Armed conflict in Kachin State - general articles

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Title: Myanmar?s military: Money and guns
Description: "Since the military junta?s announcement in 2010 that they were willing to begin a transition to democracy and implement democratic reforms arms imports from Chinese, Russian and other outside supplies have risen dramatically. Arms imports into the country in 2011 surged to an all time high of nearly $700 million, more than double the highest annual figure since 1989 and remained almost as high in 2012. Fatalities in Burma?s armed conflicts have also risen during these years as a more than decade-long downward trend was reversed following the massive rearming of the military and its subsequent offensives against the Kachin Independence Army, which began in June of 2011..."
Creator/author: Jacob Sommer
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
Date of publication: 2013-12-06
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-14
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Language: English
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Title: The Myanmar-Kachin truce
Description: "The Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar government have agreed a new truce, bringing a tentative halt to the war that re-ignited on 9 June 2011. That war ran for far too long, with too many killed and too much damage done. Regular New Mandala readers will be aware of my deep interest in this topic, and the many words I have spilled on it over the years. For now, it?s too early to guess whether this truce will hold but the signals from the negotiations in Myitkyina are overwhelmingly positive. We can all appreciate that the challenges ahead are immense, and that building the foundations for a new political arrangement in northern Myanmar will not be easy. But the effort by all sides to find common ground and bring a halt to hostilities is exactly what?s needed to create momentum for lasting peace. It won?t happen by accident..."
Creator/author: Nicholas Farrelly
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
Date of publication: 2013-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-16
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Title: KIA Warns Civilians Fighting with Myanmar Military Could Erupt Anytime
Description: "The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) warned civilians in northern Shan State’s Kutkai this week that clashes could erupt anytime in the area between the ethnic armed group and the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw. Since June 1, the Myanmar military and the KIA have clashed violently in Kutkai five times. The township has also seen clashes between the Myanmar military and a KIA ally, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). “[More] clashes can break out anytime. [Civilians] need to be very careful,” KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy. Clashes broke out on June 6 and 7 in Kutkai between the Myanmar military and the KIA, and another round of violence took place from Tuesday to Thursday, creating a climate of fear among Kutkai residents. Dozens of people taking shelter at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Zup Awng Village in Kutkai had returned to their villages to farm and search for food, as their community has seen a shortage of food due to COVID-19. The renewed fighting on Wednesday forced around 30 of them to flee back to the camp. On Thursday, Myanmar military troops reportedly forced five locals in Kutkai to serve as guides for them, holding them until the evening. There was no fighting on Friday as of midday, according to local residents. The fighting in Kutkai has erupted despite the fact that the Myanmar military has declared a ceasefire due to COVID-19, which is in effect until August 31. “There was a clash with the KIA around 9 a.m. on Thursday some 2,500 meters from Namhu Village to the west of the Hsenwi-Kutkai Road,” Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy. He claimed that clashes took place because KIA troops trespassed into territories controlled by the Myanmar military. But the KIA said it has not reached any agreement with the Myanmar military about troop deployments as it is still in discussions with the Myanmar government and military about signing a bilateral ceasefire agreement..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-19
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Title: Breaking free from fear in Kachin
Description: "While Myanmar’s state counselor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi focused her energies last month on personally defending her country’s appalling human-rights record in The Hague, bewildering ever more erstwhile supporters for papering over atrocities, “Rape as a Weapon of War and the Women Who Are Resisting: A Special Report” recently released by the Free Burma Rangers (FBR) reflects a more accurate portrayal of the true nature of the ethnic conflict embroiling the long-troubled country. “Sexual violence has become a hallmark of the prolonged civil conflict and an indisputable tactic of the Burma Army against ethnic women,” the report states. “After several failed domestic and international agreements, the Burma Army continues to rape with impunity, but women across the ethnic states are tired of living in fear.” Working with local ethnic pro-democracy groups, FBR trains, supplies, and later coordinates with teams providing humanitarian relief. After training, these teams provide essential emergency medical services, basic necessities and human-rights documentation in their home regions..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
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Title: Myanmar Army Attacks Kachin Independence Army Base
Description: "The Myanmar army attacked a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training base in northern Shan State’s Hseni Township on Wednesday, according to local sources. The KIA reported that the Myanmar army attacked a KIA Brigade 10 training base and KIA forces fought back. “We heard that they came to attack our base. KIA forces were fighting in self-defense,” KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy on Friday. “We do not know details yet about whether the Myanmar army has withdrawn their troops from our area or whether our training base has withdrawn troops from the area, as it is very difficult to get in contact with them,” he said. Col. Naw Bu is based at the KIA headquarters in Laiza, Kachin State. The colonel added that in the last three months, the Myanmar military has deployed troops in the territory of KIA Brigade 10 and has been searching for the KIA army base. Kachin News Group reported that the Myanmar army fired four large artillery shells at the KIA training base, as well as lighter weapons..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
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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..."
Source/publisher: "Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-28
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Title: 'We're not afraid to lead': Myanmar’s displaced find a new voice
Description: "Fearful for their safety, many of the 241,000 people forced from their homes by conflict in Myanmar are reluctant to go back. Now campaigners are mobilising to resist organised returns Bawk Nu Awng hasn’t been home since 2011. All three of the villages where she spent her childhood have been destroyed. “War hit wherever my family lived,” she said. “I feel like it is my responsibility to engage in all matters related to peace.” Now aged 21, Bawk Nu Awng, from Kachin in Myanmar, has emerged as a spokesperson among youth displaced by conflict. When Aung San Suu Kyi took power in 2016, her party, the National League for Democracy, pledged to prioritise ending conflict in Myanmar. Yet the country’s various ethnic groups continue to fight for increased federal autonomy. In Rakhine state, conflict is escalating between Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, and the rebel Arakan Army. Nationwide, an estimated 241,000 people like Bawk Nu Awng remain in camps, including more than 97,000 in Kachin state. Camps for internally displaced people are the most visible evidence of Myanmar’s ongoing strife. With elections coming up next year, political momentum to send displaced people home has accelerated. Kachin, which shares a border with China’s Yunnan province, is a strategic area for China’s belt and road initiative, a global development strategy that includes a multi-billion pound China-Myanmar economic corridor. In March, Yunnan officials met with the influential Kachin Baptist Convention; support for returns and a peace agreement was encouraged, with the Chinese contingent suggesting stability could bring investment and development..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-10
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Title: Burma Army Attacks KIA Camp
Description: "Burma Army troops attacked a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) battalion with assault rifles late last week, a representative of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) confirmed. Col Naw Bu, who is in charge of the KIO’s information department, said that the military launched an attack on October 19 on the KIA’s Regiment 254, located not far from the organization’s Laiza headquarters. “It’s the KIA’s patrolling battalion… it is located between Hpalap and Samar hill,” Col Naw Bu told NMG. “The Burma Army, which has been stationed on Samar, attacked our Battalion 254 between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. on October 19. Samar belongs to Kachin State. The Burma Army shot at us from Samar hill.” Col Naw Bu added that the assault was carried out with assault rifles, including machine guns, but not artillery. “They shot at us with around 20 bullets. They didn’t attack us with heavy weapons,” he said, adding that he did not know why the attack took place..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-24
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Title: More Than 2,000 People Displaced, 19 Killed in Myanmar Fighting
Description: "More than 2,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes, and 19 have been killed, since fighting broke out between government troops and ethnic minority insurgents in northern Myanmar last week, government officials said Wednesday. The escalation in hostilities in Myanmar’s fractured north is another setback for civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s bid to bring peace amid a stuttering transition from full military rule. The people displaced in the latest fighting are sheltering in monasteries around Lashio town in the north of Shan State, and are depending on aid groups and the government for their supplies, aid workers said. "We are providing basic rescue materials as well as cash to displaced people in the camps, the injured people and also to family members of those who got killed," Soe Naing, director of the Department of Disaster Management in Shan State, told Reuters..."
Source/publisher: US News (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-23
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Title: An unhappy return for IDPs in Kachin State
Sub-title: The return of conflict-displaced families to a Kachin State village, managed by the Tatmadaw without the input of the Kachin Independence Organisation, has deepened mistrust between the two sides of the conflict and may have endangered lives.
Description: "EIGHT YEARS after conflict in northern Myanmar resumed between the Tatmadaw and Kachin Independence Army, the Myanmar government and military have begun initiatives to return or resettle some of the more than 100,000 people displaced by the fighting. These activities, which include a national strategy for the closure of camps for internally displaced persons, or IDPs, have taken place in parallel to renewed peace negotiations with the Kachin Independence Organisation, the KIA’s political wing, aimed at securing a bilateral ceasefire. The government and the Kachin Humanitarian Concern Committee – a body that includes Kachin humanitarian and religious leaders, as well as two members of the KIO’s IDP committee – have also discussed potential cooperation on the resettlement process. After informal talks in February, the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre and KHCC met in Nay Pyi Taw in April to discuss the safe and dignified return and resettlement of IDPs, expanding humanitarian assistance to IDPs and pathways to closing the IDP camps. The inability of the KIO and the Tatmadaw to reach a bilateral ceasefire agreement has limited progress. The exception is one village in Waingmaw Township, where the Tatmadaw has overseen the return of around 200 people from camps in Myitkyina, Waingmaw and Bhamo townships..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-24
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Title: War, peace and protest in Kachin State
Description: "Amid an ongoing civil war in northern Burma, some are on a different “front lines,” of sorts — facing legal consequences for protesting the conflict, or otherwise working to bring an end to the fighting..."
Source/publisher: DVBTVenglish
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-22
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Title: Kachin conflict or Kachin War
Description: What Future Do We Have?' Caught in the Crossfire of Myanmar's Northern Conflict, Civilians See Little Hope
Source/publisher: Sky News
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-19
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Title: Myanmar's forgotten war
Description: "The persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar caused shock waves around the world, but there is another conflict raging in the country. Fighting has intensified between government forces and Kachin rebels fighting for self-determination..."
Source/publisher: Sky News
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-18
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Title: Early July Clash Account Summary: Kachin State and Northern Shan State
Description: ''Hostilities in Kachin State and northern Shan State remain almost a daily occurrence. Compared to the first two weeks of June which had five clashes and 12 attacks, July has had nine clashes and nine attacks. Most clashes have occurred in Danai and Hpakant townships. Heavy rains have reduced the number of clashes in the region, yet civilians and combatants still suffer from continued Burma Army advances. Throughout the first half of July there were six military actions in Danai Township. Nawng Nyang and Zup Mai villages, approximately 15 kilometers east of Danai Town and the Myitkyina – Danai highway, as well as Nam Hkam Village, approximately 20 kilometers southwest of Danai Town, were the areas of contention. Over 2000 people were displaced east of Danai in April, some of which only recently emerged from hiding in the jungle. Over the 14th, 15th and 16th of July, there was heavy fighting in Hpakant Township in the region west of Kamaing Town. The biggest battle occurred throughout the day of July 14th when KIA soldiers from Bum Chyang Post defended against approximately 100 Burma Army soldiers from Ja Ra Yang Base. At 1630 Burma Army forces fired four mortar rounds toward Bum Chyang from Ja Ra Yang...''
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
Date of publication: 2018-07-30
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-14
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Title: July 16-31 Clash Summary: Kachin State and Northern Shan State
Description: "Burma Army indiscretions in Kachin and Northern Shan states continue to wound civilians, bringing the total this month to six. Mortars fired by the Burma Army during a clash in Manton Township in Northern Shan State wounded the villager Mr. Aik Ye, hitting him with shrapnel in the waist. The clash occurred on July 18th at 12:45 between approximately 60 Burma Army soldiers and troops from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) 3rd Brigade. In Danai Township, on July 22, two civilians, Mr. Maran Tang Seng, and Ms. Gawlu Roi were wounded and one KIA soldier, Nhkum Naw Awng, were killed when they stepped on a landmine planted by the Burma Army..."
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
Date of publication: 2018-08-03
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-14
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Title: Conflict in Kachin continues
Description: "As recent events in Rakhine state draw international attention to fragility in Myanmar, the armed conflict in Kachin state continues to be sidelined, despite approaching its sixth anniversary and a severely deteriorating situation in recent months. Armed clashes are rampant, thousands are being displaced or re-displaced, humanitarian access is extremely restricted ? particularly to areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Organisation ? and displaced people have minimal safe options for relocation. Armed clashes in recent months near existing IDP camps causing more than 6,000 IDPs to be re-displaced are increasing the sense of fear and anxiety, as one recently re-displaced person explained..."
Hkinjawng Naw (Laser), Dustin Barter
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
Date of publication: 2017-04-07
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-22
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Title: Myanmar: The Dilemma of Ceasefires but No Peace
Description: "...Myanmar?s future could still be bright. But as military offensives continue, it is vital to recognise that the recourse to armed tactics is not just a Kachin issue but a national issue as well. If there is a reversion to military rule, it might not make much difference for the Kachins who have been living under this reality for many decades, but it must give real cause for concern to everyone who supports democracy. Political solutions will never be achieved on the battlefield. Under such a scenario, there will be no winners but just losers. Military-first tactics will never end, and the present political landscape will not mark a step in transition towards peace and democratic change. Rather, the country will remain enmeshed in the unending cycles of conflict, ceasefires and broken promises that underpin state failure and national under-achievement. The task of finding peaceful solutions thus falls to us all: political parties, ethnic armed organisations, community and civil society groups, media, faith-based groups, individual activists for peace, and coalitions of interest groups. It is time to say that ?enough is enough” to military offensives. At a time of critical national change, the attitude of waiting until armed conflict is over to settle things will not work. Popular momentum is building. What is now needed is to forge a national movement in the same way as the ?Save the Irrawaddy” campaign that halted the construction of the Myitsone Dam under the Thein Sein government. People of all ethnic, political, religious and geographical backgrounds need to come together in one voice to stop the war before it is too late...."
Lahpai Seng Raw
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of publication: 2016-10-19
Date of entry/update: 2016-10-20
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Title: We Are Not Rebels? We Fight for Democracy: Ta?ang (TNLA) Soldiers
Description: "Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the armed wing of Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), is one of the ethnic resistance armed organisations that vows not to lay down arms until there is a guarantee of political negotiations. Burma Link spoke with two TNLA soldiers, Mai and Mai Main, who were sent by their leaders to study human rights and politics in Mae Sot, so that they could go back to Ta?ang land and educate other soldiers. These two soldiers studied in Mae Sot for a year, and believed it is their responsibility to go back to Burma to educate others and safeguard their people?s rights. In this interview, they share their story on how and why they became involved with the TNLA and why the Ta?ang people so strongly support their army. Mai and Mai Main, aged 23 and 26, are now back in the battle fields of northern Shan State." ..."END NOTE: Although TNLA is a member of the ethnic alliance United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the government has tried to exclude the group from the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) talks. TNLA is an ally of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and fights alongside the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in northern Shan State, to obtain freedom and to establish a genuine federal union. TNLA also fights to eliminate cultivation, production, sale and use of drugs in their traditional lands. Read more."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of publication: 2015-07-13
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-17
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Title: Women of the Kachin Conflict: Trafficking and Militarized Femininity on the Burma-China Border
Description: "Trafficking and Militarized Femininity on the Burma-China Border Kachin State is an ethnic region in northern Burma that has long been in conflict with the central Burmese government.1 In 2011, a seventeen-year cease-fire was broken, resulting in the resumption of active warfare between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)—the political arm of the Kachin people—and the Burmese military, at the government?s behest. In spite of ongoing attempts at peace negotiations, the Kachin Women?s Association of Thailand has documented an alarming number of atrocities—including rape, arbitrary arrest and torture—against civilians (Kachin Women?s Association of Thailand, 2013). The area has been documented to be an active conflict zone resulting in one of the worst humanitarian crisis? in the Mekong Sub-Region (Human Rights Watch, 2014). According to a report by the prior Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, over 120,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have fled to border areas of Burma and China to escape the fighting (Quintana, 2014), and these communities suffer from a lack of basic necessities and little to no foreign aid. These desperate conditions have left civilians—women, in particular—very vulnerable. As a result, trafficking in women ? often to Yunnan Province as forced brides ? is on the rise. This form of trafficking, however, has not been made a priority on the policy agendas of the Burmese or Chinese governments, and there is currently no official anti-trafficking policy operating within Kachin State..."
Erin M. Kamler
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
Date of publication: 2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-08
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Title: Making sense of Myanmar?s borderland conflicts
Description: "Four different angles on Myanmar?s contemporary conflicts were on offer at the recent 2015 Myanmar/Burma Update, with speakers providing fresh insights into the roots of the Kachin conflict, the use of landmines in Burma, the role of gender in conflict, and the Pa-O-Self-Administrated Zone. Questioning the view that conflict between the Kachin minority and the Burma military is primarily resource-driven, Dr Costas Laoutides and Dr Anthony Ware of Deakin University suggested that clashes over resources are a manifestation of deeper problems to do with identity. Laoutides and Ware exposed powerful historical narratives as ideological roots of the conflict, gleaned from fieldwork interviews with key Kachin informants, including state officials and armed group members."
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
Date of publication: 2015-06-15
Date of entry/update: 2015-06-24
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Title: China, the United States and the Kachin Conflict
Description: KEY FINDINGS: 1. The prolonged Kachin conflict is a major obstacle to Myanmar?s national reconciliation and a challenging test for the democratization process. 2. The KIO and the Myanmar government differ on the priority between the cease-fire and the political dialogue. Without addressing this difference, the nationwide peace accord proposed by the government will most likely lack the KIO?s participation. 3. The disagreements on terms have hindered a formal cease-fire. In addition, the existing economic interest groups profiting from the armed conflict have further undermined the prospect for progress. 4. China intervened in the Kachin negotiations in 2013 to protect its national interests. A crucial motivation was a concern about the ?internationalization” of the Kachin issue and the potential US role along the Chinese border. 5. Despite domestic and external pressure, the US has refrained from playing a formal and active role in the Kachin conflict. The need to balance the impact on domestic politics in Myanmar and US-China relations are factors in US policy. 6.A The US has attempted to discuss various options of cooperation with China on the Kachin issue. So far, such attempts have not been accepted by China.
Yun Sun
Source/publisher: Stimson Center (Great Powers and the Changing Myanmar - Issue Brief No. 2)
Date of publication: 2013-12-31
Date of entry/update: 2014-01-23
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Title: PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT - KIO-Supported Armed Groups in the Kachin Conflict
Description: CONCLUSION: "The ethnic situation in the country in relation to the peace process has improved, yet major obstacles still remain. Many armed ethnic actors have called for a ?Panglong style dialogue? which the Government has suggested will happen shortly. This all-inclusive dialogue offers armed groups a number of opportunities to finally realise their aspirations. Nevertheless, a number of other armed ethnic actors will need to rethink their positions. This political dialogue will exclude some actors, either because they have no political aims or are much smaller and considered inconsequential. While the Ta-ang have made clear there aims, the future of the Arakan Army and the ABSDF-North remains firmly in the hands of the Kachin."
Editor: Lian H. Sakhong; Author: Paul Keenan
Source/publisher: Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies (Briefing Paper No. 14)
Date of publication: 2013-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2013-07-08
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Title: Briefing: Fresh hopes for peace in Myanmar?s Kachin State
Description: "KACHIN STATE, 3 June 2013 (IRIN) - The UN and others have welcomed recent peace talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Myanmar?s conflict-affected Kachin State, but building trust will take time, say experts. On 31 May, the Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which has been fighting for greater autonomy for decades, agreed to further dialogue and talks on the resettlement of tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs). According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there are more than 85,000 IDPs in Kachin and Shan states (both in the north), including over 50,000 (58.5 percent) in areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military wing of the KIO. Many others are staying with host families. Over the past two years, hundreds have been killed in the conflict and there has been extensive damage to livelihoods and infrastructure. According to the recently released inter-agency Kachin Response Plan, an upsurge in fighting in late 2012 triggered the displacement of several thousand more people. Since the resumption of peace talks in February, fewer have been displaced, but there have not yet been significant numbers of IDPs returning to their homes due to ongoing tensions, lack of livelihood opportunities, and landmines..."
Source/publisher: IRIN
Date of publication: 2013-06-03
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-06
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Title: Ongoing struggles
Description: Key Points: • Myanmar?s central democratic reforms have received broad backing, enabling it to boost its legitimacy and consolidate its hold on power. • Although tentative ceasefires have been concluded with most of the ethno-nationalist armed groups, there is no clear timeline or plan to address longstanding demands for self-rule and the protection of cultural identities. • Meanwhile, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the principal protagonist in the struggle for ethnic rights, has been the focus of sustained military offensives. As Myanmar?s democratic reform process rumbles on, military offensives continue despite ceasefires between most of the ethno-nationalist rebel armies and the government. Curtis W Lambrecht examines the road to peace in the country.
Curtis W Lambrecht
Source/publisher: Jane?s Terrorism and Security Monitor, May 2013,
Date of publication: 2013-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-03
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Title: A serious threat to peace in Myanmar
Description: "The fighting in Kachin areas – the Kachin State itself and Kachin-majority parts of northern Shan State – has been one of the most serious threats to peace during Myanmar?s transition since it erupted in June 2011, ending a seventeen-year-long ceasefire. It remains the last of Myanmar?s decades-long ethnic conflicts not currently to have a ceasefire. Since Crisis Group first raised concerns in November 2011 about the grave consequences the breakdown of the ceasefire could pose for the country?s New Peace Initiative, other Storm Clouds have gathered on the country?s horizon, including virulent inter-communal violence in Rakhine State. These are serious challenges that must be overcome if Myanmar is to keep its broadly positive transition on track. But as Myanmar can see from the Indonesian experience, transitions are complicated, long, and often messy processes. They do not always end up as those who advocated or started them intended. There are many deviations and frequently bumps in the road..."
Jim Della-Giacoma
Source/publisher: International Crisis Group
Date of publication: 2013-01-10
Date of entry/update: 2013-04-08
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Title: The Kachin Crisis: Peace Must Prevail
Description: Conclusions and Recommendations: * The government should halt all offensive operations against the KIO and other armed ethnic forces. Armed conflict will worsen, not resolve, Burma?s ethnic and political crises. The violence contradicts promises to achieve reform through dialogue, and undermines democratic and economic progress for the whole country. * Ethnic peace must be prioritised as an integral part of political, economic and constitutional reform. Dialogue must be established to include ethnic groups that are outside the national political system. * Restrictions on humanitarian aid to the victims of conflict must be lifted. With hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in the ethnic borderlands, a long-term effort is required to ensure that aid truly reaches to the most vulnerable and needy peoples as part of any process of peace-building. * Economic and development programmes must benefit local peoples. Land-grabbing and unsustainable business practices must halt, and decisions on the use of natural resources and regional development must have the participation of local communities and representatives. * The international community must play an informed and neutral role in supporting ethnic peace and political reform. Human rights? progress remains essential, all ethnic groups should be included, and economic investments made only with the consultation of local peoples.
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI), Burma Centre Netherlands
Date of publication: 2013-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2013-03-12
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Title: URGENT APPEAL From Inside Kachin State (25 January 2013)
Description: "The following urgent appeal and harrowing account of the situation in northern Burma comes from Kachin State, where long-time Burma researcher and author Guy Horton reports that not only is there no sign of the promised ceasefire between the Burmese Army and the Kachin Independence Army, but the fighting is intensifying and the humanitarian situation is worsening..."
Guy Horton
Source/publisher: The Best Friend International
Date of publication: 2013-01-25
Date of entry/update: 2013-01-30
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Title: Myanmar airstrikes reopen ethnic wounds
Description: "The past few weeks have seen some of the heaviest fighting in Myanmar?s decades-long civil war with government forces launching determined attacks against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic force in the far north of the country. And for the first time ever, the government has used helicopter gunships and attack aircraft against the country?s ethnic rebels. Most of the fighting is taking place around the KIA?s headquarters at the border town of Laiza near China, and the government seems determined to crush the Kachin resistance and gain control over the area now administered by the rebels. The military campaign also sends signals to about a dozen other ethnic armies which have entered into ceasefire agreements with the government. In a statement issued on January 1, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an umbrella organisation of 12 such ethnic groups based mainly on the Thai border in the south, said they felt threatened by the offensive as well - and called for unity among Myanmar?s multitude of traditionally factious ethnic militias. "If we are not able to act collectively now we will be destroyed individually," said a participant at the meeting that adopted the statement..."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: AL Jazeera
Date of publication: 2013-01-10
Date of entry/update: 2013-01-15
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: More war than peace in Myanmar
Description: "LAIZA - Helicopter gunships hover in the sky above a battlefield. The constant sound of explosions and gunfire pierce the night for an estimated 100,000 refugees and internally displaced people. Military hospitals are full of wounded government soldiers, while bridges, communication lines and other crucial infrastructure lie in war-torn ruins. The images and sounds on the ground in Myanmar?s northern Kachin State shatter the impression of peace, reconciliation and a steady march towards democracy that President Thein Sein?s government has bid to convey to the outside world. In reality, the situation in this remote corner of one of Asia?s historically most troubled nations is depressingly normal..."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher: "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication: 2012-12-18
Date of entry/update: 2012-12-18
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Four questions about the Kachin war
Description: "...As we all know, the new war in the Kachin and Shan State?s commenced on 9 June 2011, after a ceasefire had held for 18 years. Over those ceasefire years the Kachin Independence Army/Organisation and the Burmese Army were prepared to do business. They developed mechanisms for managing long-term grievances and the political, economic and cultural interests of the peoples of northern Burma. The fact that the ceasefire never led to a final peace agreement was a major frustration for all parties. Pragmatically, though, they considered the ceasefire better than the alternatives. Until, that is, the war re-ignited. This new war did not spark in isolation, and my goal is to introduce four questions to help us contextualise the new Kachin conflict. We should also bear in mind that since President Thein Sein took power there have been many other parts of the country where conflict has erupted. This map illustrates the 2011 hotspots. When the year is finished the map for 2012 will look almost as stark, especially once sectarian staff in Rakhine State is included. With the transition to more participatory politics underway, Burma?s tragic history of inter-ethnic strife is clearly still not over. For today my four questions will, I hope, set our minds to the political context of renewed fighting in Kachin areas. The questions are: *What is this new war? *Why is the government fighting the Kachin? *What would a new deal look like? *Is democracy a precondition for peace? ..."
Nicholas Farrelly
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
Date of publication: 2012-11-15
Date of entry/update: 2012-11-16
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Kachin KIA and Myanmar Army 2012-No.008
Description: News items about the Kachin situation, ceasefires, refugees and human rights
Source/publisher: Polaris Burmese Library Collections
Date of publication: 2012-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2012-10-07
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Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.94 MB
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Title: THE WAR IN KACHIN STATE: A YEAR OF MORE DISPLACEMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
Description: • In the past year, the Tatmadaw has deployed nearly 25% of its battalions to Kachin State, escalating its war with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and bringing further suffering to civilian populations in Kachin State and Northern Shan State. • Tatmadaw soldiers have constantly targeted civilians in Kachin State and Northern Shan States as part of their military operations against the KIA. Human rights abuses have included extrajudicial killings, rape of women, arbitrary arrests, torture, forced displacement, the use of human shields, forced labor, and the confiscation and destruction of property. All of these systematic abuses would be considered war crimes and/or crimes against humanity under international law. • The ongoing conflict has displaced about 75,000 people, including at least 10,000 refugees who crossed the border into China. Despite the severity of the situation, the regime has frustrated relief efforts, severely restricting humanitarian access to local and international organizations. • The KIA?s political leadership, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), has made repeated attempts to negotiate a lasting peace in Kachin State. However, the regime has rejected the KIO?s request to discuss long-term political solutions prior to a ceasefire agreement. BACKGROUND: 2008 constitution, 2010 elections, BGF, energy projects, and human rights abuses
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma
Date of publication: 2012-06-08
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-09
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
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