About me Research Engagement Publication

Published in more than 20 leading international publications, including TIME Magazine, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera, Los Angeles Times, The Globe & Mail, The Nation, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Rest of World, The New Humanitarian, VICE, Myanmar Now, New Naratif, Frontier Myanmar, The Diplomat, Columbia Journalism Review, Southeast Asia Globe, Nikkei Asia Review, Mongabay, South China Morning Post, The Japan Times, and FCC Hong Kong Magazine. Previously, as a former contributing writer for Pulitzer Center, I was one of the winners of the 2021 Human Rights Press Awards in Commentary, and the 2021 Sigma Delta Chi Awards in Foreign Correspondence from the Society of Professional Journalist (SPJ), as well as a finalist for the 2021 Society of Publisher in Asia (SOPA) awards for the Excellence in Opinion Writing.

Pulitzer Center •

Rakhine: Where the Military Is More Feared Than the Coronavirus

Yangon, Myanmar — On the night of September 3, Thar Hla* was restless, and it was not just because he was sharing a concrete floor with approximately 70 people. "After hearing loud firing, I felt like the quarantine centre wasn’t safe," the 32-year-old told Al Jazeera by phone from his hometown in Kyauktaw in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State. "That night, no one could sleep."

In the morning, they all left.

"Everyone in the quarantine centre went home," Thar Hla said.

Nearby, local villagers co
Los Angeles Times •

Myanmar's ethnic insurgents raise the pressure on military junta

The day her 4-year-old grandson was killed, U San Yee had taken him to their local market in rural Myanmar for sticky rice and his favorite fried banana snacks before coming home to play with his toy cars.

“We didn’t know that the Myanmar military would fire artillery shells,” U San Yee said. “That’s why we were just going about and living our normal lives.”

When the first explosions struck Kin Seik, a farming village of about 3,000 people, the two were watching “Tom and Jerry” cartoons.
Al Jazeera •

Civilians in firing line as conflict returns to Myanmar’s Rakhine

An uneasy truce in the troubled western region appears to have collapsed with the military in open warfare against rebel groups.

On the evening of September 25, in Nagara village in western Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine State, Bu Wine and her family went to bed early.

But a couple of hours later, she was awake.

“After hearing loud firing at midnight, I felt worried,” she told Al Jazeera, recalling how she planned to gather up her four children and take them somewhere safe.

But then, an artiller
South China Morning Post •

Kyaw Hsan Hlaing

A nationwide rebellion against last year’s coup has the Myanmar military fighting on multiple fronts, making space for the Arakan Army and its political wing to entrench de facto control over Rakhine state – and some residents hope it stays that way.

A nationwide rebellion against last year’s coup has the Myanmar military fighting on multiple fronts, making space for the Arakan Army and its political wing to entrench de facto control over Rakhine state – and some residents hope it stays that wa
United States Institute of Peace •

Insurgents in Myanmar’s Rakhine State Return to War on the Military

Serious combat has resumed in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, despite a continuing de facto cease-fire declared by the military just before its coup last year. Unlike previous rounds of fighting in Rakhine that could be viewed as a localized internal conflict, the renewed violence is taking place in the context of a nationwide civil war triggered by the coup, and its consequences are spreading far beyond the state’s borders. The resumption of war in Rakhine State, in short, could be a hinge on which th
Los Angeles Times •

L.A. Times Earns Sigma Delta Chi Awards from the SPJ for Cultural Criticism and Foreign Correspondence

The Los Angeles Times has received two Sigma Delta Chi Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. The awards, which recognize outstanding work in categories covering print/online, radio, television and more, were presented in a virtual ceremony on June 23.

Columnist Carolina A. Miranda received the award for cultural criticism, a new category this year, while Foreign Correspondent David Pierson, along with contributors Kyaw Hsan Hlaing, Hsiuwen Liu and Aie Balagtas See, were recognize
Society of Professional Journalists •

Winner of Sigma Delta Chi Awards - Society of Professional Journalists for Foreign Correspondence

The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism.

Judges chose the winners from entries in categories covering print, radio, television and online. The awards recognize outstanding work published or broadcast in 2021.

Dating back to 1932, the awards originally honored six individuals for contributions to journalism. The current program began in 1939, when the Society granted the first Distinguished
Al Jazeera •

Shadowy pro-military militias target Myanmar’s anti-coup movement

A month ago, the body of a man was found dumped by the side of the road in Myanmar’s central city of Mandalay.

The victim had been stabbed multiple times, and his hands tied behind his back.

Attached to a lanyard around the neck of National League for Democracy (NLD) member Zaw Gyi the killers had left their calling card: a red circle depicting a warrior holding two swords.

The circle is the symbol of a new pro-military death squad terrorising Myanmar called Thway Thauk Apwe, which roughly tr
Frontier Myanmar •

Can the Arakan Army achieve its confederacy dream?

The AA’s demand for confederacy status seems a bridge too far for either the National Unity Government or the junta, but the group says it will achieve its goal through any means necessary.

More than a year since the military seized power in Myanmar, anti-coup resistance groups and their ethnic armed organisation allies continue to fight the junta with no victory in sight for either side. The military regime has been unable to crush the opposition or to take full control of administrative mecha
Yale University •

Reporting during the world’s longest internet shutdown and the post-military coup in Burma | Council On Southeast Asia Studies at Yale

In this event, journalist Kyaw Hsan Hlaing will share his first hand experiences in reporting and human rights activism during the last two years of NLD’s term, gained while covering the civil war between the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, and the Burma military under the world’s longest internet shutdown, imposed by the civilian government in his native state. Since the military coup on 1st February last year, his firsthand reporting also offers a window in public protests, the civil disob.....
The MacMillan Center •

CSEAS Seminar: "Reporting during the world's longest internet shutdown and the post-military coup in Burma"

For over 70 years, Burma has been struggling between Autocracy and Democracy and fighting in both non-violent and violent ways for democracy, equality, and greater autonomy for the ethnic states. After a recent period of hopefulness, the military overthrew Aung San Su Kyi’s NLD government on 1st February 2021. Since the coup, the country has been in political turmoil. Nationwide protests broke out, followed by a deadly crackdown by the junta which killed over 1700 people.

In this event, journalist Kyaw Hsan Hlaing will share his first-hand experiences in reporting and human rights activism during the last two years of NLD’s term, gained while covering the civil war between the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, and the Burma military under the world’s longest internet shutdown, imposed by the civilian government in his native state. Since the military coup on 1st February last year, his firsthand reporting also offers a window in public protests, the civil disobedience movement, and human rights violations. The conversation will discuss how Burma’s unarmed civilians are being targeted, and journalists’ lives are being put in danger.
South China Morning Post •

With the junta distracted, Myanmar’s Arakan rebels cement control

It is a contrast to what’s happening in the country’s northwestern Rakhine state. There, residents like former village administrator Khaing Maung San say they are experiencing a state of relative calm that’s at odds with the mounting violence and economic disruption engulfing the rest of the country.

That state of affairs is a result of a ceasefire dating back to November 2020 – three months before Min Aung Hlaing’s coup – between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army, Rakhine’s main rebel group whi...
Al Jazeera •

Myanmar’s military coup prolongs misery for Rohingya in Rakhine

Bangkok, Thailand – In early August, military officials assigned to Rakhine State by Myanmar’s generals summoned leaders from the mainly Muslim Rohingya community in Buthidaung township to a meeting on the banks of the Mayu River.

The officials came with a warning: Rohingya villagers should cut off any ties with the Arakan Army (AA), an armed rebel group fighting for self-determination for ethnic minorities in the country’s northwest.

“Currently we are participating all-together in the AA’s ad
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