James Bawi Thang Bik, chairperson of the Alliance of Chin Refugees speaks at an election protest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Myanmar refugees in Malaysia face new registration regime
Myanmar refugees in Malaysia face growing uncertainty as a UN refugee agency documentation process is challenged by a new Malaysian initiative during ongoing refugee deportations. In the stairwell of a four-storey building in Kuala Lumpur’s Pudu district, James Bawi Thang Bik, the chairperson of the Alliance of Chin Refugees (ACR), points to a notice stuck on the wall at the entrance of a school classroom. “This is the only protection we have in Malaysia,” James...
Malaysia’s Karen community marks New Year in Kuala Lumpur
Members of the Karen community from Myanmar living in Malaysia gathered in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to mark Karen New Year at an event organized by the Malaysian Karen Organisation (MKO).Organizers told DVB that the event was intended to “highlight the richness, uniqueness, and unity of the Karen community.”
A dispatch from Mandalay six months after the March 28 earthquake
Myanmar’s strongest earthquake in a century struggled to spur international support in any meaningful way. Nor did it inspire any let up in the military’s violence – and in the second largest city of Mandalay, oppression is only intensifying. What followed March 28 stands as a crystal-clear case study of the military’s priorities — a crucial reminder as it seeks to normalise its rule and gain international legitimacy with end-of-year elections.From a busy tea house on...
Pacifist Farooq reads a poem at a refugee festival in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, on 18 January 2026
Myanmar refugees in Malaysia protest against regime elections
A motorist looks at a plot of rubble in downtown Mandalay, Myanmar, six months on from historic earthquake
A group of men play a game of carrom at a tea shop in Mandalay, Myanmar on 30 August 2025
Downtown Mandalay, five months on from Myanmar's historic earthquake
Mandalay, Myanmar
