Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Only a selection. Most of the human rights violations against non-Burman ethnic groups are conducted by the military in the general context of the civil war. See also entries under "Ethnic Discrimination", in the Human Rights Section and under "Internal Displacement".
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
"Foundation of Fear.
Since 1992, the Karen Human Rights Group has
been documenting villagers? voices on the human
rights situation in southeast Myanmar. 25 years on,
KHRG presents this extensive review, an analysis
of villagers? current concerns seen in the light of 25
years of testimonies on human rights and abuse.
By revisiting these testimonies we can understand
ongoing obstacles to peace, security and freedom
for local community members in southeast Myanmar,
and prevent human rights abuses from being
forgotten, silenced and, crucially, from continuing
and being repeated..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-16
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Village and urban resistance
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Karen
Format :
pdf
Size:
4.77 MB
more
Description:
"...The Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) is a private, nonprofit, multi-media organization which was established in Shan State in 1991. Our mission is to create a more informed and consequently a more empowered community by filling the information void and shedding light on the current situation in Burma, especially Shan State. As a media organization, we strive to provide credible news that is professionally produced with high-quality standards of journalism in multi-ethnic languages and which reflects the views of ethnic people, thus creating a better understanding among all the people of our nation....."
S.H.A.N.
Source/publisher:
S.H.A.N website
Date of publication:
00-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
"...The Shan resistance was born on May 21, 1958. On April 25, 1960 the Shan State Independence Army (SSIA) was formed in Loi La, Mong Yawn, Kengtung state with Hkun Maha as chairman and Sao Hso Hkarn as secretary general. On April 24, 1964 Shan resistance forces formed the Shan State Army (SSA) with Sao Nang Hearn Kham (Mahadevi of Yawnghwe) as chairman. In 1971, the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) was established and its first congress was held on August 16, 1971. The SSPP signed a ceasefi re agreement with Myanmar government in 1989. Burma army gave a pressure on the SSPP to transform into BGF in 2010. The SSPP/SSA brigade 3 and 7 transformed into BGF in the following year but brigade 1 led by Col. Pang Fa (now Lt. Gen) rejuvenated the SSPP/SSA and have kept the ceasefire agreement even though the Shan army has been some clashes with Burma army...."
SSPP
Source/publisher:
ssppssa.org
Date of publication:
00-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
"...Tai Freedom website is from Information Department of Restoration Council of the Shan State and Shan State Army. Our website is publishing general news from Shan State, RCSS/SSA statement and activities. Especially news about human right abuse from any arms groups in Shan State..."
Tai Freedom
Source/publisher:
Tai Freedom website
Date of publication:
00-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Individual Documents
Description:
"New fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) and Burma Army broke out in Shan State at a time when both groups are trying cooperate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RCSS/SSA clashed with Tatmadaw LIB-326 this Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Hsipaw Township. An anonymous RCSS/SSA source told SHAN that two lieutenants and two regular soldiers of the Burma Army were killed during the fighting.
Lt-Col Sao Oum Khur, RCSS/SSA spokesperson, told SHAN the clash may have started because of a misunderstanding. He says the Burma Army reported it would travel from Pankok and Pankham villages. RCSS/SSA told them to take the main vehicle road and not the jungle route.
“We told them not to take the jungle road because they might encounter a column of our soldiers. But I think they took the jungle road anyway and then clashed with our troops,” says Sao Oum Khur.
Last week, Tatmadaw’s Eastern Military Command provided Shan soldiers with personal protective equipment and the armed groups discussed how to avoid fighting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A few weeks earlier, Tatmadaw attacked RCSS/SSA in Ponpakyin sub-township, located in eastern Shan State.
Lt-Col Sao Oum Khur says he didn’t think the recent fighting was intentional. “Perhaps their soldiers weren’t following in line with our recent agreement. Or maybe their superior officers didn’t even know about the clash,” he says.
The RCSS will negotiate with the regional Burma Army commander and other high-ranking Tatmadaw officials through its liaison office. The ethnic armed group will also bring up the incident during the next meeting of the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee.
“If we can’t solve it at the ground level, it can turn into a big problem. Therefore, it’s important that we negotiate with the Tatmadaw to avoid a crisis.” Lt-Col Sao Oum Khur says..."
Source/publisher:
"Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles
Language:
more
Description:
"...Myanmar, once mysterious to the world after its decades’ long isolation, is marked by diversity and multiple ethnicities, languages and religions. It has been affected by decades of an authoritarian regime and different interconnected layers of conflict, ranging from national-level ethnic political conflicts and the pro-democracy struggle to broader social-level land conflicts and conflicts at the household level, such as domestic violence. In Myanmar, as in other countries, conflict and violence affect men, women, boys, girls and those with diverse gender identities differently. There is increasing awareness that gender is important in understanding conflict and accumulating evidence that links inclusion to the sustainability of peace. A growing number of programmes are dedicated to addressing this. However, the ‘other side of gender’, that is, the experiences of men and boys, is less well understood. Expectations of masculinity are an often overlooked (or over-simplified) driver of conflict and peacebuilding, but can also, if sometimes counter-intuitively, lead to increased vulnerability for men and boys, especially related to violence..."
Date of publication:
2018-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Articles, reports and sites relating to women of Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
1.38 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Soldiers were guarding the border in Sangkhla Buri district on Friday to prevent any incursion into Thailand but allowing migrant workers to enter, as Myanmar troops and Mon fighters settled into an uneasy truce.
Units from the Surasi Task Force were posted to the frontier around Three Pagodas pass after Myanmar government forces and Mon soldiers clashed close to the border on Wednesday.
The border pass remained closed to Thai travellers, and local shops and tourist stalls were shut. Tourists were advised to stay away to facilitate security operations.
Soldiers allowed Myanmar nationals to cross the border for work through a single channel, but the regular passage for border trade and vehicles on Soi Kaset 1 remained closed. Troops also sealed the border opposite the Mon villages of Ban Bor Yeepun and Ban Rai Oi in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-11-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Thailand-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"တကီၢ်ခါ တၢ်သူၣ်ထီၣ် ထံလီၢ်ကီၢ်ပူၤ တၢ်မုာ်တၢ်ခုၣ်တၢ်အိၣ်သးတဖၣ်၊ တၢ်ကတိၤ တၢ်မုာ်တၢ်ခုၣ်အပူၤ တၢ်ဂ့ၢ်တၢ်ကျိၤ လၢတၢ်အအိၣ်ကတာ်ထီအသးတဖၣ်ဒ်အမ့ၢ် တဘၣ်ထုးဖးသးဘၣ်တၢ်ဂ့ၢ်ဒီး တၢ်စံၣ်ညီၣ်ပၢလီၤသးခွဲးယာ်တၢ်ဂ့ၢ်တဖၣ်ဒီး တၢ်ကပာ်က့ၤ သုးမုၢ်ဒိၣ်ထဲတခါဧိၤတၢ်ဂ့ၢ်တဖၣ်အံၤ ခ့ၣ်အဲးစံၣ်=ကညီတၢ်ကစီၣ်ထံၣ်လိာ်သံကွၢ်သံဒိး၀ဲ ခ့ၣ်အဲၣ်ယူၣ် အနဲၣ်ရွဲၣ်ခိၣ်ကျၢၢ် ပဒိၣ်စီၤတၤဒိၣ်မူ ဒ်အံၤန့ၣ်လီၤႉ..."
Source/publisher:
KIC (Karen Information Center)
Date of publication:
2018-11-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-03-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Karen National Union (KNU), Other Tibeto-Burmese languages (Zo, Karen etc), Documents in Pwo-Karen and S'Gaw Karen
Language:
Sgaw Karen
more
Description:
''ဟတ်ကြီးရေကာတာစီမံကိန်းနယ်မြေအား ထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ရန်အတွက် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးဖေါ်ဆောင်မှုများလုပ်ဆောင်နေစဉ် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်နှင့် ၎င်း၏နယ်ခြားစောင့်တပ် တို့မှ ကရင်ပြည်နယ်အတွင်း ထိုးစစ်များဆင်ကာ နယ်မြေစိုးမိုးမှုရယူရန်ကြိုးစားကြပြီး တိုက်ပွဲများကြောင့် ဒေသခံပြည်သူလူထုထောင်နှင့်ချီကာ အိုးအိမ်စွန့်ခွာ ထွက်ပြေးထိမ်းရှောင်ရသည်။ ဤစာတမ်းတိုလေးကို ဒေါင်းလုပ်ကာ အချက်အလက်အပြည့်အစုံကို ဖတ်ရှုနိုင်ပါသည်...''
"While the Burmese government and Karen leaders are holding historic peace talks in Naypyidaw, the Burma Army and its Border Guard Force (BGF) wages war in Karen State to expand its control over Karen territories, in order to push for an environmentally and socially destructive hydropower project on the Salween River – the Hatgyi Dam. For detail, please read the briefer..."
KESAN
Source/publisher:
Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN)
Date of publication:
2018-11-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Karen National Union (KNU), Documents in Pwo-Karen and S'Gaw Karen
Language:
Sgaw Karen, Burmese ျမန္မာဘာသာ, English
more
Description:
"ခ့ၣ်အဲၣ်ယူၣ်ကညီဒီကလုာ်စၢဖှိၣ်ကရၢ၊ ဒူပျာ်ယာ်ကီၢ်ရ့ၣ်၊ ၀ီၢ်ရီကီၢ်ဆၣ် အစုဒုၣ်တီၤ ကညီဒီကလုာ်တၢ်ထူၣ်ဖျဲးသုးမုၢ်ဒိၣ်KNLA သုးရ့ၣ်(၁၆)အၦၤဒီး ကညီပၢၤကီၢ်သုးတဖၣ် ဖဲလါယနူၤအါရံၤ(၁၈)သီအနံၤန့ၣ် လဲၤဖီၣ်န့ၢ်၀ဲ ၦၤစိာ်ဆါမၤကၤကသံၣ်မူၤဘှီးဖိအဂၤ ဖဲ ဘရီၣ်သ၀ီ၊ ယ့ကီၢ်ဆၣ်၊ လမၢၢ်ကီၢ်ဆၣ်နီၤဖးကရူၢ်၊ တလၢၤကီၢ်စဲၣ်အပူၤအံၤန့ၣ် ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်၊ ကီၢ်ဆၢဘံၣ်ဘၢဂ့ၢ်၀ီကိတိာ်တခီ ဃ့ထီၣ်၀ဲလၢကဟ့ၣ်လီၤက့ၤဆူအ၀ဲသ့ၣ်အအိၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤႉ...""
စီၤမၠးအူသၣ်
Source/publisher:
KIC (Karen Information Center)
Date of publication:
2019-01-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Documents in Pwo-Karen and S'Gaw Karen
Language:
Sgaw Karen
more
Description:
"On December 18th, the indigenous Karen communities of Mutraw District officially declare the establishment of the Salween Peace Park. This declaration is to fulfill the collective vision for a grassroots pathway to peace and self-determination, and their responsibility to transfer our ancestral domain to the new generation with abundant forest and clean water.
Almost 1000 people, comprising representatives from our communities in Mutraw District, the KNU, Karen CBOs, ethnic representatives from across Burma/ Myanmar and journalists- both domestic and from abroad, joined the event..."
KESAN
Source/publisher:
Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN)
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Preservation of the environment in Burma/Myanmar, Community forests, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Karen National Union (KNU), Documents in Pwo-Karen and S'Gaw Karen
Language:
Sgaw Karen, Burmese and English sub-titles
more
Description:
''While much of Myanmar’s population continues to benefit from the ongoing process of political and economic reforms, there are close to one million people who remain in need of emergency assistance and protection as a result of ongoing crises in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan. In addition, despite significant progress and investments in disaster risk reduction, millions of people in different parts of Myanmar face the ever-present risk of natural disasters in one of Asia’s most disaster-prone countries.
The aim of the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan is to assist the Government in ensuring that these emergency needs are met and that, as the political transition in the country continues, not one single man, woman or child is left behind.
The response plan sets out the framework within which the United Nations and its partners will respond to the humanitarian assistance and protection needs of crisis-affected people in Myanmar. The plan has been jointly developed by members of the Humanitarian Country Team in Myanmar, in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including Government counterparts, local civil society, representatives of affected communities including the Rohingya, development actors, donors and others.
The Humanitarian Country Team recognizes that humanitarian action is one critical component of a broader, long term engagement that is needed to address the wide range of humanitarian, development, human rights and peace-building challenges in Myanmar in a holistic fashion.
To this end, the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan is aligned with other key documents and strategies that aim to enhance coherence and complementarity across these sectors, such as the Final Report and Recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State (August 2017) and the Strategic Framework for International Engagement in Rakhine (April 2018)...''
Source/publisher:
Reliefweb
Date of publication:
2018-12-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Humanitarian assistance to Burma -- contact lists and mixed content, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Children's Rights - studies, Human Rights Education
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.82 MB
more
Description:
"Over the last seven months, fighting has intensified between the Myanmar Army and ethnic armed groups in Kachin and northern Shan States, areas with long-running conflicts as ethnic minorities have sought greater autonomy and respect for their rights. This report documents war crimes and other human rights violations by the Myanmar Army, including extrajudicial executions, torture, forced labour, and indiscriminate shelling. Most victims are civilians from ethnic minorities in the region, continuing a legacy of abuse that has rarely led to accountability for the soldiers or commanders responsible.".....TOPICS:
Myanmar...
Asia and The Pacific...
Armed Conflict...
Armed Groups...
Child Soldiers...
Impunity...
Disappearances...
Unlawful Killings...
Internally Displaced People...
Torture and other ill-treatment...
Racial Discrimination...
War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity...
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/6429/2017)
Date of publication:
2017-06-14
Date of entry/update:
2017-06-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
Language:
English (full report); Burmese & Chinese - executive summary
Format :
pdf pdf pdf
Size:
1.8 MB 395.37 KB 707.27 KB
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Description:
"This Field Report describes events which occurred in Dooplaya District, southeast Burma/Myanmar, between January and December 2015. It includes information submitted by KHRG community members on a range of human rights violations and other issues important to the local community including ceasefire concerns, the military situation, rape, violent abuse and killing cases, development projects, land confiscation, health and education, natural resource extraction and land mines.
The military situation in Dooplaya District is ongoing following the preliminary ceasefire. Based on one report, military target practice conducted by Tatmadaw in Win Yin (Win Yay) Township affected local civilian?s rubber plantations, as well as their livelihoods.
Over one thousand villagers from five different villages in Kawkareik Township fled their homes and sought shelter at monasteries because of the outbreak of fighting on the Asian Highway between DKBA and Tatmadaw. Local schools in these villages were consequently affected, and were forced to close temporarily due to fears for the safety of the students.
Four sensitive incidents such as rape, violent threats, violent abuse and killing occurred in Kawkariek and Kyainseikgyi townships, committed by ethnic armed groups and neighbouring villagers. Two women were raped, one of whom became pregnant, and the other woman was physically harmed as a consequence of the rape. One villager was arrested and violently abused by a Karen ethnic armed group and one villager was killed by neighbouring villagers who accused him of practicing black magic.
Regarding development projects, Burma/Myanmar government, private companies, and wealthy individuals implemented infrastructure, particularly roads and bridges, in Win Yin, Kyainseikgyi, Kyonedoe and Kawkareik townships. A regional project for the Asian Highway was implemented in Kawkareik Township in 2014 and completed in 2015. It crossed through 17 villages and destroyed villagers? plantations, paddy fields, shops and houses along the route. Only a few local residents were consulted by project developers in advance; the remaining residents were neither consulted nor compensated for the destruction and loss of their land."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2016-10-07
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Naw G--- describes events occurring in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District. In August 2016, four villagers were injured by shrapnel during the fighting between Border Guard Force (BGF) and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) splinter group Na Ma Kya in D--- village. One teenager was blinded by the shrapnel, her mother was injured by shrapnel below her armpit and her father?s nape of his head was also injured by shrapnel. One pregnant woman from D--- village was also injured by shrapnel."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2016-12-14
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"his Interview with Saw A--- describes events occurring in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District, prior to and including August 2015, including armed group activities, taxation and a rape case.
Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) collect yearly taxes from villagers such as farm, hill farm, chainsaw, lumber saw and wild yam business tax. Local villagers mentioned that the DKBA tax villagers based on the Karen National Union (KNU) taxation system which they have also been paying.
A DKBA soldier named Nya Kheh, under Company Commander Hsah Noo has been logging trees on a B--- villager?s land without paying compensation. He also threatened villagers not to complain about what he does, by saying he would cut more trees if the villagers do so.
A woman named Naw C--- was raped by a DKBA soldier named Hpah Ta Roh in July 2015 in Kawkareik Township. After she was raped she was threatened by Hpah Ta Roh not to report the rape to the village head or anyone else therefore the case had not been resolved at the time of the interview."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"
This Situation Update describes events occurring in Kyonedoe Township, Dooplaya District during the period between April and July 2016, including education, healthcare, the situation for civilians, Burma/Myanmar government military (Tatmadaw) activity, Border Guard Force (BGF), Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), Karen Peace Council (KPC) and Karen National Union (KNU) activities.
In Kyonedoe Township, Dooplaya District, there were a number of problems affecting civilians, including low incomes for rubber plantation workers, forced labour, taxation and land destruction.
Some of the local students in Kyonedoe Township had to stop studying after they finished primary school in their villages, because their parents could not support them if they went to study at the Burma/Myanmar government?s middle school.
The Burma/Myanmar government has opened a clinic for the villagers but it lacks supplies and local villagers continue to use traditional medicine.
Tatmadaw activity has decreased in Kyonedoe Township. The BGF, DKBA and KPC are all still active in the Township, while the KNU is working to make villagers aware of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and drug policies."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-02-03
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This Situation Update describes events occurring in Win Yay Township, Dooplaya District during the period between June and July 2015, including the relationship between Tatmadaw and civilians, the relationship between Karen National Liberation Army and civilians, education, healthcare, community situation, the relationship between Tatmadaw and Karen National Liberation Army and civilians? business situation.
Some local Karen villagers in Win Yay Township, Dooplaya District have lack of trust in KNLA because they feel that KNLA has not protected civilians since the preliminary ceasefire.
According to some local villagers in Dawei Pauk village tract, Win Yay Township, some Burma/Myanmar government school teachers do not treat the students well if they cannot follow the lessons. Moreover, some children were told by their teachers not to go to the church on Sunday.
There is limited improvement for local women In Win Yay Township, Dooplaya District because their limited education means that they were not chosen to be leaders.
Most Karen people in Win Yay Township, Dooplaya District earn their living from cultivation, but after the [preliminary] ceasefire, many farms and gardens close to the Asian Highway road were damaged, causing a serious problem for farmers? livelihoods."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-03-15
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This Field Report includes information submitted by KHRG community members describing events occurring in Hpapun District between January and December 2015. The report describes human rights violations, including theft, looting, killing, violent abuses, a landmine incident, forced labour, land confiscation, forced relocation, explicit threats and forced recruitment. The report also documents issues important to the local communities, such as access to education and healthcare."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2016-12-19
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"
This Situation Update describes events occurring in Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District during the period between August and September 2016, including education, military activity, and illegal logging.
There are two types of schools in Dwe Lo Township; the Burma/Myanmar government schools and the Karen National Union (KNU) schools.
The Border Guard Force (BGF) now patrols the Taw Tho Lo Tatmadaw Army Camp; however, four Tatmadaw soldiers also operate with the BGF.
Commander of BGF Company #3, Bo Maung So, illegally logged teak trees near Ff--- village. He took the teak logs to K?Ter Tee by truck on October 23rd 2016, at around 08:00 AM."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This Interview with Ma N--- describes arbitrary arrest and torture occurring in Thaton Township, Thaton District, during the period between June and July 2013. She described how her husband was arbitrarily arrested and tortured by the Myanmar police in June 2013. Her husband finally said that he was involved in a bus robbery, although he asserts that was not involved. He confessed to the crime after torture by the Myanmar police. The robbery that Myanmar police suspected Ma N---?s husband was suspected of was the Yar Zar Min bus robbery that happened in Mon State, Thaton Township, Thaton District on June 8th 2013 when a bus was intercepted by robbers whilst heading from Kyaik Kha Mi to Yangon."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The following photographs are part of a larger human rights report. Please follow the link for the full report:"
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-01-20
Date of entry/update:
2017-03-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Shan Lay is a friendly, compassionate and dedicated young man from the Shan State who has sacrificed everything to fight for the freedom of his people. Growing up in the Shan State with a Karen mother, young Shan Lay was always interested in learning more about his Karen roots. But his mother didn?t speak the language and all he was taught at school was that ?Karen were rebels?. Somewhere deep inside, Shan Lay felt that there was more to the story. He witnessed firsthand the brutality of the government forces: Two of Shan Lay?s family members perished in the 8888 uprising, and when Shan Lay was a teenager, the Burmese military confiscated their family farm. Among other villagers, Shan Lay and his three childhood friends were forced out of their homes and left with nothing. A few years later, Shan Lay and his friends became freedom fighters on the Thailand-Burma border. Today, Shan Lay is the only one of them still alive. Despite the heartache, Shan Lay vows to never give up. Not until the country is free."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Karen (cultural, historical, political), Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security, Karen (Kayin) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Naw Woo doesn?t know her age exactly but she thinks that she is about 40 years old. She grew up in a small village in the Karen State, helping her parents make a living with hill-side plantations. Conditions were harsh and sometimes the villagers had little more to eat than rice with salt. Other times they had to substitute rice for bamboo shoot or anything else they could find in the jungle. The villagers also regularly fled from Burmese soldiers who came to their village with no warning, demanding porters and torturing and beating anyone who got caught running away from them. Naw Woo and other villagers lived in a constant state of fear, and many villagers lost their lives amidst fighting between Burmese and Karen soldiers. Eventually, Burmese soldiers burnt their whole village to the ground. This is her story of survival and hope."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security, Karen (Kayin) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Khaing Hla Pyaint is an incredibly determined young Arakanese man who decided that whatever it takes, he will work for his country and help his people. On a long journey from Arakan State near Bangladeshi border to the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Khaing Hla Pyaint experienced deportation, imprisonment, and torture, until he could finally reach his goal and become a soldier in the jungles of Karen State. Despite the hardship, Khaing Hla Pyaint has never regretted the choices he has made. Why was he so determined to work for his country? How did his childhood experiences and further education make him realise he wants to help his people? Read the second part of the unbelievable story of this young dedicated soldier and learn how he feels about the root causes of the conflict, and how he thinks the international community and donors can promote change instead of funding more arms and training for the Burma Army."...See the Alternate link for part 2.
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of publication:
2013-12-09
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rakhine (Arakanese) - cultural, political, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Child labour in Burma, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"hapwon is a leader of the Naga. He joined the nationalist movement in 1975 and is now the Joint Secretary of Naga National Council. He is a leader who is still miraculously alive after all his colleagues have been wiped out by Indian and Burmese forces as well as Naga socialists. For decades, numerous groups have tried to assassinate Shapwon in this present day head hunt. His love for his people has caused him great suffering, but there is no other way this brave leader could have chosen to live. This is part 1 of Shapwon?s story ? Nothing short of a Hollywood thriller."...See the Alternate link for part 2.
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Nagas (cultural, political), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"?We had never heard about human rights in the village,” Lway Chee Sangar tells me at the Palaung Women?s Organization (PWO) office in Mae Sot, Thailand. Sangar is 23 years old. The ethnic nationality group to which she belongs, called the Palaung or Ta?ang, has been caught in an armed struggle for self-determination against the brutal Burmese regime for the better part of the past five decades.
Sangar began working with the PWO about three years ago when her parents, desperate to give her an opportunity to improve her life, sent her from their tiny, remote village in the northern Shan State of Burma to the PWO?s former training center in China. It took her a combined six months of training at the PWO to begin to grasp the idea that all humans have rights.
Sangar?s story is speckled with brushes with conflict, starting from her birth. She was born on the run, when her parents had to flee their village due to an outbreak of fighting nearby. Today, the Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the armed wing of the Palaung State Liberation Front, is fighting off Burmese offensives and combatting opium cultivation in Palaung areas, according to their statement. Civilians are often caught in the cross-fire. Burmese forces have been known to use brutal tactics against civilians in conflict areas, including deadly forced portering and forced labor, torture, killing, and extortion of money, supplies, and drugs."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Education of migrants from Burma, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Education for Women and Girls - Burma, Human rights and education, Women of Burma -- bibliographies, Women and armed conflict - Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict in Shan State - economic factors associated with the conflict
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The northern Shan state, home to a majority of the Ta?ang people (referred to as ?Palaung? by others), is among the least accessible areas in Burma. These areas host some of the bloodiest conflict, the most poppy cultivation, extremely high rates of opium addiction, and crippling poverty. The Palaung Women?s Organization (PWO) has developed an impressive range of programs to empower Palaung women and support and advocate for their communities in the war-torn, drug-ravaged areas in northern Burma?all while combatting gender-discrimination and an epidemic of domestic violence. Three Palaung women, De De, Lway Yu Ni, and Lway Chee Sangar, each from a different Palaung village, sat down with us to speak about their lives, their struggles, and the work of the PWO."...See the Alternate link for part 2.
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Women of Burma -- bibliographies, Economics of migration from Burma/Myanmar -, Education of migrants from Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The Ta?ang, also known as Palaung, are one of Burma?s myriad ethnic groups who have been fighting for basic human rights and autonomy for decades. Despite the international enthusiasm over Burma?s reform process, the reality in Burma?s ethnic borderlands remains dire, and the Burmese military continues its brutal offensive against ethnic civilians. Tar Aik Bong joined the Ta?ang struggle in 1987, and is now the Chairperson of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), the Head of military commission of the Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), as well as a member of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) council and Foreign Affairs Department. The PSLF/TNLA is one of the few prominent ethnic armed groups yet to sign a ceasefire with the Burmese government. The following is Tar Aik Bong?s message to the international community."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Shan State - general articles, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Non-Ceasefire Groups, Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Shan State, Dialogue/reform/transition in Burma/Myanmar - analyses and statements, Decentralisation (Decentralization) in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
"John Bosco is like any 23-year-old who dreams of good education and a career, and who likes to read, use the internet, and play football. Unlike many young people, however, John?s life is confined within the fences of Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in Thailand. John is ethnic Karenni and comes from a big family in a rural village with no access to electricity or water. Although John grew up under militarization and afraid of ?the sounds of guns shooting and bombs exploding,” his main priority was education. John?s family wanted him to have a better life and a future, and they sent him to the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in 2009. He hasn?t been able to see his family since. In the camp, John says that restrictions on movement and travel are increasing hand in hand with decreasing aid. Like so many others, John is now trapped in one of the most isolated refugee camps in Thailand, which remains out of the electricity grid and is surrounded by landmines. John still considers himself lucky; he doesn?t have to worry about repatriation as much as the many others who have no family in Burma and no place to go."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of publication:
2015-03-24
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Karenni (Kayah) - cultural, political, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict in Karenni State, Children and armed conflict, Education in Kayah (Karenni) State, Education in refugee camps in Thailand
Language:
English
more
Description:
This Situation Update describes events occurring in Lu Thaw Township, Hpapun District, during the period between March and May 2014, including Tatmadaw activities, landmines, and the situation regarding civilian livelihoods, health care and education.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2014-11-28
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports, Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
186.94 KB
more
Description:
"State of the World?s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2013" presents a global picture of the health inequalities experienced by minorities and indigenous communities. The report finds that minorities and indigenous peoples suffer more ill-health and receive poorer quality of care.
- See more at: http://www.minorityrights.org/12071/state-of-the-worlds-minorities/state-of-the-worlds-minorities-and-indigenous-peoples-2013.html#sthash.4jaxgXrf.dpuf
Source/publisher:
Minority Rights Group (MRG)
Date of publication:
2013-09-24
Date of entry/update:
2013-10-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, General studies and surveys on health in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
153.11 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Dooplaya District, during September 2012. Specifically detailed is the situation and location of armed groups (Tatmadaw, DKBA and BGF); the villagers? situation and opinions of the KNLA; and development projects in the area. This report also contains information about Tatmadaw practices such as the killing of villager?s livestock without permission or compensation; forcing villagers to be guides; and use of villagers? tractors; villagers were however, given payment for this. The report also describes villagers? difficulties associated with the payment of government-required motorbike licenses, as well as difficulties regarding the education system. The lack of healthcare in local villages is described, as well as the ailments that villagers suffer from. Further, this report includes information about antimony mining projects in the area carried out by companies such as San Mya Yadana Company and Thu Wana Myay Zi Lwar That Tuh Too Paw Yay owned by Hkin Zaw. Antimony mining is reported to have been going on for four years and the presence of mining companies is reported to have led to food price increases in the area. The community member describes how large mining companies have contributed water pipes and money to a village school. The biggest mining project in the region led by Hkin Maung is discussed and it is reported that mining companies working in the area have permission from the KNU and pay taxes to the KNU. This report and others, was published in March 2013 in Appendix 1: Raw Data Testimony of KHRG?s thematic report: Losing Ground: Land Conflicts and collective action in eastern Myanmar.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2013-06-07
Date of entry/update:
2013-07-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Mining of iron and other metals, Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
134.63 KB
more
Description:
"This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in December 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Dooplaya District, between July and November 2012. The report describes problems relating to land confiscation and contains updated information regarding the sale of forest reserve for rubber plantations involving the BGF, with individuals who profited from the sale listed. Villagers in the area rely heavily upon the forest reserve for their livelihoods and are faced with a shortage of land for their animals to graze upon; further, villagers cows have been killed if they have continued to let them graze in the area. The community member explains that although fighting has ceased since the ceasefire agreement, otherwise the situation is the same; taxation demands and loss of livelihoods has resulted in villagers being forced to take odd jobs for daily wages, while some have left for foreign countries in search of work. Villagers have some access to healthcare and education supported by the Government, the KNU and local organizations..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2013-06-11
Date of entry/update:
2013-07-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Land confiscation for military, commercial and other purposes, Border Guard Forces (all states), Border Guard Forces (BGF) in Karen State
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
61.48 KB
more
Description:
"This report information was submitted to KHRG in November 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Pa?an District, during October 2012. On October 14th, a 21-year-old M--- villager, named Naw W---, was killed after being raped by a 23-year-old man from P--- village, Saw N---. Saw N--- reportedly used amphetamines that were manufactured and distributed by Border Guard Battalion #1016. According to villagers in T?Nay Hsah Township, the drug has caused problems for local communities, which are looking for ways to control use and distribution."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2012-12-11
Date of entry/update:
2012-12-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, The human impact of drugs and drug policies in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
38.03 KB
more
Description:
"This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during September 2011 in Lu Pleh Township, Pa?an District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw Bw---, a 25-year-old logger from Eg--- village, who described events that occurred while he was carrying out logging work between the villages of A--- and S---. He provides information on military activity in the area, specifically about shifting relations between armed groups, with Border Guard and DKBA troops ceasing to cooperate, and a heightened Tatmadaw presence in the area. Saw Bw--- also explained the disruptive impact of fighting between Border Guard and armed groups in the area on A--- villagers, who are described as fleeing to avoid conflict, as well as providing information on one instance in which A--- villagers were ordered to relocate by the commander of Border Guard Battalion #1017, but instead chose strategic displacement into hiding. He mentions the difficulties that he had in logging following the Border Guard?s increased presence in the area. Saw Bw--- also described the presence of landmines in the area around A--- and how his employer paid approximately US $1222.49 to DKBA troops to have them removed. This incident concerning landmines is also described in a thematic report published by KHRG on May 21st, 2012, Uncertain Ground: Landmines in eastern Burma."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2012-06-13
Date of entry/update:
2012-07-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Border Guard Forces (all states), Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Forced relocation of Karen, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
163.9 KB
more
Description:
"This report includes two situation updates written by villagers describing events in Thaton District during the period between May 13th 2010 and January 31st 2011. The villagers writing the updates chose to focus on issues including: updates on recent military activity, specifically the rebuilding of Tatmadaw camps, and the following human rights abuses: demands for forced labour, including the provision of building materials; and movement restrictions, including road closure and requirements for travel permission documents. In these situation updates, villagers also express serious concerns regarding food security due to abnormal weather in 2010; rising food prices; the unavailability of health care; and the cost and quality of children?s education."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2011-05-18
Date of entry/update:
2012-02-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Food Security in Karen (Kayin) State
Language:
English
more
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)
Date of publication:
2011-03-22
Date of entry/update:
2012-02-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Food Security and militarisation in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This report includes translated copies of 207 order documents issued by military and civilian officials of Burma?s central government, as well as non-state armed groups now formally subordinate to the state army as ?Border Guard? battalions, to village heads in eastern Burma between March 2008 and July 2011. Of these documents, at least 176 were issued from January 2010 onwards. These documents serve as primary evidence of ongoing exploitative local governance in rural Burma. This 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 civilian and military authorities. The order documents collected here include demands for attendance at meetings; the provision of money and food; the production and delivery of thatch, bamboo and other materials; forced recruitment into armed ceasefire groups; forced labour as messengers and porters for the military; forced labour on bridge construction and repair; the provision of information on individuals, households and non-state armed groups; and the imposition of movement restrictions. In almost all cases, demands were uncompensated and backed by implicit or explicit threats of violence or other punishments for non-compliance. Almost all demands articulated in the orders presented in this report involved some element of forced labour in their implementation."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2011-10-05
Date of entry/update:
2012-01-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Burma and the region, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This report presents primary evidence of attacks on education and health in eastern Burma collected by KHRG during the period February 2010 to May 2011. Section I of this report details KHRG research methodology; Section II analyses general trends in armed conflict and details a loose typology of attacks identified during the reporting period. Section III applies this typology to 16 particularly illustrative incidents, and analyses them in light of relevant international humanitarian law and UN Security Council resolutions 1612, 1882 and 1998. These incidents were selected from a database detailing 59 attacks on civilians documented by KHRG between February 2010 and May 2011."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2011-12-06
Date of entry/update:
2012-01-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma), Conflict and health, including violations of humanitarian and human rights standards as threats to health, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Education in Karen (Kayin) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
CONTENTS:
OVERVIEW;
DISPLACEMENT CONTINUES IN CONTEXT OF ARMED CONFLICTS;
CAUSES, BACKGROUND AND PATTERNS OF MOVEMENT;
OVERVIEW OF THE CAUSES OF DISPLACEMENT IN MYANMAR;
BACKGROUND TO CONFLICT AND INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT IN MYANMAR;
CURRENT SITUATION OF CEASEFIRES AND BORDER GUARD FORCE ISSUE;
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS;
RECENT FIGHTING;
IDP POPULATION FIGURES;
NUMBERS OF IDPS;
PHYSICAL SECURITY AND INTEGRITY;
LANDMINES;
BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE;
FOOD AND WATER;
HEALTH, NUTRITION AND SANITATION;
PROPERTY, LIVELIHOODS, EDUCATION AND OTHER ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS;
LIVELIHOODS;
EDUCATION;
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE;
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE AND HUMANITARIAN ACCESS ;
LIST OF SOURCES USED
Source/publisher:
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
Date of publication:
2011-07-19
Date of entry/update:
2011-09-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
119.72 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"In November 2010 the first national elections since 1990 were held in Myanmar. While
the party set up by the previous government and the armed forces retain most legislative
and executive power, the elections may nevertheless have opened up a window of
opportunity for greater civilian governance and power-sharing. At the same time, recent
fighting between opposition non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and government forces in
Kayin/Karen, Kachin, and Shan States, which displaced many within eastern Myanmar and
into Thailand and China, is a sign that ethnic tensions remain serious and peace elusive.
Since April 2009, armed conflict between the armed forces and NSAGs has intensified, as
several NSAGs that had concluded a ceasefire with the government in the 1990s refused
to obey government orders to transform into army-led border guard forces.
Displacement in the context of armed conflict is not systematically monitored by any
independent organisation inside the country. Most available information on displacement
comes from organisations based on the Thai side of the Thailand-Myanmar border.
Limited access to affected areas and lack of independent monitoring make it virtually
impossible to verify their reports of the numbers and situations of internally displaced
people (IDPs). Although the conflicts in other areas of Myanmar have probably also led
to displacement, the only region for which estimates have been available was the southeast,
where more than 400,000 people were believed to be living in internal displacement
in 2010. More than 70,000 among them were estimated to be newly displaced.
People displaced due to conflict in Myanmar lack access to food, clean water, health care,
education and livelihoods. Their security is threatened by ongoing fighting, including
where conflict parties reportedly target civilians directly. Although the limited access of
humanitarians to most conflict-affected areas has hampered the provision of assistance
and protection, the Government of Myanmar took a positive step in 2010 by concluding
an agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the
provision of assistance to conflict-affected communities."
Source/publisher:
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
Date of publication:
2011-07-19
Date of entry/update:
2011-09-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups.
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
244 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
Executive Summary: "This report reveals that the health of populations in conflict-affected areas of eastern Burma, particularly women and children, is amongst the worst in the world, a result of official disinvestment in health, protracted conflict and the abuse of civilians..."Diagnosis: Critical" demonstrates that a vast area of
eastern Burma remains in a chronic health
emergency, a continuing legacy of longstanding
official disinvestment in health, coupled with
protracted civil war and the abuse of civilians. This
has left ethnic rural populations in the east with
41.2% of children under five acutely malnourished.
60.0% of deaths in children under the age of 5 are
from preventable and treatable diseases, including
acute respiratory infection, malaria, and diarrhea.
These losses of life would be even greater if it were
not for local community-based health organizations,
which provide the only available preventive and
curative care in these conflict-affected areas.
The report summarizes the results of a large scale
population-based health and human rights survey
which covered 21 townships and 5,754 households
in conflict-affected zones of eastern Burma. The
survey was jointly conducted by the Burma Medical
Association, National Health and Education
Committee, Back Pack Health Worker Team and
ethnic health organizations serving the Karen,
Karenni, Mon, Shan, and Palaung communities.
These areas have been burdened by decades of civil
conflict and attendant human rights abuses against
the indigenous populations.
Eastern Burma demographics are characterized by
high birth rates, high death rates and the significant
absence of men under the age of 45, patterns more
comparable to recent war zones such as Sierra
Leone than to Burma?s national demographics.
Health indicators for these communities, particularly
for women and children, are worse than Burma?s
official national figures, which are already amongst
the worst in the world. Child mortality rates are
nearly twice as high in eastern Burma and the
maternal mortality ratio is triple the official national
figure.
While violence is endemic in these conflict zones,
direct losses of life from violence account for only
2.3% of deaths. The indirect health impacts of the
conflict are much graver, with preventable losses
of life accounting for 59.1% of all deaths and malaria
alone accounting for 24.7%. At the time of the
survey, one in 14 women was infected with Pf
malaria, amongst the highest rates of infection in
the world. This reality casts serious doubts over
official claims of progress towards reaching the
country?s Millennium Development Goals related to the health of women, children, and infectious
diseases, particularly malaria.
The survey findings also reveal widespread human
rights abuses against ethnic civilians. Among
surveyed households, 30.6% had experienced
human rights violations in the prior year, including
forced labor, forced displacement, and the
destruction and seizure of food. The frequency and
pattern with which these abuses occur against
indigenous peoples provide further evidence of the
need for a Commission of Inquiry into Crimes
against Humanity. The upcoming election will do
little to alleviate the situation, as the military forces
responsible for these abuses will continue to
operate outside civilian control according to the
new constitution.
The findings also indicate that these abuses are
linked to adverse population-level health outcomes,
particularly for the most vulnerable members of
the community—mothers and children. Survey
results reveal that members of households who
suffer from human rights violations have worse
health outcomes, as summarized in the table above.
Children in households that were internally
displaced in the prior year were 3.3 times more
likely to suffer from moderate or severe acute
malnutrition. The odds of dying before age one was
increased 2.5 times among infants from households
in which at least one person was forced to provide
labor.
The ongoing widespread human rights abuses
committed against ethnic civilians and the blockade
of international humanitarian access to rural
conflict-affected areas of eastern Burma by the
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC),
mean that premature death and disability,
particularly as a result of treatable and preventable
diseases like malaria, diarrhea, and respiratory
infections, will continue.
This will not only further devastate the health of
communities of eastern Burma but also poses a
direct health security threat to Burma?s neighbors,
especially Thailand, where the highest rates of
malaria occur on the Burma border. Multi-drug
resistant malaria, extensively drug-resistant
tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are
growing concerns. The spread of malaria resistant
to artemisinin, the most important anti-malarial
drug, would be a regional and global disaster.
In the absence of state-supported health
infrastructure, local community-based organizations
are working to improve access to health services in
their own communities. These programs currently
have a target population of over 376,000 people in
eastern Burma and in 2009 treated nearly 40,000
cases of malaria and have vastly increased access
to key maternal and child health interventions.
However, they continue to be constrained by a lack
of resources and ongoing human rights abuses by
the Burmese military regime against civilians. In
order to fully address the urgent health needs of
eastern Burma, the underlying abuses fueling the
health crisis need to end."
Source/publisher:
The Burma Medical Association, National Health and Education Committee, Back Pack Health Worker Team
Date of publication:
2010-10-19
Date of entry/update:
2011-09-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Conflict and health, including violations of humanitarian and human rights standards as threats to health, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics, Food Security and human rights in Burma, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, Health and internal displacement/forced migration, Backpack medics and other health projects in Eastern Burma
Language:
Burmese, English, Thai
Format :
pdf
Size:
5.32 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
Abstract: "While international humanitarian access in Burma has opened up
over the past decade and a half, the ongoing debate regarding the appropriate
relationship between politics and humanitarian assistance remains unresolved.
This debate has become especially limiting in regards to protection
measures for internally displaced persons (IDPs) which are increasingly seen
to fall within the mandate of humanitarian agencies. Conventional IDP
protection frameworks are biased towards a top-down model of politicallyaverse
intervention which marginalises local initiatives to resist abuse and
hinders local control over protection efforts. Yet such local resistance strategies
remain the most effective IDP protection measures currently employed
in Karen State and other parts of rural Burma. Addressing the protection
needs and underlying humanitarian concerns of displaced and potentially
displaced people is thus inseparable from engagement with the ?everyday
politics? of rural villagers. This article seeks to challenge conventional notions
of IDP protection that prioritise a form of state-centric ?neutrality?
and marginalise the ?everyday politics? through which local villagers continue
to resist abuse and claim their rights...".....
ISSN: 1868-4882 (online), ISSN: 1868-1034 (print)
Stephen Hull
Source/publisher:
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 28, 2, 7-21.
Date of publication:
2009-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2011-08-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Refugees from Burma: general reports, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Civilians in Dooplaya District continue to be impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed Karen groups, who have increased fighting in the area since November 7th
2010. Villagers in the Palu area have left on multiple occasions in the last six days, and continue to report that they are struggling to complete harvests and protect homes from looting while also fearing conflict and conflict related abuses. KHRG continues to document movement restrictions and arbitrary arrests, including the arrest and detention of six more villagers over the last three days."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B15)
Date of publication:
2010-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Refoulement, push-backs and rejection at borders
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
23.15 KB
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Description:
Villagers in eastern Dooplaya District continue to fear for their safety amid ongoing conflict between
Tatmadaw and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) forces in and around their villages. Temporary
displacement remains a preferred strategy for many civilians seeking protection from conflict and
instability. The ability of villagers to access protection in Thailand, however, has been inconsistent,
limiting the options available to civilians who feel that they cannot safely remain in their villages. Incidents
reported by residents of Tatmadaw-controlled Waw Lay village, meanwhile, indicate that villagers and
Tatmadaw forces continue to distrust each other, and that this mutual suspicion, and abuses that result
from it, is a major protection concern for civilians in Waw Lay.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B13)
Date of publication:
2010-11-25
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
227.54 KB
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Description:
In February 1999 Amnesty International delegates interviewed dozens of Karen refugees in Thailand who had fled mostly from Papun, Hpa?an, and Nyaunglebin Districts in the Kayin State in late 1998 and early 1999. They cited several reasons for leaving their homes. Some had previously been forced out of their villages by the tatmadaw, or Myanmar army, and had been hiding in the forest. Conditions there were poor, as it was almost impossible for them to farm. They also feared being shot on sight by the military because they occupied "black areas", where the insurgents were allegedly active. Many others fled directly from their home villages in the face of village burnings, constant demands for forced labour, looting of food and supplies, and extrajudicial killings at the hands of the military. All of these people were farmers who typically grew small plots of rice on a semi-subsistence level.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/12/99)
Date of publication:
1999-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen
Language:
English
more
Description:
This report focuses . . . human rights violations against members of ethnic minority groups. These abuses, including extrajudicial executions; ill-treatment in the context of forced portering and labour; and intimidation during forcible relocations occur both in the context of counter-insurgency operations, and in areas where cease-fires hold. The State Law and Order Restoration Council SLORC, Myanmar?s military government) continues to commit human rights violations in ethnic minority areas with complete impunity. This high level of human rights violations and the attendant political instability in Myanmar pose a major regional security issue for the country?s new ASEAN partners. One dimension of this is the unprecedented numbers of refugees from Myanmar now in Thailand: a conservative estimate of some 200,000 refugees live in Thai cities and in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. All of the refugees whom Amnesty International recently interviewed, and whose testimonies form the basis of this report, said that they had fled because they could no longer survive under the harsh forced labour and relocation practices of the SLORC. ... ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/20/97)
Date of publication:
1997-07-22
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Forced relocation of Karen, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers
Language:
English and French
more
Description:
This field report documents recent human rights abuses committed by SPDC soldiers against Karen villagers in Toungoo District. Villagers in SPDC-controlled areas continue to face heavy forced labour demands that severely constrain their livelihoods; some have had their livelihoods directly targeted in the form of attacks on their cardamom fields. In certain cases individuals have also been subjected to arbitrary detention and physical abuse by SPDC soldiers, typically on suspicion of having had contact with the KNU/KNLA after being caught in violation of stringent movement restrictions. Villagers living in or travelling to areas beyond SPDC control, meanwhile, continue to have their physical security threatened by SPDC patrols that practice a shoot-on-sight policy in such areas. This report covers incidents between January and April 2010.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-F4)
Date of publication:
2010-05-13
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Discrimination against the Karen, Food Security and human rights in Burma
Language:
English, Karen
Format :
pdf
Size:
493.43 KB
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Description:
"On April 21st 2010 DKBA soldiers from Battalion #7 of Brigade #999 crossed into Thailand and burned three huts in the Thai village of Hsoe Hta in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province. The raid was ordered by Batallion #7 Column Commander Bpweh Kih, who believed that the villagers had been in contact with the KNLA and were withholding information about four DKBA soldiers who had recently deserted from a DKBA camp at Bpaw Bpah Hta, Pa?an District. The incident falls into a broader recent pattern of cross-border violence and killings by the DKBA, often against suspected KNLA supporters; it also gives substance to statements made by deserters during interviews with KHRG that indicate they would be summarily executed if recaptured by the DKBA..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B7)
Date of publication:
2010-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Thailand-Burma relations, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English, Karen
Format :
pdf
Size:
342.77 KB
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Description:
DKBA soldiers in Dta Greh Township, Pa?an District, have burnt the small village of Gk?Law Lu and forced its residents to relocate. This incident is the second time Gk?Law Lu has been burnt and relocated by DKBA soldiers: the village was first burnt and residents forcibly relocated in October 2008. Relocated families, meanwhile, may face serious threats to their livelihoods if potential DKBA travel restrictions and risks from landmines limit access to farm fields in their home village.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B9)
Date of publication:
2010-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Forced relocation of Karen, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English, Karen
Format :
pdf
Size:
302.09 KB
more
Description:
"This report documents the human rights situation in communities along the Bilin to Papun Road and along the Bilin River in western Dweh Loh Township, Papun District. SPDC forces remain active in these areas, but DKBA soldiers from Battalions #333 and #999 have increased their presence; local villagers have reported that they continue to face abuses by both actors, but KHRG has received a greater number of reports of DKBA abuses, especially regarding exploitative demands, movement restrictions and the use of landmines in civilian areas. This report is the first of four reports detailing the situation in southern Papun that will be released in August 2010. Incidents documented in this report occurred between November 2009 and March 2010...Since late 2009, the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (DKBA) has strengthened
its presence in southwestern Dweh Loh
Township, Papun District, increasing
troop levels and camps, commencing
gold mining operations on the Bilin River,
and enforcing movement restrictions on
the civilian population. Residents of the
village tracts near the Bilin River and
along the Bilin to Papun road, which
follows the eastern bank of the Bilin River
north through the centre of Dweh Loh
Township (see map), have told KHRG
field researchers that they have faced
heavy demands for forced labour to
support the increased DKBA presence,
detracting from the time they can spend
on livelihoods activities. Communities
with a DKBA camp nearby have had
livelihoods further curtailed, as DKBA soldiers have enforced strict curfews and other movement
restrictions that have prevented villagers from spending sufficient time in their fields.
Units from the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Army, meanwhile, remain
deployed in southwestern Papun, and villagers living near active SPDC Army camps report that
they continue to face exploitative demands and irregular violent abuses from SPDC troops.
According to KHRG?s most recent information, as of March 2010 DKBA soldiers from Battalions
#333 and #999 were occupying more than 28 camps in Wa Muh, Meh Choh, Ma Lay Ler, and
Meh Way village tracts in western Dweh Loh Township; SPDC soldiers from Infantry Battalion
(IB) #96 and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #704, under Military Operations Command (MOC) #4
Tactical Operations Command (TOC) #1,1 were also active in the same area. While there does
not appear to have been a formal transfer of authority from SPDC to DKBA Battalions in these
areas, reports from local villagers suggest that they now face greater exploitative demands and
human rights threats from increased DKBA military control in southwestern Papun District.
Troops from Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) 5th Brigade are also active in southwestern
Papun, chiefly placing landmines and making sporadic ?guerrilla? style attacks on the SPDC and
DKBA.2
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-F5)
Date of publication:
2010-08-18
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Atrocity demining, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
This report presents information on the human rights situation in village tracts in central Papun District located near the northern section of the Ka Ma Maung to Papun Road, south of Papun Town in Bu Tho Township. Communities must confront regular threats to their livelihoods and physical security stemming from the strong SPDC and DKBA presence in, and control of the area, as these military units support themselves by extracting significant material and labour resources from the local civilian population. Villagers have reported movement restrictions and various exploitative abuses, including arbitrary taxation, forced portering, forced labour fabricating and delivering materials to military units, forced mine clearance and forced recruitment for military service. Some communities have also reported threats or acts of violent abuse, typically in the context of enforcing forced labour orders or where villagers have been accused of contacting or assisting KNLA forces operating in the area. This is the second of four reports detailing the situation in Papun District?s southern townships that will be released in August 2010. Incidents documented in this report occurred between April 2009 and February 2010.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-C1)
Date of publication:
2010-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen, Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Village and urban resistance
Language:
English
more
Description:
This report details a sequence of events in one village in central Papun District in late 2009. The report illustrates how the community responded to exploitative and violent human rights abuses by SPDC Army units deployed near its village in order to avoid or reduce the harmful impact on livelihoods and physical security. It also provides a detailed example of the way local responses are often developed and employed cooperatively, thus affording protection to entire communities. This report draws extensively on interviews with residents of Pi--- village, Dweh Loh Township, who described their experiences to KHRG field researchers, supplemented by illustrations based on these accounts by a Karen artist. This is the third of four field reports documenting the situation in Papun District?s southern townships that will be released in August 2010. The incidents and responses documented below occurred in November 2009.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-F7)
Date of publication:
2010-08-27
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Village and urban resistance, Discrimination against the Karen, Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The SPDC Army continues to attack civilians and civilian livelihoods nearly two years after the end of the 2005-2008 SPDC Offensive in northern Karen State. In response, civilians have developed and employed various self-protection strategies that have enabled tens of thousands of villagers to survive with dignity and remain close to their homes despite the humanitarian consequences of SPDC Army practices. These protection strategies, however, have become strained, even insufficient, as humanitarian conditions worsen under sustained pressure from the SPDC Army, prompting some individual villagers and entire communities to re-assess local priorities and concerns, and respond with alternative strategies - including uses of weapons or landmines. While this complicates discussions of legal and humanitarian protections for at-risk civilians, uses of weapons by civilians occur amidst increasing constraints on alternative self-protection measures. External actors wishing to promote human rights in conflict areas of eastern Burma should therefore seek a detailed understanding of local priorities and dynamics of abuse, and use this understanding to inform activities that broaden civilians? range of feasible options for self-protection, including beyond uses of arms..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-04)
Date of publication:
2010-08-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Village and urban resistance, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.21 MB
more
Description:
This report presents information on the human rights situation in village tracts along the southern end of the Ka Ma Maung to Papun road in southern Dweh Loh and Bu Tho townships. SPDC and DKBA units maintain control over strategic points in lowland areas of this part of southern Papun, including relocation sites and vehicle roads, and support their presence by levying a range of exploitative demands on the local civilian population. SPDC and DKBA forces also continue to conduct offensive military operations in upland areas of southern Papun; for villagers living beyond permanent military control, these activities entail exploitative abuses, movement restrictions and, in some cases, violence including military attacks. Communities in both lowland and upland areas employ a variety of strategies to protect themselves and their livelihoods from SPDC and DKBA abuses and the effects of abuse. Strategies documented in this report include negotiation; paying fines in lieu of compliance with demands; discreet semi- or false compliance, or overt non-compliance or refusal to meet demands; strategic displacement to areas beyond consolidated SPDC or DKBA control; and actively monitoring local security conditions to inform decisions about further self-protection responses. This is the last of four reports detailing the situation in Papun District?s southern townships that have been released in August 2010. Incidents described below occurred between September 2009 and April 2010.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-F8)
Date of publication:
2010-08-30
Date of entry/update:
2010-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Village and urban resistance, Discrimination against the Karen, Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Eighteen years of KHRG field research indicates that regular extractive abuses by the SPDC Army and
NSAGs threaten local livelihoods and are a fundamental human rights concern for villagers throughout
eastern Burma. These abuses appear to be the product of the established SPDC Army and NSAG
practice of supporting military units via extraction of significant material and labour resources from the
local civilian population, enforced by implicit or explicit threats of violence. These findings were recently
affirmed by ND-Burma, which last week released a report documenting the prevalence and impact of
arbitrary taxation for communities across Burma. This commentary is designed to support ND-Burma?s
report, by offering additional recommendations based upon evidence that civilians have developed and
employed a range of strategies for protecting themselves from extractive abuse or its consequences.
These responses vary between contexts, and have been formulated based on first-hand awareness of
the local dynamics of abuse and potential space for safe response. Seeking to understand, and then
support, these local protection efforts should be the starting point for any external actors interested in
improving human rights conditions in eastern Burma in both the short and long term."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-C1)
Date of publication:
2010-09-06
Date of entry/update:
2010-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Economic oppression, Extortion, Robbery, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
The last two years have seen a profound deterioration in the human rights situation throughout the central Shan State in Myanmar. Hundreds of Shan civilians caught in the midst of counter-insurgency activities have been killed or tortured by the Burmese army. These abuses, occurring in a country which is closed to independent monitors, are largely unknown to the outside world. Denial of access for human rights monitors and journalists means that the full scale of the tragedy can not be accurately calculated. Therefore the information presented below represents only a part of the story.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/05/98)
Date of publication:
1998-04-15
Date of entry/update:
2010-07-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Shan, Forced relocation of Palaung, Shan and Wa, Internal displacement/forced migration of Shan. Palaung and Wa villagers
Language:
English
more
Description:
Myanmar?s ethnic minorities, comprising one third of the population, continue to suffer disproportionately from a wide variety of human rights violations compared to the majority Burman people. This is particularly true of minorities living in areas where ethnically-based armed opposition groups are fighting against the tatmadaw, or Myanmar army. These groups live primarily in the Tanintharyi Division and in the Shan, Mon, Kayah and Kayin States in the east of the country. The army maintains an increasingly large presence in these areas, particularly in the so-called "black" or "grey" zones where armed opposition groups are active. As troops move through the countryside they pass through farming villages searching for insurgents and seeking intelligence about their movements from the farmers. While on patrol troops steal villagers? livestock, rice, money, and personal possessions, seize them for forced labour duty, and sometimes torture or even kill them for imputed links with the armed opposition.These human rights violations have been occurring for decades, and in spite of some recent positive developments in Myanmar, continue to be perpetrated by the tatmadaw." KEYWORDS: ETHNIC GROUPS / DISPLACED PEOPLE / ARMED CONFLICT / EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION / FORCED LABOUR / TORTURE/ILL-TREATMENT / HARASSMENT / FARMERS / RACIAL DISCRIMINATION / REFUGEES / NON-GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES / MILITARY
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2001-06-13
Date of entry/update:
2010-07-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...The technical mine information below was obtained from KNLA sources and was current as of early 1994, though it is apparently still current. The notes regarding effect on civilians are mainly from KHRG observations. Abbreviations: SLORC = State Law & Order Restoration Council, the junta ruling Burma; KNLA = Karen National Liberation Army, the Karen resistance force; DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, a Karen faction allied with SLORC..."
"...The most common landmine used is the American M-76, of which the Burmese now manufacture their own copies. Almost all of these found used to be American-made, but now more are the Burmese copies. They are the "classic" landmine design, made of heavy-duty metal, cylindrical, about 2" diameter and 4-5" high, with a screw-in top the diameter of a pencil which extends a couple of inches above the body of the mine - this screw-in top is surmounted by a plunger the size of a pencil eraser which is what sets off the mine. The safety pin goes through the plunger, and can be used to rig a tripwire. However, most common use is to bury the mine with only the plunger above ground, generally hidden by leaf litter. The body of the mine is Army green, stencilled with yellow lettering: for example "LTM-76 A.P. MINE / DI-LOT 48/84" (copied off a recovered SLORC mine). "A.P." means Anti-Personnel. This mine is designed to kill or maim people. The person who steps on it is almost certainly killed, and anyone in a 5-metre radius is wounded..."
These informal notes were prepared in response for specific requests for information on landmine use. They are not intended to present a complete picture of landmine use.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles & Papers)
Date of publication:
1996-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Land rights, Village and urban resistance, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"While attention has been focused on the SPDC?s violent attacks against villages in northern Karen State, the regime has been implementing a much more systematic campaign of repression in southern Karen State. The SPDC militarily occupied this region nine years ago, and has since been creating its model of society ? through extending roads and military control to every corner of the region, establishing and training local controlling authorities, forcing villagers to join SPDC organisations, forced registration of all people and resources, forced double-cropping and other agricultural programmes without the required support, movement restrictions and crippling taxation on trade and mobility, and land reallocation to those complicit with the regime. All of these are part of the process of setting up local control mechanisms to implement the SPDC?s hierarchical vision of society, in which the main purpose of the civilian population is to serve the military and support those in power. In return, local people get nothing except additional work, and violent punishment including torture and killings whenever they are perceived to be uncooperative or disrespectful. Little or nothing is provided for their education or health, while their crops and possessions are systematically looted to keep them poor. Drawing on the SPDC?s own order documents and over a hundred interviews with villagers in the region, this report finds that people in Dooplaya feel worse off than ever before, and that their suffering is not caused by conflict or lack of foreign aid, but by SPDC repression..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2006-04)
Date of publication:
2006-09-07
Date of entry/update:
2006-10-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...SPDC troops in northern Papun district continue to escalate their attacks, shooting villagers, burning villages and destroying ricefields. Undefended villages in far northern Papun district are now being shelled with powerful 120mm mortars. Three battalions from Toungoo district have rounded up hundreds of villagers as porters and are detaining their families in schools in case they?re needed; this column is now heading south with its porters, apparently intending to trap displaced villagers in a pincer between themselves and the troops coming north from Papun district. A similar trapping movement is being performed along the Bilin river, as 8 battalions come from two directions to wipe out every village in their path. Up to 4,000 villagers in Papun district?s far north have been displaced in the past week, and 1,500 to 2,000 more along the Bilin River..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2006-B7)
Date of publication:
2006-06-07
Date of entry/update:
2006-06-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
" This report examines the situation faced by Karen villagers in Thaton District (known as Doo Tha Htoo in Karen). The district lies in what is officially the northern part of Mon State and also encompasses part of Karen State to the west of the Salween River . Successive Burmese regimes have had strong control over the parts of the district to the west of the Rangoon-Martaban road for many years. They were also able to gain ?defacto? control over the eastern part of the district following the fall of the former Karen National Union (KNU) stronghold at Manerplaw in 1995. The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) is also strong in the district, particularly in the eastern stretches of Pa?an township. Although diminished in recent years, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, is still quite active in the district. The villagers in the district have had to contend with all three of these armed groups. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and DKBA demand forced labour, taxes, and extortion money from the villagers while also severely restricting their movements. While the demands for some forms of forced labour such as portering have declined over the past few years, the villagers continue to be regularly called upon by both the SPDC and the DKBA to expand the ever-increasing network of roads throughout the district, as well to fulfil the frequent orders to supply staggering quantities of building materials. A number of new SPDC and DKBA controlled commercial ventures have also appeared in the district in recent years, to which the villagers are also forced to ?contribute? their labour. In 2000, the SPDC confiscated 5,000 acres of land for use as an immense sugarcane plantation, while more recently in late 2004, the SPDC again confiscated another 5,000 acres of the villagers? farmland, all of which is to become a huge rubber plantation, co-owed and operated by Rangoon-based company Max Myanmar. In addition, the villagers are punished for any perceived support for the KNLA or KNU. All such systems of control greatly impoverish the villagers, to the extent that now many of them struggle just to survive.
Most villagers have few options but to try to live as best they can. SPDC control of the district is too tight for the villagers to live in hiding in the forest and Thailand is too far for most villagers to flee to. The villagers are forced to answer the demands of the SPDC and DKBA, of which there are many, while trying to avoid punishment for any supposed support of the resistance. They have to balance this with trying to find enough time to work in their fields and find enough food to feed their families.
This report provides a detailed analysis of the human rights situation in Thaton District from 2000 to the present. It is based on 216 interviews conducted by KHRG researchers with people in SPDC-controlled villages, in hill villages, in hiding in the forest and with those who have fled to Thailand to become refugees. These interviews are supplemented by SPDC and DKBA order documents selected from the hundreds we have obtained from the area, along with field reports, maps, and photographs taken by KHRG field researchers. All of the interviews were conducted between November 1999 and November 2004. A number of field reports dated up until June 2005 have also been included.
The report begins with an Introduction and Executive Summary. The detailed analysis that follows has been broken down into ten main sections. The villagers tell most of the story in the main sections through direct quotes taken from recorded interviews. The full text of the interviews and the field reports upon which this report is based are available from KHRG upon approved request."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2006-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2006-01-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Discrimination against the Karen, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Between October 2004 and January 2005 SPDC troops launched forays into the hills of Nyaunglebin District in an attempt to flush villagers down into the plains and a life under SPDC control. Viciously timed to coincide with the rice harvest, the campaign focused on burning crops and landmining the fields to starve out the villagers. Most people fled into the forest, where they now face food shortages and uncertainty about this year?s planting and the security of their villages. Meanwhile in the plains, the SPDC is using people in relocation sites and villages they control as forced labour to strengthen the network of roads and Army camps - the main tools of military control over the civilian population - while Army officers plunder people?s belongings for personal gain. In both hills and plains, increased militarisation is bringing on food shortages and poverty..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2005-F4)
Date of publication:
2005-05-04
Date of entry/update:
2005-05-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Forced relocation of Karen, Discrimination against the Karen, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers
Language:
English
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Description:
"Fifty-five years of civil war have decimated Burma?s Karen State, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Most would like to return—by their own will when the fighting stops.
By Emma Larkin/Mae Sot, Thailand
When Eh Mo Thaw was 16 years old, a Burmese battalion marched into his village in Karen State and burned down all the houses. Eh Mo Thaw and his family were herded into a relocation camp where they had to work for the Burma Army, digging ponds and growing rice to feed the Burmese troops. They had no time to grow food for themselves and many were not able to survive. Villagers caught foraging for vegetables outside the camp perimeter were shot on sight. "Many people died," says Eh Mo Thaw. "I also thought I would die."
Eh Mo Thaw managed to escape from the camp with his family. For 20 years, he hid in the jungle, moving from place to place whenever Burmese troops drew near. Eventually he found himself on the Thai border and, when Burmese forces stormed the area, he had no choice but to cross the border into Thailand and enter a refugee camp..."
Emma Larkin
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol 12, No. 2
Date of publication:
2004-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2004-06-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"... villagers are being denied the very basic right to an adequate means of survival. This change in direction shows the Burmese military are now being somewhat savvy about how they deny people this right. Human rights abuses can give very real, very immediate and very factual evidence of the abuse through documentation. The impact of economic extortion on the other hand may not be fully realized until well into the future. But what an impact it will have. The employment of this type of tactic has the potential to cause permanent and long-lasting damage to the future of health, education, economic prosperity, social and civil structures and political stability. It will erode the already basic infrastructure and threaten internal security. These are things that will be more difficult to measure, both in its? impact and its retribution of the perpetrator..."
R Sharples
Source/publisher:
"Burma Issues"
Date of publication:
2003-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-12-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"This report presents the direct translations of 783 order documents and letters, selected from a total of 1,007 such documents. The orders dictate demands for forced labour, money, food and materials, place restrictions on movements and activities of villagers, and make threats to arrest village elders or destroy villages of those who fail to obey. Over 650 of those selected were sent by military units and local authorities of Burma?s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) junta to village elders in Toungoo, Papun, Nyaunglebin, Thaton, Pa?an and Dooplaya Districts, which together cover most of Karen State and part of eastern Pegu Division and Mon State (see Map 1 showing Burma or Map 2 showing Karen State). The remainder were sent by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) or the Karen Peace Army (KPA), groups allied with the SPDC. All but a few of the orders were issued between January 2002 and February 2003..."
Papun, Pa?an, Thaton, Nyaunglebin, Toungoo, & Dooplaya Districts
General Forced Labour (Orders #1-150);
Forced Labour Supplying Materials (#150-191);
Set to a Village I: Village A, Papun District (#192-200);
Set to a Village II: Village B, Papun District (#201-226);
Set to a Village III: Village C, Thaton District (#227-241);
Set to a Village IV: Village D, Dooplaya District (#242-251);
Extortion of Money, Food, and Materials (#252-335);
Crop Quotas (#336-346);
Restrictions on Movement and Activity (#347-354);
Demands for Intelligence (#355-426);
Education, Health (#427-442);
Education (#427-439);
Health (#440-442);
Summons to Meetings? (#443-652);
DKBA & KPA Letters (#653-783);
DKBA Recruitment (#653);
DKBA General Forced Labour (#654-685);
DKBA Demands for Materials and Money (#686-719);
DKBA Restrictions (#720-727);
DKBA Meetings (#728-771);
KPA Letters (#772-783);
Appendix A: The Village Act and the Towns Act;
Appendix B: SPDC Orders Banning? Forced Labour.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group ( KHRG #2003-01)
Date of publication:
2003-08-22
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Burma and the region
Language:
English
more
Description:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:-
1. Food Security from a Rights-based Perspective;
2. Local Observations from the States and Divisions
of Eastern Burma:-
2.1 Tenasserim Division
(Committee for Internally Displaced Karen Persons);
2.2 Mon State (Mon Relief and Development Committee);
2.3 Karen State (Karen Human Rights Group)
2.4 Eastern Pegu Division (Karen Office of Relief and Development);
2.5 Karenni State (Karenni Social Welfare Committee);
2.6 Shan State (Shan Human Rights Foundation)...
3. Local Observations of Issues Related to Food Security:-
3.1 Crop Destruction as a Weapon of War (Committee for Internally Displaced Karen Persons);
3.2 Border Areas Development (Karen Environmental & Social Action Network);
3.3 Agricultural Management(Burma Issues);
3.4 Land Management (Independent Mon News Agency)
3.5 Nutritional Impact of Internal Displacement (Backpack Health Workers Team);
3.6 Gender-based Perspectives (Karen Women?s Organisation)...
4. Field Surveys on Internal Displacement and Food Security...
Appendix 1 : Burma?s International Obligations
and Commitments...
Appendix 2 : Burma?s National Legal Framework...
Appendix 3 : Acronyms, Measurements and Currencies....
"...Linkages between militarisation and food scarcity in Burma were
established by civilian testimonies from ten out of the fourteen states and
divisions to a People?s Tribunal in the late 1990s. Since then the scale of
internal displacement has dramatically increased, with the population in
eastern Burma during 2002 having been estimated at 633,000 people, of
whom approximately 268,000 were in hiding and the rest were interned
in relocation sites. This report attempts to complement these earlier
assessments by appraising the current relationship between food security
and internal displacement in eastern Burma. It is hoped that these
contributions will, amongst other impacts, assist the Asian Human Rights
Commission?s Permanent People?s Tribunal to promote the right to food
and rule of law in Burma...
Personal observations and field surveys by community-based organisations
in eastern Burma suggest that a vicious cycle linking the deprivation of
food security with internal displacement has intensified. Compulsory paddy
procurement, land confiscation, the Border Areas Development program
and spiraling inflation have induced displacement of the rural poor away
from state-controlled areas. In war zones, however, the state continues to
destroy and confiscate food supplies in order to force displaced villagers
back into state-controlled areas. An image emerges of a highly vulnerable
and frequently displaced rural population, who remain extremely resilient
in order to survive based on their local knowledge and social networks.
Findings from the observations and field surveys include the following:..."
Source/publisher:
Burmese Border Consortium
Date of publication:
2003-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Rice, TBC/TBBC documents on internal displacement, Food Security and displacement in Burma
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
821.38 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
KHRG Information Update #2003-U1
June 16, 2003
"The situation faced by the villagers of Toungoo District (see Map 1) is worsening as more and more parts of the District are being brought under the control of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) through the increased militarisation of the region. At any one time there are no fewer than a dozen battalions active in the area. Widespread forced labour and extortion continue unabated as in previous years, with all battalions in the District being party to such practices. The imposition of constant forced labour and the extortion of money and food are among the military?s primary occupations in the area. The strategy of the military is not one of open confrontation with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) ? the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) - but of targeting the civilian population as a means of cutting all lines of support and supply for the resistance movement. There has not been a major offensive in the District since the SPDC launched Operation Aung Tha Pyay in 1995-96; however since that time the Army has been restricting, harassing, and forcibly relocating hill villages to the point where people can no longer live in them. Many of the battalions launch sweeps through the hills in search of villagers hiding there in an effort to drive them out of the hills and into the areas controlled by the SPDC. Fortunately, the areas into which many of them have fled are both rugged and remote, making it difficult for the Army to find them. For those who are discovered, once relocated, they are then exploited as a ready source for portering and other forced labour..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2003-06-16
Date of entry/update:
2003-07-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Discrimination against the Karen, Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This report covers 4 of the main attacks on Karen refugee camps in Thailand which occurred in January 1997: the burning and destruction of Huay Kaloke and Huay Bone refugee camps on the night of 28 January, the armed attack on Beh Klaw refugee camp on the morning of 29 January, and the shelling of Sho Kloh refugee camp on 4 January. These attacks left several people dead and about 10,000 refugees homeless and completely destitute. Even now, Huay Kaloke and Huay Bone remain nothing but open plains of dust and ash under the hot sun. No one feels safe to remain in these places, but the Thai authorities are forcing them to.Huay Bone?s over 3,000 refugees have either fled to Beh Klaw or have been forced to move to Huay Kaloke, and the Thai authorities still have a plan to move Sho Kloh?s over 6,000 refugees to Beh Klaw, which is unsafe and already overcrowded with over 25,000 people. Refugees in other camps are also living in fear; Maw Ker refugee camp 50 km. south of Mae Sot has been constantly threatened with destruction, as has Mae Khong Kha refugee camp much further north in Mae Sariang district. People in these camps often end up spending their nights in the forests or countryside surrounding their camps, not daring to sleep in their homes at night..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #97-05)
Date of publication:
1997-03-18
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles
Language:
English
more
Description:
Mission
Internationale
d?Enquête
Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme...
L?Arakan:
A. Présentation de l?Arakan;
B. Historique de la présence musulmane en Arakan;
C. Organisation administrative, forces répressives et résistance armée. ..
Le retour forcé et la réinstallation des Rohingyas -
hypocrisie et contraintes:
A. Les conditions du retour du Bangadesh après l?exode de 1991-92;
B. Réinstallation et réintégration.
Répression, discrimination et exclusion en Arakan:
A. La spécificité de la répression à l?égard des Rohingyas;
B. Les Arakanais : une exploitation sans issue. ..
Nouvel Exode:
A. Les années 1996 et 1997;
B. L?exode actuel.
Source/publisher:
Federation International des Droits de l'Homme
Date of publication:
2000-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Francais, French
more
Description:
International
Mission
of Inquiry by the
International Federation of Human Rights Leagues.
I. Arakan:
A. Presentation of Arakan - A buffer State;
B. Historical background of the Muslim presence in Arakan;
C. Administration organisation, repressive forces and armed resistance...
II. The forced return and the reinstallation of the Rohingyas:
hypocrisy and constraints:
A. The conditions of return from Bangladesh after the 1991-92 exodus;
B. Resettlement and reintegration. ..
III. Repression, discrimination and exclusion in Arakan:
A. The specificity of the repression against the Rohingyas;
B. The Arakanese: an exploitation with no way out. ..
IV. A new exodus:
A. The years 1996 and 1997;
B. The current exodus.
Source/publisher:
Federation International des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)
Date of publication:
2000-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
Click on the on the html link above to go to a neater, paginated table of contents or on the pdf links below to go straight to the document ....
PDF File 1: Cover and Contents.
PDF File 2: Boundaries; Climate; Physical Features; Population; Ethnic Groups in Karenni; Gender Roles in Karenni; Agriculture, Land Distribution and Patterns of Recourse; Resources; Water; Communication, Trade and Transport Conflict in Karenni; A History of Conflict; The Pre-Colonial Period; The Colonial Period; Independence in Burma and the Outbreak of Civil War in the Karenni States; State and Non-State Actors including Armed Groups and Political Parties; The Role of the Tatmadaw; The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP); The Karenni National People?s Liberation Front (KNPLF); The Shan State Nationalities Liberation Organisation (SSNLO); The Kayan New Land Party (KNLP; The NDF and CPB Alliances and their Impact in Karenni; War in the Villages; The Formation of Splinter Groups in the 1990s; The Economics of War; The Relationship between Financing the War and Exploitation of Natural Resources; The Course of the War; Cease-fires.... PDF file 3: Conflict-Induced Displacements in Karenni -- Defining Population Movements; Conflict Induced Displacement; Displacement in 1996; Displacements by Township; Relocation Policy; Services in Relocation Sites; Smaller Relocation Sites and so-called ?Gathering Villages?; Displacement into Shan State; Displacement as a Passing Phenomenon; Displacement, Resettlement and Transition; Women outside Relocation Sites. Development Induced Displacement -- Displacements in Loikaw City; Confiscation of Land by the Tatmadaw; Displacement as a Result of Resource Scarcity; Food Scarcity; Water Shortages; Voluntary Migrations. Health and education needs and responses: Health Policy; Health Services; Health Status of the Population; Communicable Diseases; Nutrition; Reproductive and Women?s Health; Landmine Casualties; Iodine Deficiency and Goitre; Vitamin A Deficiency; Water and Sanitation; Responses to Health Needs; Education Policy; Educational Services and Coverage; Traditional Attitudes to Education; Educational Services in Karenni; Responses to Educational Needs; Responses from the Thai-Burma border; Responses by International Humanitarian Agencies from Inside Burma. Appendices: A Comparison of Populations in Relocation Sites in Karenni; Refugee Arrivals at the Thai Border; Displacements by Township; Examples of Population Movements.
Vicky Bamforth, Steven Lanjouw, Graham Mortimer
Source/publisher:
Burma Ethnic Research Group (BERG)
Date of publication:
2000-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Karenni (Kayah) - cultural, political, Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Forced relocation of Karenni (Kayah), Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers
Language:
English
Format :
htm pdf pdf pdf
Size:
5.46 KB 472.28 KB 782.74 KB 1.32 MB
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Description:
"This report is a detailed analysis of the current human rights situation in Nyaunglebin District (known in Karen as Kler Lweh Htoo), which straddles the border of northern Karen State and Pegu Division in Burma. Most of the villagers here are Karen, though there are also many Burmans living in the villages near the Sittaung River. Since late 1998 many Karens and Burmans have been fleeing their villages in the area because of human rights abuses by the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) military junta which currently rules Burma, and this flight is still ongoing. Those from the hills which cover most of the District are fleeing because SPDC troops have been systematically destroying their villages, crops and food supplies and shooting villagers on sight, all in an effort to undermine the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) by driving the civilian population out of the region. At the same time, people in the plains near the Sittaung River are fleeing because of the ever-increasing burden of forced labour, cash extortion, and heavy crop quotas which are being levied against them even though their crops have failed for the past two years running. Many are also fleeing a frightening new phenomenon in the District: the Sa Thon Lon Guerrilla Retaliation units, which appeared in September 1998 and since then have been systematically executing everyone suspected of even the remotest contact with the opposition forces, even if that contact occurred years or decades ago. Their methods are brutal, their tactics are designed to induce fear, and they have executed anywhere from 50 to over 100 civilians in the District since September 1998..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports(KHRG #99-04)
Date of publication:
1999-05-24
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen, Forced relocation of Karen, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers
Language:
English
more
Description:
"In early 1997, the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma mounted a major offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU) and succeeded in capturing and occupying most of the remainder of Dooplaya District in central Karen State. Since that time the SLORC has changed its name to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), but its occupation troops have continued to strengthen their control over the rural Karen villagers who live in the region. Almost all of the people in the region are Karen, though there are minorities of ethnic Mon, Thai, and Indian-Muslim people in parts of central and western Dooplaya. This report provides an update on the current situation for villagers in Dooplaya?s farming communities under the SPDC occupation. Some of the main issues covered are general human rights abuses against the villagers, which include arbitrary killings, torture, detention, rape, forced labour, forced relocations, looting and extortion; the special plight of the Dta La Ku, a Karen religious minority who have been targetted for persecution by armies on all sides of the conflict but who are almost completely ignored by the outside world; the effects on villagers of the changing military-political situation in the region, including the activities of the Karen Peace Army (KPA) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), rival armies both allied with the SPDC; and the effects of the ongoing struggle between the SPDC and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), both of which are increasingly using landmines in the area. Differences and similarities are examined between the situation in Dooplaya?s central plain, the mountainous eastern hump? which projects into Thailand, and the district?s far south..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #98-09)
Date of publication:
1998-11-23
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This report describes the current situation for rural Karen villagers in Toungoo District (known in Karen as Taw Oo), which is the northernmost region of Karen State in Burma. The western part of the district forms part of the Sittaung River valley in Pegu (Bago) Division, and this region is strongly controlled by the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) military junta which rules Burma. Further east, the District is made up of steep and forested hills penetrated by only one or two roads and dotted with small Karen villages; in this region the SPDC is struggling to strengthen its control in the face of armed resistance by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). (Click here to see map) In the strongly SPDC-controlled areas, the villagers suffer from constant demands for forced labour and money from all of the SPDC military units based there, and from the constant threat of punishments should their village fail to comply with any order of the military. In the eastern hills, many villages have been forcibly relocated and partly burned as part of the SPDC?s program of attempting to undermine the resistance by attacking the civilian villagers. Here people are suffering all forms of serious human rights abuses committed by SPDC troops, including random killings, burning of homes, the systematic destruction of crops and food supplies, forced labour, looting and extortion..."
Increasing SPDC Military Repression in Toungoo District of Northern Karen State
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #99-02)
Date of publication:
1999-03-25
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen, Destruction/theft of crops and food stores, killing/theft of livestock
Language:
English
Format :
html
Size:
25.55 KB
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Description:
"This report documents in detail the plight of villagers and the internally displaced in these two
northern Karen regions. Since 1997 the SPDC has destroyed or relocated over 200 villages here,
forcing tens of thousands of villagers to flee into hiding in the hills where they are now being
hunted down and shot on sight by close to 50 SPDC Army battalions. The troops are now
systematically destroying crops, food supplies and farmfields to flush the villagers out of the hills,
making the situation increasingly desperate. Meanwhile, those living in the SPDC-controlled villages
and relocation sites are fleeing to the hills to join the displaced because they can no longer bear the
heavy burden of forced labour, extortion, restrictions on their movement and random torture and
executions. KHRG?s most intensive research effort to date, this report draws on over 300
interviews with people in the villages and forests, thousands of photographs and hundreds of
documents assembled by KHRG researchers in the past 2 years." ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2001-03)
Date of publication:
2001-10-22
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Forced relocation of Karen
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Report of the Commission of Inquiry
appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization to examine
the observance by Myanmar of the
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)"...Full Text (about 400 pages)
The central ILO report on forced labour in Burma.
Appendix III contains 246 interviews, largely with people from non-Burman ethnic groups - Chin, Rohingya, Arakanese, Karen, Karenni, Shan, Pa-O, Mon. The interviews cover forced labour, but also many other violations of human rights such as killings (executions), rape, torture, looting, forced relocation (forced displacement) violence against women, violence against children, looting. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS:
forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration,
forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
International Labour Office
Date of publication:
1998-07-02
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, ILO reports on forced labour in Burma, Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma) Report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry, Governing Body of the International Labour Office (English)
Language:
English
Format :
htm doc
Size:
1.78 MB 2.15 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
1. The Karen and Kawthoolei: The Karen; Kawthoolei; The Kawthoolei districts ||
2. Displacement and counter-insurgency in Burma:
Population displacement in Burma;
Protracted ethnic conflict in Burma;
Counter-insurgency: the four-cuts ||
3. The war in Kawthoolei:
Seasonal offensives: the moving front line and refugee flows, 1974-92;
Cease-fires (1992-94) and the renewal of offensives (1995-97) ||
4. Internal displacement in Kawthoolei:
Counter-insurgency and displacement in Kawthoolei;
Displacement in Kawthoolei;
The situation of IDPs in Kawthoolei districts;
Extent of population displacement in Kawthoolei;
Patterns of displacement;
Factors preventing the IDPs returning home;
Factors preventing the IDPs becoming refugees in Thailand;
Vulnerability of IDPs;
Note on forced relocations sites ||
5.Assistance:
International responses to IDPs;
International responses to IDPs in Burma;
Responses inside Burma;
The response from the border area to Karen IDPs ||
6.Protection:
Refugees on the Thai-Burma border: international assistance with limited protection;
The case of the repatriation of the Mon;
The Karen: the problem of security;
Assistance and protection: refugees and IDPs;
The need for leverage;
Transition from armed conflict ||
Appendix III: Interview at Mae La
(This version lacks the maps and tables)
Brother Amoz, Steven Lanjouw, Saw Pay Leek, Dr. Em Marta, Graham Mortimer, Alan Smith, Saw David Taw, Pah Hsaw Thut, Saw Aung Win, Saw Kwe Htoo Win
Source/publisher:
Burma Ethnic Research Group (BERG) and Friedrich Naumann Foundation
Date of publication:
1998-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen, Forced relocation of Karen
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
569.98 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"The following accounts of life in SLORC?s Army were given by four deserters who fled to opposition-held territory or to Thailand, one fleeing in Tenasserim Division of southern Burma around New Year of 1996, the other three fleeing Pa?an District, much further north, in March 1996. As they fled two different battalions in two different areas, their treatment and experiences differ somewhat; however, for the most part their stories are similar and reflect the hardship and brutality of life as a rank and file soldier in the SLORC Army.
In the interviews, the soldiers mention radio broadcasts on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and VOA (Voice of America). These two foreign Burmese-language shortwave services are almost the only source of objective news to people in Burma. Some other abbreviations used: MNLA = Mon National Liberation Army, which made a ceasefire deal with SLORC in June 1995; DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, a Karen faction created in December 1994 which is now allied with SLORC; KNU = Karen National Union, the main Karen opposition organization; IB = (SLORC) Infantry Battalion; LIB = (SLORC) Light Infantry Battalion..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #96-19)
Date of publication:
1996-05-18
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The Karen State of Kawthoolei has been heavily dependent on teak extraction to fund the Karen National
Union struggle against the Burmese military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
Raymond Bryant explores the social and economic structure of Kawthoolei, and the way in which resource
extraction was more than simply a source of revenue � it was also an integral part of the assertion of Karen
sovereignty..."
Raymond Bryant
Source/publisher:
"Watershed" Vol.3 No.1 July - October 1997
Date of publication:
1997-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Community forestry, Karen history, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Deforestation
Language:
English
more
Description:
Amnesty International is concerned that the Burmese army has arbitrarily detained, extrajudicially killed, tortured and ill-treated members of ethnic minorities in the Shan and Mon States and the Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Division in eastern Myanmar. This report is drawn from January and February 1996 interviews with dozens of members of the Shan, Akha, Lahu, Karen, and Mon ethnic minorities in Thailand. Most of these refugees are farmers and villagers who said they had fled from their homes because their lives were made impossible by the security forces.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/38/96)
Date of publication:
1996-08-08
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Shan, HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon
Language:
English and French
more
Description:
"In the last eight years the Burmese army, known as the tatmadaw, has killed unarmed
civilians as part of its counter-insurgency campaigns against the Karen National Union
(KNU) in the Kayin (Karen) State, eastern Myanmar. Karen civilians who were fleeing
from troops as they approached a village have been shot dead in what appears to be a de
facto shoot-to-kill policy of anyone who runs from the tatmadaw. Others have been
reportedly killed because the tatmadaw suspected these individuals of supporting the KNU
in some way. The army has killed still other victims seemingly at random, in an apparent
effort to terrorize villagers into severing their alleged connections with KNU soldiers.
Amnesty International is gravely concerned by these killings; they are part of a long-standing
pattern of extrajudicial executions by the tatmadaw of members of the Karen ethnic
minority..." Keywords: extrajudicial killings, military, non-governmental entities, harassment,
torture, ill-treatment, forced labour, wthnic groups, women, farmers, photographs.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/10/96)
Date of publication:
1996-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen
Language:
English
more
Description:
Information on a new flow of refugees from northeastern Pa?an District into Thailand. The villagers say that they fled their village in mid-January 2001 because SPDC troops are using them as porters, forced labour on an access road, and Army camp labour in order to strengthen the regime?s control over this contested area. Worst of all, the villagers say they are being ordered to clear landmines in front of the SPDC Army?s road-building bulldozer, and to make way for new Army camps.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Information Update #2001-U1)
Date of publication:
2001-02-20
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Burma and the region, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
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Description:
KHRG Information Update
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
1999-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
Roads, Relocations, and the Campaign for Control in Toungoo District. Based on interviews and field reports from KHRG field researchers in this northern Karen district, looks at the phenomenon of ?Peace Villages? under SPDC control and ?Hiding Villages? in the hills; while the ?Hiding Villages? are being systematically destroyed and their villagers hunted and captured, the ?Peace Villages? face so many demands for forced labour and extortion that many ofthem are fleeing to the hills. Looks at forced labour road construction and its relation to increasing SPDC militarisation of the area, and also at the new tourism development project at Than Daung Gyi which involves large-scale land confiscation and forced labour. Keywords: Karen; KNU; KNLA; SPDC deserters; Sa Thon Lon activities; human minesweepers; human shields; reprisals against villagers; abuse of village heads; SPDC army units; military situation; forced relocation; strategic hamletting; relocation sites; internal displacement; IDPs; cross-border assistance; forced labour; torture; killings; extortion, economic oppression; looting; pillaging; burning of villages; destruction of crops and food stocks; forced labour on road projects; road building; restrictions on movment; lack of education and health services; tourism project; confiscation of land and forced labour for tourism project;landmines; malnutrition; starvation; SPDC Orders.
... ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #2000-05)
Date of publication:
2000-10-15
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Forced relocation of Karen, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Burma and the region, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Tourism in Burma - critical, Destruction/theft of crops and food stores, killing/theft of livestock
Language:
English
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Description:
"In the morning the celebration started at 8 a.m., and then at 8:45 a.m. the SLORC attacked. They attacked and destroyed all the things. It was #106 Battalion [LIB], deployed in Hla Mine, and #343 Battalion [LIB], deployed in Ye. They combined together to do this operation, about 240 soldiers altogether. They are under Southeast Command [commanded by Maj. Gen. Ket Sein]. We think they arrived outside the village in the early morning, before dawn. We think they left their battalion camps at night. They split into two groups: one group took their place on the hill beside the village, and one group raided the village. At that time we were in the field [the celebration was held in an open field just outside the village, where the villagers had erected a stage]. They just fired, and attacked the village without seeing any enemy there. And they ransacked every house, and they took everything. At the same time we were all running because we heard the shooting, and then the troops on the hill saw that all the people were jumping up and running away, and they shelled into the field, into the crowd. I think the shells were 60 mm. [small mortar], not as strong as 81 mm., because in my experience I have seen 81 and 120 mm., and they are very explosive, very strong. But these shells were not that strong, the vibrations were not as strong. We couldn?t count how many shells! For about one hour they fired, both with their small weapons and their artillery [mortars]..."
_Attack on civilians, execution, kneecapping, shooting livestock, looting / destruction of property, porters, Ye-Tavoy railway labour, land confiscation / forced labour for military contracts with foreign companies.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #96-04)
Date of publication:
1996-01-12
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen
Language:
English
Format :
html
Size:
29.89 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"This report aims to provide an update on the situation in Tenasserim Division, Burma?s southernmost region. It is based primarily on interviews from Ler Mu Lah township in central Tenasserim Division, but also gives an overview of some background and developments in other parts of the Division. At the end of the report two maps are included: Map 1 showing the entire Division, and Map 2 showing the northern part of Tenasserim Division and the southern part of Karen State?s Dooplaya District. Many of the villages mentioned in the report and the interviews can be found on Map 1, while Map 2 includes some of the sites mentioned in relation to flows of refugees and their forced repatriation..."
An update on the situation in central Tenasserim Division since the Burmese junta?s mass offensive to
capture the area in 1997. Unable to gain complete control of the region because of the rugged
jungle, harassment by resistance forces and the staunch non-cooperation of the villagers, the SPDC
regime has gradually flooded the area with 36 Battalions which have forced many villages into
relocation sites where the villagers are used as forced labour to push more military roads into
remote areas. Thousands continue to hide in the forests despite being hunted and having their
food supplies destroyed by SPDC patrols. They have little choice, though, because if they flee to
the Thai border they encounter the Thai Army 9th Division, which continues to force refugees back
into Burma at gunpoint." Additional keywords: Tanintharyi, Burman, Mon, Karen, Tayoyan, road building, free-fire zones, destruction of villages, resistance groups, extortions, internal displacement, refoulement, forced repatriation, killing, torture, shooting, restrictions on movement, beating to death, shortage of food, 9th Division (Thai Army). ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #2001-04)
Date of publication:
2001-12-21
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karen, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) junta ruling Burma is now using mass forced relocations of entire geographic regions as a major element of military strategy. While this is not new to SLORC tactics, they have seldom or never done it to such an extent or so systematically before. The large-scale relocations began in Papun District of Karen State in December 1995 and January 1996, when up to 100 Karen villages were ordered to move within a week or be shot [see "Forced Relocation in Papun District", KHRG #96-11, 4/3/96]. These were all the villages in the region between Papun and the Salween River, an area about 50-60 km. north-south and 30 km. east-west. Most of them were ordered to move to sites beside military camps at Papun, Kaw Boke, Par Haik and Pa Hee Kyo, where SLORC was gathering people to do forced labour on the Papun-Bilin and Papun-Kyauk Nyat roads. However, the main reasons for the forced relocation were to cut off all possible support for Karen guerrilla columns in the area, most of which has only been SLORC-controlled since mid-1995, and to create a free-fire zone which would also block the flow of refugees from inside Karen State to the Thai border. Recently, though, SLORC troops in the area have limited their movements rather than combing the area, allowing some villagers to trickle back to their villages. This may be partly because of rainy season or because of the current SLORC-Karen National Union ceasefire talks, but it is probably largely because SLORC realised it could not control the result - people were fleeing into hiding in the jungle, some were fleeing to Thailand, but none were heading for the relocation camps..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
1996-07-18
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups
Language:
English
more
Description:
Information from KHRG researchers in Thaton District, which spans the border of northern Mon State and Karen State. SPDC troops already have a relatively strong hold on the area, but they have been intimidating and torturing villagers in an effort to wipe out any remaining support for the Karen resistance, and forcing villagers to join militia-like SPDC paramilitary groups.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Information Update #2001-U2)
Date of publication:
2001-03-20
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Discrimination against the Karen
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...Under military control, rural Burma?s subsistence farming village is losing its viability as the basic unit of society. Internally displaced people are usually thought to have fled military battles in and around their villages, but this paradigm doesn?t apply to Burma. In the thousands of interviews conducted by the Karen Human Rights Group with villagers who have fled their homes, approximately 95 percent say they have not fled military battles, but rather the systematic destruction of their ability to survive, caused by demands and retaliations inflicted on them by the SPDC military. Where there is fighting, it is fluid and sporadic, and most villagers can avoid it by hiding for short periods in the forest. Once the SPDC occupies the area around their village, however, the suffering is inescapable. Villages, rooted to the land, are defenseless and vulnerable, and villages can be burned -- destroying rural life in southeastern Burma. "
Kevin Heppner
Source/publisher:
"Cultural Survival Quarterly" Issue 24.3
Date of publication:
2000-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Forced relocation of several ethnic groups, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Economy of non-Burman groups in several States of Burma
Language:
English
more
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
Date of publication:
1999-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Forced relocation of several ethnic groups, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Food Security and militarisation in Burma, Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics
Language:
English
more
Description:
an edited version of a report by the People?s Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma, which was published by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in October 1999.
People
Source/publisher:
"Burma Debate", Vol. VI, No. 3
Date of publication:
1999-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Forced relocation of several ethnic groups, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics
Language:
English
more
Description:
Burmese version
Source/publisher:
People?s Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma
Date of publication:
1999-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Forced relocation of several ethnic groups, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Food Security in Burma/Myanmar - web searches, specialised groups, reports and statistics
Language:
Burmese
more
Description:
"This report is an abridged and illustrated version of the previously released "Wholesale Destruction: The SLORC/SPDC Campaign to Obliterate All Hill Villages in Papun and Eastern Nyaunglebin Districts" (Karen Human Rights Group, February 15, 1998, KHRG #98-01). It consists of a detailed breakdown of the campaign to wipe out the villages, supported by excerpts from KHRG interviews with villagers in the area and newly arrived refugees in Thailand which were conducted in June and December 1997.
The information for this report was gathered by KHRG through over 60 interviews with villagers in hiding and refugees, visits to approximately 30 of the destroyed villages and many hiding-places of villagers. An index of the interviews as well as the full texts of most are available on approved request as an annex to the original version of "Wholesale Destruction." Interview numbers are noted in the captions following quotations. The names of all those interviewed have been changed. False names appear in quotation marks. All other names, such as those of the dead, are real. The notation F? or M? indicates gender. Village names listed in the captions are the interviewees? home villages. All are in Papun District, unless listed as Shwegyin township? which is in Nyaunglebin District. Some other details and names have also been omitted or changed for security reasons. For example, in some cases village names are given as X--- or replaced with xxxx and yyyy..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #98-01)
Date of publication:
1998-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Discrimination against the Karen
Language:
English
more
