Gavroche has selected for you some salient news in Burma during this past week. An essential overview of the news for anyone interested in this Southeast Asian country.

covid

Myanmar has confirmed 13 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 613,440, according to the country’s health ministry. 6,656 people were tested for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, and the daily positivity rate was 0.2%, Myanmar’s ministry said.

The country’s death toll from Covid-19 still stood at 19,434 on June 11. In the past 24 hours, 22 more patients have recovered from Covid-19, and the total number of recovered people in the country rose to 592,423 on Saturday June 11.

Policy

Burma’s ruling military junta has not issued execution orders for a former ousted government lawmaker and prominent democracy activist sitting on death row after being convicted of terrorism, despite reports that which the men would be hanged on Friday evening local time, a spokesman for the Department of Prisons said. On June 3, the junta announced that it would carry out the planned executions of former MP Phyo Zeya Thaw and Ko Jimmy, a longtime democracy activist and former leader of the Generation 88 student group.

Is the head of the Burmese junta considering drafting a new constitution? Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to the site of the army’s latest national convention raises questions about how far the coup leader would go to retain his claims to power

The ASEAN Special Envoy, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Cambodia, Prak Sokhonn, will make his second trip to Burma on June 29-30 to follow up on the implementation of the ASEAN five-point consensus. Previously, the trip was postponed due to some technical issues in Burma. Late last month, Prak briefed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the development of the five-point consensus and ASEAN’s future course of action.

Economy

In order to avoid speculation and optimize the use of foreign exchange, the importation and distribution of fuel are subject to strict regulation by the FESC (Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee), a newly created body, and the “Myanmar Petroleum Trade Association” which imposes a maximum price at the pump. On the one hand, the availability of foreign currencies is limited by the FESC, making it impossible to import the desired volumes, on the other hand daily quotas are granted to distributors, which has led to the appearance of long queues of waiting in front of stations, especially in the morning.

Company

Forty-five illegal Burmese migrants were arrested Monday (June 6th) at Wat Mae Setthi, Ron Phibun district, after they were seen hiding in a rubber plantation the previous week. District Police Chief Pol Col Suthas Songsayom led investigators and administration, labor and welfare officials to the temple on Monday (June 6th) for questioning.

The World Health Organization says one of its employees was shot dead in the town of Mawlamyine in Mon State, Burma, on Wednesday. Myo Min Htut was killed near Than Lwin Park around 5:45 p.m., the WHO announced today. The local People’s Defense Forces (PDF) militia, which emerged in opposition to last year’s military coup, has claimed responsibility for the killing.

This week, as schools reopened across Burma, the military regime said students are studying “in joy and peace” at junta-run schools in cities that are largely under its control, such as Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.