bao
Zhuoxuan (16), also known as Bao Mengmeng, and two men helping him
were taken away by local police from a guest house in a border town.
The son of a rights lawyer detained in China's sweeping crackdown on
civil society disappeared after trying to escape to the United
States. Zhuoxuan was later reported to be under 24-hour police
surveillance at his grandparents' house in Inner Mongolia.
(AP, 10/10/15)(AP, 10/12/15)
2015 Oct 15, Myanmar’s
government signed a cease-fire agreement with eight armed ethnic
groups. The two largest groups, the Kachin and Wa, with tens of
thousands of soldiers, did not sign the agreement.
(SFC, 10/16/15, p.A2)
2015 Oct 29, Myanmar police
arrested Kyaw Ko Ko (34), the leader of a student movement crushed
in March, after he spent more than six months in hiding, amid
increasing signs of a crackdown on dissent ahead of a Nov. 8
2015 Nov 1, In Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed a huge rally on the
outskirts of Yangon, offering a message of reconciliation with
political opponents if her party sweeps the upcoming general
2015 Nov 8, Myanmar held its
first free nationwide election in 25 years. Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) was expected to win the largest share of
votes cast by an electorate of about 30 million. The NLD won enough
seats in Parliament to allow it to form Myanmar's first truly
civilian government in more than half a century.
(Reuters, 11/8/15)(Reuters, 11/9/15)(AP,
2015 Nov 9, Myanmar's ruling
party conceded defeat in the general election as the opposition led
by democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi appeared on course for a
landslide victory that could ensure it forms the next government.
2015 Nov 11, Myanmar President
Thein Sein congratulated democratic champion Aung San Suu Kyi, as
her party appeared to have trounced the ruling camp in the first
free election in 25 years and inched towards an absolute majority in
2015 Nov 13, The US Treasury
Department said it has blacklisted North Korea's ambassador to
Myanmar for alleged involvement in illegal weapons trade.
2015 Nov 21, In northern
Myanmar a landslide near a jade mine killed at least 120 people,
most of them villagers digging for green stones in a mountain of
displaced earth in the Kachin state community of Hpakant.
(AP, 11/22/15)(AP, 11/23/15)(SFC, 11/23/15, p.A2)
2015 Nov 22, In Malaysia ASEAN
nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) established a formal
community that attempts to create freer movement of trade and
capital in an area of 625 million people with a combined economic
output of $2.6 trillion.
2015 Delphine Schrank authored
“The Rebel of Rangoon: A Tale of Defiance and Deliverance in
(Econ, 8/8/15, p.72)
2015 The UN estimated that
opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has nearly tripled over the past
six years, making it the world’s second-largest producer of heroin
and the region’s leading supplier of methamphetamine.
(SSFC, 6/7/15, p.A17)