Simon Billenness 
This past week, the world watched in amazement as the fifty-year rule of the Assad family in Syria came to a crashing end. The Myanmar military has ruled Burma for about as long. More importantly, the junta’s rule is just as brittle as that of Assad in Syria. To bring about the collapse of Myanmar … Read more
Congress seems poised to finally do right for the Rohingya and people of Burma The BRAVE Burma Act Thank you to Congressman Bill Huizenga (R-MI) for sponsoring this bill and to Congresspeople Brad Sherman (D-CA), Betty McCollum (R-MN) and Ann Wagner (D-MO) for cosponsoring. The Myanmar military seized power on February 1, 2021. To resist … Read more
Seven years is too long to wait for justice Tell your Members of Congress to support the Rohingya GAP Act (H.R.8936) U.S. Representatives Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Michael McCaul (R-TX) have introduced the Rohingya Genocide, Accountability, and Protection Act, or Rohingya GAP Act (H.R.8936). The Rohingya GAP Act seeks to provide protection, support, and humanitarian … Read more
In a new report published today, Amnesty International has documented new shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar’s military. We join Justice for Myanmar – and many Burmese civil society groups – in calling on the Biden Administration to enforce jet fuel sanctions on Myanmar to effectively curtail the capacity of the Myanmar junta to continue … Read more
Tell your Members of Congress to pass the BRAVE Burma Act The Myanmar military seized power on February 1, 2021. To resist this military coup, people across Myanmar have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and taken up arms in a new People’s Defense Force. The Burmese people deserve our support in their struggle. Our … Read more
Last week, Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that her committee would start to markup and finalize appropriations bills when the Senate returns from its July 4th recess. The Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee is working now on the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bill that provides key funding … Read more
Tell them to keep their promise to the people of Myanmar The U.S. House of Representatives is moving forward on its budget bills for the Fiscal Year 2025. This includes the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) appropriations budget that provides key funding for Burma’s democracy movement in its struggle against the … Read more
Happy holidays! Here are two must-read articles on sanctions and Burma from the essential Frontier Myanmar. Read them as you sip your egg nog. https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-end-of-myanmars-resource-boom-could-doom-the-junta/ “The end of Myanmar’s resource boom could doom the junta” Key quote: “The military has since the 1990s relied on three main partners to weather sanctions: Singapore for banking, Thailand … Read more
Thirty-five years ago today, the people of Myanmar stood up. We need to stand with them today. Today marks the anniversary of the 8/8/88, democracy uprising in Burma. Students started the uprising in Yangon and the protests quickly spread throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of students, monks, children, and people from all walks of life protested … Read more
Yesterday, all across Myanmar, people took part in a “silent strike” to protest the second anniversary of the military coup. According to Myanmar Now, streets in the city of Yangon were deserted on Wednesday. Though the day was not a public holiday, little activity was seen in the commercial capital. There are reports of people staying … Read more