Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)

OBL does not document all details of the ceasefires and peace negotiations as these are covered by several of the websites/multiple documents below.
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Individual Documents

Title: Peace and war in Myanmar
Description: "A visitor to Myanmar can easily spend two weeks seeing the main tourist destinations and depart with the impression of having been in a peaceful nation. Within its borders, however, rages the world’s longest continuing civil war. It began at independence in 1948 and no end is in sight. This is the conundrum of Myanmar today: the coexistence of peace and war. The first national election in 20 years was held in 2010, at the end of five decades of repressive military rule. This election produced a government led by former General Thein Sein that unexpectedly moved quickly to adopt far-reaching political and economic reforms. The longtime leader of the democratic opposition and world-famous icon of democracy Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest shortly after that election. In 2012, she won a seat in the parliament in a by-election. In the 2015 election, her party — the National League for Democracy (NLD) — won in a landslide against the military-supported party..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Brookings Institution (blog)"
Date of publication: 2019-12-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: China’s mobile missiles on the loose in Myanmar
Topic: CHINA, MYANMAR, INSURGENCY, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, ARAKAN ARMY, TNLA, MANPADS, FN-6
Sub-title: Ethnic rebels unexplained acquisition of Chinese-made FN-6 portable missiles is a political and military game-changer
Topic: CHINA, MYANMAR, INSURGENCY, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, ARAKAN ARMY, TNLA, MANPADS, FN-6
Description: "Myanmar’s seizure last week of a large cache of mostly Chinese weapons from a rebel camp sparked a brief and predictable flurry of nationalist outrage, underscoring as it did the shadowy role of neighboring China in fueling the nation’s many long-running ethnic conflicts. But the real significance of the November 22 incident had less to do with the seized weaponry’s quantity or provenance and much more with unambiguous confirmation that insurgents in active hostilities with government forces, or Tatmadaw, are now fielding man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, weapons that militarily and politically constitute potential game-changers. Amidst the stack of over 150 assault rifles, machine-guns, grenade launchers and nearly 80 sacks of explosives seized in a village in northeastern Shan state’s Namhsan township troops also retrieved in an apparent first a single MANPADS launcher identified as a Chinese-manufactured FN-6. Abandoning the cache after an apparently brief clash with state forces were rebels of the ethnic Palaung Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which operates across northern Shan state and dominates the tea-growing hill country of Namhsan..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2019-11-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: China’s mobile missiles on the loose in Myanmar
Sub-title: Ethnic rebels unexplained acquisition of Chinese-made FN-6 portable missiles is a political and military game-changer
Description: "Myanmar’s seizure last week of a large cache of mostly Chinese weapons from a rebel camp sparked a brief and predictable flurry of nationalist outrage, underscoring as it did the shadowy role of neighboring China in fueling the nation’s many long-running ethnic conflicts. But the real significance of the November 22 incident had less to do with the seized weaponry’s quantity or provenance and much more with unambiguous confirmation that insurgents in active hostilities with government forces, or Tatmadaw, are now fielding man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, weapons that militarily and politically constitute potential game-changers. Amidst the stack of over 150 assault rifles, machine-guns, grenade launchers and nearly 80 sacks of explosives seized in a village in northeastern Shan state’s Namhsan township troops also retrieved in an apparent first a single MANPADS launcher identified as a Chinese-manufactured FN-6. Abandoning the cache after an apparently brief clash with state forces were rebels of the ethnic Palaung Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), which operates across northern Shan state and dominates the tea-growing hill country of Namhsan..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2019-11-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Nothing to celebrate at Kachin Thanksgiving
Description: "Four score minus seven years ago, on Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the leaders of four of Myanmar's main ethnic groups -- the majority Burmans, plus Kachin, Chin and Shan -- committed to creating a country conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal. The year before independence from Britain in 1948, the legacy Panglong Agreement created conditions for a multicultural country including "a separate Kachin State within a Unified Burma … [I]t is agreed that such a State is desirable". Despite the reforms of recent years, the people of Myanmar are still waiting for the unified society agreed to in Panglong by Myanmar's independence hero, Aung San. Desire to see the promise of Panglong materialise remains strong among the country's minorities, as well their sympathisers worldwide. These include the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), who provide humanitarian support to Myanmar's minorities and advocate for "freedom, justice and peace" while shedding light on the abuses of the Myanmar army. My fateful mountaintop encounter three years ago with FBR founder David Eubank, on my first trip to Kachin while on a frontline tour with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), provided the catalyst for my second trip last spring to this ruggedly beautiful land..."
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Source/publisher: "Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-11-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Beyond the Horizon: Local Perspectives on Peace, Justice and Accountability in Southeast Myanmar [EN/MY/Karen]
Description: "Today, at the Myanmar Press Freedom Center in Yangon, the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) launched its latest report, ‘Beyond the Horizon: Local Perspectives on Peace, Justice and Accountability in Southeast Myanmar’. This report explores the issue of transitional justice by examining the legacy of past human rights violations and the current human rights situation in Southeast Burma/Myanmar, as well as the perspectives of 95 local villagers on the peace process and access to justice. In 2015, the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement created possibilities for positive change after decades of conflict. However, the consequences of past abuses continue to impact the daily lives of local people, often combining with new forms of abuses to compound their economic marginalisation. As the peace process is now at a deadlock, it remains unclear to what extent it will be able to address these issues. Although most respondents reported that they now feel safer, problems persist. Traditional forms of abuses, such as killings, sexual and gender-based violence, physical abuse, forced labour and extortion still occur. In addition, the rights of rural Karen communities over natural resources and land are being totally disregarded. The Tatmadaw is also increasing its presence across the region, and skirmishes between armed actors undermine the local people’s trust in the peace process. Respondents reported that, during the pre-ceasefire period, they were often prevented from accessing justice by their rightful fear of armed actors, a lack of judicial independence and rule of law, and the absence of civilian jurisdiction over Tatmadaw abuses. In the current ceasefire period, villagers are also being denied justice because the parallel justice systems existing in Southeast Burma/Myanmar are inconsistent, lack resources and are plagued by corruption.
Source/publisher: "Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)" (Chiang Mai) via "Reliefweb" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-11-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 4.11 MB 3.5 MB 1.69 MB
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Title: CULTURE OF POLITICAL DIALOGUE: Fading hope to resolve ethnic conflict?
Description: "With the rise of armed conflict violence, branching out into assassination, random shooting, abduction, extrajudicial punishment, the country seems to be “widening the space of armed confrontation or civil war and narrowing the peace negotiation process,” a phrase now popularly used by Burma or Myanmar political analysts, watchers and observers alike. But let us first looks into some recent developments within the country’s political landscape and determine if this is really the case. On November 10, in Rakhine or Arakan State, Myaypone Township, Wetyu village a fisherman and his wife traveling back home on motor-propelled boat was shot at by the military or Tatmadaw killing the four-month pregnant wife instantly and slightly wounding the husband. A tragic trigger-happy Tatmadaw trooper’s had cost an innocent local’s life. In response to it on November 11, United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) issued a statement condemning the act as a racial hatred move and vowed to revenge, while conveying its heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-11-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Success of peace process hinges on federal union: U Zaw Htay
Sub-title: The success in implementing the peace process depends on enshrining a federal democratic union in the Constitution as a guarantee of the people’s aspirations, U Zaw Htay, spokesperson of the President’s Office, said.
Description: "“Ethnic people believe that they can achieve their political rights in full only if there is a federal constitution, which they have consistently demanded,” he told a press briefing on Friday. “A federal constitution is needed to get a full political guarantee. It must be a union stipulated by all, not by a one-sided decision.” Although Myanmar has had different political systems in different eras, it has not established a federal union acceptable to all ethnic people, so peace remains elusive, he said. “We all pledged to build the union at the Panglong Conference held in 1947. Although the leaders and system changed, we couldn’t build the union. The federal building process has not been completed. There are barriers,” U Zaw Htay said. As these problems can only be solved politically, meetings such as the 21st Century Panglong Conference are needed. Ethnic armed groups, political parties, civil organisations, the Tatmadaw (military) and the government must all agree on a federal union..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Peace talks hits snag between Myanmar govt and Northern Alliance
Description: "PEACE talks have hit a snag between the Myanmar government negotiators and the Northern Alliance, which is made up of four ethnic armed groups. Both were due to convene for talks, following their last meeting in Kyaingtong city in the Shan state on Sept 17, but it was postponed indefinitely, according to The Myanmar Times. U Lamai Khun Ja of the Myitkyina-based Peace Talk Creation Group said: “They do not have any problems. Neither side is ready to meet." Continuation of talks between the two groups was scheduled in October but later postponed to this month as the government wanted to prepare for the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The next round of talks would be the third since fighting broke out between the military and some members of the alliance members in Shan State in Aug. No commitment has been made on the next round of talks, including the time and location, by either side. The alliance comprises the Arakan Army, Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). None of the group has signed the NCA..."
Source/publisher: "New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of publication: 2019-11-14
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Why has Myanmar’s peace process stalled? Because it divides ethnic groups
Topic: Myanmar’s peace process
Sub-title: The Myanmar government created divisions between ethnic armed groups, preventing effective dialogue and perpetuating conflict. Unless the government can earn the trust of ethnic groups, peace talks will continue to stall.
Topic: Myanmar’s peace process
Description: "“The fighting has been going on in this area for so long that abnormal situations of war and fighting become somewhat normalised, day-to-day, life for people. No one should live a life like that.” Kham Awn, of the Shan Women’s Action Network, was describing life in northern Shan State, Myanmar. The area has seen renewed violent clashes between ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military in recent months, displacing thousands from their homes. A new report by Amnesty International documents war crimes by both the military and ethnic armed groups. But Kham Awn’s description could just as easily describe daily life elsewhere in Myanmar, especially in areas of Rakhine State, in the country’s southwest. On October 26, the Arakan Army (AA) stopped a ferry in Rakhine State and took at least 50 people hostage. After holding them for over a week, the armed group released 25 civilians but kept the remaining hostages, who it claims are security personnel. Myanmar’s police have since detained and begun to interrogate the released hostages. Though Myanmar’s peace process trudges on, a consistent lack of trust between the government and ethnic armed groups, fueled by violence and posturing, continues to prevent real progress. The Myanmar government’s approach to the peace process has divided ethnic groups, whether intentionally or not, undermining the negotiations, eroding trust, and perpetuating the conflict. Unless the Myanmar military ceases all offensives and the government commits to earning the trust of ethnic groups, peace talks will continue to stall..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Today" (Singapore)
Date of publication: 2019-11-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: China contributes millions to Myanmar peace process with armed groups
Description: "CHINA recently contributed US$1 million (RM4.1 million) to fund the Myanmar government-led peace process with armed rebel groups in the country. The fund was presented by China's Special Envoy for Asian Affairs, Sun Guoxiang, in his visit to the country, The Irrawaddy reported. Of the total, US$400,000 is for the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC); while US$300,000 will go to the Peace Commission and the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC) each. Union minister with the State Counsellor’s Office and vice chairman of the NRPC, U Kyaw Tint Swe, received the sum from Sun, according to a statement from the Information Ministry. China's Xinhua News reported that the Chinese government will continue supporting the peace process in Myanmar. Sun was quoted as saying that the friendship between the two countries remains cordial and that the contribution was the fourth made by China. He said China is hopeful that peace can be hastened in the country, and assured that it will always support Myanmar in its continuous effort to achieve a resolution. During his visit to Myanmar, the special envoy met with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. In Jan 2017, China contributed US$1 million to Myanmar’s peace process through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and pledged US$3 million until 2020. In Dec 2017, US$500,000 was donated to the JMC and 10 vehicles in June 2018 by the then-Chinese Ambassador, Hong Liang..."
Source/publisher: "New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of publication: 2019-11-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Govt announces three steps to advance peace process
Description: "State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has announced a three-step plan to reboot the peace process at an event marking the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. The government signed the ceasefire with eight groups in October 2015 but the country’s most powerful non-state armies are still yet to ink the accord, leaving them on the fringes of the formal peace process. Since the National League for Democracy government took office, the government has signed the NCA with just two additional armed groups. It has also convened just three Union Peace Conferences, despite a requirement that they be held every six months. Addressing a ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw on October 28, Aung San Suu Kyi urged ethnic armed groups and stakeholders to cooperate to ensure that the government’s three proposed steps were successfully implemented. The steps are to continue holding the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conferences, to involve non-signatories of the NCA in political dialogue, and to ensure that the people are able to enjoy the fruits of peace. The first step includes three elements: to develop a framework agreement to guide implementation of the NCA, to reach agreement on more points of a future Union Peace Accord, and to develop a plan for continuing the peace process beyond the 2020 election..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Two Japanese Supporting Peace Efforts with Myanmar’s Ethnic Minorities
Description: "Myanmar is a country of rich ethnic and religious diversity which has struggled for many years with issues of ethnic conflict. Two Japanese men have gained attention for their concerted behind-the-scenes efforts to attain peace in these complex circumstances. Armed Resistance by Ethnic Minorities There are said to be as many as 20 ethnic minority groups in Myanmar, and many minority forces in the country continue resistance against the rule of the central government. Relations between groups are delicate, with certain ethnic groups experiencing division due to divergence of opinions. The military strength of some is a source of embarrassment for the government. Pivoting this extremely complex ethnic antagonism towards resolution is the greatest challenge facing the country. The failure to achieve peace with ethnic minorities has for many years provided justification for military control and the suppression of democracy. Despite the county’s great potential, this has been a cause of economic stagnation. The country is making steady progress towards realizing peace, although it tends to be overshadowed by the Rohingya crisis. Two Japanese men have acted as mediators behind the scenes in the peace process: Imoto Katsuyuki, head of a nongovernmental organization retrieving human remains, and Sasakawa Yōhei, as a special envoy of the Japanese government..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: nippon.com (Japan)
Date of publication: 2019-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: CULTURE OF ANGST: A need for conducive atmosphere in peace-building
Description: "Lately, news seeping out from government sources indicate that the much talked about bilateral ceasefire negotiation between the Northern Alliance – Burma (NA-B) and the National League for Democracy-led civilian-military regime may be shelved, due to Arakan Army (AA) hostage-taking of the government security personnel. The NA-B members are the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA), and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). The bilateral ceasefire talks have been held for four times, in Muse, Kunming and twice in Kengtung, without any breakthrough or concrete agreement. And as it now seems, the further meeting will be quite problematic, if not at all impossible. This kind of prevailing atmosphere could be because the culture of angst has overtaken all the stakeholders, fellow peace-negotiators or contenders in Burma or Myanmar political arena, said Khuensai Jaiyane, director of the Pyidaungsu Institute, patron of the Shan Herald Agency for News and advisor of the Restoration Council of Shan State, an Ethnic Armed Organization (EAO) that inked the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in October 2015..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-11-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Naga peace talks fallout? Security tightened along Myanmar border
Sub-title: Assam Rifles ‘deploys’ jawans at frontier villages of Kamjong in Manipur; stocking of ration, essential items being carried out for over a week now, say sources
Description: "Apprehending that cadres of some Manipuri and Naga militant outfits based in Myanmar may create law-and-order problems in Manipur following the recent talks with the Centre and the NSCN-IM in New Delhi, security arrangements have reportedly been intensified in the areas bordering Myanmar. Sources informed EastMojo that a group of Assam Rifles personnel were deployed at Phungtha village, the second last village of Manipur from the international border in Kamjong district, on November 5. Kamjong town, the district headquarters, is located 120 km from state capital Imphal along the state highway. “From November 5 onwards, there have been some movement in the village as Assam Rifles has deputed a group of 25 jawans in the area. Stocking of ration and other essential materials is also being carried out in the area for more than a week,” sources told EastMojo. In Chamu village, considered as the last village from Manipur side along the India-Myanmar border, it has been reported that a full battalion of Assam Rifles has been deployed in the area. A ‘Major’-level officer of the Assam Rifles, who didn’t want to be named, told EastMojo that the battalion has been deployed to check infiltration of militants through the village..."
Source/publisher: "EastMojo" (India)
Date of publication: 2019-11-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: China donates cash assistance for peace process in Myanmar
Description: "China donated cash assistance of 400,000 U.S. dollars to be used in Myanmar government's peace process on Wednesday morning in Nay Pyi Taw. Special Envoy for Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Sun Guoxiang presented the cash donation to U Kyaw Tint Swe, vice-chairman of Myanmar's National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) and union minister of the State Counselor's Office. Speaking at the donation ceremony, U Kyaw Tint Swe thanked China, saying that China's perpetual assistance to Myanmar helps maintain the long-held paukphaw (fraternal) friendship between the two countries. U Kyaw Tint Swe also expressed his belief that China would continue to extend its assistance to Myanmar for mutual benefits for the two countries. "It was the fourth time that the Chinese government donates cash assistance to Myanmar's NRPC with the aim to support Myanmar's peace process," said the Chinese special envoy, pledging for the continued assistance to Myanmar..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication: 2019-11-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: FOURTH NCA ANNIVERSARY: A peace process drawback
Description: "The Fourth Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) Signing Anniversary, which supposed to be convened on the actual date of October 15, was held on October 28 in Naypyitaw with nine NCA-Signatory-Ethnic Armed Organization (NCA-S-EAO), as the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) delegation was absent. Reportedly, the RCSS issued a three-page statement underlining why it wasn’t able to attend the anniversary occasion. It was a blow to conveners, especially the government, for the gathering was supposed to uplift the stagnated peace process, which has been halted since over a year, and should have helped paved the way for Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM), the highest organ in NCA-based peace process, that would outline the negotiation agenda and eventual implementation by the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC). In short, the Tatmadaw blocking of the RCSS leader and his delegation travel using Maehongson – Homong-Langkhur-Nam Zarng-Taunggyi-Naypyitaw to attend the anniversary occasion was the real cause of setback..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-11-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar’s Nagaland Rebels Expel Peace Representatives
Description: "The National Socialist Council of Nagaland’s (NSCN) new chairman Yung Aung has expelled five leading members because they encouraged the group to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) while in custody. The five jailed members were sacked “for their continuous effort to propagate and encourage the signing of the NCA, which is completely against the political principles of the party”, the NSCN said in a statement. The ousted members are the Home Affairs Minister and retired Major General Angmai, Religious Affairs Minister U Kyaw Wan Sein, Forestry Minister U An Kam (also known as Angkan), Central Council member U Saw Htin and a Naga army lieutenant colonel, Aung Sai. The statement said the five “deliberately” conspired and mobilized regarding the NCA, which is directly against the party’s policy. All authority and privileges enjoyed by them have been canceled. The NSCN, the Naga armed group based in Myanmar, is trying to establish Nagaland, together with Naga rebels across the border in India..."
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Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-11-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Communicating for the Future: Building Confidence and Trust in the Myanmar Peace Process
Description: "As part of its project supporting increased understanding and improved communication of peace in Myanmar Search for Common Ground (SfCG) organized a two-day ‘Message Mapping Workshop’ at the Novotel Hotel, Yangon from 24 to 25 October. The workshop was intended to provide input and feedback into the design of a multimedia ‘message map’, to strengthen a community of practitioners and influencers who understand and help spread key messages on peace by providing some examples of best practice relating to the role of media in building peace. The workshop was well-attended by famous artists from music and film industry, representatives from media organizations, ethnic-armed organizations (EAOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs). This is one of the seven phases that SfCG is carrying out for their three-year project, ‘Communicating for the Future’ in seven target areas; Shan Chin, Kayin, Mon, Bago, Yangon and Tanintharyi which is being supported by the Joint Peace Fund. The first day of the workshop included a panel discussion on ‘the role of Media in Building Confidence and Trust in Peace Process’ featuring four panelists, Mi Sue Pwint, Central Executive Committee Member of the ABSDF, Daw Khine Moe Naing, Deputy Director of MRTV, U Toe Zaw Latt, Operations Director of DVB and Hilmy Ahamed, Founder of Young Asia TV (YATV) in Sri Lanka. Mi Sue Pwint shared insights into how signatory ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) use media platforms, particularly the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signatory EAOs’ website and Facebook page, to keep people updated about their news and activities..."
Source/publisher: "Joint Peace Fund" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Minorities, Money and Getting It Wrong in Myanmar
Description: "The euphoria knew no bounds. When it was announced that a text had been drafted for a proposed ceasefire agreement between the Myanmar government and some of the country’s many ethnic resistance armies, The Center for Humanitarian Dialog, a Swiss-based peace and reconciliation outfit that runs several Myanmarrelated projects, hailed it as “the most comprehensive ceasefire agreement in Myanmar’s history” which “will set the stage for resolving the longest-running conflict in Southeast Asia.” Vijay Nambiar, special advisor on Myanmar to the Secretary General of the United Nations, also called the drafting of the proposal “historic” and UNICEF even suggested that it “could be a dawn of a new time of progress for the most disadvantaged children in Myanmar.” That was on March 31, 2015. Four years on, it is evident that Myanmar’s so-called peace process has been a complete failure. Even as the foreign peacemakers were congratulating themselves in the capital Naypyidaw and in Yangon, the reality on the ground remained depressingly unchanged. Airstrikes and other attacks were continuing against Kachin and Palaung rebel forces in the north and northeast of the country. When what was termed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was nevertheless signed on Oct. 15, 2015, it was announced that “eight groups” were behind it. But five of the signatories had no noteworthy armed forces, and one, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, had been a government-allied militia since it broke away from the main group, the Karen National Union (KNU), in 1994..."
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Source/publisher: "Global Asia" (South Korea)
Date of publication: 2019-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 395.65 KB (4 pages)
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Title: “Caught in the middle”: Abuses against civilians amid conflict in Myanmar’s northern Shan State
Topic: Myanmar Army Conflict
Topic: Myanmar Army Conflict
Description: "The decades-long conflict in northern Shan State has escalated in recent months following attacks by three ethnic armed groups on military installations and other locations in the country on 15 August 2019. The government stated that the attacks were likely to have been carried out in retaliation for recent successful anti-drug trafficking operations in the region. According to the three ethnic armed groups – calling themselves the “Brotherhood Alliance” – the attacks were launched in response to a military offensive in Rakhine State in the west of the country as well as repeated military operations in northern Shan state, despite a military ceasefire in the area. Civilians in northern Shan State, who have borne the brunt of these previous operations, looks set to endure fresh abuses, conflict, and displacement. This report examines international human rights abuses and violations of humanitarian law committed since mid-2018 by parties to the ongoing internal armed conflicts in northern Shan State. On 21 December 2018, the Myanmar military announced a unilateral ceasefire in northern and eastern Myanmar, however, as this report shows, while there may have been a reduction of the number of clashes involving the military, Myanmar soldiers have continued to commit serious violations against ethnic minority civilians. The declared ceasefire period has also seen a continuation, and in some areas an escalation, of fighting among ethnic armed groups, some backed by the Myanmar military. Amnesty International undertook research missions to northern Shan State in March and August 2019. In total, Amnesty International interviewed 88 people, including victims and direct witnesses to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The organization also met with local and international humanitarian officials, human rights defenders, community leaders, journalists, and political analysts, and analysed satellite imagery and photographs related to specific documented incidents. Amnesty International wrote to the Myanmar civilian government and military, and to four ethnic armed groups, outlining the organization’s findings, requesting information, and expressing readiness to discuss the situation in northern Shan State. At the time of publication, none had replied..."
Source/publisher: "Amnesty International" (UK) (ASA 16/1142/2019)
Date of publication: 2019-10-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : PDF
Size: 1.25 MB (44 pages)
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Title: Naga rebel group part of peace talks with Centre eyes setting up camps in Myanmar with no breakthrough in site
Sub-title: With Naga peace talks extending beyond October 31, rebel group NSCN (IM) is now looking at the possibility of setting up camps in Myanmar if the demand for a separate Naga flag and constitution is not agreed by the Centre.
Description: "Naga rebel group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) that has been part of ongoing talks for a peace accord with the Centre along with other groups is exploring the option of setting up base in Myanmar as there seems to be no breakthrough in the discussions. The rebel group that earlier agreed to peace talks is not on-board with the Centre on most contentious issues like a separate flag and constitution for Nagaland. The government has made it clear that these two demands will not be met but NSCN (IM) is not willing to relent, sources said. Ground intelligence inputs suggest that two of the group's top leadership have already crossed over to Myanmar to set up camps there. Around 300-500 armed cadres have also managed cross into Myanmar and are camping at Koki opposite Shera, says a recent intelligence report. There are indications that NSCN (IM) is not likely to be part of the peace accord..."
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Source/publisher: "India Today" (India)
Date of publication: 2019-10-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar state counselor stresses flexibility, broad-mindedness in achieving peace, emergence of federal union
Description: "Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday stressed the need to have flexibility and broadmindedness in achieving genuine peace and emergence of a federal union. Suu Kyi, who is Chairperson of both the National Reconciliation and Peace Center and the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, made the remarks at a ceremony held in Nay Pyi Taw to mark the 4th anniversary of the signing of the government's Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA). Suu Kyi outlined three-step peace process to be pursued by the government in the future. The first step, she said, is to lay down a common process on how to carry on the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference and to obtain framework agreements on the implementation of the NCA..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication: 2019-10-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: RCSS Chair’s Trip to NCA Anniversary Event Blocked by Military
Description: "Meetings concerning Burma’s peace process have been temporarily postponed following the cancellation of Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) chairperson Gen Yawd Serk’s trip to Naypyidaw, RCSS representatives said. Gen Yawd Serk had planned to attend the fourth anniversary commemoration of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on Monday, but the Burma Army reportedly blocked his travel. The trip was going to include meetings of the Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) and the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) following the NCA anniversary. “JICM and PPST meetings which were going to be held after the fourth anniversary of the NCA, were canceled,” Gen Yawd Serk told media outlets through a translator during a press conference on the Thai-Burma border. The RCSS chair is also the chair of the PPST..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: A Daring Helicopter Rescue After Rebels Capture a Ferry in Myanmar
Description: "When the ferry pushed off from a dilapidated pier in western Myanmar, few of the passengers could have predicted how dangerous the journey would turn out. Later on Saturday, along a riverbank dotted with mangroves, a rebel group abducted dozens of soldiers and government workers from the ferry at gunpoint. That drew a risky rescue attempt by army helicopters, which swooped in to try to free the hostages as their captors then spirited them away in three separate boats. Gunfire erupted on both sides, and the army later said it had rescued 14 of the 58 hostages. The rebels said some were killed by helicopter fire, and they were keeping the survivors for “further investigation.” The drama unfolded in a rural section of Rakhine State, a strip of land on the country’s west coast where Myanmar’s army, known as the Tatmadaw, staged a brutal ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in 2017. Sign up for The Interpreter Subscribe for original insights, commentary and discussions on the major news stories of the week, from columnists Max Fisher and Amanda Taub. SIGN UP The scale of the abduction suggests that the rebel group, The Arakan Army — a guerrilla force from the Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group that makes up most of the state’s population — is using increasingly brazen tactics to press its demand for independence..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The New York Times" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-10-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Mon and Karen Leaders Agree to Halt Clashes
Description: "Leaders of ethnic Mon and Karen armed organizations have agreed to cease fighting after holding a meeting on Wednesday to discuss a recent flare-up of clashes in southern Karen State. Representatives of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA) agreed to seek solutions to their disputes through dialogue. “We agreed to stop further clashes. We also agreed to solve problems through dialogue. We are going to explain our agreement to the ground-level forces. Today, we also agreed to live in unity,” Lt-Col M. Seik Chan, the commander of the NMSP’s Battalion 5, told NMG. According to the lieutenant colonel, leaders from both groups ordered their forces to retreat from the location of the recent clashes. Fighting between the NMSP and KNU occurred in Balae Donfive village in Payathonsu sub-township on October 17 and 21. Representatives from the KNLA Brigade 6 and NMSP’s headquarters held three meetings and observed the location of the clashes. “Both sides need to follow our agreement. If we do that, we can avoid further clashes. Both sides have a responsibility,” Lt-Col Saw Shwe Win, commander of the KNLA’s Battalion 16, told NMG..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: GOVERNMENT AND EAOS RELATION: Restarting peace process with four-point agreement agenda
Description: "On the heels of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement-Signatory-Ethnic Armed Organizations (NCA-S-EAO) three-day meeting that ended on October 12, the Peace Commission (PC), under the government National Peace and Reconciliation Center (NRPC), flew to Chiang Mai, Thailand to meet the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/KIA), Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Karen National Union (KNU). All mentioned groups the PC has met are all NCA-S-EAO members, except the KNPP which has still to sign the NCA. The government delegation included PC Secretary a retired Lieutenant General Khin Zaw Oo, President’s Office Director Zaw Htay and PC advisers Hla Maung Shwe and Moe Zaw Oo. The government PC and the KNPP met on October 18 in Chiang Mai. It was said the unofficial meeting with the KNPP touched on the issues of bilateral ceasefire possibility and development of the Karenni (Kayah) State. The KNPP was led my Vice-Chairman Khu Oo Reh, accompanied by Deputy-Commander-in-Chief General Aung Myat, Aung San Myint, Nei Neh Plo and Khun Naung..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: In Myanmar’s North, Hopes to Return Home
Sub-title: Recent overtures suggest the government may be serious about ending years of conflict in its northern state.
Description: "The Jan Mai Kawng Baptist Church camp for internally displaced people is located on the outskirts of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state. Home to more than 1,000 people uprooted by conflict across Myanmar's most northern state, Jan Mai Kawng is a bustling place, where camp residents have established businesses, including restaurants, shops and even a makeshift hairdresser. Among the entrepreneurial tenants is Kai Ra, 52, who has established a small operation selling secondhand clothes in the camp. If business goes well, she can make about $7 a day, but acknowledged that on some days there is no income. "In my home village, I worked on the land and could live off it, but I have no land here," she says, standing outside her home in the camp. "I miss my home, and I miss my livestock: my chickens, my cows and my goats. I miss everything, but I can't go back home at the moment. It's not safe."..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: US News (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-10-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: NEW NCA AGENDA: Natural resource governance reform would energize
Description: "Forest Trends, a non-profit Washington-based organisation established since 1988, with the funding of Joint Peace Fund, released a 72-page important report titled, “Natural resource governance reform and the peace process in Myanmar,” written by Kevin Woods, which emphasizes that the ongoing peace negotiation process directly address the governance of natural resources to realize resource federalism. Regarding this, the report wrote: “The federal decentralization of land and resource governance on the other hand, if managed well with a full set of integrity mechanisms, could be a means of addressing grievances in many of Myanmar’s resource producing areas.” “Decentralization generally fails to help locals unless accompanied by appropriate governance mechanisms to ensure compliant implementation – meaning that more focus on and support for resource governance institutions and mechanisms is needed. The extractive sector could act as a driver of more equitable socio-economic development that helps provide greater stability during the post-conflict transition,” explained the report further..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Govt: Union Peace Conference Session to Be Held Before 2020 Election
Description: "The fourth session of the Union Peace Conference, also known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference, will be held before Burma’s 2020 general election, the spokesperson for the President’s Office has said. “The government has proposed that the fourth Union Peace Conference be held early next year… the EAOs (ethnic armed organizations) have already agreed to it,” spokesperson Zaw Htay said to media outlets after an informal meeting with EAOs in Chiang Mai, Thailand on October 18. According to Zaw Htay, participants in the peace conference will discuss federal principles and the peace process post-2020. The proposal, he said, has three parts. “The first part is about federal structure—for example, we will try to get a common agreement on what kind of federal nation we want to build,” Zaw Htay explained. “In the second part, we will try to come to an agreement on federal principles. The third part is that we will try to get an agreement on how to move the peace process forward in the post-2020 election period.” He added that the 51 points regarding basic federal principles addressed in the last Union Peace Conference session would be combined with the points agreed upon in the fourth session, and then federal policy would be drawn up that reflects these points..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Trust Levels With Govt Are ‘Low,’ KNPP Says
Description: "Representatives of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) say that unresolved issues on the ground in Karenni (Kayah) State have negatively affected trust-building with the government, and have made it difficult for the organization to consider signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Representatives of the government’s Peace Commission and the KNPP held an informal meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand on October 18, after which, KNPP spokesperson Nei Nei Plo spoke to the media. “We are still continuing our negotiations with the government. In practice, there are many reasons and issues on the ground that cause trust to be low. We need to rebuild the trust,” Nei Nei Plo said. Both the government and KNPP leaders said that they discussed how ceasefire implements should be implemented. “NCA implementation needs to move forward without any deadlocks… If trust goes down, it will be difficult not only for the KNPP but also for other non-NCA EAOs (ethnic armed organizations) to sign the NCA,” Nei Nei Plo explained..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: NCA-Signatory EAOs Agree to Resume Official Peace Talks With Govt, Military
Description: "Ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) signatory to Burma’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) have agreed in principle to resume official peace negotiations with the government and military, and to discuss issues on which the peace process remains deadlocked. The agreement came after a three-day meeting of the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which concluded on Saturday. “We already know the deadlock issues. We will try to remove these deadlocks. We are flexible in solving this problem through informal meetings or official meetings,” Col Sai Nguen, a PPST spokesperson, said. “If all stakeholders are likely to get a common agreement, we will continue to hold [another session of] the 21st Century Panglong Conference,” he added. Negotiation teams from the PPST and the government will discuss issues including federalism, the stalled peace process and ceasefires “in depth,” Col Sai Nguen said. According to a statement released after the PPST meeting, NCA-signatory EAOs have agreed to hold a Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM), but the agenda of the meeting will depend on negotiation results..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-14
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Burma Army, KIA Clash In First Battle in Kachin State This Year
Description: "Forces belonging to the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) engaged in their first battle in Kachin State in months in Mohnyin Township this week. Col Naw Bu, who is in charge of the Kachin Independence Organization’s information department, told NMG that there had been no fighting in the state or around nine months, but that it reignited in the second week of October. “I heard our forces clashed with the Burma Army in the KIA’s Battalion 5 area… There were no clashes in 2019,” he said, adding that he had not yet received a detailed field report about the fighting. Battalion 5’s territory is located between the railway and the Irrawaddy River, and reportedly occurred on October 14, according to Naw Bu. Fighting between the groups in Kachin State had paused since the Burma Army’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in late 2018. The declaration expired in September..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Dialogue as a tool in peacebuilding and conflict management
Description: "The ability to resolve conflict through dialogue rather than violence, is an essential skill for Myanmar to build in order to reach a lasting peace. Dialogue needs to take place not just through the country’s Framework for Political dialogue, but at the community level too, where the impact of conflict is often felt most harshly. With the support of JPF, the Centre for Development and Ethnic Studies (CDES) held a training of trainers (TOT) workshop in Yangon in late September to build dialogue and facilitation skills and promote a better understanding of the key principles of dialogue and conflict management. CDES Program Manager Thawng Tha Lian explained the thinking behind the workshop: “Myanmar is rich in its diversity of ethnicities, languages and religions, so a culture of dialogue is essential at both the community and national level to promote mutual understanding and peacebuilding. We believe these participants can help support peace in Myanmar and the through holding more dialogue in their communities.” He said the workshop built on their earlier experience running trainings. “We implemented series of federalism and peace training sessions earlier this year and found that most of our participants also needed to develop dialogue and facilitation skills.”..
Source/publisher: "Joint Peace Fund" via Reliefweb
Date of publication: 2019-10-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar's Arakan Army is Recruiting and Training to Fight Government
Description: "On the edge of a mountainside in Northern Myanmar’s Kachin state, several hundred young army recruits kick up the dust as they jog down a trail during early morning military drills. New recruits are joining groups such as the Arakan Army which has set up training camps in Kachin state, home to fellow Northern Alliance member, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The Arakan Army (AA) formed in 2009 and is currently fighting in Rakhine State against government forces in ongoing skirmishes that have escalated in recent months, amid faltering cease-fire talks. The AA is the armed wing of the United League of Arakan, headquartered in Laiza. Laiza is the capital of KIA - controlled Kachin State, bordering China. The Arakan Army say that they have a current force of 7,000 troops. Like most of the ethnic armed groups within the country who haven’t signed peace agreements, the Arakan army say they are fighting for more self-autonomy and control over their territory..."
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Source/publisher: Voice of America (VOA)
Date of publication: 2019-10-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Under China’s Direction, Myanmar’s Peace Process Goes Nowhere
Topic: BRI, China, Conflict, EAOs, mediation, mediator, Military, Negotiations, Northern Alliance, Peace Process, Peace talks, pipeline, Resources, Tatmadaw, Weapons
Topic: BRI, China, Conflict, EAOs, mediation, mediator, Military, Negotiations, Northern Alliance, Peace Process, Peace talks, pipeline, Resources, Tatmadaw, Weapons
Description: "China has been vying to lead the region, if not the world, economically and politically since President Xi Jinping took power. As Xi’s power has grown, China has sought to expand its leadership role across the region and beyond through economic expansion, political influence and military modernization. On the economic front, China has initiated the far-flung and ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which will be instrumental in expanding its investment and power projection in many countries. Myanmar occupies a strategically important geographical position for the BRI projects, through which China seeks to build links to the Indian Ocean, then to the Middle East and Africa. Myanmar’s political instability and civil war, however, are major barriers to the BRI. Particularly, fighting in northern Shan State, where many of the BRI projects are to be implemented, is disrupting the scheme’s implementation..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-09-27
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Peace through development: China’s experiment in Myanmar
Topic: China, international relations, foreign investment, conflict, Belt and Road Initiative, China Myanmar Economic Corridor, Sun Guoxiang, ethnic issues, development
Sub-title: Recurring conflict and military stalemate in northern Myanmar have prompted China to embark on a bold experiment – one with implications that Nay Pyi Taw might not yet even comprehend.
Topic: China, international relations, foreign investment, conflict, Belt and Road Initiative, China Myanmar Economic Corridor, Sun Guoxiang, ethnic issues, development
Description: "WHEN VIEWING the domestic conflicts of a sovereign nation, China sees development and stability as two mutually reinforcing concepts. Instead of focusing on the fair and just distribution of political and economic rights, China prioritises making the economic pie larger so that everyone gets a bigger share. This approach reflects China’s own experiences in strengthening political stability through economic development. Enhanced economic performance validates the legitimacy of the state and improves stability, which in turn creates conditions for further economic development. This development-oriented approach towards conflict resolution has resulted in northern Myanmar’s conflicts becoming intrinsic components of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, The rationale China has been formally involved in the mediation of ethnic conflicts in northern Myanmar since early 2013, when it established the office of Special Envoy for Asian Affairs. Six years of mediation in Myanmar – during which there has been no agreement over the mechanisms and structure of the peace process, or the distribution of political and economic power in the ethnic states – has shepherded the Chinese to a few key conclusions. First, the complicated history and the fundamental lack of trust between the Bamar-dominated central government and ethnic minorities means it is not feasible to open negotiations on the most difficult issues, particularly power distribution. In this climate of mistrust and hostility, it is unrealistic to expect elites on both sides to make the concessions necessary for a peace deal..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: TNLA intrudes into the area controlled by the army: army official
Description: "The army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) clashed in northern Shan State for two consecutive days as the TNLA forces intruded in the area occupied by the army in Namtu Township, said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun, Secretary of Tatmadaw True News Information Team. An army column encountered with TNLA forces in a place between Nanthwe and Mawhan villages in Kutkai Township on July 13 and the army clashed with TNLA forces on Lwehan Mountain in Namtu Township in the same day, announced News and Information Department from the TNLA on July 13. “Our troops encountered with the TNLA forces yesterday as their forces intruded in our area,” said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun. Moreover fighting between army and TNLA occurred on Lwehan Mountain and near Nanthwe Village on July 12, announced the TNLA. The army and TNLA encountered for 59 times from December 21 to July 13 after the army announced unilateral ceasefire and 11 times of clashes occurred from July 1 to 13 in this year, it said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-07-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Government, Northern Alliance likely to meet in last week of October
Description: "The organizations concerned with the peace dialogue between the government and the Northern Alliance will likely hold a meeting in the last week of October. After the last Kengtung peace talks held on September 17, both sides agreed to resume their talks in October. They issued a seven-point joint statement after that last talks. Spokesman of Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) Maj. Ta Aik Kyaw said to Mizzima, “It is still under negotiation, they have not yet replied to us. I think they will reply to us after this Thadingyut (light) festival long holiday.” In an attack on government troops on October 9 by the TNLA, some government troops were killed and seven civilians were wounded. Regarding this attack, the TNLA issued a press statement which says, “The government troops travelled from Hseni in a convoy of seven military trucks to launch offensive against our TNLA and then our TNLA troops attacked them in preemptive self-defence.” Maj. Ta Aik Kyaw said, “We will have solutions only from talks and dialogues. The peace talks and dialogues will not be affected by these attacks but it will be more convenient and easier unless there is fighting during the peace talks. The fighting will hamper and affect the talks a little bit.” In the agreement reached between the two sides, they agreed to control and restrain from further fighting and opening liaison offices for continuation of negotiations and keeping communication channels open..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Armed Group in Myanmar’s Shan State Will Release Detained Police Officers
Description: "The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has said that four Myanmar police officers detained by the ethnic armed group in Kutkai Township, northern Shan State, will be released soon. Four police officers from Mong Si Village were detained by the TNLA on Sept. 29 while traveling to Namhsan Town, according to Mong Si Village head administrator Daw Htu San. The village head told The Irrawaddy Tuesday that local authorities were trying to negotiate with the TNLA for the four officers’ release. TNLA Brigadier General Tar Phone Kyaw told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the four officers were detained after they demanded taxes from local people in Kutkai Township. He said the four police officers would stand on a bridge and “ask for taxes” from people who were traveling. “We are working to release the police officers. We will release them soon,” Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw said. The four police officers used the TNLA’s name when asking local people for taxes, according to TNLA spokesperson Major Tar Aike Kyaw, so the TNLA arrested them...
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-10-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar conflict: civilians caught in battle in north
Description: "More than 2,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Myanmar's northern Shan state, as the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an ethnic Palaung armed group and the Myanmar army staged tit-for-tat attacks. That's despite unilateral ceasefire announcements by both sides in the past two months. And civilians caught in the middle of that fighting are bearing the brunt..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-10
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Renewed conflict in Myanmar slows China's Belt and Road projects
Topic: Belt and Road
Sub-title: Ethnic strife and national pride halt Beijing-championed infrastructure projects
Topic: Belt and Road
Description: "A recent decision by the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, not to extend a cease-fire aimed at ethnic armed organizations excluded from a nationwide peace agreement puts the country's Belt and Road projects in further limbo. Multiple projects have already been halted, including the key Myitsone dam hydropower project in in Myanmar's northernmost state of Kachin. But ethnic strife is not to blame. Rather, the dam has run up against nationwide opposition and an International Finance Corp. report strongly advising against damming the upper reaches of Myanmar's major rivers. Meanwhile, work on a feasibility study for another project has been suspended as a result of the renewed hostilities. Tatmadaw forces in late September assaulted a Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army base in Kutkai, squarely in the middle of the proposed route for the China-led Muse-Lashio-Mandalay rail project in northern Shan state. One day after fighting recommenced, a Myanma Railways spokesman announced the suspension, blaming the instability. The attacks signal the failure of Chinese attempts to broker peace between Myanmar's vigorously independent military and a group of armed organizations known as The Northern Alliance..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Nikkei Review" (Japan)
Date of publication: 2019-10-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Life in Panghsang, a Chinese Enclave in Wa Region
Description: "Nestled in the hills of eastern Shan State near the China-Myanmar border, Panghsang is the capital of the Wa Region, a self-administered area approved by Myanmar’s Constitution. It is home to Myanmar’s largest and best-equipped ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), with an estimated 30,000 troops and 10,000 auxiliary members, according to Myanmar Peace Monitor. In April, the army celebrated the 30th anniversary of its foundation in Panghsang in grand scale, with columns of troops paraded in the city square. Founded in 1989, the UWSA signed a ceasefire with Myanmar’s then-military government—the State Law and Order Restoration Council—in the same year after splitting from the Communist Party of Burma. It also founded the United Wa State Party and the Wa State People’s Government while pressing the Union government to recognize their region as a state of Myanmar. Despite its location on the Myanmar side of the border, on a stroll around the town you could believe you’re in China. On the streets of Panghsang, most people communicate in Mandarin. Chinese characters, along with Myanmar and Wa translations are emblazoned on shopfronts. Yuan is the currency of choice here. For a good cell phone signal, you’d better connect with a Chinese network. Street signs are written in Myanmar and Chinese. Stores are stocked with goods imported from China..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Why China is sceptical about the peace process
Topic: China, conflict, ethnic armed groups, international relations, Kokang, Sun Guoxiang, nationwide ceasefire agreement, Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee
Sub-title: In the first of a two-part series, contributor Yun Sun examines the different approaches China has taken to mediating in Myanmar’s armed conflicts, and why it has begun to adopt a more limited – yet still important – role.
Topic: China, conflict, ethnic armed groups, international relations, Kokang, Sun Guoxiang, nationwide ceasefire agreement, Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee
Description: "SINCE Myanmar's current peace process began eight years ago, ethnic reconciliation has become a benchmark in evaluating progress of the Myanmar nation and state, alongside civil-military relations and economic development. China is undeniably a major stakeholder in this process. Many of Myanmar’s non-state armed groups hold territory along or close to the 2,000-kilometre border that it shares with China, and armed conflict along the border has the potential to undermine China’s national security. For China, this creates an impulse – even a need – to intervene in and mediate the conflict. Previously, the political justification for intervention in Myanmar’s conflicts had been a problem, especially in the context of China’s principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. However, that obstacle was removed long ago by citing the direct impact of the conflict on China’s core national interests. When the internal affairs of Myanmar became an interferon in China’s domestic affairs, creating social instability and border insecurity, it was seen as having become China’s business, reconciling the gap between the need to intervene and the principle of non-interference. Despite its recent active diplomacy, China has still limited its mediation role to that of a convener and a logistical facilitator rather than an agenda-setter, a broker or an external guarantor. Its role is characterised by a limited bottom line focused on a military ceasefire, rather than a political agreement about the peace mechanism and a power distribution between the Bamar and the ethnic minorities. As such, the process and formality of dialogue is more important than a substantive outcome..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar: No sign of lasting peace in Wa State
Sub-title: The far east of Myanmar is run by the country's largest rebel army which unilaterally declared it Wa State.
Description: "In Myanmar, it has been almost four years since a so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement was signed between ethnic rebel armies and the government. But there is still no sign of lasting peace. Some groups are refusing to sign the document, including what is regarded as East Asia’s largest non-state army, which runs an isolated state on the borders with China and Thailand. Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay takes a rare look at the secretive Wa State..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication: 2019-09-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: A Violent Push to Shake Up Ceasefire Negotiations
Description: "A trio of ethnic armed groups have escalated their fight with the military in Myanmar’s Shan State. This alliance has long been outside the country’s peace process. With China’s help, the government should pursue bilateral ceasefires – and longer-term rapprochement – with the three organisations. What’s new? On 15 August, an alliance of ethnic armed groups staged coordinated attacks against strategic targets in northern Myanmar. The offensive left up to fifteen people dead, and clashes reportedly continue in the northern part of Shan State, creating concerns for civilians’ safety. Why did it happen? The three ethnic armed groups behind the attacks have been largely excluded from the peace process for the past five years. In recent months, the government has proposed bilateral ceasefires to the groups but has set unrealistic demands and accompanied the offers with military pressure. Why does it matter? The attacks mark a serious escalation in Shan State’s conflict. They represent a rejection of bilateral ceasefire terms that the Myanmar government has proposed to the armed groups. While the Myanmar military has not yet responded with significant force, the brunt of mounting violence will inevitably fall on civilians. Myanmar’s military has not retaliated in the heavy-handed way many observers expected, given the attacks’ provocative nature. Instead, it has focused on securing key infrastructure and reopening the highway to the border with China. Contrary to most expectations, the military has also extended its unilateral ceasefire from 31 August to 21 September. The government negotiating team has moved quickly to resume talks with the groups, with meetings held on 31 August and 17 September. On 9 September, the Brotherhood Alliance announced a one-month ceasefire but also warned that it would retaliate if attacked. China, which wields strong influence in the border areas and over some of the groups, has also been encouraging dialogue and de-escalation. The Myanmar military could still decide to strike back, however. A counteroffensive would have dire consequences for the area’s civilian population, particularly ethnic Ta’ang (also referred to as Palaung), whom government forces suspect of providing support to the TNLA. Myanmar’s military and, to a lesser extent, the three ethnic armed groups have a history of human rights violations. Already, there are reports of indiscriminate shelling and mortar fire, as well as attacks on local aid groups’ vehicles and civilian cars and trucks on the highway. Thousands of residents have fled their homes, some pre-emptively out of fear of being targeted by forces on either side. Humanitarian access, which is already constrained, is likely to become more difficult..."
Source/publisher: "International Crisis Group (ICG)" (Belgium) via Reliefweb
Date of publication: 2019-09-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Rebel Alliance Unilaterally Extends Temporary Cease-fire in Myanmar
Description: "Three ethnic armed groups fighting with Myanmar's military in northern Rakhine state and northern Shan state have unilaterally extended a cease-fire until end of this year, according to a statement released by the alliance on Friday. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA), originally declared the ceasefire Sept. 9, and it was to end on Oct. 8. In the announcement, the alliance said it was ready to strike a bilateral cease-fire agreement if the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar's national army is called, was also willing. "On our sides, we will not launch any offensive against the Burmese military. We will cease all offensives," AA spokesman Khine Thukha told RFA's Myanmar Service. "Because this is the time we are holding peace talks, we think it's best to stop all the fighting. That's why we are doing what we can. We expect it is helpful to build trust between the two sides," he added. While Khine Thukha spoke of peace negotiations, he blamed the army for a recent eruption in fighting..."
Source/publisher: RFA (USA) via "SingaporeNews.Net" (Singapore)
Date of publication: 2019-09-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Ethnic Armed Alliance Extends Ceasefire for Rest of Year
Description: "An alliance of ethnic armed groups that has been fighting the Myanmar military in the northeast and west of the country has extended its unilateral ceasefire until the end of this year, it said in a statement on Friday. The alliance comprises the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA). The move came one day ahead of the expiration of the Myanmar military’s own truce on Sept. 21. Observers described the armed groups’ ceasefire extension as a shrewd political move. The groups “gain a political advantage by announcing the ceasefire,” said U Maung Maung Soe, an ethnic affairs analyst. “While we can’t say for sure whether the fighting will totally stop, the military tensions in Rakhine and northern Shan states are easing,” he said. “It is a response to the military truce,” said Dr. Min Zaw Oo, the director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security. Unlike earlier, he said, the groups now seem to “be serious about the ceasefire”, albeit with conditions. It is not yet known whether the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) will extend for a fourth time its truce in five military commands covering Shan and Kachin states. The military declared the truce—which excludes conflict-torn Rakhine State in western Myanmar—on Dec. 21, 2018, and extended it in April, June and August. Sources close to the military expect Rakhine will again be left out, even if the Tatmadaw extends its truce on Saturday..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Reliefweb via "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-09-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Kachin Political Leaders discuss Myanmar Peace, Dam Project with Chinese Ambassador
Description: "Ethnic Kachin leaders from three political parties in Myanmar’s northernmost state have met with China’s ambassador to the country to discuss the faltering peace process in which the Myanmar government is trying to get its military and nearly a dozen ethnic armies to agree to a permanent cease-fire, a party representative said Monday. They also discussed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a controversial Chinese-backed mega-dam project, and Chinese laborers working illegally in Kachin state, said G. Aung Khan, chairman of the Kachin Democratic Party (KDP), who participated in the meeting. Ambassador Hong Liang met with the party heads on Dec. 29 in Kachin capital Myitkyina after the same Kachin leaders met with Dan Chugg, the UK’s ambassador to Myanmar, and Scot Marciel, the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, he said. “Hong Liang had said it is a good time to work on the peace process,” he said. “It seems China can handle Myanmar’s peace process, but we want other countries to be involved.” G. Aung Khan also said that China’s involvement in Myanmar’s peace process, a key project of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian-led government, is based on its own self-interest in mega-projects tied to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping’s U.S. $1 trillion global infrastructure-spending program..."
Source/publisher: "Belt & Road News" (China)
Date of publication: 2019-01-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Rebel Alliance Unilaterally Extends Temporary Ceasefire in Myanmar
Description: "Three ethnic armed groups fighting with Myanmar’s military in northern Rakhine State and northern Shan State have unilaterally extended a ceasefire until end of this year, according to a statement released by the alliance on Friday. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA), originally declared the ceasefire September 9, and it was to end on October 8. In the announcement, the alliance said it was ready to strike a bilateral ceasefire agreement if the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s national army is called, was also willing. “On our sides, we will not launch any offensive against the Burmese military. We will cease all offensives,” said Khine Thukha, spokesperson for the AA in an interview with RFA’s Myanmar Service. “Because this is the time we are holding peace talks, we think it's best to stop all the fighting. That’s why we are doing what we can. We expect it is helpful to build trust between the two sides,” he added. While the spokesperson spoke of peace negotiations, he blamed the army for a recent eruption in fighting..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-09-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Action to end Myanmar war crimes urged
Topic: MYANMAR, WAR CRIMES, JUSTIC, EGENOCIDE, SHAN STATE, RAKHINE STATE, OHCHR, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, RIGHTS, KAREN STATE, UN FACT-FINDING MISSION, MYANMAR MILITARY, 'FLYING TOMATO', UNHRC
Topic: MYANMAR, WAR CRIMES, JUSTIC, EGENOCIDE, SHAN STATE, RAKHINE STATE, OHCHR, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, RIGHTS, KAREN STATE, UN FACT-FINDING MISSION, MYANMAR MILITARY, 'FLYING TOMATO', UNHRC
Description: "The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (aka Forum-Asia), Progressive Voice and the Karen Human Rights Group are calling on member and observer states of the UN Human Rights Council to take concrete action to ensure justice and accountability for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes perpetrated against ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar. We are deeply concerned regarding the escalation in conflict, particularly in Rakhine and Shan states, and are urging the UNHRC to broaden the mandate of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar regularly to document and report violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law in that country. Shan state has observed an escalation in conflict since the factions of the Northern Alliance’s Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) carried out attacks against the Myanmar military’s Defense Service Technological Academy at Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Region, as well as a toll gate, customs house and police security outpost on August 15. The military was quick to retaliate, with some of the worst fighting observed in Lashio and Kutkai. In Lashio, the military used Buddhist temples to fire shells into villages, resulting in the death of a 52-year-old farmer. In Kutkai, parents and family grieved the death of three Kachin children due to heavy shelling between the Northern Alliance and the military..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
Date of publication: 2019-09-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: No Cease-fire Deal With Northern Alliance, But Parties Agree to Another Meeting in Myanmar
Description: "Myanmar government peace negotiators and the Northern Alliance group of ethnic armies on Tuesday did not reach an agreement on a bilateral cease-fire to end hostilities between the rebel forces and national military in northeast and western Myanmar, though they decided to meet again for further discussions, spokesmen for the parties said. Myanmar military representatives also participated in the meeting with representatives from the four Northern Alliance groups — the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) — in the eastern Shan state town of Kengtung. Armed conflict has raged for most of this year between three of the rebel armies and government army in Myanmar’s northern Shan state and between the AA and national soldiers in Rakhine state, leaving scores of civilians and soldiers dead and displacing thousands of local residents. Zaw Htay, director general of the President’s Office, told a news conference that government negotiators and the Northern Alliance agreed to seven points of a draft bilateral cease-fire, including the holding of further talks, the establishment of liaison offices to prevent further fighting, and the return of displaced civilians. He called the talks with the rebel armies positive because they aimed to build trust between the parties, though they yielded no cease-fire agreement. “We had expected to sign [a deal], but they didn’t have a mandate to sign it,” Zaw Htay said. The Northern Alliance has a month-long temporary truce in effect through Oct. 8, while a unilateral cease-fire by the Myanmar military expires on Sept. 21..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Reliefweb" via Radio Free Asia (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Peace Monitoring Dashboard: August 2019
Description: "Locals and MPs in Rakhine State are calling on the Gov’t Military to follow existing laws when they take action against people living in conflict-affected areas of the state UNFC decided to temporarily suspend some of its activities as members drift apart The Conflict in northern Rakhine State has affected Myanmar’s democratic transition, said spokesperson of the Office of the President Released NCA-S EAOs PPST meeting (04/2019) Statement UN Fact Findings said foreign Companies, including state-owned companies in China, Selling Weapons to Myanmar Military to against ethnic against ethnic minorities Nippon Foundation to provide over 6 billion Kyat for NMSP’s development project Gov’t denies refugees need more aid in Rakhine Conflict and internet shutdown hit Mrauk-U tourism Fighting Between Tatmadaw, SSPP in Tangyan Displaces Hundreds Northern Alliance urges Tatmadaw to end fighting in Rakhine Myanmar Military Restricts Movement in Northern Rakhine’s Minbya Tatmadaw issues statement saying ethnic NCA non-signatories should negotiate eternal peace without maximum delay Rescue Worker Killed in Fighting Between Tatmadaw military and Northern Alliance Many Schools have been closed and IDP students face educational roadblocks in the villages of Rakhine and Northern Shan States. Ceasefire negotiations was not progress at meeting between government, Northern Alliance Villagers Flee Amid and Highway roads closed Fighting in Myanmar’s Northeast between Tatmadaw and three Ethnic armed alliance two youths wounded in bullet-injuries including a pregnant lady when the security forces allegedly opened fire in Rakhine Kyauk Taw township..."
Source/publisher: "Reliefweb" via Myanmar Peace Monitor
Date of publication: 2019-09-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Why Myanmar’s Wa always get what they want
Topic: CHINA, MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, FPNCC
Sub-title: China-backed ethnic army is under pressure to disarm but tells Asia Times ‘if we don’t have weapons, we have nothing’
Topic: CHINA, MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, FPNCC
Description: "Shops, hotels and restaurants in Panghsang, the unofficial capital of Myanmar’s northeastern area controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), display signs in three languages: Wa, Chinese and Bamar. But while Wa, Chinese and other ethnic dialects are widely spoken in the city, very few residents can speak or read, Bamar. Other social and political influences from the country’s largest ethnic group are also largely non-existent. The UWSA and its political wing, the United Wa State Party (UWSP), have what the country’s many ethnic armed organizations crave: an autonomous region with no interference from central authorities, armed forces equipped with sophisticated weapons and, most significantly, bilateral ceasefire agreements with the Myanmar military, one of which has held firm for three decades. Now, however, the UWSA is under pressure to also sign the government’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), an initiative launched by the previous military regime that the current elected administration has made a pre-condition for political talks on the fractious nation’s future as a unitary state or federal union. “The government wants us to give up our weapons, but we can do that only when a political agreement has been reached, and when there is peace in the whole country. Only then, not now,” said Zhao Guoan, a member of the UWSP’s politburo’s standing committee tasked with handling foreign affairs, in an Asia Times interview..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2019-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar security forces conduct airstrikes in Arakan
Description: "As the fighting between Myanmar security forces and Arakan Army (AA) members intensified after three days of encounters, the Myanmar Tamadaw today used three helicopters to launch airstrikes in Min Bya township of Arakan. According to a witness, the strikes were conducted at around 2 pm and it lasted for 20 minutes only. “Three helicopters flew over the mountain range of Kyaw Kha, near to Dai Thar village under Min Bya township, from where the security forces conducted the airstrikes,” added the witness. Kyaw Kha range witnessed the encounters since the morning hours and by 2 pm the airstrikes were reported. A young woman from Pyin Young village, which is 2 miles away from the location, informed that they could see a wave of smoke in the sky over the battlefield. A village administrator of the area revealed that the fighting broke out on Saturday and it continued till Monday, where both sides have used small guns and artilleries..."
Source/publisher: "BNI Multimedia Group" (Myanmar) via Narinjara
Date of publication: 2019-09-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Government negotiators, Northern Alliance begin talks in Kyaingtong
Sub-title: Representatives of the government and the Northern Alliance of four ethnic armed groups met in Kyaingtong on Tuesday in a bid to find sustainable peace, especially in Shan State, which seen renewed fighting in recent days.
Description: "U Lamai Khun Ja of the Myitkyina-based Peace Talk Creation Group said the talks could be extended if today’s meeting goes well. “We’re going to negotiate a bilateral ceasefire first,” he said. “It depends on the results of today discussions whether the negotiations will continue.” The alliance is comprised of the Kachin Independence Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and the Arakan Army. Tuesday’s meeting was the second between the two sides, after a meeting in Kyaingtong on August 31. Senior Tatmadaw (military) officials, including Lieutenant General Yar Pyae and Lieutenant General Min Naung, are to join the talks for the first time. The talks came as renewed fighting between the military and TNLA erupted on the outskirts of Namhsan town on Friday, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of villagers and the reported death of one man.
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-09-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Kyaingtong talks to include military matters for first time
Sub-title: The Northern Alliance of four ethnic armed groups and government peace negotiators will hold talks for the second time in a fortnight in Kyaingtong, Shan State, on Tuesday, as sporadic clashes continue between the Tatmadaw (military) and the groups.
Description: "But the meeting takes on a new dimension as representatives of the military and the alliance will also discuss military matters for the first time. The urgency of the meeting is underscored by the fact the alliance agreed to the military’s demand to hold the talks in Kyaingtong, rather than its original choice of Panghsang township in the Wa self-administered region of Shan, or in China. The government rejected the alliance’s choice of venue for security reasons, it said. Government negotiators insisted on holding the talks in Kyaingtong during a meeting with the alliance in the town on August 31. The alliance comprises the Kachin Independence Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army, and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. U Zaw Htay, spokesman of the President’s Office, said that if Tuesday’s talks are successful a more sustainable ceasefire could be implemented in the area. Fighting eased between the military and alliance after the August 31 talks as both sides declared separate ceasefires, but clashes erupted again on Friday. The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting includes discussions about the signing of bilateral ceasefires that could pave the way to the signing of the more comprehensive government-initiated Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Ten ethnic armed groups have signed NCA, while seven others – including the alliance – have refused to sign the pact..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
Date of publication: 2019-09-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Govt Negotiation Body to Form Peace Secretariat
Topic: NCA, NRPC, Peace Process
Topic: NCA, NRPC, Peace Process
Description: "The government’s National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) is planning to form a Peace Secretariat team in order to negotiate with ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) that are both signatories and non-signatories to the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), according to a spokesperson for the Presidents’ Office. U Zaw Htay, director general of the Presidents’ Office, told reporters about the plan at a press conference following a government meeting in Yangon with negotiators from ten EAOs on Tuesday. The government is still “discussing with the relevant organizations the formation and structure of a NRPC Peace Secretariat,” he said. “When [it is formed], we will continue [negotiations] on the peace process with both the signatories and non-signatories.” Currently, the NRPC’s Peace Commission leads all peace process negotiations. The proposed Peace Secretariat would be comprised of experts and civil servants, he said. The NRPC was formed in July 2016 by the ruling National League for Democracy government after the dissolution of the Myanmar Peace Center, which was formed by the previous government..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-09-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar's Wa rebels march in show of force
Description: "It has a standing army of 25,000, manufactures its own guns and conscripts at least one member of each household -- meet the United Wa State Army: Communist, reclusive, China-backed rebels determined to protect their supremacy over Myanmar's badland border zone. Thousands of soldiers, including a company of women and a sniper platoon in combat webbing, marched early Wednesday alongside armoured vehicles in Panghsang, the capital of the ethnic Wa, which borders China's Yunnan province.It was a show of force marking 30 years since Communist Wa rebels prodded Myanmar into a ceasefire leading to the establishment of special, semi-autonomous zone, marshalled by Bao Youxiang, chief of one of the world's largest non-state armies. This week the normally inscrutable Wa extended a rare invite to foreign media to their isolated territory to show off their military muscle and deliver a defiant message of self-sufficiency within Myanmar's borders..."
Source/publisher: "Bangkok Post" via AFP
Date of publication: 2019-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Hopes Talks Can Shore Up Cease-fire With Northern Alliance
Description: "The Myanmar government on Friday stressed the importance of an upcoming meeting between its peace negotiators and the Northern Alliance group of ethnic armies to try to end escalated hostilities in northern Shan state, and warned of possible negative consequences should the talks fail. Tun Tun Oo, vice chairman of the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC), will lead the team of negotiators meeting with leaders of four Northern Alliance groups — the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)—the eastern Shan state town of Kengtung on Sept. 17, said government spokesman Zaw Htay. Hostilities intensified after the Northern Alliance, except for the KIA, attacked various locations in war-torn northern Shan state and neighboring Mandalay region in mid-August in retaliation for what they said were offensives by Myanmar soldiers in areas the groups’ control. They carried out further armed assaults on bridges and border passages to disrupt trade routes in the border region..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)"
Date of publication: 2019-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar Military Says Remote Landmines Pose Major Threat in Rakhine
Topic: Arakan Army, Landmines, Rakhine State, Tatmadaw
Topic: Arakan Army, Landmines, Rakhine State, Tatmadaw
Description: "Myanmar military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun has said the Arakan Army (AA) presents a major threat because the ethnic armed group now uses modern technologies in the violent conflict in Rakhine State. The military spokesperson said the military needs to take extra security precautions as the AA has been using remote-detonated explosive devices in their attacks. “Bombings can be carried out via mobile phones and walkie-talkies, so we need to pay greater attention to security,” said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun. He made the comments in response to a recent report by Indian intelligence agencies that the AA is using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies to trigger landmines targeting the Myanmar army. The Indian government is concerned about the threat the AA poses to the Kaladan Project, a multimodal transport project now under development that will link the Indian port of Kolkata with the port in Sittwe, Rakhine State’s capital and a key gateway for India to access Southeast Asia..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Army Tanks Roll into Myitkyina as Kachin Activists Gather
Description: "A group of politically active Kachin gathering in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina says they were very alarmed by the Myanmar army’s decision to send a convoy of military tanks and other military vehicles down the same road they were gathering on. In what the activists say was a clear attempt to intimidate them. The convoy of about 10 vehicles appeared on a major road in Myitkiyna on September 9th as Kachin youth and representatives of a Kachin opposition party were gathering. “I think they rule the country with an iron fist. If something happens they show off their military power. It should not be like this. Especially when we are going to build a federal nation,” said Duwa Gumgrawng Awng Hkam, a long time Kachin activist and the vice-president of the newly formed Kachin State’s People’s Party. Another Myitkyina based activist told KNG he considered the action to be a threat to the public. “People were shocked when tanks came into downtown. In other words its threatening people. From a peace perspective, it deviates from the peace process. Do they really want peace? People can ask questions about this” said Tsaji from the Kachin Development Network Group (KDNG). Lum Zawng, the head of the All Kachin Students and Youth Union (AKSYU), also took issue with the convoy which occurred a day before a high profile court case filed by the army against the head of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) for recent public comments he made about the military to US President Donald Trump. The suit against the KBC chief has since been dropped. “I think it wasn’t for the security of people but it’s showing off their military power. Because there is a court hearing today at the township court for the case involving the KBC chairman and the army. They intentionally showed off their military power to threaten people,” explained Lum Zawng. Lum Zawng added that he saw no reason for the military to enter Myitkyina’s downtown or patrol the downtown area..."
Source/publisher: "BNI Multimedia Group" via Kachin News Group
Date of publication: 2019-09-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Military road defies Myanmar national ceasefire, fuels insecurity
Sub-title: Critics say military role in road-widening project in Karen territory violates ceasefire, as UN warns of dangers.
Description: "On the Thai-Myanmar border – Military control of a road-widening project through ethnic Karen territory in Myanmar's southeast is in breach of the country's ceasefire agreement, contributing to renewed fighting and possibly implicating government institutions, Al Jazeera has learned. The widening of the unpaved road to nearly 10.5 metres from 3.7 metres runs for nearly 40km through territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), one of 10 ethnic armed groups to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government and military - known as the Tatmadaw - since 2015. Ethnic Karen groups say that by leading the project, the military has been able to increase troops in KNU territory, move them without securing the KNU's permission and engage in land grabs. All of which is prohibited under the terms of the ceasefire. "That's why trust-building is ruined," Saw Tadoh Moo, general secretary of the KNU, said. "With these kinds of activities, how can we trust them?" The UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar has also found human rights violations in relation to infrastructure projects in territories where ethnic minorities have fought for decades for greater autonomy. In its final report released on Monday, the mission detailed allegations of "firing on and shelling villages, destroying property, injuring civilians and committing violent acts" by the military during road construction in Karen communities. After decades of civil war, the de-facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi said in 2016 that Myanmar's peace process was a top priority for her National League for Democracy (NLD) government. Yet as accusations of ceasefire and rights violations mount, questions have been raised about the NLD administration's role in the road expansion in Bago Region's Kyaukkyi Township..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera"
Date of publication: 2019-09-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Border Fighting, Cease-fire Underscore China Influence And Its Limits
Description: "With recent intense fighting in Myanmar’s northern Shan state and ongoing armed conflict in northern Rakhine state, China’s influence in the Southeast Asian country’s peace process has grown with the country’s government pushing for ethnic armed groups to meet with peace negotiators. But not everyone in Myanmar trusts Beijing or sees its role as beneficial. China jumped in last month after three members of the Northern Alliance group — the Arakan Army (AA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) — launched coordinated attacks on various locations in war-torn northern Shan state and neighboring Mandalay region, killing 15 Myanmar troops, policemen, and civilians. The combined forces carried out further armed assaults on various bridges and border passages to disrupt overland trade with China in retaliation for what they said were offensives by Myanmar soldiers in areas the ethnic armies control. As fighting intensified last month, Sun Guoxiang, special envoy for Asian affairs from China’s foreign ministry, met with the armies to express Beijing’s displeasure with the armed conflict, which has increased instability in the border region, and pressured them to stop fighting..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)"
Date of publication: 2019-09-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Blood Amber Military resource grab clears out indigenous peoples in Kachin State’s Hugawng Valley
Description: "In 2018, Burmese government troops stepped up their war in Kachin State, further driving out indigenous populations and expanding control over the area’s rich natural resources and strategic trading routes. The fiercest offensive was fought in northwest Kachin State’s Hugawng Valley, to secure the historic Ledo Road linking India and China, which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and to seize hugely lucrative amber mines. Kachin State amber is a global treasure: it is the only type in the world formed during the age of the dinosaurs. “Blood amber” is the Chinese name of the extremely rare, deep red variety of the gem found only in the Hugawng Valley – a name which resonates grimly with local residents who have been driven out by the recent offensive. The amber mining boom began in 2010, due to demand from the Chinese market, causing tens of thousands of migrant miners from across Burma to flock to the region. In 2015, discovery of a 99-millionyear-old feathered dinosaur tail in Hugawng Valley amber further fuelled the trade..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG)"
Date of publication: 2019-08-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 17.21 MB 1.33 MB
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Title: Three Myanmar Rebel Groups Announce 1-Month Ceasefire in Northern Shan State
Description: "The alliance of three ethnic armed groups that has been fighting the Myanmar military in northern Shan State on Monday announced a unilateral one-month ceasefire as a trust-building gesture amid peace negotiations aimed at producing bilateral ceasefire agreements between the government and the armed groups, local sources said. The Myanmar military has already imposed its own ceasefire in the region The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), who refer to themselves as the Brotherhood Alliance, said in a statement that the ceasefire would be in effect from Monday through Oct. 8. “In order to facilitate the peace negotiations, we have declared a one-month ceasefire,” Brigadier General Tar Phone Kyaw of the TNLA told The Irrawaddy on Monday. “We will try to build trust with them for one month as a trial period,” he said.
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-09-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar’s Wa seek peace through strength
Topic: MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, BAO YOUXIANG
Sub-title: UWSA leader Bao Youxiang tells Asia Times in an exclusive interview why the world’s arguably largest and best-equipped non-state army is reluctant to lay down its guns
Topic: MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, BAO YOUXIANG
Description: "Columns of soldiers goose-stepped in perfect formation on a parade ground. Trucks towed heavy weaponry while armored fighting vehicles drove past a grandstand of observers. The ceremonial show of force along the Myanmar-Chinese border in mid-April was similar to military muscle-flexing in many places in the world. But this was no normal fighting force; it was the United Wa State Army (UWSA), arguably the largest and best-equipped non-state army worldwide. The ethnic Wa were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of their own military force in what effectively amounts to a self-governing buffer state between Myanmar and China. Myanmar security authorities prevented foreign journalists from attending the celebrations at the UWSA’s Pangkham headquarters, which was attended by thousands of tribesman from both sides of the China-Myanmar border.
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
Date of publication: 2019-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Wa rebel group torpedoes Suu Kyi’s peace drive
Sub-title: Myanmar’s United Wa State Army, a militia long known for drug trafficking, has emerged as the core of resistance to the government’s peace plan
Description: "After nearly six years of fruitless peace talks in Myanmar, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the country’s largest and most heavily armed ethnic force, has asserted its until now dormant power over the process. Behind the UWSA looms China’s security services, a key but often unspoken actor in Myanmar’s northern ethnic wars. Together they have outmaneuvered and marginalized the Western governments, peace promotion outfits and think tanks that have been intimately involved in Myanmar’s peace process since it was first launched by then President Thein Sein in 2011 and since sustained by Aung San Suu Kyi’s nearly one-year-old elected National League for Democracy party-led government. Western government-sponsored seminars, workshops​ and “capacity-building” peace projects have been overshadowed in the past year by the UWSA’s more concrete and impactful initiatives. Those have included meetings held at its Panghsang headquarters​ in the autonomous area it controls near the Chinese border, where ethnic armed groups have agreed on common strategies to deal with Myanmar’s central, civil and military authorities. The UWSA has also impacted the battlefield by providing its ethnic allies with munitions to fight against the Myanmar army..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
Date of publication: 2017-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The ‘loose end’ of the peace process
Sub-title: Understanding the behaviour and motivation of the three groups that launched attacks in Shan State on August 15 is key to charting a course forward for the peace process.
Description: "WITH FIGHTING in Rakhine State since January and escalating bloodshed in northern Shan State, Myanmar is enduring a level of conflict unprecedented in recent years. This state of affairs has further diminished the already gloomy prospect for any progress in the peace process before the 2020 elections. The peace process, with all its weaknesses and incapacity, may not be completely to blame for the recent fighting. However, the timing, location and specific patterns of the conflicts taking place in recent years require more analysis if a resolution is to be achieved in future. With perhaps some minor exceptions, the most significant armed conflicts in Myanmar since 2011 have taken place between Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, and the four organisations under the Northern Alliance banner: the Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army. Most of the fighting has taken place in Kachin and Shan states, where there is often an overlap in territory among and between the ethnic armed groups and the Tatmadaw. The military alliance among the four groups is categorically distinct from the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee, which is a political organisation and does not automatically and directly carry military commitment to mutual defence – a point that was made clear at the second Panghsang Summit in 2017. The KIA, as the leader of the Northern Alliance, has been engaged in active conflict with the Tatmadaw since June 2011. Its support of the three other organisations is easily understood – to distract and mitigate the military pressure it faces from the Tatmadaw..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication: 2019-09-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: The Chinese mega-dam in Myanmar that is hampering the peace process
Topic: Dam Kachin Myanmar Myitsone Dam
Sub-title: The government of Myanmar is working to restart the controversial Myitsone dam project in Kachin State. It doesn’t bode well for the ongoing peace process.
Topic: Dam Kachin Myanmar Myitsone Dam
Description: "Following Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s attendance at China’s Belt and Road Initiative forum on April 25, the government is working with Beijing to revive the Myitsone hydropower project. Myitsone is a Chinese-backed dam proposed for the Irrawaddy River that was suspended in September 2011 due to popular opposition. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi originally opposed the US$3.6 billion dam. She supported a community campaign to stop the project due to its environmental and social impact. This opposition eventually caused then-president Thein Sein to suspend the 6,000 MW project. Recently, Suu Kyi changed her rhetoric, encouraging local Kachin communities who would be impacted by the dam “to think [about the project] from a wider perspective.” Local Kachin communities still oppose Myitsone – demonstrations against the dam drew thousands of supporters in February and again in April. However, China has continued its efforts to revive the project, claiming late last year that the Kachin population was supportive. The Myanmar government is indicating that it may be willing to prioritize the dam, a key piece of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), over lasting peace and equitable development in Kachin. Suu Kyi has shifted her stance on the economic, social and environmental disaster that is Myitsone..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Today"
Date of publication: 2019-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: No End in Sight to Myanmar Military, Northern Alliance Fighting
Description: "One of the factors that caused clashes, I think, is ethnic armed groups’ declining trust in the peace process. The process started in 2011 and the NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement] was signed in 2015. Despite the peace process having been going for so long, no tangible results have been seen in terms of equality, self-determination or self-administration, which ethnic people demand. With their trust declining in the peace process, they might be feeling more stronger that they must take up arms for their rights. This is one of the factors. Secondly, although those three groups of the Northern Alliance participated in the peace process after 2011, they were rejected from taking part in the signing of the NCA on Oct. 15, 2015. They were asked to give up their arms [in order to take part in the peace process, and they didn’t], so they were not recognized. They started to be recognized only around the end of 2018. [The government] said bilateral [ceasefire] agreements will be signed. But then, they are in the very first stage of building understanding. Under the circumstances, they have started to fight for their political recognition. This is the political reason. And as to the military reason, though the Tatmadaw has declared ceasefires in areas of two of the groups, it has not declared a ceasefire in Rakhine State, the area of the AA [Arakan Army]. Fierce clashes are ongoing there. At the same time, in northern Shan State, [there are operations that] the military will call regional security measures, but ethnic armed groups will call [those operations] offensives into their territories. These led to between 30 and 50 skirmishes during the ceasefire period. Militarily, they [the rebel groups] launched those attacks to assist the AA and draw the Tatmadaw’s attention away from Rakhine State..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-09-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar armed groups vow to continue peace meetings with gov't
Description: " Seven armed groups have vowed to continue peace meetings with the government, saying that they will discuss the message delivered by Myanmar authorities at the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference in Nay Pyi Taw, official media reported Sunday. The third session of the six-day Panglong Peace Conference kicked off on Wednesday and the seven Northern Alliance groups attended the conference until Saturday, the 4th day of the session, according to the official Global New Light of Myanmar. The Northern Alliance includes Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), Mongla's National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), Kokang's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta,ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army (AA). They did not sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) in 2015, which have been inked by 10 armed groups. Vice Chairman of the KIO Gun Maw promised that the armed groups will try to come back again to continue the peace process..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
Date of publication: 2018-07-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar state counselor calls for genuine peace, emergence of federal union
Description: "Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has called for working strenuously for genuine peace and in building the democratic federal republic, according to the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) Thursday. In her message of greeting, sent on the occasion of the 30th anniversary celebration of establishing peace of the Wa Special Region-2 Wednesday, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also NRPC chairperson, stressed the need to "move forward from the present stage of maintaining the current ceasefire agreement through mutual restraint to the stage where we should be able to establish sustainable and durable peace for the whole union". Recalling that the path of peace with Wa ethnic armed group was initiated 30 years ago, providing with cessation of armed conflict and stability with mutual respect, mutual regard and mutual restraint, Suu Kyi said with satisfaction that "Wa" ethnic nationals have been witnessed for enjoying the fruits for peace, stability and development..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
Date of publication: 2019-04-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar’s Wa hold the key to war and peace
Sub-title: Ethnic armed group has leveraged ties to China to avoid conflict and build a prosperous nationalist state
Description: "The Wa, an autonomous ethnic minority living in the rugged hills of northeastern Myanmar, are open and clear that they have no intention to break away from the national union. The Wa Self-Administered Division, as their territory is officially known, is a self-governing buffer state between Myanmar and China with its own courts, schools, hospitals and even a modern TV news station. Besides the native Wa language, many speak Chinese while only a few are fluent in the country’s main Bamar language. The Chinese yuan, not the Myanmar kyat, is the currency of choice in shops and marketplaces. Mobile phones and the internet are linked to Chinese, not Myanmar, networks.The Wa state’s main city, Panghsang, also known as Pangkham, is a showcase of prosperity in the middle of a region stuck in conflict-ridden underdevelopment and poverty. And it is here that the fate of Myanmar’s hamstrung yet crucial peace process will most likely be decided. In the 1970s and 1980s, the area was controlled by the insurgent Communist Party of Burma (CPB). But, in 1989, the mostly Wa hill-tribe rank-and-file of its army mutinied and drove their orthodox Maoist Myanmar leaders into exile in China. Communism was purged and local Wa nationalism took its place..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
Date of publication: 2019-09-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Kachin Youth Leaders Face Imprisonment for Commemoration of War Anniversary
Sub-title: The baseless criminal proceedings against Kachin youth leaders Seng Nu Pan and Paw Lu for their role in a gathering commemorating the war in northern Myanmar underscores the hostility to freedom of expression and assembly routinely exhibited by the Myanma
Description: "On 10 June 2019, Myitkyina police charged Kachin youth leaders Seng Nu Pan and Paw Lu under section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act in relation to their role in organising a commemoration of the eighth anniversary of the resumption of armed conflict in Kachin State held the day before. The gathering aimed to raise awareness of the plight of internally displaced persons and included a re-enactment of an aerial bombing. The organisers reported that they had discussed the event in advance with police officers at the local station, who gave them permission to proceed with the event. However, they said that police later arrived at the event and demanded it be discontinued, citing their failure to disclose that a drama performance would occur. Following negotiations, the event was moved to another location. According to the organisers, in court, authorities testified that the youth leaders failed to notify authorities in line with section 4 of the Act. A hearing on 26 August marked Seng Nu Pan and Paw Lu’s eleventh appearance at the Myitkyina Township Court. A ruling is expected at the next hearing on 2 September. If convicted, they face fines of up to 30,000 kyat each, 3 months’ imprisonment, or both. Myanmar authorities have repeatedly violated the right to freedom of expression by prosecuting activists, journalists and others speaking out against government misconduct and human rights abuses. Those criticising the military have faced especially swift and severe consequences. A report by Athan, a youth-led freedom of expression organization, highlighted a dramatic increase in recent months in the number of cases initiated by the military against individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression..."
Source/publisher: "Progressive voice" via Article 19
Date of publication: 2019-08-30
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Armed men rob drivers, torch seven vehicles on Mandalay-Muse highway
Description: "A group of 20 armed men in plain clothes blocked the highway near Kutkai in northern Shan State on September 3 and set fire to seven southbound vehicles, after ordering their drivers and passengers to hand over their money and mobile phones. No casualties were reported in the incident, which took place at about 6pm near Namkut village, about 16 kilometres (10 miles) north of Kutkai, on the main trade route between Myanmar and China. Three of the drivers told Frontier that armed men ordered about 30 people to leave the vehicles, before splashing them with petrol, setting them on fire and fleeing. Most of the vehicles were trucks transporting textiles and other goods loaded at Muse, on the border with China. They were en route to Lashio and the Mandalay Region capital, Mandalay, their drivers said. Frontier asked the drivers who was responsible, but they were unable to identify the assailants..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication: 2019-09-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: China vital to Myanmar’s peace, progress
Description: "Amid rapidly changing Asian dynamics and news reports on claimed civilization clashes, China hosted the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) last week. How should we refute such a claim as the "clash of civilizations?" Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen talked to Ko Ko Hlaing (Hlaing), co-founder of Myanmar's Center for Strategic and International Studies, who served under Thein Sein as the chief political adviser to the President's Office, on the sidelines of the conference. Hlaing also shed light on the recent trajectory of China-Myanmar relations. Hlaing: A clash of civilizations occurs when civilizations have little understanding of or misunderstandings with each other, and their interests clash. So, if we would like to reduce those threats, we need to develop a mutual understanding and construct the right approach for common interests on a common platform. That's why this conference is being held. It can contribute to clearing up misunderstandings or misconceptions. And it can foster closer cooperation for the region's common future..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Global Times"
Date of publication: 2019-05-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar ethnic group wants greater role from China in peace process in the country
Sub-title: Myanmar ethnic group wants greater role for China
Description: "As the political reconciliation is underway in Myanmar, Shan State Army-South (SSAS) chair, Lieutenant General Yawd Serk, hopes China will play a greater role in the process of achieving peace in the country. The general, who is also Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), told the Global Times that he has had talks with China's Asia affairs special envoy. "I hope China can participate in Myanmar peace process at a greater width. China and Myanmar have a long border and China's boundary with Shan State is also very long." Despite the Myanmar government's optimism that peace will prevail across the country, Yawd Serk said that he had almost "lost confidence." "The cease-fire agreement has not brought any changes, the whole situation has worsened," he told the Global Times. Since October 2015, Myanmar's government has signed the landmark Nationwide Cease-fire Accord (NCA) with 10 ethnic armed groups including SSAS, which was viewed as an important step in resolving the country's conflicts. On February 12, Myanmar President U Win Myint said the government is currently in negotiations with ethnic armed organizations which have not yet signed the NCA in an effort to realize a final peace deal, Xinhua reported. It's been reported that military conflicts in Myanmar occur to 200 to 300 times a year..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Global Times"
Date of publication: 2019-02-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Kachin activist pair picks jail over fine for street performance
Description: "Kachin youth activists Pau Lu and Seng Nu Pan were sentenced to 15 days’ imprisonment by the Myitkyina Township Court in the Kachin State capital on September 2 for their role in organising a street performance to mark the eighth anniversary of the resumption of fighting in Kachin State. The jail term was imposed after the pair declined the option of paying a K30,000 fine. A photo of Pau Lu handing the judge a broken scale after the verdict was handed down was widely shared on Facebook. The sentencing came after nearly three months of weekly court appearances by the pair, who were charged on June 10 by Myitkyina Township police under section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law over what police claimed was an unauthorised protest the previous day. The event in question was a street theatre performance, which included a re-enactment of the aerial bombing of Kachin villages by the Tatmadaw. The performance was staged by youth displaced by conflict after the collapse in 2011 of a ceasefire signed by the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army in 1994. Pau Lu and Seng Nu Pan had informed the authorities of the plan to hold the anniversary event more than 48 hours in advance, as required by law, but police arrived at the venue, Sein Mya Ayeyar Park in Myitkyina’s Yuzana Quarter, on June 9 and said the notification was incomplete because it did not mention the drama performance. After a heated argument, the event was relocated to People’s Square in downtown Myitkyina..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication: 2019-09-05
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Meeting Between Rebels, Myanmar Govt Peace Team ‘Just for Show’: TNLA Official
Description: "The Northern Alliance (NA) and the government peace negotiators were unable to reach an agreement to end the fighting in northern Shan State at Saturday’s meeting in Keng Tung, according to a leader from the group of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). Leaders of the four NA members—the Kachin Independence Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)—met with officials from the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) in Keng Tung, eastern Shan, on Saturday amid an escalation in the fighting in northern Shan State and Rakhine State. Brigadier-General Tar Phone Kyaw of the TNLA, who spoke on behalf of three of the NA members—the TNLA, AA and MNDAA, who are known as the Brotherhood Alliance—told The Irrawaddy on Monday that during the meeting, the NA proposed ways of ending the fighting. “We asked them to halt their military offensives in ethnic areas including [those of the] Arakan, Ta’ang and Kokang. This is the first point. Secondly, we asked them to stop shelling civilian targets, and to stop murdering and torturing civilians. Thirdly, we asked them to start real peace talks,” he said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-09-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: The Tatmadaw, the Northern Alliance trio and the peace process
Sub-title: Differences between the Tatmadaw and the three Northern Alliance allies behind recent brazen attacks in the north must be overcome for peace to have a chance.
Description: "THE BOLD attacks by three members of the Northern Alliance on Tatmadaw, infrastructure and other targets in northern Shan State and neighbouring Mandalay Region since August 15 have shocked the nation. They included an audacious attack on the Defence Services Technological Academy in Mandalay’s Pyin Oo Lwin Township, one of the nation’s most heavily fortified towns. The academy was one of five targets hit in a coordinated dawn operation on August 15 that included a police post on the Goktwin bridge in northern Shan’s Nawngkhio Township, a toll gate, narcotics checkpoint, and a bridge on the road linking Mandalay, Lashio and Muse, disrupting border trade with China. The three groups, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Arakan Army, have since struck at other targets in northern Shan and the fighting has displaced thousands of villagers. The fighting involving the three groups, all non-signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, has again focused attention on their differences with the Tatmadaw and the challenges facing the peace process. The National League for Democracy government and the Tatmadaw are dealing with three categories of ethnic armed groups, depending on what agreements they have signed, or in some cases, not signed. The first are the ten ethnic armed groups that have signed the NCA. They include the Karen National Union, which has suspended its involvement in the peace process, a situation that needs to be resolved before peace talks can move forward..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication: 2019-09-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Two children among five Kachin civilians killed by shelling in northern Shan
Description: "Five ethnic Kachin civilians including a nine-year-old boy and an infant girl were killed early on August 31 in northern Shan State’s Kutkai Township, after intensive clashes broke out in Maw Hit village between the Tatmadaw and members of the Northern Alliance. Fighting started at about 6am in the jungle just north of Kutkai town, near the highway that connects the town to Muse on the Myanmar-China border. Alarmed by the fighting, residents of the majority-Kachin village fled to the house of the village head. At 12.30pm a mortar shell hit the house, according to Mai Mai from the Humanitarian Strategic Team-Northern Shan State, a local CSO. She said the shell killed five people from two families. Sumlut Htoi Ja, 34, was killed beside her daughter Zahkung Nang Pan, 14, and her son Zahkung Zau Hkun Lat, aged 9. Lajin Lu San, 18, and her four-month-old daughter Lasham Seng Hkawn were also killed. “There was fighting the whole day until 2pm,” said U Myo, a member of Kutkai-based civil society group Karuna. He said that at least 15 mortars were fired..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication: 2019-09-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Five Myanmar Civilians Including Toddler Killed by Mortars in Shan State as Peace Talks Held
Description: "CHIANG MAI, Thailand—Five civilians including three children were killed when mortar shells struck their homes in Kutkai Township’s Mawhit village in Shan State on Saturday. The fighting erupted in Kutkai between the Myanmar military and the Brotherhood Alliance of three ethnic armed groups while the groups’ leaders were holding peace talks with the government in Keng Tung, eastern Shan State, on Saturday. An 18-year-old woman and her 5-month-old daughter; and a 34-year-old woman and her son, 9, and daughter, 14, from Mawhit village, Kutkai Township in northern Shan State were killed by mortar shells and their homes were destroyed, according to Kutkai residents. “Three of them died immediately from the shelling and two others died after arriving at a hospital in Kutkai,” said Daw Lum Nyoi, a Kutkai resident. Three others were injured, of whom two were taken to Lashio Hospital. “The sound of gunfire was heard since 7 a.m. in Kutkai Town, starting when we were about to take the children to school,” said Mai Mai, a Kutkai resident who is also a relief worker..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar military extends non-operation period against armed groups
Description: "The Myanmar military announced to extend the suspension period of its operations against armed groups for 21 more days on Saturday, the last day of the previous suspension period. According to a statement issued by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Office, the military's non-operation period is set to extend until Sept. 21 this year. The statement said that the extension aims to express hope for the development of peace process for local ethnic people, help all stakeholders continue engaging in peace process as well as conducting dialogues with the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC). The Myanmar military had extended the non-operation period for three times before, from Dec. 21, 2018 to April 30, 2019, from May 1 to June 30 this year and from July 1 to Aug. 31 this year, respectively..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
Date of publication: 2019-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar's gov't, armed groups issue joint communique on ceasefire
Description: "Representatives of Myanmar government's National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) and four ethnic armed groups issued a joint communique late on Saturday following their meeting in Kengtung, Shan state, earlier on the day. The four armed groups are Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) or Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party (MNTJP) or Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the United League of Arakan(ULA) or Arakan Army (AA). Matters relating to stopping the ongoing armed engagements were discussed in order to sign a bilateral ceasefire agreement and then a nationwide ceasefire agreement, the communique said, adding that matters related to deployment of forces and rules and procedures to prevent outbreak of fighting were also agreed to be discussed with the military representatives. Both sides pledged in the communique to make efforts with full political will towards stopping the ongoing armed engagements for national reconciliation and union peace..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
Date of publication: 2019-09-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: TNLA Destroys Bridge, Targets Myanmar Military Battalion in Shan State
Description: "NAYPYITAW—The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has blown up a bridge on the Hseinwi-Kunlong-Chin Shwe Haw Road in northern Shan State and attacked a Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) battalion headquarters on the outskirts of Lashio, according to Tatmadaw True News Information Team spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun. The TNLA blew up the 31st Mile Bridge for the second time this month at around 11 p.m. Tuesday and attacked Battalion No. 291—stationed near the village of Nam Pao, some 25 miles outside of Lashio—at around 6 a.m. the following day. “The TNLA blew up a bridge near Nar Tee Village on Hseinwi-Kunlong-Chin Shwe Haw Road and carried out the artillery attack on a battalion in Nam Pao from a distance. The artillery shells did not hit the battalion, and no one was injured,” Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-08-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar Peace Team, N. Alliance to Meet in Keng Tung on Aug. 31
Description: "YANGON, Myanmar & CHIANG MAI, Thailand—The government and the four-member Northern Alliance (NA) of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) will meet for peace talks in Keng Tung, eastern Shan State on Saturday, Aug. 31, the last day of the Myanmar military’s truce in the region, according to sources close to negotiators. The talks between the government’s Peace Commission (PC) and representatives of the four-member NA—the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Ta’ang Nationalities Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA) and Kokang’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)—had been postponed due to a dispute over the location of the meeting. The last discussion between the PC and NA was held on June 30 in Mong La Special Region 4, controlled by the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) in eastern Shan State. Lamai Gum Ja, a peace broker from the Kachin-based Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG), told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, “The date has been confirmed as Aug. 31 and the venue is in Keng Tung. We do not know what will be on the agenda, but as they have been discussing the bilateral agreements, I think they are on the agenda.” On Thursday, the KIA’s peace negotiation team, led by its general secretary, U La Nan, left KIA headquarters in Laiza for Mong La, according to General Sumlut Gun Maw, the vice chairman the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the KIA. The KIA delegation will stay in Mong La and travel to Keng Tung on a day trip to attend the talks on Aug. 31, he told The Irrawaddy..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-08-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Peace and New Corridor for Myanmar
Description: "In a significant new development, China has proposed initiating an economic corridor with Myanmar to advance bilateral trade links, creating a central intersection for the Belt and Road Initiative between Southeast Asia and China. Addressing the media while on a recent visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced, “China and Myanmar have great potential for cooperation as they are highly complementary in economy. To further enhance China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, China has proposed building the China-Myanmar economic corridor.” Starting from Yunnan in southwestern China, the corridor would proceed south to Mandalay in Myanmar, eastward to Yangon and then westward to the Kyaukpyu special economic zone. This would boost connectivity and facilitate development throughout Myanmar. Three branches of this network would operate along with a proposed $1.5 billion oil pipeline through the Bay of Bengal. Deepening economic cooperation with these new projects under the BRI, China has also backed a $7.3 billion deepwater port in Rakhine state..."
Source/publisher: "Belt & Road News"
Date of publication: 2019-02-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Rebels Blame Border Instability, Peace Breakdown on Myanmar Military
Description: "Border stability between China and Myanmar depends on progress toward a peace deal between the allied ethnic armed groups currently fighting the Myanmar (or Tatmadaw) in northern Shan State, according to a statement issued Thursday by the rebels. It is the third statement the alliance of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) has issued this week. Fighting between them and the Tatmadaw broke out 14 days ago. The EAOs—an alliance among the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) going my the moniker the Brotherhood Alliance—have been working with China, who is trying to help as a peace negotiator. The first statement was issued on Aug. 25 and the second on Aug. 28, both requesting that all drivers avoid conflict areas to avoid being trapped in fighting and for their general safety..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-08-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Chinese FM holds talks with Myanmar official
Description: "Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with U Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar's minister of the office of the State Counselor, here on Tuesday, and expected that Myanmar would make efforts to maintain peace and stability in the two countries' border area. Wang said that China firmly supports Myanmar in its efforts to advance domestic peace process, and expected that relevant parties would sustain the ceasefire situation in northern Myanmar through consultations and maintain peace and stability in the two countries' border area. The Chinese side pays close attention to the situation in the Rakhine State, and opposes multilateralization and politicization of this issue, Wang said. He expressed China's appreciation of Myanmar's positive stance and pragmatic measures on repatriation of displaced persons from Rakhine State..."
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
Date of publication: 2019-08-27
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: “First they grabbed our land with guns; now they are using the law"
Sub-title: A Commentary by TNI on the Right to Land of People Displaced by War and Militarization
Description: "Displaced people in Myanmar have been suffering layer upon layer of injustice over the past decades. Today the situation is as bad as ever. “In Myanmar, people are suffering from the fighting, while the government is also trying to manipulate and divide the displaced people. Some people go back, some remain in the IDP camps. It’s like a hell in the country.” (Internally Displaced Person (IDP) meeting, 13 August 2019, Myitkyina) This is how one IDP, displaced since 2011, recently described the current situation in the north of the country. In both the north and the east of Myanmar, displaced people have been suffering layer upon layer of injustice over the past decades. Today the situation is as bad as ever. Ongoing conflict, militarization and business-oriented mega-projects continue to drive fresh displacements, while keeping those displaced previously from returning to their homes, farms, forests and villages. Since 2010, a raft of national laws and policies has been enacted regarding land, forests, conservation and investment. They do not, however, reflect the needs or the rights of people who have been displaced. There is currently no law that properly addresses the terrible situation confronting displaced people by recognising the right of IDPs and refugees to restitution based on their right to land. Instead, current government policy seems to be encouraging re-allocation of the lands of IDPs and refugees to business interests. Key areas include agriculture, mining, industry, infrastructure and even ecotourism, whether in the pristine islands in the far south or the majestic mountains in the far north......၂၀၁၆ ခုနှစ်မှစ၍ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အနယ်နယ်အရပ်ရပ်မှ ပြည်တွင်းနေရပ်စွန့်ခွာ စစ်ဘေးတိမ်းရှောင်ခဲ့သူများနှင့် စစ်ဘေးဒုက္ခသည်များအပြင်၎င်းတို့ကိုအနီးကပ်ပံ့ပိုးကူညီပေးလျက်ရှိသည့်နယ်ခံအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ အတူတကွ စုစည်း၍ ၎င်းတို့၏ နေရပ်ပြန်ရေးနှင့် မူလရပိုင်ခွင့်ပြန်လည်ရရှိရေးဆိုင်ရာ မြေယာကိစ္စရပ်များကို အတူတကွ ဆွေးနွေးအဖြေရာ၍ စည်းရုံးရေးဆိုမည့်လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်တစ်ရပ်ကိုဝိုင်းဝန်ဖော်ဆောင်လာခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် ဆယ်စုနှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ စစ်ပွဲဒဏ်သင့်လာခဲ့သည့် နိုင်ငံတစ်ခု၏ ရလဒ်အနေဖြင့် တိုင်းရင်း သားရပ်ရွာအသိုက်အဝန်းပေါင်းများစွာ မူရင်းရပ်ရွာဒေသများကို စွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးခဲ့ကြရပြီး မိမိတို့၏ မြေယာ ပိုင်ဆိုင်ခွင့်အပါအဝင် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးအားလုံးနီးပါး ထိခိုက်နစ်နာခဲ့ရသည်။ မြေယာပိုင်ဆိုင်ခွင့်အခွင့်အရေးကို အနှစ်သာရရှိရှိဖြင့် အပြည့်အဝအသိအမှတ်ပြုမှုအပါအဝင်IDPs နှင့် Refugees များအတွက်တရားမျှတမှုရှာ ဖွေရာ၌ စိန်ခေါ်မှုအခက်အခဲများစွာ ကြုံတွေ့ရလျက်ရှိသည်။ ဤကဲ့သို့သော စိန်ခေါ်မှုအခက်အခဲများကြောင့် ကချင်၊ ကရင်နီ၊ ကရင်၊ မွန်နှင့် ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်(၅)ခုမှ ပြည်တွင်းနေရပ်စွန့်ခွာ စစ်ဘေးတိမ်းရှောင်သူများနှင့် စစ်ဘေးဒုက္ခသည်များအပါအဝင်၎င်းတို့ကို ကူညီထောက်ပံ့ပေးလျက်ရှိသည့် ပြည်တွင်းအရပ်ဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်း များမှ ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များသည်အထူးသဖြင့်IDPs နှင့် Refugees များ၏ မြေယာရပိုင်ခွင့်အခွင့်အရေးနှင့် ပတ် သက်၍ ကြုံတွေ့ရလျက်ရှိသည့် စိန်ခေါ်မှုအခက်အခဲများနှင့် အတွေ့အကြုံများကို အစဉ်တစိုက်ဆွေးနွေးအဖြေ ရှာလာခဲ့ကြပြီး လာမည့်အနာဂတ်၌ မဟာဗျူဟာကျကျ တုန့်ပြန်ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်မည့် နည်းလမ်းများကို ဆွေးနွေး ဖော်ထုတ်၍ ၂၀၁၉ ခုနှစ် သြဂုန်လ ၂၁ ရက်နေ့၌ ဤသဘောထားကြောညာစာတမ်းကိုထုတ်ပြန်လိုက်ခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "TNI"
Date of publication: 2019-08-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar conflict: Arakan violence rises in Rakhine state
Description: "In Myanmar's Rakhine state, another ethnic group besides the Rohingya has been fighting for its rights and recognition. The ethnic Arakan people have been battling the Myanmar government for decades, and in 2009 founded their own armed group, the Arakan Army, in 2009. Thousands have fled the violence into neighbouring Chin State and are now living in camps because of the recent spike in violence. Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler reports..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera English"
Date of publication: 2019-08-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Prospect of Myanmar Peace Process through the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement
Description: "The civil war in Burma or Myanmar broke out after the country's independence in 1948, as successive central governments of Burma fought numerous radical and racial rebellions. Some of the earliest insurgencies were made by Marxist groups – Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and Red Flag Communist Party - and by the Karen National Union (KNU). One year after Burma‘s independence from the British in January 1949, the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO) was established to challenge against the U Nu‘s Government. The KNDO later became KNLA and its political wing became the Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU fought to create an independent Karen state from large part of Lower Myanmar. Other ethnic revolutions broke out in the early 1960s after the central government ignored considering a federal union government. By the early 1980s, ethnic-based rebellions continued on the go thru the armed struggle. In the 1980s, ethnic rebel groups controlled most of the country's border areas. The two major organizations fighting against the Burma Socialist Programme Party-led government, were two umbrella groups, the pro-Chinese Communist Party of Burma (allied to local Kokang Chinese, Wa and Shan groups), based along the Chinese-Burmese border; and the pro-West National Democratic Force (made up of ethnic Mon, Karen, Karenni and Shan opposition groups), based along the Thai-Burmese border. By the late 1980s, the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) had weakened due to decreasing of China‘s funding and internal dissension. During the 1988 Uprising, the CPB failed to seize the opportunity to do well from political turning point. In September 1988, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a military council, staged a coup d‘état. Coincidently, ethnic Wa and Kokang armed forces launched a rebellion against CPB and successfully set up the United Wa State Party (UWSP) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) respectively..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "BNI Multimedia Group"
Date of publication: 2019-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Title: Transformation of an Entrenched Political System: The Need for International Responsibility in Myanmar - အကျပ်အတည်းဆိုက်နေသော နိုင်ငံရေးစနစ်တစ်ရပ်ကို ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲခြင်း - မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်းရှိ နိုင်ငံတကာအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ တာဝန်ယူမှုရှိရန် လိုအပ်နေခြင်း
Description: "Political impasse continues in Myanmar. Peace talks and general elections have failed to achieve national breakthroughs. All parties — both domestic and international — need to reflect on this failure. Civil society networks and representative governance must be strengthened at the community level if peace and democracy are to be built. In January 2009, Haruki Murakami received the Jerusalem Prize, a biennial literary award given to writers whose work deals with themes of human freedom, society, politics and government. In his acceptance speech Murakami spoke of the “System” which oppresses us. He said: "Each of us possesses a tangible living soul. The System has no such thing. We must not allow the System to exploit us.” In Myanmar, where an unrepresentative structure of national governance has been failing us for over 70 years, we must all unite to change this. For if an unequal status quo is allowed to continue, even the small gains that we have made in peace and democratic reform will not be sustained....နိုင်ငံရေးအကျပ်အတည်းမှာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင်ဆက်လျက်ဖြစ်ပေါ်လျက်ရှိသည်။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးဆွေးနွေးပွဲများနှင့် အထွေထွေရွေးကောက်ပွဲများသည်လည်း နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းအရေးနိမ့်လျက်ရှိသည်။ နိုင်ငံရေးပါတီများအားလုံး-ပြည်တွင်း၊ ပြည်ပနှစ်ရပ်စလုံး- အနေဖြင့် ယခုကဲ့သို့ မအောင်မြင်ခဲ့ရသည့် အကြောင်းရင်းများကို ပြန်လည်သုံးသပ်ရန်လိုအပ်လှသည်။ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့် ဒီမိုကရေစီကိုတည်ဆောက်လိုလျှင် အရပ်ဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းကွန်ရက်များနှင့် ပြည်သူ့ကိုယ်စားပြုအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးစနစ်သည် ပြည်သူများအကြားအားကောင်းရပေမည်။ ၂၀၁၉ ဇန်နဝါရီလတွင် ဂျေရုဆလင် စာပေဆုကို စာရေးဆရာ မူရာကာမိက ဆွတ်ခူးရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။ လူတို့၏ လွတ်လပ်မှု၊ လူ့အသိုက်အဝန်း၊ နိုင်ငံရေးနှင့် စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်ရေး စသည့် အကြောင်းအရာများကို ရေးသားသည့် စာရေးဆရာများအတွက် ၂နှစ်တစ်ကြိမ် ချီးမြှင့်သည့် ဆုလည်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ယင်းဆုကို လက်ခံရယူသည့် အခမ်းအနားတွင် မိန့်ခွန်းပြောကြားရာ၌ လူများကို ဖိနှိပ်နေသည့် စနစ်များအကြောင်း မူရာကာမိက ထည့်သွင်းပြောကြားခဲ့ပါသည်။ “ကျွန်တော်တို့ တစ်ယောက်ချင်းစီမှာ သိမြင်ခံစားလို့ရတဲ့ ရှင်သန်နေတဲ့ ဝိဉာင်ရှိတယ်။ စနစ်တွေမှာ ဝိဉာင်မရှိပါဘူး။ အဲဒီလို စနစ်တွေက ကျွန်တော်တို့ကို အမြတ်ထုတ်နေတာကို ခွင့်မပြုသင့်ပါဘူး” ဟု သူက ပြောခဲ့ပါသည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင်လည်း ပြည်သူများကို ကိုယ်စားမပြုသော အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးစနစ်သည် ပြည်သူများအတွက် ကောင်းကျိုးမပြုပဲ နစ်နာဆုံးရှုံးမှုများကိုသာ နှစ်ပေါင်း ၇၀ ကျော်ကြာ ဖန်တီးလျက် ရှိနေပါသည်။ ထိုစနစ်ကို ပြောင်းလဲပစ်ရန်အတွက် ပြည်သူတို့၏ စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှုကို လိုအပ်နေပါသည်။ တရားမျှတမှု မရှိသည့် ထိုစနစ်ကို ရှင်သန်နေစေရန် ခွင့်ပြုထားကြမည်ဆိုပါက ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့် ဒီမိုကရေစီ အကူးအပြောင်းအတွက် ကြိုးစားအားထုတ်ရင်း ရရှိလာသည့် အနည်းငယ်မျှသော ရလဒ်များကိုပါ ဆုံးရှုံးရမည့် အလားအလာရှိနေပါသည်။..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "TNI"
Date of publication: 2019-08-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The United Wa State Army and Burma’s Peace Process
Description: "The United Wa State Army (UWSA), with its twenty-odd thousand men in arms, is the largest of Burma’s ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). It is also the best equipped, boasting modern and sophisticated Chinese weaponry. Understanding the special relationship between the UWSA and China, as well as what long-term benefits China anticipates, is critical with respect to long-term peace prospects in Burma, as is better understanding the UWSA itself. The conflict in Burma, ongoing since independence in 1948, involves numerous ethnic groups, most armed, some not. In 2015, the government in Naypyidaw and the Burmese military came to terms with some of those groups, but only 20 percent. The other 80 percent considered the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement a demand for surrender and declined to sign. The first peace conference in Burma was held in the Panglong region in 1947. Its successor, 21st Century Panglong, was held in late summer of 2016. The UWSA and other EAOs attended, but walked out. Early in 2017, these groups established the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee, replacing a previous Thailand-based alliance. Effectively led by the UWSA, the committee also includes the Kachin Independence Army, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Shan State Army, the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the National Democratic Alliance Army. Given their numbers, and arms, peace in Burma without the active participation of the UWSA and its allies is clearly not a realistic goal..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "United States Institute of Peace"
Date of publication: 2019-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Venerable Myanmar EAO Leaders Plead for End to Fighting
Description: "Senior leaders from ethnic armed organizations (EAO) pleaded for an end to the current fighting in Myanmar’s northeast, calling on both the government and the three EAOs involved in the fighting to negotiate an end as soon as possible. It has been a week since an alliance of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) launched attacks on police outposts and a Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, training facility in townships in Mandalay Region and Shan State. Those attacks killed 15 people, including civilians, soldiers and police, and the resultant fighting has displaced thousands. On Aug. 15, rebels targeted the military’s Defense Service Technological Academy, in Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Mandalay Region, as well as security outposts, anti-narcotics checkpoints, toll gates and bridges in Naung Cho Township, in Shan State. The government denounced the attacks as “terrorist acts” last Friday but said it remains open to dialogue. “The country has been sunk in conflict,” said Mahn Nyein Maung, the Karen National Union’s (KNU) senior Central Executive Committee member..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication: 2019-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Why war will never end in Myanmar
Sub-title: Myanmar’s autonomous military has multiple cynical interests to talk about peace while continuing to wage war
Description: "Heavy fighting in Myanmar’s Shan state has reached an almost unprecedented level of intensity, seen in last week’s ethnic rebel attacks on Myanmar military elite academies, army bases, police stations and locations around the northern capital of Lashio. The August 15 attacks by the so-called Northern Alliance Brotherhood, a loose collective of the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Arakan Army (AA), have killed and wounded scores of soldiers, police and civilians caught in the crossfire. This is the first time in decades that ethnic insurgents have struck so close to the Myanmar heartland in the central Mandalay Region, and marks a sharp escalation after a lull of several months in northern Shan state, where armed conflict has raged for several years. While most attention has been on the daring ferocity of the attacks and the evident vulnerability of the security forces, the latest round of fighting has major implications for the future of the peace process in northern Myanmar..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
Date of publication: 2019-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The Northern Alliance of three ethnic armed groups called on the Tatmadaw (military) to stop the fighting in northern Rakhine State on Monday.
Description: "The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Arakan Army (AA), which have not yet signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, said in a statement that hundreds of innocent people have died and 60,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting. The fighting in northern Rakhine grows more intense by the day and the military is shelling areas controlled by the TNLA and MNDAA, a spokesperson for the alliance said. The military had also entered areas controlled by the Shan State Army, it said. These activities were based on ethnic hatred, it said, which could destroy trust and delay the peace process. It said the military has to stop its attacks on allied groups or the military will have to accept responsibility for the consequences. Efforts to reach Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson of the military’s True News agency, were unsuccessful..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
Date of publication: 2019-08-13
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Undermining Trust Building: Human Rights Situation During the Northern Ceasefire
Description: "In late December 2018, amid ongoing and heavy armed conflict in Kachin and Shan states, the Burma army declared a four-month unilateral ceasefire in northern and north-eastern Burma. The announcement of the Burma army’s first ever truce was met with cautious optimism by ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and welcomed as a constructive gesture by many observers and analysts of the peace process. However, despite this overture, the Burma army has continued to engage in armed clashes with EAOs in Kachin and Shan states, while establishing new military camps throughout the region. Indiscriminate gunfire, artillery attacks and aerial bombardments by Burma army soldiers against EAO positions over the initial four-month ceasefire and its renewal have led to villager deaths, injuries, displacement and increasing militarisation by Burma army forces. During this period, ND-Burma organisations documented numerous human rights abuses against civilians, including extrajudicial killings; arbitrary arrest, detention and torture; sexual violence; landmine incidents; and indiscriminate aerial and mortar campaigns in civilian areas by Burma army soldiers, as well as violations against civilians by EAOs. These ongoing offensives by the Burma army in Shan and Kachin states as well as the exclusion of the Arakan Army from the ceasefire despite heavy fighting in Rakhine and Chin states and the urging of their inclusion by its Northern Alliance allies, have marred the ceasefire’s implementation and undermined meaningful dialogue meant to reinvigorate Burma’s floundering peace process. Without a sincere commitment to overtures of peace such as the northern ceasefire or other peace-related activities by the Burma army, there will be no genuine progress towards peace and an end to hostilities in Burma. The Burma army must keep their word for trust building to occur, and this extends to guarantees of non-recurrence of human rights violations towards conflict- affected communities. Without a sincere effort on the part of the Burma army, there will be no trust and no concrete progress in the peace process..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Progressive Voice" via Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma
Date of publication: 2019-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 457.61 KB
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Title: EBO MYANMAR - 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
Description: "EBO provides facilitation and technical support to help resolve conflicts and reconcile differences through dialogue. EBO supports the Myanmar peace process by acting as a facilitator or advisor in crisis situations, by communicating with various factions involved in conflicts or political deadlocks. 
EBO aims to develop trust between stakeholders by helping build relationships that will underpin channels of communication between different groups. EBO does not seek to advance any side’s agenda or any particular ideology. In most situations, EBO uses informal channels to facilitate communications between groups and builds on the collective experience of EBO staff and international expert consultants. It also draws on the experience and knowledge of other peace processes.
 EBO helps to prepare stakeholders for effective participation in negotiations; ensuring that all sides are well informed on the latest developments and are acquainted with the ins-and-outs of formal and non-formal processes. EBO also provides support in ensuring lessons learned and best practices are shared among different groups in order to maximise the potential for successful negotiations. For long-term solutions, EBO seeks to initiate and support sustainable, long-term resolutions to conflicts by promoting the participation of all key stakeholders in dialogue processes. EBO aims to achieve lasting settlements to violent and complex conflicts in Myanmar, both military and political. By doing so, EBO aims not only to end the suffering directly caused by conflicts, but also to address the problems of poverty, human rights infringements, lack of proper education, under-developed economy, and other issues that are the inevitable by-products of violence and political unrest. EBO facilitates dialogue with, and in-between: Ethnic Armed Organizations, Tatmadaw (Government Army), Ethnic Political Parties, Government In 2015, EBO facilitation work mainly focused on: The Deed of Commitment (DoC) The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) The Union-level Political Dialogue process State-based Political Dialogue processes Maintaining the Bilateral Ceasefire Agreements and keeping the peace by supporting Liaison Offices and building their capacity. Much of this work was supported by the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (FELM) as well as the Common Space Initiative (CSI). The EBO-FELM-CSI consortium manages the funds for the peace process provided by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The objective of this partnership is to facilitate the peace process by supporting and strengthening it as well as the emerging political dialogue through technical support and confidence building between the dialogue partners..."
Source/publisher: Euro Burma Office (EBO)
Date of publication: 2015-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 2.26 MB
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Title: FRESH MILITARY VIOLATIONS HIGHLIGHT ONGOING IMPUNITY IN MYANMAR: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ORAL STATEMENT AT THE 41ST SESSION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Sub-title: Oral statement delivered by Amnesty International during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar at the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council
Description: "Oral statement delivered by Amnesty International during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar at the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council. Mr. President, We thank the Special Rapporteur for her update. We agree that the human rights situation in Myanmar remains critical. In Rakhine State, there has been a major escalation in fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed group, since January 2019. Amnesty International has documented serious violations by the military against civilians, including unlawful attacks, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and forced labour. All communities – including Rakhine, Rohingya, Mro, Khami, and Chin – are being affected, regardless of their ethnicity and religion.1 Similarly serious violations are also ongoing in Kachin and Shan States in northern Myanmar, despite the announcement of a temporary ceasefire by the military in December 2018, recently extended by two months until 31 August 2019. These include unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment, and the use of landmines. These ongoing violations show the consequences of ongoing impunity for a military which stands accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. The prospect of meaningful justice and accountability in Myanmar is currently almost non-existent. We urge the Council to continue to explore all avenues for international justice and support the swift operationalization of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). Mr. President, There is a worrying erosion of the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly across the country, and we are concerned by a surge in politically-motivated arrests and imprisonment in recent months. Filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi has been detained since 12 April 2019 for criticising the military’s role in politics on social media,2 while Rakhine journalist Aung Marm Oo is hiding after learning – through the media – that he faces criminal charges under Myanmar’s notorious Unlawful Associations Act.3 Politically-motivated arrests and detention are made possible by a range of laws which have long been criticised for violating the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Repealing or else amending these laws is one area where the current civilian-led government could make important progress, but with less than 18 months until general elections, time is running out. Ms. Lee, Given continuing violations in the country and the authorities’ refusal to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms, including your mandate, what additional measures do you think this Council should take to address the situation?..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
Date of publication: 2019-07-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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