Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Individual Documents
Description:
"Antipersonnel landmines continued to be deployed in significant numbers in Burma during 2007, despite a growing international consensus that the use of landmines is unacceptable and that their use should be unconditionally ceased. As of mid-August 2007, 155 countries, or 80 percent of the world?s nations were State Parties to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (also known as and henceforth referred to as the Mine Ban Treaty?), leaving only 40 countries outside the treaty. [1] Such widespread support of the Mine Ban Treaty recognises that landmines often kill indiscriminately, and in doing so, pose an unacceptable level of risk to civilian and non-combatant populations. According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), the ?Mine Ban Treaty has made the new use of antipersonnel mines, especially by governments, a rare phenomenon”. However, the ICBL concedes that Burma is one of only two countries (along with Russia) which represents the exception to the ?near-universal stigmatization of the use of antipersonnel mines”, and that the most extensive deployment of antipersonnel landmines by ?government forces” during 2007 occurred in Burma. [2] A report released in September 2007 speculated that as many as two million landmines were buried in Burma, with the vast majority of these deployed in the ethnic minority territories bordering neighbouring countries..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
2008-09-09
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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html pdf
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89.04 KB 407.75 KB
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"...The atrocities related to landmines in Burma are not limited to the injury and death of non-military personnel but also include their use to violate Article 13 of the UN Declaration of Human rights, that of an individual?s freedom of movement both internally and internationally. In order to restrict the movement of supplies and information to insurgent groups, well-established routes to and from villages have been mined. Villages themselves have also been mined in attempts to prevent the return of both forcibly relocated communities as well as, in some areas, refugees.
Though totals are not known, the number of casualties related to landmines appears to be increasing. This has been especially noticeable over the last five to six years. The growth of landmine related casualties is at least partially the result of the cumulative effect of continued deployment over the years. As of 2003, nine out of Burma?s fourteen states and divisions were mine-affected..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
2004-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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htm
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31.76 KB
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"...The immense violence that has been inflicted upon civilians throughout the world from anti-personnel landmines has led to the growing international acceptance of the necessity of their eradication. On 5 December 1997, in response to this realization, 122 countries came together and signed the Mine Ban Treaty (also known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction). In opposition to the worldwide trend however, Burma has to date not acceded to nor signed the treaty and continues to be not only a regular user of landmines, but also a producer. Since the Mine Ban Treaty?s inception in 1997, Burma has abstained from voting on every resolution of the UN General Assembly which supports it and continues to state that the problem of insurgency prevents them from signing the treaty.
Anti-personnel landmines are victim-activated weapons that indiscriminately kill and maim civilians, soldiers, elderly people, women, children and animals. These devices can remain functioning long after military personnel have departed and even after the cessation of hostilities. As a result of their autonomous nature, landmines often inflict injury in situations that might otherwise appear peaceful. Civilians often perceive environments to be safe after the cessation of open conflict and attempt to resume their means of livelihood. Accordingly, one study suggests that a third of Burma?s landmine casualties are civilians.
Despite the numerous ceasefires that have been signed between the Burmese government and various insurgent groups, landmine casualties in the country still appear to be rising. Burma currently suffers amongst the highest numbers of landmine victims each year of any country. Despite the growing carnage resulting from the use of landmines, Burma remains, along with Russia, the only other country to have been deploying them on a regular basis since 1999..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
2005-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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htm
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52.23 KB
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"The deployment of anti-personnel landmines increased by the SPDC and its forces Burma during 2005. This increase has transpired despite widespread international condemnation over the use of landmines due to the extensive indiscriminate humanitarian consequences of the devices. As a result of growing international consensus against the manufacture, deployment and trade of landmines, government and non-governmental bodies drafted the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (a.k.a., the Mine Ban Treaty) in 1997. This treaty to date has been signed by 122 countries. Burma, however, has refused to sign the treaty. More recently, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of Resolution 59/84, which called for universally accepting the Mine Ban Treaty, in December 2004. Burma was one of 22 countries that abstained from the voting process. In addition, Burma failed to send an observer to the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty that took place in Nairobi, Kenya in November-December 2004 (source: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World, ICBL, 23 November 2005). The SPDC claims that ongoing insurgency and armed conflict within the country prevent them from acceding to the Mine Ban Treaty..."
Date of publication:
2006-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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htm
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60.16 KB
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"Landmines continued to be deployed in Burma during 2006. According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), only three countries; namely: Burma, Nepal and Russia, continued to use landmines during 2006; with the most extensive use reported to have occurred in Burma. [1] Meanwhile, there is a growing international consensus on the need to ban the use of landmines across the globe. This consensus is reflected both in the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly known as the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), and in various recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions that call for the universalization of this treaty. [2] The MBT has now been ratified by three-quarters of the world's nations. This growing consensus reflects a common recognition of the destructive and indiscriminate effects of anti-personnel landmines. Landmines can remain functional years after hostilities have ceased, and often inflict injury in situations that might otherwise appear peaceful. Civilians may falsely perceive that their environment is safe following the cessation of conflict, unaware of the concealed threat posed by existing landmines..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
2007-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese
Format :
html pdf pdf
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75.8 KB 891.8 KB 418.97 KB
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Description:
Mine Ban Treaty status:
Not a State Party...
Stockpile:
Unknown...
Contamination:
APMs; some AVMs and ERW...
Estimated area of contamination:
Extensive...
Demining progress in 2006:
None reported...
MRE capacity:
Increased but remains inadequate...
Mine/ERW casualties in 2006:
Total: 243 (2005: 231)...
Mines: 232 (2005: 231):
Unknown devices: 11 (2005: 0)...
Casualty analysis:
Killed: 20 (2 civilians, 2 children, 6 military,
10 unknown) (2005: 5);
Injured: 223 (4 civilians, 2 children, 16 military,
201 unknown) (2005: 225)...
Estimated mine/ERW survivors:
10,605 (2005: 8,864)...
Availability of services in 2006:
Decreased-inadequate...
Key developments since May 2006:
Both the military junta and non-state armed groups continued to use antipersonnel mines extensively. Prolonged military operations in eastern states bordering Thailand increased mine contamination; Burmese migrants gave first reports of mine contamination in Mandalay division. Mine/ERW casualties increased in 2006. ICRC closed five field offices and was unable to serve conflict casualties in border areas. A survey identified 464 mine/ERW casualties in Karen state.
Source/publisher:
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication:
2007-11-06
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese
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pdf
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602.32 KB
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Description:
Landmines take a heavy toll in lives and livelihoods...
"A dozen or so years ago, Mee Reh was helping to secure a rebel-held area of Burma?s eastern Karenni State with landmines. Today he is helping to secure a new life for landmine victims.
Mee Reh, 38, is one of 11 workers making artificial limbs at a small workshop in a Karenni refugee camp in Thailand?s northern Mae Hong Son province. The enterprise is run by Handicap International, an international organization working to ban the use of landmines and to help landmine victims.
Mee Reh is himself the victim of a landmine explosion, losing a leg while he was in action with Karenni National Progressive Party forces against Burma Army troops in the early 1990s. He found medical care in neighboring Thailand, where he was fitted with an artificial leg. After his recovery he found work in the Handicap International Workshop, which has so far manufactured around 100 prostheses.
Although there are no official statistics on landmine casualties in Burma, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines estimates that around 1,500 people die or suffer serious injury every year..."
Yeni
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 9
Date of publication:
2005-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2006-04-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
Battered Burma?s unanswered question: when will the fighting end?...
"The horrors of war are all too visible on Myo Myint?s scarred body. The former Burma Army trooper has only one arm and one leg. The fingers of one hand are just stumps, he?s almost blind in one eye and pieces of landmine shrapnel still lodge in his body.
Myo Myint: Crippled and disillusioned by war
Myo Myint is one of countless thousands of men and women maimed for life in Burma?s ongoing civil war, which has been raging for more than half a century—one of Asia?s longest unsolved conflicts..."
Kyaw Zwa Moe
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 4
Date of publication:
2005-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2006-04-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
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Description:
"Key developments since May 2004: Myanmar"atrocity demining") was reported in 2004-2005, as in previous years. No humanitarian mine clearance has taken place in Burma. No military or village demining has been reported since May 2004. At a UNHCR seminar in November 2004, the mine threat was identified as one of the most serious impediments to the safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees. Mine risk education is carried out by NGOs on an increasing basis, in refugee camps and within other assistance efforts. The number of mine incidents and casualties remains unknown, but NGOs providing assistance to mine survivors indicate that casualties have increased. Mine action and other humanitarian assistance programs were disrupted by changes in the government in October 2004..."
Source/publisher:
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication:
2005-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2005-12-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese
Format :
pdf
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262.22 KB
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Description:
GENERAL HEALTH:
Overview of Landmine Problems in Myanmar (Michiyo Kato &Yeshua Moser-Puangswan, NIV SEA);
Basic Information about Landmines (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Trauma Care Foundation Burma (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Chain of Survival (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB);
Mine Injuries and Their Management (Htun Htun Oo, TCFB)...
FROM THE FIELD:
Orthopaedic Programme of the ICRC-Myanmar (Marco Emery, ICRC, Myanmar);
Data Collection on Mine Victims and the Impact of Landmines (Christophe Tiers, HI);
Mental Health Assessment among Refugees in Three Camps
in Mae Hong Son, Thailand (Dr. Ann Burton, IRC)...HEALTH EDUCATION:
Mine Awareness (Christophe Tiers, HI);
Eight Reasons to Ban Landmines (Christophe Tiers, HI)...
SOCIAL:
Real life stories (Christophe Tiers, HI).
Source/publisher:
Aide Medicale Internationale (AMI)
Date of publication:
2002-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2005-01-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, "Health Messenger", "Health Messenger" etc.
Language:
English, Burmese
Format :
pdf
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962.68 KB
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Description:
Dhaka, Dec 14: "The demarcation of border areas, under the joint-border forces of Burma and Bangladesh, have been suspended since 1998, due to the presence of landmines in those areas.
The absence of joint-border forces of the two countries has increased the occurrences of cross border arms smuggling, drug and human trafficking, and cross border robberies, said a report in a weekend journal of Bangladesh.
The demarcation of the border area under the joint forces of the two countries began in 1984, but ended after only 14 years..."
Source/publisher:
Narinjara News
Date of publication:
2004-12-14
Date of entry/update:
2004-12-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
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7.23 KB
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Description:
Key developments since May 2003: Myanmar"atrocity demining,"Halt Mine Use in Burma."... * Mine Ban Policy
* Use;
* Production, Transfer, Stockpiling;
* Non-State Actors Use;
* NSA-Production, Transfer, Stockpiling;
* Landmine Problem;
* Mine Clearance and Mine Risk Education;
* Landmine Casualties68;
* Survivor Assistance90;
* Disability Policy and Practice.
Source/publisher:
International campaign to ban landmines
Date of publication:
2004-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2004-11-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English, Burmese
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Description:
"Anti-personnel landmines are victim-activated weapons that indiscriminately kill and maim civilians, soldiers, elderly people, women, children and animals. They can cause injury and death long after the end of hostilities. In Asia, Burma is currently second only to Afghanistan in the number of new landmine victims, surpassing even Cambodia. Contrary to trends in the rest of the world, the SPDC has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty and abstained from the 1999 UN General Assembly vote on the treaty. Of Burma?s 14 states and divisions, 9 of them are affected by landmines. Evidence suggests that in Karen State there is one landmine victim everyday. Civilians become landmine victims in two ways: when they are forced by the military to act as human minesweepers (see below); and when they accidentally step on mines planted in areas where civilians reside. More than 14 percent of mine victims in Burma stepped on landmines within half a kilometer from the center of their village.
In efforts to block supply routes for armed ethnic organizations, the SPDC plants mines on supply and escape routes used by villagers and refugees. Villages from which people have fled or have been forcibly relocated from are also mined to prevent the villagers from returning, as well as to block access to food, supplies and intelligence to opposition groups. Landmines have also been planted along streams, paths, roads and passes that are used by civilians, including those fleeing Burma. It is estimated that there is one civilian death for every two military casualties associated with landmines. (Source: Landmine Monitor report-2002.)..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentaion Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication:
2003-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
31.4 KB
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Key developments since May 2002: "Myanmar?s military has continued laying landmines. At least 15 rebel groups also used mines, two more than last year: the New Mon State Party and the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party. Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams and ICBL Coordinator Liz Bernstein visited the country in February 2003."..."Myanmar?s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Myanmar abstained from voting on the pro-Mine Ban Treaty UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 in November 2002. SPDC delegates have not attended any of the annual meetings of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings...Myanmar has been producing at least three types of antipersonnel mines: MM1, MM2, and Claymore-type mines...Myanmar?s military forces have used landmines extensively throughout the long running civil war...Nine out of fourteen states and divisions in Burma are mine-affected, with a heavy concentration in East Burma. Mines have been laid heavily in the Eastern Pegu Division in order to prevent insurgents from reaching central Burma. Mines have also been laid extensively to the east of the area between Swegin and Kyawgyi...No humanitarian demining activities have been implemented in Burma...SPDC military units operating in areas suspected of mine contamination have repeatedly been accused of forcing people, compelled to serve as porters, to walk in front of patrols in order to detonate mines..."
Source/publisher:
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication:
2003-09-09
Date of entry/update:
2003-09-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English, Burmese
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Description:
Stephen Goose, co-founder of Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines, is one of the world?s foremost authorities on the use of anti-personnel landmines. In this exclusive interview with The Irrawaddy, he describes the situation inside Burma, where, he says, there are an estimated 1,500 landmine casualties each year.
Stephen Goose
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No. 10
Date of publication:
2000-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
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Description:
"Landmines are weapons that kill and maim indiscriminately, whether it be civilians, soldiers, elderly, women, children or animals
and cause injury and death long after the official end of a war. Contrary to trends in the rest of the world, rather than reduce or
abolish the use of landmines, the SPDC has actually increased production of anti-personnel landmines and at least in the case of
the Burma-Bangladesh border, is actively maintaining minefields. In Asia, Burma is currently second only to Afghanistan in the
number of new landmine victims, surpassing even Cambodia and the SPDC was one of only three government military forces in
Asia to use anti-personnel landmines in 2000, the others being Sri Lanka and Pakistan..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication:
2001-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
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htm htm
Size:
19.47 KB 6.04 KB
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Description:
"Landmines are weapons that kill and maim indiscriminately, whether it be civilians, soldiers, elderly people, women, children or
animals. They cause injury and death long after the official end of a war. Contrary to trends in the rest of the world, rather than
reduce or abolish the use of landmines, the SPDC has actually increased production of anti-personnel landmines and at least in
the case of the Burma-Bangladesh border, is actively maintaining minefields. In Asia, Burma is currently second only to
Afghanistan in the number of new landmine victims, surpassing even Cambodia. The SPDC has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty
and abstained from the 1999 UN General Assembly vote on the treaty, saying, ?A sweeping ban on landmines is unnecessary
and unjustified. The problem is the indiscriminate use of mines, as well as the transfer of them.” Although the SPDC is not
known to export landmines, mines from China, Israel, Italy, Russia and the United States have been found planted inside
Burma, indicating past or present importation of them. By their own admission, accepting transferred (imported) landmines
makes them part of the problem..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
2002-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc)
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
31.4 KB
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Description:
"Key developments since May 2000: Myanmar government forces
and at least eleven ethnic armed groups continue to lay antipersonnel
mines in significant numbers. The governments of Bangladesh and
Thailand both protested use of mines by Myanmar forces inside their
respective countries. In a disturbing new development, mine use is
alleged to be taking place under the direction of loggers and narcotics
traffickers, as well as by government and rebel forces."
Source/publisher:
ICBL
Date of publication:
2001-09-12
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English, Burmese
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Description:
"Key developments since May 2001: Myanmar?s military has continued laying landmines inside the country and along its borders with Thailand. As part of a new plan to ?fence the country,? the Coastal Region Command Headquarters gave orders to its troops from Tenasserim division to lay mines along the Thai-Burma border. Three rebel groups, not previously identified as mine users, were discovered using landmines in 2002: Pao People?s Liberation Front, All Burma Muslim Union and Wa National Army. Thirteen rebel groups are now using mines. Myanmar?s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Myanmar abstained from voting on the pro-Mine Ban Treaty UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in November 2001. SPDC delegates have not attended any of the annual meetings of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings. Myanmar declined to attend the Regional Seminar of Stockpile Destruction of Anti-personnel Mines and other Munitions, held in Malaysia in August 2001. Myanmar did not respond to an invitation by the government of Malaysia to an informal meeting, held on the side of the January 2002 intersessional meetings in Geneva, to discuss the issue of landmines within the ASEAN context (other ASEAN non-signatories, such as Vietnam, did attend). Myanmar was one of the two ASEAN countries that did not participate in the seminar, ?Landmines in Southeast Asia,? hosted by Thailand from 13?15 May 2002.
However, two observers from the Myanmar Ministry of Health attended the Regional Workshop on Victim Assistance in the Framework of the Mine Ban Treaty, held in Thailand from 6-8 November 2001, sponsored by Handicap International (HI). One health officer attending the meeting acknowledged that if Myanmar joined the mine ban it would be a good preventative health measure..."
Source/publisher:
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication:
2002-09-13
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English, Burmese
more
Description:
Elephants are becoming the latest victims of landmines planted along the war-torn Thai-Burma border.
Helen Anderson
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 4
Date of publication:
2001-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Threats to the fauna of Burma
Language:
English
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Description:
Information on a new flow of refugees from northeastern Pa?an District into Thailand. The villagers say that they fled their village in mid-January 2001 because SPDC troops are using them as porters, forced labour on an access road, and Army camp labour in order to strengthen the regime?s control over this contested area. Worst of all, the villagers say they are being ordered to clear landmines in front of the SPDC Army?s road-building bulldozer, and to make way for new Army camps.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Information Update #2001-U1)
Date of publication:
2001-02-20
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Burma and the region, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
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