Beyond the Mekong | Politics | Southeast Asia

Journalism and Fighting for Indigenous Rights in Myanmar

Scott Johnson talks about drones and meeting Nerdah Bo Mya in Kawthoolei.

Australian lawyer, journalist, and human rights advocate Scott Johnson in the field in Myanmar.

Scott Johnson is an Australian lawyer, journalist, and human rights advocate with more than 25 years experience, focusing on indigenous groups and geopolitical issues in Southeast Asia. He also runs Tribal Action Group and its popular YouTube channel.

His work began in the 1990s with human rights campaigns and lobbying on behalf of the Montagnard Foundation, representing the interests of the indigenous Montagnard hill tribe groups of Vietnam in the corridors of power around the world.

In recent years that focus has shifted to Myanmar where Johnson has conducted some 30 excursions, including more than 70 jungle border crossings, to report on the various resistance forces – the Karen, Kachin, Chin, and Rakhine – opposing military dictatorship.

Despite recent territorial gains by the military and a far from united opposition made up of about 20 ethnic armed organizations, Johnson says the civil war remains........

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