UK Offers to Restore Military Ties during President’s Visit

Britain’s Ministry of Defense extended an offer to restore military ties with Myanmar during a threeday visit to the United Kingdom by President U Thein Sein that ended on July 17. “The focus of our defense engagement will be on developing democratic accountability in a modern armed forces,” said British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond. U Thein Sein, who was the first Myanmar head of state to visit the UK in more than 25 years, had earlier declared that a nationwide ceasefire was possible within weeks, and that “the guns will go silent everywhere in Myanmar for the first time in more than 60 years.”

Critics said both the UK government’s offer and the president’s pronouncement were premature, given the instability of existing ceasefire agreements. near Meikhtila in Mandalay Region when their vehicle, driven by Ko Than Win Hlaing, 32, blew a tire, skidded out of control, crashed through a fence and then fell 5 meters. Soe Tay, 23, was sent to Mandalay Hospital to receive treatment for lifethreatening head injuries. His wife Ma Chaw Chaw, 22, died before reaching the hospital. The driver and another passenger, Ma Sabel Mon, 18, sustained minor injuries.

Nasaka Border Guard Force Abolished

Myanmar’s government announced on July 14 that a special border guard force operating along the Bangladeshi border has been abolished. The force, known as Nasaka, comprised army and police officers and customs and immigration department officials. A brief announcement on the website of the President’s Office gave no explanation for the move. However, U Zaw Aye Maung, the minister for Rakhine ethnic affairs, said the Nasaka was dismantled because the Rakhine Investigation Commission, a team tasked with investigating last year’s outbreaks of communal violence in Rakhine State, found that the border guard force had not effectively performed its duties. Rights groups also say that the Nasaka had a record of human rights violations against the Rohingya Muslim minority living in the northern part of the state.

The Bats of Shwedagon

Unlike the proverbial “bats out of hell”, Myanmar’s bats seem to prefer the more serene precincts of temples. Here, thousands of the webbedwinged creatures can be seen ascending from Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar’s most sacred Buddhist site. It’s a ritual that can be witnessed every evening just before dusk, when a dark streak spreads across the sky as the bats set out in search of food. It’s also a reminder that in Myanmar, the human world— both sacred and profane—is never very far removed from that of nature.