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Junta Trades Marine for a Meeting
Adam Castillo walked free from Naypyidaw on September 16 after being held for 97 days. He flew out as a US delegation was convening what the State Department said was Washington's highest-level meeting with the military government since the 2021 coup. The former US Marine and AmCham Myanmar president had been arrested at Yangon airport thanks to a breach of trust lawsuit connected to his lobbying in Washington. His sister blamed business rivals, and the junta (rather hopefully, maybe) tried to frame (no pun intended) his release as a gesture of friendship toward Washington. Neither government announced the names of any of the officials at the meeting. Danny Kyaw, the Australian AmCham executive arrested in the same case, remains unaccounted for.
Read more: AP (business dispute), The Irrawaddy (possible sentence), CNN (US visit)
Norwegian Police Raid Telenor Over Data Handover
Norwegian police searched Telenor's Oslo headquarters last weed in a criminal investigation of possible complicity in crimes against humanity. The inquiry covers the period between the 2021 coup and Telenor's sale of its local business in March 2022. Customers say that the company handed over call logs and location data to the military that helped it track and arrest activists, including Ko Jimmy, who was later executed. Police are also trying to determine whether surveillance equipment included in the sale was a breach of sanctions. Telenor says its local staff was put at risk of prison, torture or death if they refused military orders.
Read more: The Irrawaddy (customer lawsuit), CIVICUS Lens (rights complaint), Webwire (police search)
Junta Pitches Roads It Doesn't Hold
Min Aung Hlaing has been touring regional capitals and is promising $5 billion in trade with India by 2030, in addition to a finished Kaladan corridor and a highway the would connect India, Myanmar and Thailand within five years. Both routes go through Rakhine and Chin territory that’s now controlled by the Arakan Army, however, which may be a fly in that ointment.
Read more: The Irrawaddy (trade promises), BNI (Mrauk-U bombing), Narinjara (pagoda damage)
Reshuffle Sidelines Top General After Losses
The regime has replaced Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Nyunt Win Swe with General Ko Ko Oo, the armed forces' general staff chief, in what is seen as a demotion disguised as a promotion. Ko Ko Oo oversaw two failed campaigns, an offensive in Rakhine that was pushed back by the Arakan Army and river convoys to Bhamo (see next story) that have been battered by Kachin Independence Army ambushes. Min Aung Hlaing made the appointment without trying to get (the military-dominated) parliament's approval, although technically the constitution requires it. This might indicate that his grip on the regime's political wing may be less secure than he would prefer. The Union Solidarity and Development Party has kept Khin Yi in place as chairman, and only two of four supposed Min Aung Hlaing allies won places on its 46-member executive committee.
Read more: The Irrawaddy (convoy losses), The Irrawaddy (party struggle), DVB (USDP membership), New Day Myanmar (leadership)
KIA Sinks Junta Convoys on the Ayeyarwady
Nearly 20 junta vessels have been sunk, burned or forced in for repairs on the Ayeyarwady between Katha and Bhamo, according to Kachin Independence Army officer Colonel Naw Bu. Only seven vessels were able to make it as far as Bhamo, and junta shipping farther south has stopped. Another 33-ship convoy is at the Chinese-linked Tagaung nickel plant, which the junta recaptured in March. Most of those vessels are unloading coal and preparing to carry ferronickel and copper to China. The other six were heading upriver when resistance fighters ambushed and set them alight near Tigyaing.
Read more: Narinjara (vessel losses), BNI (Tagaung convoy)
H&M Exit Shuts Five Hlaing Tharyar Plants
Seventeen Yangon factories have applied to close as orders have dried up and raw materials continue to run short. Teng Hui, which runs five plants in Hlaing Tharyar, is stopping production at the end of September after losing its H&M business. Exporters are required to exchange their earnings at the official rate of 3,660 kyat to the dollar, which is more than 700 kyat below the market rate. The value of national garment exports fell from more than $5.2 billion in 2023 to about $4.46 billion in 2024 - we don’t have more recent figures yet.
Read more: The Irrawaddy
Anwar Offers Min Aung Hlaing a Visit for 5,000 Souls
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says he will invite Min Aung Hlaing for an official visit after the junta agreed to take 5,000 Rohingya back to Myanmar. That’s only a sliver of the more than 126,000 Rohingya who are registered as refugees in Malaysia. Once upon a time, Anwar called the coup a seizure of power, but his public stance has softened and he now argues that someone needs to deal with the junta because the Rohingya have nowhere else to go. If the meeting happens, Malaysia would become the fifth ASEAN state to host Min Aung Hlaing.
Read more: Reuters (refugee figures), The Irrawaddy (Malaysia policy)
PDF Urges Conscripts to Desert With Weapons
The junta has conscripted about 135,000 people since July 2024, according to the People's Defence Force, which is calling on people to resist call-up orders and suggesting that recruits already pressed into service should desert. The PDF claims about 20,000 conscripts have already deserted, but that’s a bold claim that hasn’t been verified yet. The PDF says that its offering cash and safe passage to recruits who leave their posts and bring along their weapons. Forced recruitment, which, at the beginning, afflicted mostly at young men, is now happening to women too.
Read more: Shan Herald (Mon State recruits), BNI (conscription law)
Scam Centers Still Hiring for Night Shifts
More than four-fifths of 9,322 recruitment ads tracked in Karen State sought workers for "US chatting." The jobs pay about $600 a month for overnight shifts (which is daytime in America). New sites in Thitkate and Hpakalu are replacing the raided compounds at KK Park and Shwe Kokko. English language skills are no longer a barrier, according to one recruiter, because workers are able to carry out their schemes by typing in Burmese. Chinese scam operators fleeing fighting near Kasawwahlay are moving under armed Democratic Karen Benevolent Army escort into Sone See Myaing, the militia’s headquarters village. Syndicates are reportedly renting officers’ houses for $9,000 to $12,000 a year and building new compounds, including one called Shwe Taungni. The operators had already moved once after a $10 million US bounty on three alleged ringleaders made their previous base too exposed. The DKBA did not respond to requests for comment.
Read more: The Irrawaddy (night shifts), The Irrawaddy (new compounds), Karen News (fighting nearby)
Drone Trainers Walk After Missed Filing Deadline
Matthew Van Dyke and six Ukrainians won bail from a Delhi court after India's National Investigation Agency missed a filing deadline. They were arrested in March for allegedly training ethnic armed groups to use drones. The agency dropped terrorism charges from its first filing, though a prosecutor said they could still appear in a later one. Van Dyke is not currently able to leave India without the court's permission while the case continues.
Read more: The Tribune (arrests), ThePrint (court hearing)
Visa-on-Arrival for Chinese, Indian Tourists
Visa on arrival for Chinese and Indian travelers will continue through August 29, 2027, in a third “one-year” trial. The country saw more than 700,000 foreign visitors roll in through the first eight months of 2026, which was a modest annual increase, with Thailand and China providing the most muscle.
Read more: VnExpress
That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.
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