Myanmar’s popular leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in custody since the country’s military seized power in a coup on February 1, has been charged with a new crime: that of violating the country’s National Disaster Management Law. It’s proof, if any were needed, of the extent to which the country’s military leaders are willing to subvert the COVID crisis to their own ends.
Testing for coronavirus has collapsed in Myanmar after a military coup prompted a campaign of civil disobedience led by doctors and mass protests swept the country, official testing figures showed.
Front-line healthcare workers from more than 70 medical units and hospitals across the country announced a strike on Wednesday, refusing to work for the military regime. The developments raise fresh concerns about Myanmar’s coronavirus response and vaccination programme, which began on January 27, days before the coup.
Pan Nu Zaw discusses the elusiveness of youth climate change activism and proposes steps to start a movement.
Myanmar’s ruling party — the National League for Democracy (NLD) — is in the final stages of preparing for parliamentary polls scheduled for Nov 8. These elections have taken an unexpected turn, largely as a result of the pandemic sweeping the world. Now, the country’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, appears destined to be returned to power, albeit with a reduced majority.
Thang Deih Tuang and Jeff Williamson highlight ongoing food insecurity in Chin state and a chance for reform during COVID-19.
Aung Lin Oo and Tomas Max Martin show how the pandemic reveals perennial problems of prison governance but also strengthens rationales for reform.
Auteurs/autrices : Mon Paing Ga Ghu, Hein Paing Htoo Chit, Karl Flecker and Yee Mon Hsu report on the economic impacts of COVID-19 in Mon State. Mon Paing Ga Ghu is a Researcher and Analyst at...
As the COVID-19 pandemic forced lockdowns across the globe, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of digital technologies in various aspects of human life. Restrictions in mobility, closing of economic activities, social distancing norms, shutting down of education and health services, entertainment and mass gatherings have all led to people moving to digital platforms to stay connected with each other and engage in necessary economic and social activities. Contact tracing applications, e-permits, e-clinics, e-health bulletins, dashboards of data, cloud-based clinical data hosting, sharing and collaboration between public health researchers, awareness building apps and chatbots have come to play a significant role during this pandemic period. However, such a transition has not been smooth as many developing countries faced severe forms of digital inequality, especially in rural areas. Cities and young people have adopted to the digital world faster compared to those living in rural areas. ICT infrastructure is also a major constraint. For example in Myanmar over 50 per cent communities do not have access to ICTs. It is in this context, addressing challenges of e-governance, particularly in creating a digital interface between citizen and government.
History shows pandemics can lead to profound political change in Myanmar.
Avec près de 2,5 millions d’abonnés sur son compte Facebook à la fin du mois de mai 2020, Aung San Suu Kyi a réussi incontestablement son retour sur les réseaux sociaux. Elle a trouvé là un précieux outil pour relayer sa communication gouvernementale et ses messages politiques. Inactif du 6 avril 2016 à la fin mars 2020, le site digital de la Dame est devenu en deux mois un instrument de la bataille contre la Covid-19 mais aussi, de fait, pour les élections générales de novembre prochain.
Après avoir déclaré son premier cas de Covid-19 le 23 mars, le ministère de la Santé birman dénombrait officiellement au 2 juin : 228 personnes ayant été infectées depuis le début de la pandémie et 6 décès. Ce bilan fait apparaître qu’à l’échelle des dix États membres de l’ASEAN, la létalité birmane s’est jusqu’ici avérée modeste. Statistiquement, elle ne représente que 0,3 % du bilan victimaire enregistré dans la région par l’Organisation mondiale de la santé.
The measures taken by the Government of Myanmar to contain the transmission of COVID-19 are a necessary and appropriate response. In-depth analysis of measures of this magnitude on firms, households, government, and the economy as a whole is key to the design of policy interventions that can mitigate the economic losses and support a sustained and robust recovery. The economic losses to Myanmar’s economy in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be huge – a drop in production on the order of between 6.4 and 9.0 trillion Kyat – and likely will push the economy into a recession or lead to stagnant growth, at best, for the year. Although lockdown policies provide exemptions for most agricultural activities, linkages to other sectors indirectly affect the agri-food sector significantly. The agricultural sector is expected to contract by between 1.1 and 2.4 percent in 2020, and recovery will be slow. Closure of factories will have a large negative economic impact due to the strong linkage effects between manufacturing and upstream primary agriculture and downstream marketing services. Reopening the manufacturing sector is crucial for economic recovery in Myanmar.
Dans un contexte politique qui demeure tendu, François Guilbert, chroniqueur des questions internationales et de sécurité en Asie-Pacifique, analyse la situation économique et sanitaire de la Birmanie et la stratégie mise en place par le gouvernement de Daw Aung San Suu Kyi – mais aussi le rôle de l’armée, toujours omniprésente – pour faire face à l’épidémie mais aussi pour contrer les effets économiques et sociaux attendus.
(Bangkok) – The Myanmar government should take urgent steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission among the estimated 350,000 people displaced by conflict and violence across the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Overcrowding, a mobile internet shutdown, blocks on humanitarian aid, and movement restrictions have left displaced communities in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, Chin, and Karen States especially vulnerable to a virus outbreak.
