Armed conflict in Karenni State
Individual Documents
Description:
"One civilian was killed and six others were injured in a clash between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and the Arakan Army (AA) in Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State at around 1.00 a.m. on Sunday.
U Ni Tun, 70, was struck in the leg by shrapnel when an artillery shell hit his house in the village of Kan Thone Sint, north of Kan Sauk hill in Kyauktaw. He died of blood loss while he was being taken to a hospital.
“An artillery shell fell on U Ni Tun’s house at around 1 a.m. [on Sunday]. He died en route as we were taking him to the hospital in a motorboat,” Kan Thone Sint village administrator U Hla Maung told The Irrawaddy.
The artillery shell was fired from east of the village, and villagers kept the shrapnel, he said.
In another incident, six civilians were injured when artillery shells struck their houses in Thingana and Sabel Hla villages on the Kalandan River, local residents said.
“The fighting took place at around 1 a.m. [Sunday]. Tatmadaw Navy [ships] heading to Paletwa [in Chin State] along the Kaladan River were fired upon from the forest. The Navy returned fire, and [an artillery shell] hit our village,” Ko Kyaw Thaung, a resident of Sabel Hla Village, told The Irrawaddy..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2019-09-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Karenni State, Non-Ceasefire Groups
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Description:
''In this commentary, the Union of Karenni State Youth and LAIN Technical Support Group provide a chronology of events, outlining how arrests and the government’s handling of events have compounded rather than resolved political frustrations and inter-community understandings.General Aung San is commonly known as the “independence hero of Burma”. His legacy is, however, looked upon differently by the Bamar (Burman) majority and the country’s ethnic nationality peoples. Whilst the Bamar majority consider him a hero for bringing their people independence, ethnic nationality peoples respect him for his promise to bring their people equal rights in a true union. This is a promise that remains unfulfilled to this day, a failure that goes to the heart of the current crisis.
After decades of conflict and suffering, Karenni youth are attempting to use democratic rights to achieve the pledges of autonomy, freedom and equality that Aung San promised at the country’s independence in 1948. Sadly, rather than delivering peace and federal reform, the National League for Democracy government is prioritising the building of statues to Aung San in Kayah State and other ethnic nationality lands. The local peoples consider this a misuse of public funds and an attempt to erase their own history, continuing a practice of downplaying ethnic minority cultures by a policy known as Bamanisation. Based on these concerns, a course of non-violent public actions, directed towards the state government, began in June 2018. The chronology is described below...''
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of publication:
2019-06-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
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Description:
''The Myanmar authorities should immediately investigate the alleged excessive use of force by police against protesters in Karenni State and hold those responsible for abuses to account, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 12, 2019, police fired rubber bullets and water cannon at ethnic Karenni youth who attempted to move beyond police barricades, injuring more than 20 protesters.
Since February 1, police have arrested 55 people in the Karenni state capital for protesting against the installation of a statue of Gen. Aung San, the father of Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Gen. Aung San is considered the founder of modern-day Myanmar and of the Myanmar army, the Tatmadaw. On February 12, an agreement was reached between protest leaders and the Karenni state government to drop all charges in exchange for promises to suspend further protests for one month while the opposing sides discuss the fate of the statue...''
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2019-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Karenni State, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
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Description:
''On December 21, 2018, the Burmese Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing announced a unilateral ceasefire in five regional command areas, including the Eastern Command area which covers Karenni State. However, the Burma Army has built four new military camps in Karenni State since the ceasefire announcement, raising suspicions among local communities that they are preparing for renewed war, not peace.
On December 23, 2018, 20 soldiers from LIB 54 led by the second battalion commander moved into Daw Pu village, Daw Pu village tract of Demawso township and built a new army camp there. The village administrator (headman) wrote a complaint letter to the township administrator but there has been no response to it.
On December 24, 2018, 20 soldiers from Mawchi-based LIB 428 led by second battalion commander Aye Chan Soe came in and built a new camp at Nat Ye Thweh Pauk (Bo Than Win Gone), five miles away from Htoo Chat timber storage ground in Pasaung township. On January 3, 2019, 60 soldiers from LIB 337 based in Bawlake town combined with the troops from the new camp in Nat Ye Thweh Pauk patrolled along the west of the road between Loikaw and Mawchi.
On January 1, 2019, 20 soldiers from Burma Army LIB 429 led by battalion commander Han Win Tun came in and built a new camp near Daw Wiraw village and Thiri Dah village in Shadaw township. Villagers have collectively sent a protest letter to their MP, but no action has been taken in this matter.
On January 7, 2019, 30 soldiers from Bawlake-based LIB 337 led by Battalion commander Zaw Myo Tun came into the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) area and built a new camp at Nam Mahn Kee in Mae Set township saying that they would temporarily base themselves there for only three months...''
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Society Network via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-01-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karenni State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
299.09 KB 1.14 MB
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Description:
''နောက်ဆုံးအပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲရေးပြုလုပ်စဉ် ကရင်နီပြည်နယ်အတွင်း စစ်တပ်စခန်းအသစ်များ တည်ဆောက်ခြင်းသည် မြန်မာစစ်တပ်မှ စစ်ရေးပြင်ဆင်မှုများပြုလုပ်နေကြောင်းကို သံသယများဖြစ်ပေါ်စေခြင်း...''
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Society Network via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-01-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karenni State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.25 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"This briefing paper analyzes how Burma Army exploitation of natural resources in Karenni State is undermining efforts by the Karenni National Progress Party to seek peace, as happened over twenty years ago. In 1995, the Karenni National Progress Party (KNPP) signed a ceasefire agreement with the then military regime. However, after only three months, the Burma Army launched an offensive to drive out KNPP from its bases in eastern Karenni State, in order to profit from logging in the area. Tens of thousands of villagers were forcibly displaced, and rampant logging by the Burma Army and military-linked businesses led to widespread deforestation.
The KNPP signed a new ceasefire agreement in 2012, but the Burma Army continued to benefit from logging, even after a logging ban by the NLD government in 2016-2017. On December 20, 2017, after KNPP troops uncovered an illegal shipment of timber by the Burma Army, three KNPP troops and one civilian were shot dead by the Burma Army. The incident heightened tension between KNPP and the Burma Army, and caused a significant loss of trust among the Karenni people in the peace process..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Society Network via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication:
2018-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2018-04-19
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
831.12 KB 583.26 KB
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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
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Description:
"A new report by the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) raises concerns about
international ?peace support” programming amid
st increasing Burma Army militarization in
Karenni State after the2012 ceasefire with the
Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
The report ?Where is Genuine Peace?” exposes how a pilot resettlement project of the
Norway-led Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI) in Shardaw
Township is encouraging
IDPs to return to an area controlled by the Burma Army where their safety cannot be
guaranteed.
The MPSI claims that between June 2013 and
September 2014 it supported 1,431 IDPs to
return to 10 Shadaw villages forcibly relocated in 1996. However, KCSN found only about a
third of these IDPs in the villages, most of whom were working-age adults returning to carry
out farming, but not daring to return permanently due to fears of renewed conflict. As in
other parts of Karenni State, the Burma Army has been reinforcing troops and fortifying its
positions in Shadaw, where there is a tactical command centre and over 20 military
outposts.
?Instead of encouraging IDPs to return home be
fore it is safe, international donors should
be trying to ensure that the rights of conflict-affected villagers are protected,” said one of
KCSN. ?There must be pressure on the government to pull back its troops from the ethnic
areas and start political dialog
ue towards federal reform.”
KCSN also criticizes the MPSI for fuelling conflict by ignoring Karenni-managed social service
organizations that have been providing primary health care and other support to IDPs in
Shadaw for decades. MPSI?s health support was through the government system, which
remains highly centralized and dysfunctional in Karenni State.
?Donors should not just give one-sided support to expand government services into ethnic
conflict areas. This won?t be effective, and will
only increase resentment and fuel conflict,”
said KSWDC.
The report also raises concerns about rampant
resource extraction after the ceasefire, land
confiscation, military expansions and lack of
transparency around dam plans on the Salween
and its tributaries in Karenni State. KCSN
is calling for a moratorium on large-scale
infrastructure and resource extraction projects
in Karenni State until there is genuine peace." [from the KCSN press release of 5 December, 2014]
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN)
Date of publication:
2014-12-05
Date of entry/update:
2015-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Karenni State, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, Forced displacement/forced migration linked to natural resource exploitation, Gold mining and trade
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.6 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"...KCSN believes that only through negotiation between both parties to seek solutions to the problems in Karenni State, as agreed during the State Level and Union Level talks, can genuine and permanent peace be achieved. To reach sustainable peace, there must be mutual respect, mutual trust building, and cooperation in implementing the ceasefire agreements, not only in words but through practical action.
During President Thein Sein?s inaugural speech, he laid down plans for reform and stated that to establish lasting peace in the country, the three basic principles of peace, stability, and development must be accepted and established to pave the way for reform.
However, unless there is genuine peace that ensures long-term stability, development projects will bring no sustainable benefit to the people. In Kachin State, during 17 years of ceasefire, large numbers of development projects were set up in Kachin State, but after the breakdown of the ceasefire, a total of 25 bridges were destroyed, 100,000 refugees and IDPs had to flee from their homes, and more than 50 schools had to be closed down. Based on the Kachin people?s experience, it can be concluded that without political settlement that ensures equality for everyone, there can be no sustainable development for the people of Burma..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Societies Network (KCSN)
Date of publication:
2012-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-11-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karenni State
Language:
English
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