Myanmar 20250722
Mekong Memo Myanmar Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.
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Here is this week’s edition of the Mekong Memo for Myanmar.
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Headlines:
Election Plan Crumbles as Territory Slips Away
Rebels Keep Winning Territory
Women Peace Networks Keep Working from Exile
Rare Earth Mining Wreaks Environmental Havoc
Military's War on Healthcare Worsens
Irrawaddy Flood Problems Getting Worse
Russia and Myanmar Cook Up Sanctions Dodge
U.S. and India Team-Up on Myanmar
Wa Region to Restart Tin Mining
Women Farmers Feed Yangon
Journalists Keep Fighting for Truth
Election Plan Crumbles as Territory Slips Away
The military has announced elections for December 2025/January 2026, but they are losing their grip on the nation. Min Aung Hlaing still has plans for a “power transfer” from the State Administration Council to the National Defense and Security Council this month, but he heads both bodies. The elections exclude major opposition parties like the National League for Democracy and will be held in only 267 of 330 townships. Min Aung Hlaing showed up at Martyrs' Day commemorations honoring Aung San (father of imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi) in a political move to shore-up his legitimacy. The planned elections face opposition from resistance groups, the international community, and citizens, who say they’re fraudulent.
Read more: Irrawaddy, Irrawaddy, Euronews, GlobalVoices, Crisis Group, Irrawaddy, Irrawaddy
Rebels Keep Winning Territory
The civil war has cost the military control of about 68% of the country's townships. In Shan State, Karenni rebels are fighting junta forces in mountainous regions, and in the south, the Karen National Liberation Army is attacking the junta's final outpost at Nat Ein Taung in Tanintharyi Region, near critical gas pipelines to Thailand. The military recaptured Nawnghkio town in northern Shan State after an 11-month campaign, helped by China's pressure on ethnic armed groups and disruption of cross-border supply lines to resistance forces.
Read more: The Globe and Mail, Irrawaddy, Irrawaddy
Women Peace Networks Keep Working from Exile
Women's peace networks are keeping up their work largely in exile. They received the National Unity Consultative Council's endorsement of their Gender Equality Position Paper in 2023 and created a Women, Peace and Security Strategic Framework for 2024-2027.
Read more: Peace News
Rare Earth Mining Wreaks Environmental Havoc
Myanmar supplies 60-87% of China's rare earth imports, primarily from Kachin State. The extraction requires the injection of chemicals into mountain slopes to extract heavy rare earths like dysprosium and terbium, causing serious environmental degradation. Mining operations have grown from 3 to 26 mines in Shan State between 2005 and 2025; Kachin State is home to more than 300 mines that have increased production 40% since the coup.
Read more: GNLM, Asian News Network, Economic Times
Military's War on Healthcare Worsens
More than 1,700 attacks on healthcare services were tallied between February 2021 and June 2025, with the military allegedly responsible for 75% of them. The assaults resulted in 401 health facilities damaged or destroyed, 153 health workers killed, and 885 health workers arrested. Attacks include direct targeting of medical facilities, restrictions on medical transport, arrests of staff, and forced closure of some clinics. Grim.
Read more: ReliefWeb
Irrawaddy Flood Problems Getting Worse
The Irrawaddy River is seeing an increase in the number of floods caused by human activities. Myanmar lost 379,000 hectares of forest between 2001 and 2024, and uncontrolled mining has reduced the environment’s ability to handle the rain. A rising number of floods might not be so bad by itself, but infrastructure shortcomings, including poor flood prevention and weak riverbank protection, are leaving communities especially vulnerable to the problem.
Read more: Eurasia Review
Russia and Myanmar Cook Up Sanctions Dodge
The regime is working with Russia to develop a trade corridor linking Russia to Yangon Port via Mumbai Port in India to bypass Western sanctions. The plan was discussed between Myanmar's Transport Minister and a representative of the Roscongress Investment Fund. The project could integrate with India's existing Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. Both Myanmar and Russia are looking for membership in regional organizations like BRICS, SCO, and EAEU to try and counter international isolation.
Read more: Irrawaddy
U.S. and India Team-Up on Myanmar
Myanmar's problems are an opening for U.S.-India cooperation. China's increasing support for the junta is cause for some urgency to counterbalance their influence. Both the United States and India share an interest in preventing Myanmar from becoming a Chinese strategic foothold. Any partnership could weaken the junta's position, counter China's influence, and help find a path toward political resolution.
Read more: Irrawaddy
Wa Region to Restart Tin Mining
Myanmar's Wa region, which delivers 70% of the country's tin exports, will restart tin ore shipments soon. Several operators in Man Maw have been given three-year mining licenses to restart operations suspended in August 2023 for resource protection. As the world's third-largest tin producer, Myanmar's reduced output has had an impact on global markets, and this recent news has seen tin prices reach a three-week low and LME tin inventory rising to its highest level since August 2021.
Read more: Metal News
Women Farmers Feed Yangon
A UNDP project in Yangon is working to reduce urban poverty through women-led mushroom farming. Urban poverty in Yangon rose from 10% to 43% between 2017 and 2023. The project is intended to particularly support vulnerable women migrants by taking unused urban spaces and turning them into agricultural sites. The program has so far trained 900 urban farmers in sustainable agriculture. Mushroom farming offers low startup costs, 10-15 day crop cycles, and high nutritional value. Women in the program work in collaborative farming groups with collective decision-making, task rotation, and shared responsibilities.
Read more: UNDP
Journalists Keep Fighting for Truth
Following the coup, the junta's suspension of 15 media outlets' licenses forced 64 newsrooms into exile (for example, Mizzima News relocated its broadcasting to Karen State, protected by the Karen National Union, and Independent Press Council Myanmar set up shop in Thailand). Despite the challenges (organizations have had to adapt through satellite internet, mobile broadcasting equipment, and reporting methods including citizen journalism and social media sourcing), independent media has remained surprisingly resourceful, and in some ways the pressure has made them stronger
Read more: The Federal
That’s it for this week… THANK YOU.
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