Reporting behind the conversion of the front lines in the civil war in Myanmar Freedom of news news

On a typical day, May Ruba travels through his homeland, in eastern Myanmar, documenting the influence of war.

Video journalist with the online news port SHWE PHEE MyYHe travels to remote cities and villages, collecting clips and conducting interviews about stories ranging from battle updates to the situation for local civilians living in a war zone.

His function is fraught with risks. The roads are scattered with ground mines and there were times that had been covered by air strikes and artillery shelling.

“I have seen countless people who were injured and died in front of me,” May Ruba said.

“Sometimes,” he said, sometimes, which led to serious emotional distress. “

Mai Rupa is one of a small number of independent brave journalists who are still reporting on the ground in Myanmar, where a military coup in 2021 broke the country’s fragile transition to democracy and freedoms of severed media.

Like his colleagues at SHWE Phele Myay – a name that refers to the history of Shan State rich in tea – Mai RUPA prefers to go in the name of the pen because of the risk of public identification as a reporter with one of the remaining remaining independent media that is still working inside the country.

Most of the journalists escaped from Myanmar in the wake of the military acquisition and the expanding civil war. Some people continue to cover them by carrying out the border trips from the bases of work in neighboring Thailand and India.

But the SHWE PHEEE MyY-which is an outlet in the Burmese, with roots in the TA’ANG community in the state of Shan-continues to report the land, covers an area of ​​Myanmar where many ethnic armed groups have fought for decades against the army and sometimes clashed with each other.

Fighting in order to keep the audience with knowledge

After the Myanmar army launched a coup in February 2021, SHWE PHEEEII journalists faced new risks.

In March of that year, Maraslan survived the director’s outlet by a slight difference while covering the pro -democracy protests. When the soldiers and the police raided their office in the capital of Shan in Lacio after two months, the entire team had already hid.

In September, the organization’s army correspondent arrested the organization, LWAY M Phuong, due to the alleged incitement and the publication of “wrong news”. I served nearly two years in prison. The rest of the 10 -people SHWE Myay team spread after her arrest, which came amid the Myanmar Mission campaign on the media.

The news team spread throughout the northeastern state of Shan in the east of the country, initially to continue their work. They chose to avoid urban areas where they may face the army. Every day it was a struggle to continue reporting.

“We could not travel on the main roads, and only rear roads,” said Hlaar NYIEM, an editor at Shwe Phee Myay.

“Sometimes, we lost four or five working days in a week,” she said.

Despite the risks, SHWE PHEEEIIS Correspondents continued their secret work to preserve the audience’s flag.

When it is 7.7 earthquake The center of Myanmar was hit on March 28, killing more than one 3800 peopleThe journalists in Shui Fi Miay were among the few able to document antiquities from inside the country.

The army prevented most of the international media from reaching earthquake -affected areas, citing the difficulties in travel and residence, and a few local reporters who were still working in the country were very risk to obtain information to the outside world.

“These journalists continue to reveal the facts and make the voices of people heard that the military regime is desperate,” said Thu Aung, a researcher in the General Policy at Oxford University, who conducted research on the post -media scene in Myanmar.

In addition to the civil war and the threats of the Myanmar military regime, Myanmar journalists faced a new threat.

In January, the administration of US President Donald Trump and his billionaires close to the government efficiency management (DOGE) began billionaire dismantling United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The United States Agency for International Development has allocated more than $ 268 million to support independent media and free information flow in more than 30 countries around the world – from Ukraine to Myanmar, according to the correspondents of the invitation group without borders.

In February I mentioned To freeze the US Agency for International Development, create an “existential crisis” for Myanmar’s exile journalists working from May Soth, on the country’s borders with Thailand.

The situation worsened more in mid -March, when the White House Declare The US Agency for World Media (USAGM) plans to reduce operations to a minimum. Usagm – among other things – is honored by the Voice of America and Radio on free Asia, both of whom were newspapers on Myanmar.

Last week, RFA announced that it would exclude 90 percent of its employees and stop producing news in Tibet, Burmese, Ouigor and Lao. Voa faced a similar position.

Tin Tin, Managing Director of Burma News International, a network of 16 local media institutions based inside and outside Myanmar, said the loss of Burmese language services provided by VOA and RFA has created the “disturbing information space”.

Tin Tin New said that the independent media sector in Myanmar is highly dependent on international assistance, which was already diminished.

She said that many local news in Myanmar was “already struggling to continue to produce reliable information”, as a result of reducing the financing of the United States for International Development, which Trump provided and implemented by Musk Dog.

Some have demobilized the employees, and reduced their programs or suspended operations.

“Reducing the size of independent media has led to a decrease in the ability to monitor (wrong) novels, provide early warnings and combat advertising, which ultimately weakens the pro -democracy movement,” said Tin Tin New.

“When independent media fails to produce news, policy makers around the world will not be aware of the actual situation in Myanmar.”

“Continuous fear of arrest or even death”

Currently, 35 journalists are still imprisoned in Myanmar, making her the third journalist prisoner in the world after China and Israel, according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists.

Country Ranked 169 out of 180 countries on correspondents without the global freedom of the Press Index.

“Journalists should work on the ground under the constant fear of arrest or even death,” said Tin Tin Tino.

“The Military Council treats media and journalists as criminals, and specifically targets them to silence information.”

Despite the risks, the Shwe Phee Myay continues to publish news about events inside Myanmar.

With a million followers on Facebook – the digital platform where most people in Myanmar get their news – SHWE PHEEIYIY coverage has become more important since the military coup in 2021 and the widen civil war.

It was established in 2019 in Lashio, and SHWE Myay was one of dozens of independent media that appeared in Myanmar during a decade -long political opening, which started in 2011 with the emergence of the country from half a century of international relative isolation under authoritarian military rule.

Pre -publication oversight ended in 2012 amid a wide range of policy reforms, as the army agreed to allow more political freedom. Journalists who lived and worked in exile began in the media, such as the Democratic Voice of Burma, Irrawaddy and Mizzima News with caution to the homeland.

However, the freedoms of the emerging press in the country came Under pressure During the period of the government of the Ung Saint -Suu National Democracy, it reached power in 2016 as a result of the army’s political reforms.

The government of the Aung San Suu Ki imprisoned the journalists and the independent media banned its access to politically sensitive areas, including the state of Rakhine, where the army committed a brutal campaign for ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya community, which is now facing international accusations of genocide.

But the situation for independent journalists worsened greatly after the 2021 coup. The army was violent Breakage Based on the peaceful protests against the generals who seized power, he restricted the Internet, canceled media licenses and arrested dozens of journalists. This violence Arose An armed uprising via Myanmar.

“If we stop, who will continue to address these issues?”

Shwe Phee Myay briefly looked at the move to Thailand with the deterioration of the situation after the coup, but those who manage the news site decided to stay in the country.

“Our will was to stay on our land,” said May Now Dang, who has been served until recently as an editor of Burmese translations to English.

“Our point of view was to collect news and collect the footage, we needed to be here.”

Then their work took a new intensity in October 2023, when an alliance of ethnic armed organizations launched a Sudden attack In military sites in Shan, near the border with China.

The attack represents a specialty escalation In Myanmar’s struggle; The army, which lost the important lands as a result, took revenge on air strikes, cluster ammunition and bombing. Within two months, more than 500,000 people were displaced due to fighting.

With a few external journalists who are able to reach the northern Shan state, the SHW PHEE MyY was placed in a unique position to cover the crisis.

Then, in January this year, SHWE PHEEIYAY also received a notification that the US Agency for International Development Funds approved in November has not been coming and since then field reports and cancellation of video production were reduced.

“We are risked to report how people are affected by the war, however our efforts seem unknown,” said Editor -in -Chief May Rocoa.

“Although we have a strong base for human resources on Earth, we are facing great challenges in securing financing to continue our work.”

During employee meetings, May Rocao raised the possibility of closing Shui Fi Miai with his colleagues.

He said that their response is to continue even if the money dries up.

“We always ask ourselves: If we stop, who will continue to address these issues?” He said.

“This question makes us advance.”