DVB English News

James Rodehaver is the chief of Myanmar team at the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He sits down with the DVB Newsroom to discuss how the U.N. documents human rights violations and crimes committed by the military in Myanmar.

Aung Naing Soe, a journalist and documentary filmmaker from Myanmar, joins the DVB Newsroom to discuss the new book he co-authored with Joe Freeman called Frontline Poets: The literary rebels taking on Myanmar's military.

Debbie Stothard is a human rights activist from Malaysia and the founder-coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, a network of groups based in the regional bloc Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) supporting democracy and human rights in Myanmar for the last 30 years.

It has been one month since the March 28 earthquake struck central Myanmar. But for many survivors, little to no help has arrived. At least 4,461 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of collapsed buildings and 11,366 have been injured, according to DVB data.

This week, we are handing our feed over to Burma Podcast Network and an interview done by Nyein Chan May with Christopher Wohnig, a lawyer in Germany working on political asylum law. Nyein Chan May is an intersectional feminist, a pro-democracy activist, a podcaster, and the co-founder of German Solidarity with Myanmar.

Nyein Chan May is an intersectional feminist, a pro-democracy activist, a podcaster, and the co-founder of German Solidarity with Myanmar, based in Germany. She joins DVB Newsroom to discuss her work in Europe building solidarity for Myanmar's democracy movement since the 2021 military coup.

Myanmar human rights activist and civil society leader Khin Ohmar sits down with DVB English News to discuss how and why the Myanmar military is blocking, obstructing, and "weaponizing" earthquake relief from reaching those in need.

Our request for an interview with a representative from the U.N. in Myanmar working on the earthquake response went unanswered.

The death toll from the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which struck central Myanmar on March 28, is over 3,600. But DVB documents at least 4,346 bodies have been recovered with 7,890 injured, and over 210 still missing. The earthquake has impacted more than nine million people living in 58 townships. Now survivors face a public health emergency.

DVB English News with the latest facts and figures from on-the-ground in central Myanmar, where a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck on March 28. Ten days later, and the relief and recovery efforts are underway despite violations of a ceasefire announced by the regime from April 2-22.

The International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is April 4. To discuss how Myanmar became the world's deadliest country for landmines, Yeshua Moser- Puangsuwan, the author of the Landmine Monitor report on Myanmar, joined us in the DVB Newsroom.

DVB English News shares the latest facts and figures from on-the-ground in central Myanmar, where a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck on March 28. Almost one week later, and the search and rescue operations switch to relief and recovery efforts.

Resistance forces have reported that the regime in Naypyidaw is increasing its use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, on the battlefield. The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have confirmed that regime forces are using "suicide" drones, which detonate upon impact.

Maung Zarni, a genocide scholar from Myanmar and the co-founder of Free Rohingya Coalition, joined us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss human rights, social justice, and genocide in Myanmar, Syria, and Israel/Palestine.

Ma Nandar is a theatre director, writer, poet, translator, host of the G-Taw Zagar Wyne podcast, and founder of the Purple Feminists Group. She joined us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss how the patriarchy in Myanmar sustains military dictatorship and how women have led the pro-democracy struggle against it, and and the 2021 coup.

Chris Gunness, the founder and director of the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP), joined DVB English News in the newsroom to discuss international justice for the Myanmar people and how MAP is using the legal principle of universal jurisdiction to pursue accountability for the crimes committed by the Myanmar military in courts around the world

This is part two of the DVB Newsroom interview with David Mathieson, an independent analyst on human rights and conflict in Myanmar. In it, he discusses the situation in Myanmar four years after the 2021 military coup.

We recorded this interview before China brokered a ceasefire agreement between the regime in Naypyidaw and the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on Jan. 18.

DVB Newscast for Feb. 7, 2025. Over the past 12 months, Myanmar's resistance forces have made territorial gains nationwide. The military regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 coup, now has less than 25 percent of the country under its control, according to a recent BBC investigation.

The National Unity Government (NUG) claims the resistance controls 144 out of Myanmar’s 330 townships. It added that 48 townships are under full resistance control. While 79 remain contested between the military and the resistance. The regime is administering 107 townships, according to the NUG.

David Mathieson, an independent analyst on human rights and conflict in Myanmar, joined the DVB Newsroom to discuss the situation in Myanmar four years after the 2021 military coup. This interview was recorded before China brokered a ceasefire agreement between the regime in Naypyidaw and the Three Brotherhood Alliance's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on Jan. 18.

The National Unity Government (NUG) President's Office spokesperson Kyaw Zaw responded to Mathieson's comments made in this interview: "We [didn't] say that we control two thirds of the country. We say that resistance forces control two thirds of the countries. We [didn't] say that we fully control and govern 144 townships. We're saying that the resistance forces control, and we didn't say that we fully control 95 townships, towns and cities. We clearly say that [the People's Defense Force captured] and control eight towns and cities out of 95."

Moon Nay Li, the joint general secretary at the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) and the former general secretary at the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT), joined us in the DVB Newsroom to share her more than 18 years of work committed to advancing human rights and women's participation in Myanmar.

American pro-democracy activist Michael Sladnick joins us in the DVB Newsroom to share his journey about how he first learned about Myanmar after the 2021 military coup, then learned to speak Burmese and moved to the Thailand-Myanmar border to provide assistance to the anti-coup resistance.

Jason Tower is the country director for the Burma program at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). He joins us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss the rise of cyber scams in Myanmar and what USIP has done to document it and raise awareness about the global threats it creates.

Noor Azizah is the co-founder of the Rohingya Maiyafuinor Collaborative Network, a Rohingya women and refugee-led organization working on human rights and education with a focus on women, peace, and security.

Ashley South, the author of Conflict, Complexity and Climate Change: Emergent federal systems and resilience in post-coup Myanmar, returned to the DVB newsroom to discuss the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan Nov. 11-22. He shared how nation states are beginning to take climate adaptation and mitigation seriously, except for Myanmar, which is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change.

DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Nov. 15, 2024. In this week’s news: Resistance drone strike on military airbase in Mandalay Region; Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing visits drone manufacturing facility during China visit; Naypyidaw attempts to stop currency depreciation; Myanmar citizens renew passports with National Unity Government (NUG) representative office in South Korea; Cyber scams increasingly targeting Western countries; Plus, how to stop online harm and abuse in Myanmar.

DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Nov. 8, 2024. In this week’s briefing: Min Aung Hlaing visits China for first time since 2021 military coup; Military personnel defect to Kachin Independence Army; Bangladesh wants to fast-track Rohingya refugee resettlement; Wa State using Thai banks to launder money; Plus, What’s Happening in Myanmar’s Pa-O Self-Administered Zone of southern Shan State.

DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Nov. 1, 2024. In this week’s briefing: UN states that ‘brutality’ of crimes in Myanmar is increasing; Special Envoy on Myanmar visits Naypyidaw; Economist expects more inflation due to China border closures; One year on since the launch of Operation 1027; Plus, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) on international advocacy.

DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Oct. 18, 2024. In this week's briefing: Myanmar tied with China for worst internet freedom globally; India begins engaging with the anti-coup resistance; What’s really happening in Sagaing Region?; Plus, a DVB exclusive on new trains from Spain frustrating commuters in Yangon.

DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Oct. 11, 2024. Regional bloc discusses Myanmar crisis at summit; Former Thai diplomat calls for ASEAN engagement with the National Unity Government (NUG); U.N. Ambassador’s mandate is deferred for another year by credentials committee; Plus, a report on how record flooding in Chiang Mai, Thailand impacted the Myanmar community.

DVB Newscast for Oct. 4, 2024. The military has carried out at least 15 airstrikes on Lashio, located in northern Shan State, over the last month. The city is home to 150,000 people who fear more retaliatory airstrikes against the Brotherhood Alliance.

Its Kokang forces, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), took control of Lashio after it seized the Northeast Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters on Aug. 3.

The civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG) Foreign Affairs Minister Zin Mar Aung speaks to DVB Bureau Chief Mon Mon Myat about the progress that it has made, along with its People’s Defense Forces (PDF), over the last three years of resistance to the 2021 military coup

DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Sept. 27, 2024. In this week's briefing: Flood death toll continues to rise nationwide; UN Human Rights Council told that Myanmar is ‘an abyss of human suffering’; And 'Ek Khaale’ the Rohingya visual storytelling project and historical narrative; Plus, the National Unity Government (NUG) Foreign Affairs Minister Zin Mar Aung speaks to DVB Newsroom.

In this week’s briefing: Over 5,000 killed and tens of thousands detained since the 2021 military coup; Min Aung Hlaing orders disaster response completed over next six months; Free Burma Rangers assist in flood relief efforts; Plus, a fundraiser for the survivors of Typhoon Yagi in Myanmar.

DVB English News Weekly Briefing for Sept. 13, 2024. In this week’s briefing: Two children from Myanmar die during flooding in Thailand; A political and conflict analyst calls military attacks an ‘air terror campaign’; Plus, another look at what’s happening in Sagaing Region; And, a Thai-Myanmar arts collective hosts Limbo Festival.