DVB English News

In 2025, Malaysia dramatically escalated immigration enforcement with Myanmar refugees say ing that uncertainty and fear now dominate their lives. James Bawi Thang Bik, the chairperson of the Alliance for Chin Refugees (ACR), joined us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss the situation faced by refugees and migrants from Myanmar living in Malaysia. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) has scheduled elections in 274 out of Myanmar’s 330 townships with voting to take place in three phases: on Dec. 28, Jan. 11, and Jan. 25, 2026. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections deemed free and fair by international election observers, was dissolved by the UEC for not re-registering. Watch the Myanmar regime's 2025-26 elections special report on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen wherever you get podcasts.

With Myanmar's pro-democracy movement not fully behind the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, which was ousted in the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, nor the group representing lawmakers elected in 2020 but ousted in the coup: The National Unity Government (NUG), the military is holding elections to legitimize its rule once again. Stay tuned to DVB English News for more ⁠Explainers⁠. Find us wherever you get podcasts. Follow or subscribe.

Natascha Schwanke, the DW Akademie Deputy Head and Director of Media Development, joined us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss DW Akademie's work globally and how it supports Myanmar independent media operating in exile. Disclaimer: DW Akademie also supports DVB. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

Kan Kyi, the lead emcee of hip hop collective Triple Edge and organizer of the annual MOB Party in Chiang Mai, joins us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss music, activism, and the crisis in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, ⁠or wherever you get podcasts⁠.

The regime enacted an Election Protection Law in July to prosecute anyone criticizing its 2025-26 polls, which begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026. The law carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison to a maximum sentence of death, if convicted. At least 194 people have been charged under this new law so far. Thirty-two have been arrested and five have been convicted, according to DVB data. Two Yangon residents were sentenced from 42 to 49 years in prison on Nov. 19 for "disrupting the elections." Stay tuned to DVB English News for more Newscasts. Find us wherever you get podcasts. Follow or subscribe.

Jue Jue Min Thu is the founder of Jue Jue's Safe Space, which offers mental health services for Myanmar communities. She joined us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss her work. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

Part two of an interview with Myanmar documentary photographer Khin Sandar Nyunt in the DVB Newsroom on her book: “Purple Flowers Will Bloom” which includes photographs taken during her work on the frontline in Myanmar’s Karenni State. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts. Check out our photos from the book launch in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Myanmar documentary photographer Khin Sandar Nyunt joins the DVB Newsroom to discuss her book: “Purple Flowers Will Bloom” which includes photographs taken during her work on the frontline in Myanmar’s Karenni State. Check out our photos from the book launch in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

Youth Line podcast host Pyartho brings us a story about three LGBTQ+ teachers who refused to work after the 2021 military coup and joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Stay tuned to Youth Line podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and ⁠YouTube⁠. Find DVB English News on X, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads & TikTok, Subscribe on YouTube. Follow us on YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, or ⁠⁠⁠wherever you get podcasts⁠⁠⁠.

The mysterious disappearance of Myanmar refugee leader Thuzar Maung and her family from their home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 4, 2023, and their reported re-appearance in detention in Myanmar on Oct. 18, 2025, raises more questions than it answers. DVB is requesting proof of life from the military regime in Naypyidaw, and for Malaysia to share its police investigation into the family's disappearance it launched over two years ago with the public. How did five U.N. registered refugees disappear without a trace? And reappear in Myanmar via an undated photo and very little information from the regime in Naypyidaw? DVB is investigating. Stay tuned.

Vicky Bowman, a British former ambassador and the director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, speaks to the DVB Newsroom about the business climate in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup and her imprisonment in Yangon. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

Myanmar’s first-ever mixed martial arts (MMA) World Champion Aung La Nsang, known as the “Burmese Python,” won his last-ever bout before retirement from MMA against Swedish fighter Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam at ONE Fight Night 36 held at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 4. Read more on the DVB English News website. Watch DVB English News on YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, ⁠or wherever you get podcasts⁠.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel joins the DVB Newsroom to discuss his four years as America's top diplomat in Yangon and how the relationship between the two countries has changed since the 2021 military coup. Watch DVB Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

Myanmar journalist, producer, and presenter at Voice of America (VOA), Ei Thant Sin, sits down with the DVB Newsroom from Washington, D.C. to discuss her work covering her homeland from the U.S. and her new job as a host of the Insight Myanmar Podcast. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, ⁠⁠⁠or wherever you get podcasts⁠⁠⁠.

"In Burma.Independent media are more than journalists.They are front line defenders of democracy.They are its active force, its lifeline every single day.They risk their lives to report the truth while others remain silent or worse, stand with tyranny.Soldiers risk their lives on the battlefield, but at least they have the means to defend themselves and fight back.Journalists only have their words, courage, and intellect.For me, independent media have been a lifeline since my childhood.The junta hides every detail about my mother's well-being and what is really happening in Burma.But through outlets like Irrawaddy, DVB and Myanmar now, I've been able to know the truth.Without them, I would be in the dark, just like so many families across Burma and the world, in Burma and other countries.State controlled media is used to feed the public lies and brainwash people.When I have been in Burma and before with memoir growing up in different countries, learning about different cultures, I learnt not only about Burmese traditions, but also about the spirit behind them.One of the most beautiful traditions is offering merit doing a good deeds on birthdays or special occasions.So today, on my birthday, I want to honour that tradition in my own way by supporting the journalists who keep truth alive.Unlike many commercial outlets and mass media that profit from entertainment or those that echo propaganda, independent media give voice to the people.They expose corruption, document abuses and keep the hope of democracy alive.But today they are under attack.Facing arrests, exile, censorship and the constant struggle for funding.Without our support, their voices could fall silent.And with them, so could the truth.This is where you come in.Your support is more than a donation.It is an act of solidarity.Every contribution helps keep a reporter safe, funds investigations and protects the truth from being erased.Together, we can ensure that independent media remain not only a voice for the people, but an active force in Burma's democracy movement.Truth needs allies.Stand with the independent media.Support them today because this is your media.And without them, who knows what is happening in Burma," Kim Aris. Support DVB by becoming a free or paid member. Please also consider donating. Subscribe to our Daily Briefing newsletter for the latest on #WhatshappeninginMyanmar.

Aung San Suu Kyi's son Kim Aris speaks to DVB Newsroom host Mon Mon Myat about his mother's deteriorating health conditions in prison, where she's been held incommunicado since the Myanmar military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Read Kim Aris' statement regarding Aung San Suu Kyi's heart condition on DVB English News. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, ⁠⁠or wherever you get podcasts⁠⁠.

Yasmin Ullah, the co-founder of the Rohingya Maiyafuinor Collaborative Network, joins us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss her work empowering Rohingya women, and advocating on their behalf, from the refugee camps they've ended up in since fleeing genocide in Myanmar. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, ⁠or wherever you get podcasts⁠.

Myanmar artist and activist Chuu Wai Nyein joins us in the DVB Newsroom to discuss her work. Watch Newsroom on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.

Myanmar’s Rohingya have marked eight years since the military launched a brutal “clearance operation” in northern Rakhine State. Homes were burned down, women were raped, and thousands were killed by soldiers.The date is now commemorated each year as Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day on Aug. 25, 2017. Over 700,000 Rohingya had fled across the border into Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya had already fled previous military assaults. The United Nations called it a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. The United States and many other western countries have labelled it a genocide. Watch the report on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.