By Ko Myo / MPA A young man in Yangon has been released after reportedly being drugged with alcohol and sold to a military recruitment camp, highlighting a disturbing new trend of private individuals profiting from the country's conscription drive. The 18-year-old victim was lured by an online acquaintance to a meeting near the Kohtatgyi Pagoda in Sanchaung Township on 13 March. After being...

By Hlaing and Mon Lay / MPA In the dusty outskirts of Yangon, a volunteer fire station has become an unlikely frontline in the struggle to save Myanmar’s youth from a cycle of poverty and crime. Last week, Daw Myint Myint Than, a widowed cleaner from Hlaing Tharyar Township, arrived at the Pale Auxiliary Fire Station with her young son, Maung Myo Min Thant....

By Sayar Ngaat / MPA A prominent local journalist has been detained by an unidentified armed group in a resistance-controlled area of Kachin State, raising fresh concerns over press freedom in Myanmar’s conflict zones. Ko Tar Lin Maung, an editor for the Hpakant-based Uru Daily News, was taken from a teashop in Saing Taung village on Tuesday evening. According to witnesses and family members,...

By Kan Htun / MPA More than 100 Myanmar military personnel held as prisoners of war (POWs) have been killed following an airstrike by their own air force in Rakhine State’s Ann Township, according to ground reports and newly verified photographic evidence. The incident, which occurred on 8 March, targeted a detention facility managed by the Arakan Army (AA). Ground images obtained on 17...

YANGON, Myanmar — An 18-year-old man in Yangon has returned home with severe injuries after being lured into a trap, drugged with alcohol, and sold to a military base for profit. The incident, reported by the Rangoon Scout Network (RSN), highlights a terrifying new trend in Myanmar’s commercial capital where civilians are being hunted by predatory gangs to meet the recruitment needs of the...