Internet blackout in Myanmar -second year

Internet blackout in Myanmar’s Rakhine enters second year

Myanmar army soldiers patrol a village located in Rakhine state last year. (AFP pic)

YANGON: The internet shutdown in Myanmar’s conflict-ridden northwest, described by rights groups as the world’s longest, entered a second year Sunday with locals and campaigners appealing for an end to the blackout as coronavirus fears grip the region.

The Myanmar military has been embroiled in a bloody civil war since January 2019 against the Arakan Army (AA), an insurgent group fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

The government shut down mobile data in several townships across Rakhine state and neighboring Chin state on June 21 last year, causing panic among residents desperate for information about the unrest.

Human Rights Watch had called on Friday for an immediate end to “the world’s longest government-enforced internet shutdown”.

source:freemalaysiatoday