Food Security and militarisation in Burma

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Description: "Residents in Matupi and Mindat townships in southern Chin State are running out of food as Myanmar’s regime has blocked supplies. The regime has blocked the Paletwa-Matupi, Matupi-Mindat, and Mindat-Kyaukhtu roads which supply the townships. A Matupi volunteer said communities have almost run out of rice. “The prices of oil and salt have increased. Three eggs cost 1,000 kyats [compared to around 150 kyats per egg in Yangon] and they are scarce. Most people can’t afford them,” she said. The roads are blocked by the regime although there is no fighting with the Chinland Defense Force (CDF). A 61-liter rice sack was around 4,000 kyats before the coup in Matupi and they are now 66,000-70,000 kyats, when they are available, according to residents. Residents are buying broken rice for around 45,000 kyats per sack. The regime is beginning to allow some residents to leave the town in private vehicles, said a Matupi resident. “Patients who need hospital treatment can leave. Neighbors ask them to bring back food. They bring back eggs and dried fish but no rice and oil,” she said. Mindat has been isolated and surrounding villages are often shelled, despite the lack of fighting, residents said. “We have left our villages and farms. We are struggling to survive and concerned for our safety and food,” a villager told The Irrawaddy. The Mindat CDF said junta helicopters and Light Infantry Battalion 274 based in Mindat are bombing villages. More than 60 Mindat residents are reportedly in Pakokku Prison and around 30 are being held at Battalion 274 in Mindat. It called for international charities to help displaced Mindat civilians. Mindat residents said junta soldiers detained a man and woman in Kyawttaw village on July 6. Some villagers were reportedly injured when two helicopters dropped bombs on two villages on July 2. A school, church and some houses were damaged. The regime shells villagers because it only controls Mindat town and adjacent villages, said the CDF..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2022-07-13
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-13
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Description: "Highlights Fuel price increases continued to drive up retail prices for all commodities via higher transportation costs – In March, fuel on average cost +18% more than in February and was more than double prices recorded in February 2021. Fuel price volatility is likely to continue amidst supply disruptions as a result of domestic policies and global events (Russia/Ukraine conflict) Lower than usual paddy supply resulting from challenges for farmers to access necessary inputs negatively affected rice prices Unusually heavy rains in mid-March damaged salt farms in Mon impacting salt prices and caused damage to onion farms particularly in Magway during critical harvest period leading to crop losses and higher prices Chickpea prices high in northern Rakhine due to high demand during Ramadan Impact of insecurity continues in many places, but particularly in Kayah, Kachin, and Chin where movement restrictions are in place..."
Source/publisher: World Food Programme (WFP) (Rome) via reliefweb (New York)
2022-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2022-05-03
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Description: "Dear Prime Minister, I am making this special appeal to you on behalf of 54 million brave people of Myanmar and the National Unity Government of Myanmar to please put the deepening crisis in Myanmar on the G7 agenda when the head of world leaders meet at the upcoming G7 meeting. First of all, I would like to reiterate my sincere thanks to the people, Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom for standing in solidarity and being a strong voice for the people of Myanmar. I also want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the UK on coordinating targeted sanctions against key Tatmadaw personnel, Tatmadaw linked companies and enterprises such as MGE, MEC and MEHL, and for providing generous funding of 28 million UK sterling pound for humanitarian aids to Myanmar and for providing extra funding to the IIMM. I would like to further thank the UK government for taking a strong leadership role in the UN and G7 meetings on behalf of the people of Myanmar, and for the recognition of CRPH and NUG as important voices of many in this nation. Truly we are the voice of over 54 million brave people who stand in solidarity against the cruel and ruthless junta. Thank you also for lending protection and support to Myanmar Ambassador to UK, H.E Kyaw Zwar Minn since he was illegally removed from office by the junta. I previously had the wonderful privilege of meetings with Minister H.E. Nigel Adams and UK Ambassador to Myanmar H.E Dan Chugg. British Parliamentarians reassured me that the People and Government of the UK are strongly committed and supportive of the brave people of Myanmar in our peaceful movement for freedom and democracy against the junta reign of terror. I am also grateful for the opportunity to appear before the British Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on the Myanmar military coup crisis hearing. Since the 1st of February 2021 when military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and his gunmen instigated this illegal coup d’etat and took our Nation, Myanmar, hostage, nearly 900 civilians have been murdered by the junta including at least 72 children, nearly 6,000 civilians have been arrested by the junta including our State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and our President U Win Myint , and over 1,900 are evading arrest warrants. I have been charged with high treason by these military generals who are in fact the ones committing high treason against the people of Myanmar themselves. The junta leaders continue using the ASEAN engagements as a propaganda tool while the junta forces continue committing violence and atrocities against the people of Myanmar in villages, towns, and cities across the nation. The torture and cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians under the junta forces continue. They have abolished free media outlets in the vain attempt to stop the truth from getting out. Harassment and imprisonment of journalists continue under the junta. The violence we are seeing by the junta is both systematic and widespread. It is clear that they are engaging in crimes against humanity by using heavy battlefield weapons against unarmed civilians. They have been purchasing these weapons from big countries by using the stolen wealth of the people and country of Myanmar. As a result, Myanmar is now quickly becoming a failed state: ten of thousands of people have become displaced by the junta forces, food insecurity is rising sharply, and the UNDP is predicting that over half of the 54 million population of Myanmar (approximately 27 million people) will be living in poverty within a year. World Food Programme (WFP) estimates 6.4 million people will be without food in Myanmar by October 2021.lt will be heart breaking to count the number of deaths caused not only by the deepening crisis of violence, but also by the tragedy of poverty and hunger that has begun. We, the sovereign citizens of Myanmar, are doing all that we can to prevent these great tragedies of violence, genocide, criminal atrocities, poverty and hunger by courageously and peacefully resisting the junta’s efforts to cause us maximum pain, suffering, death and destruction. The citizens of Myanmar have initiated strong domestic sanctions against the junta through this peaceful movement of Civil Disobedient Movement-CDM, strikes and other acts of civil disobedience. We are boycotting junta produced goods, and a large percentage of civil servants are refusing to support the junta’s work. The sanctions that have been imposed to date by the International Community have been a helpful start to supporting our domestic efforts. While the brutal crackdown by the junta and its forces continue, opposition to the junta remains strong and unanimous among the people of Myanmar. However, greater help and support from G7 world leaders and countries are vitally important. We have three core requests to present to the G7 world leaders and countries: Engage with the National Unity Government as the sole legitimate representative of the people of Myanmar. We are comprised of leaders elected in Myanmar’s democratic November elections as well as leaders of ethnic states and regions. The people of Myanmar recognize us as the sole legitimate government and our hope is that you will also work with us as the sole legitimate government of Myanmar as well. Help us to address the growing humanitarian crisis. We need aid. The National Unity Government knows how to get aid to where it is needed. A humanitarian crisis is growing due to this brutal junta and the spread of COVID-19. Myanmar’s economy is in collapse and millions are already, or at risk of being, without water, food, sanitation, shelter and medicine. We desperately need aid for 1) FOOD SECURITY, 2) HEALTH 3) SHELTER, 4) EDUCATION: Help us by putting more financial and diplomatic pressure on the junta. It is critical for the nations of the world who stand with us to band together in a coordinated campaign of further sanctions that would cut the flow of revenue to this murderous regime to ensure that no funds from any entity under the control of G7 countries and its alliances be allowed to continue to be transferred to the Junta, its business entities, leaders or their families. The largest source of revenue to the junta, the oil and gas sector, remains unscathed by the international community, therefore sanctions must be placed against Myanmar Oil and Gas and all state-owned enterprises, including the transfer of dual use technology; the imposition of an international arms embargo and a strict no-fly-zone above the territory of Myanmar by whatever means necessary. These measures are critically vital to prevent many bloodbaths and another genocide in Myanmar. Our National Unity Government of Myanmar is ready, willing and able to help in all of these coordinated efforts. This is the first time in the history of Myanmar that there has been a National Unity Government with the full support of the people. We need the endorsement, recognition, acknowledgement and engagement from the Governments of G7 countries and the free countries and leaders from around the world who believe in freedom, justice and democracy. This is the greatest opportunity of the century for Myanmar. We must then seize upon this window of opportunity and put an end to this junta reign of terror - and build inclusive federal democratic union for All people of Myanmar by the people and for the people, and where the rights of ALL regardless of race, gender, culture, ethnicity, background, and religion are equally respected, protected and promoted. We, the opposition to the illegal junta, will win in our struggle to liberate Myanmar from the brutal military dictatorships, and at the other end of this fight we will emerge an inclusive Myanmar that is committed to democracy, human rights, and to being a responsible partner in the global community. With the help of the world leaders and G7 countries, our vision and our dream will become a powerful reality and will bear testimony to our strong friendship and unyielding gratitude for generations to come. Yours sincerely, H.E Dr. Sasa..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
2021-06-07
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-10
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Sub-title: In Myanmar, international action is needed urgently to prevent “mass deaths” there, after civilians fled attacks by so-called “junta bombs”, a top independent UN rights expert has warned.
Description: "“Mass deaths from starvation, disease and exposure could occur in Kayah State after many of the 100,000 forced to flee into forests from junta bombs are now cut off from food, water and medicine by the junta. The international community must act”, UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, tweeted late on Monday. In his alert, Mr. Andrews noted that the Kayah state attacks were just the latest in a series throughout Myanmar that had caused mass displacement and suffering, from Mutraw in Karen state to Mindat in Chin state and Bago city. The independent rights expert, who reports to the Human Rights Council, emphasised that that the lives of many thousands of men, women and children were under threat from indiscriminate attacks, on a scale not seen since the 1 February coup, “that likely amount to mass atrocity crimes”. The development echoes concern by the UN Country Team in Myanmar, which on Monday underscored the rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Kayah State and other parts of the country, linked to protests caused by the military takeover.....Basic needs blocked: Citing credible reports, Mr. Andrews said that people were in dire need of food, water, medicine and shelter after reported clashes with volunteer community militias, while the UN country team said that many had also sought safety in host communities and forests across Kayah and southern parts of neighbouring Shan state. Aid deliveries had been allegedly blocked to those forced to flee their homes to escape bombing raids and artillery fire and the military had also placed landmines on public roads, said the Special Rapporteur. “Any pressure or leverage UN Member States can put on the junta must now be exerted” to encourage junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to allow lifesaving aid in, and to stop “terrorising the population by ceasing the aerial bombardment, shelling and shooting of civilians”.....Medical teams a target: In its appeal, the UN Country Team reiterated earlier calls for all parties to protect all civilians and civilian infrastructure, “particularly medical units and health workers”. Despite that fact that UN aid teams and their partners had supplies that were ready to be deployed “insecurity, travel restrictions imposed by security forces, and poor road conditions are delaying the delivery of supplies”, the team said in a statement. The team called on "the security forces to allow for a safe passage of humanitarian supplies and personnel and to facilitate our ability to directly provide aid to all those who need it." “Now, more than ever, the international community must cut off access to the resources that the junta needs to continue these brutal attacks on the people of Myanmar,” Mr. Andrews said..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-06-09
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-10
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Description: "HIGHLIGHTS: The civil unrest and conflict in Myanmar following 1 February has resulted in increased displacement and there are now an estimated half a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country, including those displaced before 01 February. In the last two weeks, the estimated number of new IDPs has nearly tripled from 61,000 to 175,000, largely due to new armed clashes and a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Myanmar’s Kayah State. In Kayah State, located in eastern Myanmar, an estimated 100,000 people have now been displaced since 1 February, most of whom have been displaced since 20 May. The security situation also continues to be particularly tense across southeast Myanmar, with explosions and shelling reported in various locations and intensified clashes also observed in Kayin State and eastern Bago Region. Many of the 149,000 total IDPs in southeast Myanmar remain in hiding. In northern Myanmar, internal displacement has increased due to ongoing fighting between the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) and Kachin Independence Army, expanding across Kachin State, the northernmost state in Myanmar, and into northern Sagaing Region. In northern Shan State, armed conflict among ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and between EAOs and the MAF continued to displace people across a number of townships. As a result of recent fighting in Kayah and Shan States, there have not yet been new reported movements from Myanmar toward Thailand. From earlier displacement from Myanmar, Mae Hong Son Province remains the most affected area in Thailand, though humanitarian actors have not yet formally been granted access. The group of over 1,700 arrivals from Myanmar reported on 13 May has now reduced to some 255, who are being accommodated in four temporary safety areas, managed by the Royal Thai Government. The remainder of the group has reportedly returned to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva) via Reliefweb (New York)
2021-06-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson of National Unity Government of Myanmar H.E. Dr. Sasa’s address the People and Government of the United States of America- USA..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
2021-05-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-15
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Description: "H.E. Dr. Sasa, Union Minister of International Cooperation and Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar had the privilege of meeting with the United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, H.E. Sung Yong Kim, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, H.E. Atul Keshap, and other senior US Government officials, and had the privilege of making the following address to the people and Government of the United States of America on behalf of the people of Myanmar and the people's elected National Unity Government of Myanmar. II The brave people of Myanmar and the people’s National Unity Government of Myanmar greatly appreciate the People and Government of the United States of America for its strong leadership and action against the illegal military junta since the very first day of the military coup on February 1st, 2021. I am proud to serve as Minister of International Cooperation and spokesperson for the National Unity Government. It is my job to provide you with the information and assistance that you need to support the people of Myanmar. I am here at your service. Thank you again for your continued support of the people of Myanmar. While the fate of our country is in the hands of our people, strong and sustained support from the international community, specially from the United States of America is crucial. We are deeply grateful to all who are standing with us through this horrific ordeal. Now, more than ever, the people of Myanmar need your cooperation, friendship and support. It has been exactly 100 days since the terrorist regime headed by Min Aung Hlaing and his henchmen stole the results of our democratic election and authority from the elected government officials of the people of Myanmar. Like many people in Myanmar, I fear for my life, but I have survived unscathed till this day. Sadly, however, many of our brave citizens have not been as fortunate as me. Since that horrible day, the coup instigators and 'SAC' forces have murdered nearly 800 civilian heroes of Myanmar, and illegally detained and imprisoned nearly 5000 of my brave fellow citizens. The duty of a nation’s military is to defend and protect its people. However, under the command of Min Aung Hlaing, the supposed guardians of our nation are doing precisely the opposite of their duty and continue arbitrarily murdering and detaining without cause the brave and innocent civilians of Myanmar on a daily and hourly basis. The people of Myanmar unanimously consider Min Aung Hlaing and those who report to him as terrorists. Without cause, without explanation, and without even a hearing these terrorists are detaining, beating, raping, torturing, shooting, and murdering innocent civilians and civil servants participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement both openly on the streets and secretly in confinement. This should come as no surprise, however, as the terrorist tatmadaw organization has been weaponizing rape and murder in atrocities, crimes against humanity, war crimes, ethnic cleansing against ethnic nationalities such as the Kachin, Karen, Shan, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine, Chin, Rohingya and many, many more..."
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Source/publisher: Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
2021-05-11
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-13
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Description: "Prior to 1 February 2021, 2.8 million people were considered food insecure in Myanmar. WFP estimates that 1.5 to 3.4 million additional people could be at risk of food insecurity and in need of assistance due to the economic slowdown provoked by the political crisis in the coming three to six months. This is largely because poor people have lost jobs and income, making it harder to afford food. • Vulnerable people in urban areas affected by the economic standstill are at greatest risk, while longer term impact on food systems will also add pressure on rural populations’ food security. • In addition to job and income loss, increasing food and fuel prices, disruptions in trade, slumping economic growth, and internal displacement of ethnic minority groups bode ill for Myanmar’s poor. The latest forecast from the World Bank indicates a GDP contraction of 10% in 2021. • Market prices of rice and cooking oil have increased across all monitored markets since the start of February 2021 by 5% and 18%, respectively; however even higher increases were registered in border states including Rakhine, Kachin and Chin. Given the importance of rice and cooking oil in diets and the expenditure of poorest households on rice, continued price increases will likely further impact household food security. • Myanmar’s economy was already severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in2020; a quarter of the country’s population were poor and a further third were vulnerable to poverty. • The current situation is extremely precarious and there may be additional short- and longterm impacts on Myanmar’s food security and poverty levels..."
Source/publisher: World Food Programme (Rome)
2021-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-24
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Description: "Situation Update: Seven weeks following the military takeover on 1 February 2021, the situation in Myanmar is evolving rapidly, with a high risk of increasing food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly for the urban poor. • Food and fuel prices in Myanmar are rising, according to WFP price monitoring in February. The biggest increase was observed in northern Rakhine, while a 20 percent increase in the price of vegetable oil was recorded in Yangon. Fuel prices increased at least 20 percent across the country, which has an important knock-on effect on food prices. • Demonstrations and the general strike throughout Myanmar are likely to exacerbate the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures, which saw 80 percent of households lose income.....WFP Response: In February, WFP assisted over half a million people in Myanmar with cash-based transfers and in-kind food assistance, through four activities: Emergency Relief Assistance; Nutrition (stunting prevention and support to persons living with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) patients); School Feeding; and Livelihood Support.....Emergency Relief Assistance: • WFP’s highest priority is to maintain its monthly life-saving assistance to internally displaced people and other vulnerable populations who fully rely on it. • In February, WFP provided life-saving food and cash assistance to 349,200 people in conflictaffected states of southern Chin, Kachin, Rakhine and northern Shan. • In view of current banking challenges or potential constrained market supply, WFP is building a contingency food stock, which would allow it to provide in-kind food assistance if needed.....Nutrition: • WFP provided a comprehensive package of nutrition support for 80,300 children aged 6-59 months and pregnant and lactating women and girls; as well as some 1,350 people living with HIV and TB patients. • Continuing WFP nutrition interventions is critical to avoid short- and long-term public health crises, on top of the pandemic..."
Source/publisher: World Food Programme
2021-03-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-24
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Description: "Food insecurity is rising sharply in Myanmar in the wake of the military coup and deepening financial crisis with millions more people expected to go hungry in coming months, the United Nations said on Thursday. Up to 3.4 million more people will struggle to afford food in the next three to six months with urban areas worst affected as job losses mount in manufacturing, construction and services and food prices rise, a World Food Program (WFP) analysis shows. "More and more poor people have lost their jobs and are unable to afford food," country director Stephen Anderson said in a statement. "A concerted response is required now to alleviate immediate suffering, and to prevent an alarming deterioration in food security." The WFP said market prices of rice and cooking oil had risen by 5% and 18% respectively since the end of February, with signs that families in the commercial capital of Yangon were skipping meals, eating less nutritious food, and going into debt. The agency plans to expand operations, tripling to 3.3 million the number of people it assists, and is appealing for $106 million, it said. A Myanmar junta spokesman did not immediately answer phone calls to seek comment. Myanmar’s army seized power from the democratically elected civilian government on Feb.1, plunging the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil and cracking down on mass protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement with brutal force, killing more than 700 people, a monitoring group said. The crisis has brought the banking system to a standstill, shuttering many branches, leaving businesses unable to make payments and customers unable to withdraw cash. Many people depend on remittances from relatives abroad. Most imports and exports have been halted and factories have closed. The World Bank forecasts Myanmar's GDP to contract 10% in 2021, a reversal of previously positive trends. Before the coup, the WFP said about 2.8 million in Myanmar were considered food insecure. The coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll of the economy, which had been growing as it emerged from decades of isolation and financial mismanagement under former military governments..."
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Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-22
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Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during October 2011 in Nyaunglebin District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Naw P---, a 42-year-old flat field farmer, who described her experiences being forcibly relocated by Tatmadaw troops, most recently in 2004 from D--- to T--- relocation village. Villagers continue to face movement restrictions, specifically a curfew which prevents villagers from leaving T--- after 6:00 pm, as well as demands from people?s militia and Tatmadaw troops for food on a bi-monthly basis following troop rotations, and monthly demands for a big tin (16 kg. / 35.2 lb.) of rice. Payments are also reported in lieu of sentry duties for the Tatmadaw. An incident involving the disappearance and suspected killing of a previous village head in the past was also mentioned. Relocation is reported to have severely undermined villagers? food security; food scarcity in the relocation village has been exacerbated by the area being more highly populated, with less agricultural land available for villagers to cultivate or on which to graze cattle, and as a consequence they are forced to purchase the bulk of their food in order to survive."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-05-18
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in March 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Tantabin Township, Toungoo District. It provides information on rations resupply operations by Tatmadaw MOC #9 along the vehicle road from Kler La army camp to Bu Hsa Hkee army camp from January to March 2012, in which soldiers from MOC #9 and LID #66 burnt the vehicle road and the roadside in order to clear vegetation for security purposes, resulting in the destruction of villagers? cardamom and betelnut plantations. The community member also described attacks on villagers? livelihoods and food supply, with the burning of 177 acres of villagers? cardamom plantations by LID #66 alone at the end of March 2012. Recent evidence of abuse by IB #35, under the control of LID #66, in forced relocation sites, such as using villagers for forced labour to clear weeds around military camps, is also provided. In one instance, Y--- villagers responded to the burning of the vehicle road by clearing away dry leaves in order to prevent the fire from spreading to their adjacent plantations, however, MOC #9 soldiers proceeded to burn the villagers? plantations nonetheless."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "In Toungoo District between November 2011 and February 2012 villagers in both Than Daung and Tantabin Townships have faced regular and ongoing demands for forced labour, as well movement and trade restrictions, which consistently undermine their ability to support themselves. During the last few months, the Tatmadaw has demanded villagers to support road-building activities by providing trucks and motorcycles to send food and materials, to drive in front of bulldozers in potentially-landmined areas, to clean brush, dig and flatten land during road-building, and to transport rations during MOC #9 resupply operations as recently as February 7th 2012."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-03-12
Date of entry/update: 2012-03-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in February 2012, by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District during the period between November 2011 and January 2012. It discusses augmented troop rotations, resupply operations and the sending of bulldozers to construct a new vehicle road between the 20-mile point on the Toungoo ? Kler La road and Kler La. It also contains reports of forced labour, specifically the use of villagers to porter military equipment and supplies, to serve as set tha, and the clearing of vegetation by vehicle roads. Movement restrictions were also highlighted as a major concern for villagers living both within and outside state control, as the imposition of permission documents and taxes limits the transportation of cash crops, and impacts the availability of basic commodities. The villager who wrote this report raised villagers? concerns about rising food prices, the lack of medicine due to government restrictions on its transportation from towns to mountainous areas, and the difficulty in obtaining an education in rural villages beyond grades three and four. The villager who wrote this report flagged the ongoing use of landmines by armed groups and noted that this poses serious physical security risks, particularly where villagers are not notified of landmine-contaminated areas, but also noted that some villagers view the use of landmines by non-state armed groups in positive terms as a deterrent of Tatmadaw activity."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-03-01
Date of entry/update: 2012-03-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Villagers in Te Naw Th?Ri Township, Tenasserim Division face human rights abuses and threats to their livelihoods, attendant to increasing militarization of the area following widespread forced relocation campaigns in the late 1990s. Efforts to support and strengthen Tatmadaw presence throughout Te Naw Th?Ri have resulted in practices that facilitate control over the civilian population and extract material and labour resources while at the same time preventing non-state armed groups from operating or extracting resources of their own. Villagers who seek to evade military control and associated human rights abuses, meanwhile, report Tatmadaw attacks on civilians and civilian livelihoods in upland hiding areas. This report draws primarily on information received between September 2009 and November 2010 from Te Naw Th?Ri Township, Tenasserim Division."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2011-03-22
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during March 2011 in Bu Tho Township, Papun District, by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw H---, a 34-year-old hillfield farmer and the head of N--- village. Saw H--- described an incident in which a 23-year-old villager stepped on and was killed by a landmine at the beginning of 2011, at the time when he, Saw H--- and three other villagers were returning to N--- after serving as unpaid porters for Border Guard soldiers based at Meh Bpa. Saw H--- also detailed demands for the collection and provision of bamboo poles for construction of soldiers? houses at Gk?Ter Tee, as well as the payment of 400,000 kyat ((US $ 519.48) in lieu of the provision of porters to Maung Chit, Commander of Border Guard Battalion #1013, by villages in Meh Mweh village tract. These payments were described in the previous KHRG report "Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, April 2011." Saw H--- also described demands for the provision of a pig to Border Guard soldiers three days before this interview took place and the beating of a villager by DKBA soldiers in 2010. He noted the ways in which movement restrictions that prevent villagers from travelling on rivers and sleeping in or bringing food to their farm huts negatively impact harvests and food security. Saw H--- explained that villagers respond to such concerns by sharing food amongst themselves, refusing to comply with forced labour demands, and cultivating relationships with non-state armed groups to learn the areas in which landmines have been planted."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-02-08
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted prior to Burma?s November 2010 elections in Te Naw Th?Ri Township, Tenasserim Division by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw C---, a 30-year-old married hill field farmer who told KHRG that he was appointed to the position of village head by his local VPDC in an area of Te Naw Th?Ri Township that is frequently accessed by Tatmadaw troops, and in which there is no KNLA presence. Saw C--- described human rights abuses faced by residents of his village, including: demands for forced labour; theft and looting of villagers? property; and movement restrictions that prevent villagers from accessing agricultural workplaces. He also cited an incident in which a villager was shot and killed by Tatmadaw soldiers while fishing in a nearby river, and his death subsequently concealed; and recounted abuses he witnessed when forced to porter military rations and accompany Tatmadaw soldiers during foot patrols, including the theft and looting of villagers? property and the rape of a 50-year-old woman. Saw C--- told KHRG that villagers protect themselves in the following ways: collecting flowers from the jungle to sell in local markets in order to supplement incomes, failing to comply with orders to report to a Tatmadaw camp, and using traditional herbal remedies due to difficulties accessing healthcare. He noted, however, that these strategies can be limited, for example by threats of violence against civilians by Tatmadaw soldiers or scarcity of plants commonly used in herbal remedies."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2011-09-09
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during August 2011 by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw T---, a 74 year-old Buddhist village head who described the planting of what he estimated to be about 100 landmines by government and non-state armed groups in the vicinity of his village. Saw T--- related ongoing instances of forced labour, specifically villagers forced to guide troops, porter military supplies and sweep for landmines, and described an incident in which two villagers stepped on landmines whilst being forced to serve as unpaid porters for Tatmadaw troops. He described a separate incident in which another villager stepped on and was killed by a landmine whilst fleeing from Border Guard soldiers who were attempting to force him to porter for one month. In both cases, victims? families received no compensation or opportunity for redress following their deaths. Saw T--- noted that landmines planted in agricultural areas have not been removed, rendering several hill fields unsafe to farm and resulting in the abandonment of crops. He illustrated the danger to villagers who travel to their agricultural workplaces by recounting an incident in which a villager?s buffalo was injured by a landmine. He further explained that villagers? livelihoods have been additionally undermined by frequent demands for food and by looting of villagers? food and animals. Saw T--- highlighted the fact that demands are backed by explicit threats of violence, recounting an instance when he was threatened for failing to comply quicky by a Tatmadaw officer who held a gun to his head. Saw T--- noted that villagers have responded to negative impacts on their food production capacity by performing job for daily wages and sharing food with others and, in response to the lack of health facilities in their community, travel over two hours by foot to the nearest clinic in another village."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-01-27
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during April 2011 in Pa?an Township, Thaton District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Daw Ny---, who described an incident which occurred in November 2010, during which Tatmadaw Border Guard soldiers fired small-arms at her husband without warning and without attempting to hail him, seriously injuring his leg and necessitating 3,800,000 kyat [US $4,935.06] in medical expenses, which has had a deleterious effect on her family?s financial situation. Daw Ny--- told the villager who conducted this interview that her husband was visited in hospital by government officials investigating the incident but that no compensation or redress was offered. Daw Ny--- also described arbitrary demands for food and money, and the illegal logging of teak trees from A--- village by Border Guard soldiers; she mentioned that the imbalance in local power dynamics between armed soldiers and unarmed villagers deters villagers from attempting to engage and negotiate with perpetrators. Daw Ny--- raised concerns about the lack of livelihoods opportunities, and corresponding food insecurity, for villagers who do not own farmland; she notes that, in spite of these challenges, villagers offer voluntary material support to schoolteachers and often attempt to support their livelihoods by selling firewood or cutting bamboo. Daw Ny--- notes that some villagers choose to seek employment opportunities in larger towns but strongly expresses her unwillingness to move to an urban area, believing that food insecurity would only be exacerbated by a lack of money and an absence of alternative livelihood opportunities."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-01-27
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District between May and July 2011. It describes a series of trade and movement restrictions imposed on villagers in June and July 2011, due to frequent clashes between Tatmadaw and non-state armed groups, and road closures between Toungoo Town and Buh Sah Kee. The report also examines in detail the serious impacts the road closures have had on the livelihoods of villagers who have been unable to support themselves by transporting and selling agricultural produce and purchasing rice supplies as usual. The report further describes incidents of human rights abuse by Tatmadaw forces, including the summary execution of two civilians in July 2011 by soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #379; forced labour including the portering of military supplies, the production and supply of building materials, guide duty and sweeping for landmines; and an attack on a village previously reported by KHRG and the subsequent destruction of villagers? homes and food stores."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2011-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 356.62 KB
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Description: "In September 2011, residents of Je--- village, Kawkareik Township told KHRG that they feared soldiers under Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1022 and LIBs #355 and #546 would soon complete the confiscation of approximately 500 acres of land in their community in order to develop a large camp for Battalion #1022 and homes for soldiers? families. According to the villagers, the area has already been surveyed and the Je--- village head has informed local plantation and paddy farm owners whose lands are to be confiscated. The villagers reported that approximately 167 acres of agricultural land, including seven rubber plantations, nine paddy farms, and seventeen betelnut and durian plantations belonging to 26 residents of Je--- have already been surveyed, although they expressed concern that more land would be expropriated in the future. The Je--- residents said that the village head had told them rubber plantation owners would be compensated according to the number of trees they owned, but that the villagers were collectively refusing compensation and avoiding attending a meeting at which they worried they would be ordered to sign over their land. The villagers that spoke with KHRG said they believed the Tatmadaw intended to take over their land in October after the end of the annual monsoon, and that this would seriously undermine livelihoods in a community in which many villagers depended on subsistence agriculture on established land. This bulletin is based on information collected by KHRG researchers in September and October 2011, including five interviews with residents of Je--- village, 91 photographs of the area, and a written record of lands earmarked for confiscation."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2011-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 452.67 KB
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Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing ongoing abuses occurring in Thaton Township in 2011, including frequent demands for forced labour from six villages, for villagers to serve as guards at a Tatmadaw LIB #218 camp, and for payments in lieu of forced labour. It outlines some difficulties faced by civilians in pursuit of their livelihoods, including the negative impact of forced labour demands, the lack of employment options available for villagers attempting to support their families and the destruction of paddy crops caused by flooding during the 2011 monsoon. It details restrictions on access to healthcare, specifically the high cost of medical treatment at government clinics and the denial of access for healthcare groups, and also expresses villagers? frustrations at obstacles to children?s education caused by the need for children to work to support their families and the prohibitive costs of school attendance and supplies."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-01-20
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager living in a hiding site in northern Lu Thaw Township, Papun District. The villager described an incident that occurred in October 2011 in which Tatmadaw soldiers fired six mortar shells into an area in which civilians are actively seeking to avoid attacks by Tatmadaw troops; no one was killed or injured during the attack. This situation update places the occurrence of such incidents in the context of the repeated and prolonged displacement of villagers in northern Luthaw who continue to actively seek to avoid contact with government troops due to ongoing attacks against civilian objects. The villager who wrote this report raised concerns about food shortages in hiding site areas where the presence of Tatmadaw soldiers proximate to previously cultivated land has resulted in overcrowding on available farmland and the subsequent degradation of soil quality, severely limiting villagers? abilities to support themselves using traditional rotational cropping methods. For detailed analysis of the humanitarian situation in this area of Luthaw Township, see the previous KHRG report Acute food shortages threatening 8,885 villagers in 118 villages across northern Papun District, published in April 2011."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2012-01-17
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 273.46 KB
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Description: "Two villagers have lost nearly 3,000 rubber trees in a fire started when SPDC soldiers from IB #548 fired mortars into their plantations as the men fled in anticipation of fighting between IB #548 and a patrol of KNLA troops on April 23rd 2010. The men will attempt to replant their plantations, but have each effectively lost four-year investments of labour and money..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B8)
2010-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Karen
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Description: "This paper examines repression and state?society conflict in Burma through the lens of rural and urban resistance strategies. It explores networks of noncompliance through which civilians evade and undermine state control over their lives, showing that the military regime?s brutal tactics represent not control, but a lack of control. Outside agencies ignore this state?society struggle over sovereignty at their peril: ignoring the interplay of interventions with local politics and militarisation, and claiming a ?humanitarian neutrality? which is impossible in practice, risks undermining the very civilians interventions are supposed to help, while facilitating further state repression. Greater honesty and awareness in interventions is required, combined with greater solidarity with villagers? resistance strategies."... Keywords: peasant resistance; humanitarian policy; Karen; Kayin; Burma; Myanmar
Creator/author: Kevin Malseed
Source/publisher: "Journal of Peasant Studies" (originally published by Yale Agrarian Studies Colloquium, 2008-04-25 and Karen Human Rights Group, 2008-11-10)
2009-07-22
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 203.29 KB
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Description: "..."Things are getting more difficult every day. Even the Burmese leaders capture each other and put each other in jail. If they can capture and imprison even the people who have authority, then how are the villagers supposed to tolerate them? That?s why the villagers are fleeing from Burma." - Dta La Ku elder (M, 44) from Dooplaya district (Report #98-09) There is no doubt that life is currently becoming worse for the vast majority of people in Burma, in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, people are plagued by high inflation, rapidly increasing prices for basic commodities such as rice and basic foodstuffs, the tumbling value of the Kyat, wages which are not enough to feed oneself, corruption by all arms of the military and civil service, and the ever-present fear of arbitrary arrest for the slightest act or statement that betrays opposition to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) junta..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Right Group (KHRG #98-C2)
1998-11-24
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : html
Size: 23.63 KB
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Description: "This report includes translated copies of 75 order documents issued by Burma Army and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army officers to village heads in Karen State between August 2008 and June 2009. These documents serve as supplementary evidence of ongoing exploitative local governance in rural Burma. The report thus supports the continuing testimonies of villagers regarding the regular demands for labour, money, food and other supplies to which their communities are subject by local military forces. The order documents collected here include demands for attendance at meetings; the provision of money and alcohol; the production and delivery of thatch shingles and bamboo poles; forced labour as messengers and porters for the military; forced labour on road repair; the provision of information on individuals and households; registration of villagers in State-controlled ?NGOs?; and restrictions on travel and the use of muskets. In almost all cases, such demands are uncompensated and backed by an implicit threat of violence or other punishment for non-compliance. Almost all demands articulated in the orders presented in this report involve some element of forced labour in their implementation..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Orders Reports (KHRG #2009-04 )
2009-08-27
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "International reporting of the large-scale migration of those leaving Burma in search of work abroad has highlighted the perils for migrant during travel and in host countries. However, there has been a lack of research in the root causes of this migration. Identifying the root causes of migration has important implications for the assistance and protection of these migrants. Drawing on over 150 interviews with villagers in rural Burma and those from Burma who have sought employment abroad, this report identifies the exploitative abuse underpinning poverty and livelihoods vulnerability in Burma which, in turn, are major factors motivating individuals to leave home and seek work abroad..." _Thailand-based interviewees explained to KHRG how exploitative abuses increased poverty, livelihoods vulnerability and food insecurity for themselves and their communities in Burma. These issues were in turn cited as central push factors compelling them to leave their homes and search for work abroad. In some cases, interviewees explained that the harmful effects of exploitative abuse were compounded by environmental and economic factors such as flood and drought and limited access to decent wage labour.[17] While the individuals interviewed by KHRG in Thailand would normally be classified as ?economic migrants?, the factors which they cited as motivating their choice to migrate make it clear that SPDC abuse made it difficult for them to survive in their home areas. Hence, these people decided to become migrants not simply because they were lured to Thailand by economic incentives, but because they found it impossible to survive at home in Burma. Clearly, the distinction between push and pull factors is blurred in the case of Burmese migrants. The concept of pull factors for migrants is further complicated because migrants are not merely seeking better jobs abroad, but are instead pulled to places like Thailand and Malaysia in order to access protection. For refugees and IDPs, protection is a service that is often provided by government bodies, UN agencies and international NGOs. For refugees in particular, protection is often primarily understood to mean legal protection against refoulement - defined as the expulsion of a person to a place where they would face persecution. Beyond legal protection against refoulement, aid agencies have implemented specific forms of rights-based assistance, such as gender-based violence programmes, as part of their protection mandates. However, for migrants from Burma the act of leaving home is overwhelmingly a self-initiated protection strategy through which individuals can ensure their and their families? basic survival in the face of persistent exploitative and other abuse in their home areas. This broader understanding of protection goes beyond legal protection against refoulement and the top-down delivery of rights-based assistance by aid agencies. It involves actions taken by individuals on their own accord to lessen or avoid abuse and its harmful effects at home.[18] KHRG has chosen to use the term self-initiated protection strategy, rather than a more generic concept like ?survival strategy?, in order to highlight the political agency of those who choose such migration. By seeing this protection in political terms, one can better understand both the abusive underpinnings of migration from Burma as well as the relevance of such migration to the protection mandates of governments, UN agencies and international NGOs currently providing support to conventional refugee populations. Understanding protection in this way presents opportunities for external support for the many self-initiated protection strategies (including efforts to secure employment without exploitation, support dependent family members, enrol children in school and avoid arrest, extortion and deportation) which migrant workers regularly use._
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #2009-03)
2009-07-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "As the principal means of establishing control over the people of Thaton District, the SPDC has supported a more aggressive DKBA role in the area. With the junta?s political, military and financial backing the DKBA has sought to expand its numbers, strengthen its position vis-à-vis the civilian population and eradicate the remaining KNU/KNLA presence in the region. To those ends, the DKBA has used forced labour, looting, extortion, land confiscation and movement restrictions and embarked on a hostile campaign of forced recruitment from amongst the local population. These abuses have eroded village livelihoods, leading to low harvest yields and wholly failed crops; problems which compound over time and progressively deepen poverty and malnourishment. With the onset of the rainy season and the 2007 cultivation period, villagers in Thaton District are faced with depleting provisions. This food insecurity will require that many harvest their 2007 crop as early as October while still unripe. The low yield of an early harvest, lost time spent on forced labour and the harmful fallout of further extortion and other abuses will all combine to ensure once again that villagers in Thaton District confront food shortages and increasing poverty..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2007-F5)
2007-07-09
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The attacks against civilians continue as the SPDC increases its military build-up in Toungoo District. Enforcing widespread restrictions on movement backed up by a shoot-on-sight policy, the SPDC has executed at least 38 villagers in Toungoo since January 2007. On top of this, local villagers face the ever present danger of landmines, many of which were manufactured in China, which the Army has deployed around homes, churches and forest paths. Combined with the destruction of covert agricultural hill fields and rice supplies, these attacks seek to undermine food security and make life unbearable in areas outside of consolidated military control. However, as those living under SPDC rule have found, the constant stream of military demands for labour, money and other supplies undermine livelihoods, village economies and community efforts to address health, education and social needs. Civilians in Toungoo must therefore choose between a situation of impoverishment and subjugation under SPDC rule, evasion in forested hiding sites with the constant threat of military attack, or a relatively stable yet uprooted life in refugee camps away from their homeland. This report documents just some of the human rights abuses perpetrated by SPDC forces against villagers in Toungoo District up to July 2007..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2007-F6)
2007-08-09
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "With the onset of the cold season the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) has been able to push ahead with military attacks against villages and displaced communities in the northern districts of Karen State. In Thaton District and other areas further south, however, the military is more firmly in control, fewer displaced communities are able to remain in hiding, and SPDC rule is facilitated by the presence of its ally the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). By increasingly relying on DKBA forces to administer Thaton, the SPDC has been able to free up soldiers and resources which can then be deployed elsewhere. To force the civilian population into submission, the DKBA has scoured villages throughout Thaton - detaining, interrogating and torturing villagers and conscripting them to serve as army porters. Commensurate with its increased control over the civilian population, DKBA soldiers have subjected villagers to regular extortion, arbitrary and excessive ?taxation?, forced labour, land confiscation and restrictions on movement, trade and education which all serve to support ongoing military rule in Thaton. By systematising control over local villagers, the SPDC and DKBA have been able to implement ?development? projects that financially benefit and further entrench the military hierarchy. Amongst such initiatives, the construction in Thaton District of the United Nations-supported Asian Highway, connecting Burma with neighbouring countries, has involved uncompensated land confiscation and forced labour..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2006-F11)
2006-12-21
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The first half of 2007 has seen the continued flight of civilians from their homes and land in response to ongoing State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military operations in Toungoo District. While in some cases this displacement is prompted by direct military attacks against their villages, many civilians living in Toungoo District have told KHRG that the primary catalyst for relocation has been the regular demands for labour, money and supplies and the restrictions on movement and trade imposed by SPDC forces. These everyday abuses combine over time to effectively undermine civilian livelihoods, exacerbate poverty and make subsistence untenable. Villagers threatened with such demands and restrictions frequently choose displacement in response - initially to forest hiding sites located nearby and then farther afield to larger Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps or across the border to Thailand-based refugee camps. This report presents accounts of ongoing abuses in Toungoo District committed by SPDC forces during the period of January to May 2007 and their role in motivating local villagers to respond with flight and displacement..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2007-F4)
2007-05-30
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Throughout SPDC-controlled areas of Karen State the regime has been developing civilian agencies as extensions of military authority. On top of this, the junta has continued to strengthen the more traditional forms of militarisation and, at least in Thaton District, has firmly backed the expansion of DKBA military operations to control the civilian population and eradicate KNLA forces which continue to actively patrol the area. The people of Thaton District thus face a myriad of State agencies and armed groups which have overburdened them with demands for labour, money and supplies. While engaging with these groups, addressing the demands placed on them and attending to their own livelihoods, local villagers have sought to manage a delicate balance of seemingly impossible weights..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2007-F7)
2007-09-24
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English and Karen
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Description: "The months of November and December which follow the annual cessation of the rainy season mark the traditional harvest time for the agrarian communities of Karen State when villagers must venture out into their fields in order to reap their ripe paddy crops. Across large areas of Toungoo District, however, where the SPDC lacks a consolidated hold on the civilian population, this time of year has become especially perilous as the Army enforces sweeping movement restrictions backed up by a shoot on sight policy in order to eradicate the entire civilian presence in areas outside its control and restrict the population to military-controlled villages and relocation sites where they can be more easily exploited for labour, money, food and other supplies. Displaced communities in hiding thus risk potential arrest and execution by venturing out into the relatively open area of their hill side agricultural fields where they are more easily spotted by SPDC troops who regularly patrol the area. Yet, because of the Army?s persistent attacks against covert farm fields, food stores and displaced communities in hiding these villagers confront a severe food shortage which has increased pressure on them to tend to their covert fields despite the risks. As a consequence some villagers have already lost their lives; having been shot by SPDC soldiers while attempting to tend their crops and address their community?s rising food insecurity..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2007-F11)
2007-12-04
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "SPDC troops have continued to target internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Toungoo District. Civilians continue be killed or injured by the attacks while many of the survivors flee their homes and take shelter in forest hiding sites. Some who have moved into SPDC forced relocation sites continue to secretly return to their villages to cultivate their crops, constantly risking punishment or execution by troops patrolling the areas. The SPDC?s repeated disruption of regular planting cycles has created a food crisis in Toungoo, further endangering the IDPs living there. This report examines the abuses in Toungoo District from April to June 2008..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2008-F9)
2008-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report presents information on abuses in Nyaunglebin District for the period of April to July 2009. Though Nyaunglebin saw a reduction in SPDC activities during the first six months of 2009, patrols resumed in July. Since then, IDP villagers attempting to evade SPDC control report that they have subsequently been unable to regularly access farm fields or gardens, exacerbating cycles of food shortages set in motion by the northern Karen State offensive which began in 2006. Other villagers, from the only nominally controlled villages in the Nyaunglebin?s eastern hills to SPDC-administered relocation sites in the west, meanwhile, report abuses including forced labour, conscription into government militia, travel restrictions and the torture of two village leaders for alleged contact with the KNLA..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F15)
2009-09-22
Date of entry/update: 2009-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report documents the situation for villagers in Toungoo District, both in areas under SPDC control and in areas contested by the KNLA and home to villagers actively evading SDPC control. For villagers in the former, movement restrictions, forced labour and demands for material support continue unabated, and continue to undermine their attempts to address basic needs. Villagers in hiding, meanwhile, report that the threat of Burma Army patrols, though slightly reduced, remains sufficient to disrupt farming and undermine food security. This report includes incidents occurring from January to August 2009..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F16)
2009-09-28
Date of entry/update: 2009-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 473.59 KB
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Description: "As the 2009 rainy season draws to a close, displaced villagers in northern Papun District?s Lu Thaw Township face little prospect of harvesting sufficient paddy to support them over the next year. After four straight agricultural cycles disrupted by Burma Army patrols, which continue to shoot villagers on sight and enforce travel and trade restrictions designed to limit sale of food to villagers in hiding, villagers in northern Papun face food shortages more severe than anything to hit the area since the Burma Army began attempts to consolidate control of the region in 1997. Consequently, the international donor community should immediately provide emergency support to aid groups that can access IDP areas in Lu Thaw Township. In southern Papun, meanwhile, villagers report ongoing abuses and increased activity by the SPDC and DKBA in Dwe Loh and Bu Thoh townships. In these areas, villagers report abuses including movement restrictions, forced labour, looting, increased placement of landmines in civilian areas, summary executions and other forms of arbitrary abuse. This report documents abuses occurring between May and October 2009..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2009-F18)
2009-10-15
Date of entry/update: 2009-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Karen
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Description: Systematic militarisation and widespread exploitation of the civilian population by military forces have created poverty, malnutrition and a severe food crisis in Karen State and other parts of rural Burma. This crisis requires urgent attention by the international community - with intervention shaped by the concerns of villagers themselves. This briefer outlines the human rights abuses which have caused the food crisis; the combined impacts of these abuses upon civilian communities; the ways in which villagers have responded to and resisted abuse; and the actions that can be taken by the international community to alleviate the current crisis and to prevent future cycles of abuse and malnutrition in rural Burma.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2009-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2009-08-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report consists of an Introduction and Executive Summary, followed by a detailed analysis of the situation supported by quotes from interviews and excerpts from SPDC order documents sent to villages in the region. As mentioned above, an Annex to this report containing the full text of the remaining interviews can be seen by following the link from the table of contents or from KHRG upon approved request..." Forced Relocations, Killings and the Systematic Starvation of Villagers in Dooplaya District
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #2000-02)
2000-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: This document presents the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma. The Tribunal?s work will appeal to all readers interested in human rights and social justice, as well as anyone with a particular interest in Burma. The Asian Human Rights Commission presents this report in order to stimulate discourse on human rights and democratization in Burma and around the world.
Source/publisher: People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma
1999-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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