Maximillian Morch

Prisons as a tool of terror - Progressive Voice Since the attempted coup, prisons controlled by Myanmar military junta have become a place that crushes dissent and silences​ those who are voicing opposition to the junta’s violence and injustice. Ma...

#Myanmar's prisons have become tools of terror for junta. Political prisoners face torture, denial of health care, forced to cast advance vote & re-arrest after release. 🚨

Intl community must hold junta accountable & support former & current political prisoners.

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TBC’s 2025 Jan–June Midyear Overview, highlighting our work, key developments for displaced communities, and the impact of funding disruptions, is now available in English. Local language versions will follow shortly.

www.theborderconsortium.org/wp-content/u...

Thrilled to see my book 'Plains of Discontent: A Political History of Nepal's Tarai' featured in Himal Southasian’s list of 'Six books to understand Nepal’s recent upheaval'. An honour to share the spotlight with Pratyoush Onta, Prashant Jha, Manjushree Thapa, John Whelpton and others.

Earlier this month I sat down with Border Echo and the Karen Information Centre to discuss historic policy reforms in refugee support, the impact of funding cuts and the evolving situation for internally displaced people in southeastern Myanmar amid ongoing conflict.
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Retrospectively removing indefinite leave to remain would be immoral and economically damaging. It would tear families apart.
Attacking it as ‘potentially illegal’ is completely beside the point.
Argue with the (awful) idea. Don’t try ’well, actually you can’t do that’.

You know why ethnic minorities in the UK always feel second-class as if they're never safe in this country and could be asked to leave at any time?

This is why:

🚨Event alert!🚨

17 CSOs including PV will hold an online press conference to launch a joint report on how #Myanmar civil society is strengthening local resilience.

📅 30 Sep 2025
⏰ 3:00 PM (Bangkok time)

🔗 Register here: bit.ly/3HR90Xq
ℹ️ More info: bit.ly/4nzWHxw

The recognition of refugee work rights is a historic step forward after 41 years of confinement to camps, but it’s only one part of a much broader process. Much more work is needed to ensure all refugees, not just those in camps, can live in safety and dignity.

Maximillian Morch on the disquiet behind Bhutan’s Geluphu Mindfulness City: State of Southasia #29 Bhutan’s bold new urban venture, the Geluphu Mindfulness City, is being pitched as a landmark in values-based development. Envisioned as an economic hub rooted

🎙️"For the Lhotshampa, this announcement of the Geluphu Mindfulness City is incredibly painful because it is just yet another erosion of the identity of the existence within Bhutan," @maxmorch.bsky.social #StateofSouthasia

📣 🎙️ Coming up on State of Southasia, Maximillian Morch (@maxmorch.bsky.social) who researches Asia's borderlands talks to @nayantaran.bsky.social about the economic strife and the history of repression behind Bhutan's mega project – the Gelephu Mindfulness City.

📣 🎙️ Coming up on State of Southasia, Maximillian Morch (@maxmorch.bsky.social) who researches Asia's borderlands talks to @nayantaran.bsky.social about the economic strife and the history of repression behind Bhutan's mega project – the Gelephu Mindfulness City.

Bhutan’s new Mindfulness City is hailed as sustainable & values-based—but built on land once home to Lhotshampa refugees expelled in the 1990s.

I speak on the State of Southasia podcast (@Himalistan) about what this project erases.

www.himalmag.com/podcast/maxi...

YouTube video by DVB TV News Gone without a trace: Myanmar refugee missing in Malaysia

Today marks 2 years since the disappearance of Myanmar refugee activist Thuzar Maung, and her 3 children, from their home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. DVB continues its investigation #goneWithoutATrace #whatshappeninginmyamar #abduction youtu.be/5zTQi74156I

Who Owns the Narrative After Disaster? ဖိုင် 007: On Crisis Group’s quiet recentering of the junta after Myanmar’s deadliest earthquake in a century

Incisive autopsy of the hidden narratives behind Crisis Group's post-earthquake analysis on Myanmar.

Excellent writing. Follow Beyond Ah Na for regular dissection of the misleading and harmful narratives that underpin much mainstream analysis on Myanmar.

ahnah.substack.com/p/who-owns-t...

The em dash supposedly being a “tell” for AI generated text does sort of give away the game on the enormous amount of work stolen from journalists and news organizations that these things were trained on

Bland lessons and careful lies from Bhutan’s prime minister BHUTAN IS famously known as the “Kingdom of Happiness,” a reputation built in part on its pioneering Gross National Happiness index, a novel approach to measuri

"A major failing of 'Enlightened Leadership' relates to its treatment of the Lhotshampa question: Bhutan’s mass expulsion of its Nepali-descent ethnic minority."

@maxmorch.bsky.social‬ reviews the prime minister Tshering Tobgay’s memoir:

Bland lessons and careful lies from Bhutan’s prime minister BHUTAN IS famously known as the “Kingdom of Happiness,” a reputation built in part on its pioneering Gross National Happiness index, a novel approach to measuri

"There is a recurring weakness: a lack of detail on how certain policy issues have been resolved. This is particularly glaring in a book written by a two-time prime minister."

@maxmorch.bsky.social‬ writes:

Bhutan brands itself a peaceful democracy, yet continues to deny rights to Lhotshampa and detain critics. PM Tobgay’s new book praises “enlightened leadership”—compassion he won’t extend to the displaced. For Himal Southasian, I explore the contradiction

“One More Story About Climbing a Hill: Stories from Assam” by Devabrata Das One More Story About Climbing a Hill: Stories from Assam is the latest book by renowned Assamese writer Devabrata Das. This collection of eighteen short stories, translated from the Assamese origin…

Today in the ARB: @maxmorch.bsky.social reviews “One More Story About Climbing a Hill: Stories from Assam” by Devabrata Das (Speaking Tiger) asianreviewofbooks.com/one-more-sto...

Aid Accountability Essential After Quake - Progressive Voice One month after the devastating magnitude 7.7 and 6.4 earthquakes hit central Myanmar, international aid responses are failing to meet dire humanitarian needs and the junta is blocking, weaponizing, a...

"There can be no effective, ethical recovery if the architects of the suffering are allowed to control the [humanitarian] response while they continue to destroy lives through bombings and killings." says @khinohmar.bsky.social

progressivevoicemyanmar.org/2025/05/03/a...

My new article on increased police extortion of Myanmar migrants in Thailand since Myanmar's 2021 military coup: "Navigating Thailand's extortion regime."

God there were so many of these…

Khit Thit Media reports that when the earthquake struck during Friday prayers, at least 50 mosques were destroyed, and 300 Muslims lost their lives. The actual death toll may be significantly higher.

Burma Coup Resistance Notes March 29, 2025 Earthquake scrambles the already dire situation, but junta continues bombing; Kokang resist Chinese pressure to retreat; junta airstrike destroys a hospital & murders health workers.

Earthquake scrambles the already dire situation, but junta continues bombing; Kokang resist Chinese pressure to retreat; junta airstrike destroys a hospital & murders health workers.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #Myanmar #Burma #Rohingya #China

Tweet from Sharif Kouddous: "The health ministry has released a 1,516–page document listing the names of over 50,000 Palestinians confirmed killed in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023. There are a total of 474 pages listing 15,600+ children’s names. The first 27 pages the age is listed as 0 — children under 1 year old"

27 pages. Of babies. Whose entire understanding of what Earth sounded like was bombs dropping & people screaming at the sky

Emergency Appeal: Refugees Need Your Help Now!
Due to funding suspensions, The Border Consortium (TBC) can no longer guarantee food support for refugees. 108,000 refugees in nine border camps are at immediate risk. Please consider supporting refugees.

Myanmar: a microcosm of aid cuts and humanitarian choices The humanitarian crisis proliferating at the Thai-Myanmar border is acutely evident – but so is the resilience of those fighting injustice despite overwhelming challenges.

"What was less surprising, but intensely revealing, was how international actors immediately shut down. They closed clinics and froze funding. In contrast, local groups have continued delivering life-saving assistance, often now as volunteers, drawing on donations"

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Maximillian Morch from the Thai Border Consortium (TBC), which provides food and cooking fuel to all the nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, said they were trying to get approval for a life-saving waiver from the US government but had no confirmation yet.
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #Myanmar

📢This International Women's Day, KHRG demands bold action for gender equality. It’s time to dismantle the barriers and biases holding women back. We’re grateful to all those raising their voices for change. Let’s create a world where every woman thrives—without exception. 🌍 #IWD2025 #KHRG

Today in the ARB: @maxmorch.bsky.social reviews “Enchanted Modernities: Ancestral Vitalizations in the Upper Mekong” by Micah F Morton @uwiscpress.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/enchanted-mo...