Month: February 2021

Myanmar’s protests have unified a disparate country, but including the Rohingya can help defeat the coup

/ Dr Ronan Lee

This article was first published by ABC Religion & Ethics on 15 February, 2021.

Saffron robed Buddhist monks, leather clad punks, shirtless muscle-bound hunks, taffeta ballgown wearing “princes protesters”, chefs in toques, black robed lawyers, construction workers in hard hats, nurses and doctors in scrubs, tattooed martial artists, nat spirit worshipers, civil servants, drag queens, trade unionists, farmers, teachers, taxi drivers, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, the old, the young, women, men, girls and boys — this week and last, these were just some of the groups who joined the biggest protests against military rule ever seen in Myanmar. READ THE ARTICLE HERE.

https://www.abc.net.au/religion/myanmar-the-rohingya-can-help-defeat-the-coup/13155924

Should international companies pull investments out of Myanmar?

/ Dr Ronan Lee

Foreign firms are under pressure to cut ties with the military following the February 1 coup. Protests against the February 1 military coup in Myanmar are spreading, despite internet shutdowns and threats of arrests. International firms are under growing pressure to cut ties with the army’s vast business empire.

For years, rights groups and the United Nations have revealed extensive corruption by military-controlled firms, with revenues going directly to army generals and their families. So will pulling foreign investment be enough to force the coup leaders to bring back civilian rule?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Debbie Stothard – Founder and coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, a network of ASEAN organisations working to support human rights and democracy in Myanmar

Ronan Lee – Visiting scholar at Queen Mary University of London, author of Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide

Tharaphi Than – Associate professor at Northern Illinois University