Democratic space further restricted in Myanmar

Earlier this month, the Yangon Region Security and Border Affairs Minister issued a directive banning public assemblies in most of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. Also in November, a human rights activist in the northern state of Kachin was charged with criminal defamation after distributing information detailing human rights abuses by the military. These events, in conjunction with the continuing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, and the previous arrests of journalists, are a stark reminder of the increasingly dangerous times that labour and human rights activists are facing in Myanmar.

Earlier this month, the Yangon Region Security and Border Affairs Minister issued a directive banning public assemblies in most of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. Also in November, a human rights activist in the northern state of Kachin was charged with criminal defamation after distributing information detailing human rights abuses by the military. These events, in conjunction with the continuing ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people in Myanmar, and the previous arrests of journalists, are a stark reminder of the increasingly dangerous times that labour and human rights activists are facing in Myanmar.