Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar

expand all
collapse all

Websites/Multiple Documents

Title: Deeds of Commitment under Geneva Call made by 26 Armed Non-State Actors in Burma/Myanmar
Description: Regarding: Use of anti-personnel landmines; Use of child soldiers; Protection of Children from the Effects of Armed Conflict...made between 2003 and 2012...full texts in English.
Source/publisher: Geneva Call
Date of publication: 2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-11-09
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Maps: Townships affected by mines, 2010-2011 - Townships with mine incidents
Description: "The Myanmar Information Management Unit [UN MIMU] has released two maps which show townships with a known hazard due to the presence of antipersonnel mines, and the number of victims per township in 2010-2011. This is the third map produced in a collaboration between MIMU in Yangon and Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor, since 2009. These maps document how many townships in the countries are known to have some level of mine pollution, and the number of known landmine victims from the townships in the 2010-2011 period. The maps do not provide precise details on the location of mined areas..."
Source/publisher: MIMU via http://burmamineban.demilitarization.net
Date of publication: 2011-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2011-11-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Mine Action Sector
Description: Nine out of Myanmar’s 14 States are contaminated with landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) including by newly laid landmines as the conflict expanded in Kachin and Shan States since 2015. KAP survey and rapid assessment alerted on the urgent need to scale up mine risk education programming as 3 out 4 children interviewed never received any information on mines and even fewer adults have received any form of MRE. ''While the ceasefire signed in October 2015 did include a dedicated article on demining which might open new windows of opportunities for the expansion of the mine action activities in Myanmar, the ceasefire has not been signed by all parties to the conflict, and no agreement has been reached yet to start survey or operations however, few organizations have got an approval to conduct Non-Technical Survey in Kayah state. Protection and Mine Action actors in country continue to advocate with the different parties for the use of “marking and fencing” in affected areas and also to start pilot land release activities in state where possible. In addition, access to mine affected-areas, especially in non-governmental controlled areas remains challenging. Since 2012, the Ministry of Social Welfare Relief and Rehabilitation, has co-chaired with UNICEF a national Mine Risks Working Group (MRWG) comprising 10 different ministries and 41 national and international NGOS and UN agencies to enhance inter-ministerial and inter-agency coordination. In 2014, dedicated technical groups on Victim Assistance and Information Management were established, and as a result of a decentralization process four State level MRWGs were established in Kachin, Kaya, Kayin and Shan States...''
Source/publisher: Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU)
Date of publication: 1970-01-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-07
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Title: Search for "landmines" on the KHRG site
Description: Use the drop-down menu of the Database Search. Click on Landmines.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-25
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
expand all
collapse all

Individual Documents

Title: Myanmar: Ban Landmines, Lift Travel Restrictions on Aid Groups
Sub-title: COVID-19 and longstanding restrictions on humanitarian aid hamper landmine-survivor support
Description: "The Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups should end the use of landmines and the Government of Myanmar should lift restrictions on humanitarian aid groups providing life-saving support to landmine survivors in ethnic areas affected by ongoing war, said Fortify Rights today. Since January 1, 2020, landmine explosions in Myanmar have reportedly killed or injured at least 68 civilians, while longstanding government-imposed restrictions on aid groups coupled with new COVID-19-related restrictions hinder access to essential aid and services. Fortify Rights spoke with ten organizations, including six local-led humanitarian groups, working to address landmine casualties in conflict zones in Kachin and northern Shan states, all of whom report a near total halt to their regular activities. Landmines killed or injured at least 26 civilians in Kachin and northern Shan states this year. “There was a mine explosion in Moemeik [in Mongmit Township, Shan State], and we could not help the person for two reasons,” Lwar Hlar Reang the General-Secretary of Ta’ang Student and Youth Union (TSYU) based in Lashio, northern Shan State, told Fortify Rights. “The first is the military prevents people from coming and seeing that person . . . The second reason is that it is difficult for us to travel right now because of the coronavirus.” TSYU is a civil society organization that provides essential assistance to survivors of landmine explosions. Describing their work, Lwar Hlar Reang said: “Some [landmine survivors] need transportation in order to get to the hospital, some people need medical help and are in need of an operation. We provide transportation and clothes for the operation.”..."
Source/publisher: "Fortify Rights" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-22
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Myanmar begins talk on landmine-clearing programme
Sub-title: The government began national-level discussions on the much-delayed landmine-clearing programme, a senior disaster management official said.
Description: "U Tun Zaw, deputy director general of the Department of Disaster Management, said the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Tatmadaw (military) are attending the talks. Thousands of people have been killed and maimed by landmines that litter the conflict-torn countryside. Both the military and ethnic armed groups remain reluctant to give up the use of landmines despite appeals by international organizations. “We can’t do rescue work only. If landmines remain, victims will remain,” U Tun Zaw said. “It is better if there are no more landmines. We plan to form a national body for landmine clearing.” U Tun Zaw said the meeting was held last week in Nay Pyi Taw and the discussions are still at the preliminary stage. He said the discussions focused on the establishment of a National Mine Action Authority, and a mine action centre will be established under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. There was also talk about the Ministry of Defence establishing state and regional level mine-clearing groups. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement vowed to provide K200,000 (US$137) and prosthetic limbs for each victim of landmine explosions. U Tun Zaw said the government knows it would be difficult for internally displaced people to return to their homes as they face dangers from landmines..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-04
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: KNU Denies Targeting Myanmar Military Officer Killed in Mine Blast
Summary: "The Myanmar military has accused the Karen National Union of using an anti-vehicle mine to kill a battalion commander in a targeted attack in Karen State’s Papun Township on Monday, an allegation...
Description: "The Myanmar military has accused the Karen National Union of using an anti-vehicle mine to kill a battalion commander in a targeted attack in Karen State’s Papun Township on Monday, an allegation the KNU denied. The commander was serving as part of a unit providing security for a road-building project that the KNU opposes. Lieutenant Colonel Aung Kyaw Soe, commander of Light Infantry Battalion No. 708, died when the anti-vehicle mine exploded at 3 p.m. on Jan. 27 near Nat Taung Village in Papun, said Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw). The following day, military vehicles transporting goods to security forces and engineers constructing roads in the area were hit by anti-vehicle mine blasts near Muthae Village in Kyauk Kyi Township, Bago Region. The military said the attack damaged a vehicle and its shipment of rice. Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, “The mine that killed the commander on Monday was planted in the middle of the road and was detonated in a targeted attack.” “[The KNU] should refrain from such actions. If not, we will have to act for security reasons,” he said..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-31
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine Monitor: Myanmar/Burma Country Report November 2019
Description: "Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor provides research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Cluster Munition Coalition. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) formed in 1992 to rid the world of the scourge of the anti-personnel landmine. The ICBL is a network of over 1,300 non-governmental organizations in 70 countries, and received the Nobel Peace Award in 1997. The Cluster Munition Coalition is an international civil society campaign working to eradicate cluster munitions, prevent further casualties from these weapons and put an end for all time to the suffering they cause. Landmine Monitor documents the implementation of the 1997 Ottawa Convention, or the Mine Ban Treaty. Cluster Munition Monitor documents the implementation of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. Both Landmine Monitor and Cluster Munition Monitor assess the efforts of the international community to resolve the crisis caused by these weapons. As of 1 November 2019, 164 countries, over 80% of the world’s governments, have ratified, or acceded to, the Mine Ban Treaty. 120 countries have signed, ratified, or acceded to, the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Myanmar/Burma has not yet joined either convention. Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor is not a technical treaty verification system or a formal inspection regime. It is an effort by ordinary people to hold governments accountable to non-use of antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions. It is meant to compliment the reporting requirements of countries which have ratified the treaties. Our reports seek to make transparent the state of the landmine and cluster munition crisis, and government policies or practices, in non-signatory states. Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor aims to promote and facilitate discussion within human society in order to reach the goal of a landmine and cluster munition free world. Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor works in good faith to provide factual information about the issue it is monitoring in order to benefit the world as a whole. It is critical, but constructive in its documentation and analysis..."
Source/publisher: Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 554.76 KB (31 pages)
more
Title: Landmine Monitor: Myanmar/Burma Country Report November 2019 - ၂၀၁၉ မြေမြှုပ်မိုင်း စောင့်ကြည့်လေ့လာရေး မြန်မာ/ဗမာ နိုင်ငံအစီရင်ခံစာ
Description: "ပိတ်ပင်တားမြစ်ခြင်း ဆိုင်ရာ နိုင်ငံတကာ စည်းရုံးလှုံ့ဆော်ရေးအဖွဲ့နှင့် ထပ်ဆင့်ပေါက်ကွဲစေသော စစ်လက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများ အသုံးပြုတားမြစ်ပိတ်ပင် ခြင်း ညွှန့်ပေါင်းအဖွဲ့အတွက် သုတေသနလုပ်ငန်းများ ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးသည်။ မြေမြုပ်မိုင်း အသုံးပြုမှု ပိတ်ပင်တားမြစ်ခြင်း နိုင်ငံတကာ စည်းရုံး လှုံ့ဆော်ရေးအဖွဲ့ (ICBL)အား ကမ္ဘာ့အဝှမ်းလူသတ်မိုင်းများ ရှင်းလင်းပပျောက်ရေးအတွက် ၁၉၉၂ခုနှစ်တွင် ဖွဲ့စည်းခဲ့သည်။ ICBL သည် နိုင်ငံ ပေါင်း(၇၀) နိုင်ငံတွင် ရှိသော အစိုးရမဟုတ်သောအဖွဲ့အစည်းပေါင်း ၁၃၀၀ ကျော် ပါဝင်သော ကွန်ယက်တခုဖြစ်သည်။ ၁၉၉၇ခုနှစ်တွင် ငြိမ်းချမ်း ရေး နိုဘယ်လ်ဆုရခဲ့သည်။ ထပ်ဆင့်ပေါက်ကွဲစေသော စစ်လက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများ အသုံးပြုမှုတားမြစ်ပိတ်ပင်ခြင်းညွှန့်ပေါင်းအဖွဲ့သည် ထပ်ဆင့် ပေါက်ကွဲလက်နက်များ ဖျက်သိမ်းပေးရန်၊ ယင်းလက်နက်ကြောင့် နောက်ဆက်တွဲထိခိုက်သေကြေဆုံးရှုံးမှုများ မဖြစ်ပေါ်စေရေး အတွက် ကာကွယ်ဟန့်တားရန်နှင့် ထိုလက်နက် များကြောင့် အတိ ဒုက္ခရောက်မှုများကို ထာဝရ အဆုံးသတ်စေရန် စသည်တို့အတွက် ရည်ရွယ်ကြိုးပမ်း ဆောင်ရွက်နေသော နိုင်ငံတကာ စည်းရုံးလှုံ့ဆော်ရေးအဖွဲ့ကြီး ဖြစ်သည်။ မြေမြုပ်မိုင်းအသုံးပြုမှုစောင့်ကြည့်လေ့လာရေးအဖွဲ့သည် ၁၉၉၇ခုနှစ် အိုတာဝါ သဘောတူစာချုပ်မိုင်း အသုံးပြုမှုပိတ်ပင်တားမြစ်ခြင်း သဘောတူစာချုပ်အား အကောင် အထည်ဖေါ်ခြင်းနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ မှတ်တမ်းတင်သည်။ထို့အပြင် ထပ်ဆင့်ပေါက်ကွဲစေသော လက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများ စောင့်ကြည့်လေ့လာရေး အဖွဲ့ သည် ၂၀၀၈ခုနှစ်ထပ်ဆင့်ပေါက်ကွဲစေသော လက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများဆိုင်ရာ သဘောတူချုပ် အကောင် အထည်ဖေါ်မှုကို မှတ်တမ်းတင်သည်။ ၎င်းနှစ်ဖွဲ့စလုံးသည် ယင်းလက်နက်များကြောင့် ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာသည့် အကြပ်အတည်းများအပေါ် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝန်းက တုန့်ပြန် ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍လည်း စောင့်ကြည့်လေ့လာသည်။ ၂၀၁၉ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလ (၁)ရက်နေ့အထိ ကမ္ဘာ့အစိုးရစုစုပေါင်း၏ ၈၀ ရာခိုင်နှုန်းဖြစ်သော နိုင်ငံပေါင်း ၁၆၄ နိုင်ငံက မြေမြုပ်မိုင်း အသုံးပြုမှုတားမြစ်ပိတ်ပင်ခြင်း သဘောတူစာချုပ်အား သဘောတူလက်ခံခြင်း (သို့မဟုတ်) လက်ခံကျင့်သုံးခြင်းများပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည်။ နိုင်ငံပေါင်း ၁၂၀ က ထပ်ဆင့် ပေါက်ကွဲစေသောလက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများ အသုံးပြုမှုတာမြစ်ပိတ်ပင်ခြင်းသဘောတူစာချုပ်အား လက်မှတ်ရေးထိုးခြင်း (သို့မဟုတ်) လက်ခံကျင့်သုံးခြင်းများများပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် စာချုပ်နှစ်ခုစလုံးအား လက်မှတ်ရေး ထိုးခြင်း မပြုသေးပေ။ မြေမြုပ်မိုင်းနှင့် ထပ်ဆင့်ပေါက်ကွဲစေသောလက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများစောင့်ကြည့်လေ့လာရေးအဖွဲ့သည် စာချုပ်ပါ အချက်များ မှန်ကန်ခြင်း ရှိမရှိ စစ်ဆေးသောအဖွဲ့မဟုတ်သကဲ့သို့ တရားဝင်စုံစမ်း စစ်ဆေးရေး အဖွဲ့လည်းမဟုတ်ပေ။ သက်ဆိုင်ရာအစိုးရများသည် လူသတ်မိုင်း ဆန့်ကျင် တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးတာဝန်ရှိမှုအပေါ် လိုက်နာဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းရှိမရှိလေ့လာသော သာမန်ပြည်သူများ၏ အားထုတ်ချက်တခုသာ ဖြစ်သည်။ စာချုပ်အားလက်မှတ်ရေးထိုးထားသော တိုင်းပြည်များအနေဖြင့် အစီရင်ခံ တင်ပြခြင်းစည်းကမ်းအား လိုက်နာလာစေရန် ရည်ရွယ်ခြင်း လည်း ဖြစ်သည်။ မိမိတို့ အစီရင်ခံစာသည် မြေမြုပ်မိုင်းနှင့် ထပ်ဆင့်ပေါက်ကွဲစေသော လက်နက်ပစ္စည်းများ ပြဿနာ၏ အခြေအနေကို ပိုမိုထင်သာမြင်သာဖြစ်လာစေရန်၊ လက်မှတ်ရေး ထိုးထားခြင်းမရှိသေးသော အစိုးရ၏မူဝါဒများ (သို့မဟုတ်)လုပ်ဟန်များကို ပိုမိုသိရှိ လာစေရန် အတွက်ရည်ရွယ် သည်။..."
Source/publisher: Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 1.7 MB (34 pages)
more
Title: Landmine kills 4 Rohingya children in Myanmar
Sub-title: Deadly landmine explosion happens in forest where Rohingya from nearby villages went to harvest firewood
Description: "Four Rohingya children were killed in a landmine explosion in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state early Tuesday, according to an official. A group of more than 10 local Rohingya -- including several teenagers -- were harvesting firewood in the forest near Hteiktoo Pauk village in Kyauktaw Township when the mine exploded around 10.30 a.m. local time (0600GMT). “Four children, two of them 8 years old and two of them 10, were killed on the spot,” said Aung Thaung Shwe, lower house lawmaker for the area. He told Anadolu Agency by phone on Tuesday that six other Rohingya -- one adult man and five teenage boys -- were also injured in the landmine explosion. It is still unclear whether Myanmar’s military or the Arakan Army -- a predominantly Buddhist ethnic group fighting for greater autonomy in the region -- planted the landmine in the forest. “It is an act of terror as it targets civilians,” said Aung Thaung Shwe. According to local media reports citing data from civil society groups, around 100 civilians have been killed in Rakhine state by armed clashes since the Arakan Army launched synchronized attacks on police outposts last January, killing 13 officers..."
Source/publisher: "Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-08
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Government in Myanmar is the only national security force still deploying landmines
Sub-title: The death of a German tourist in Shan State raises important questions over the government’s approach to landmines.
Description: "On Tuesday, 26 November, a German tourist was killed when the motorbike he was riding struck a landmine in Myanmar’s Shan State. The man was travelling between Pan Nyaung Village and Kun Hauk Village, near Hsipaw Township, with an Argentine woman, who was also injured in the blast. The woman had gotten off the motorcycle when the road became too bumpy and was walking behind the vehicle when it struck the mine. The rider reportedly died at the scene after sustaining severe injuries to his legs, chest and midriff. Hsipaw has seen intense fighting in recent months: The region has been the site of intense fighting as ethnic armed groups fight for increased autonomy. In January, clashes broke out along the Hsipaw-Nam Lan road when troops from the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) exchanged fire..."
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Today" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-03
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Myanmar still using landmines, global casualties 'exceptionally high': report
Sub-title: Myanmar is the only government whose security forces deployed landmines in the last year, according to a new report that flags “exceptionally high” global casualty numbers from mines and other explosives despite a widely adopted ban on the weapons.
Description: "The Landmine Monitor report, released last week, tallied nearly 6,900 casualties from landmines and other explosives in 2018, largely driven by conflicts in Afghanistan, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, Syria, and Ukraine. It comes as countries who have signed on to a treaty banning landmine use meet in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, today for a summit aimed at reviewing eradication goals. While global casualty figures are less than last year, they’re nearly double what was recorded in 2013 – continuing the reversal of a longer-term trend in falling casualties. The report – an accounting of casualties and global stockpiles, as well as on progress towards mine removal and victim assistance – is released annually by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. The coalition of NGOs spearheaded the anti-mine movement, leading to the 1997 treaty that banned the weapon’s use. The coalition says 164 countries have signed on to the treaty. But 33 others have not, including some of the world’s largest stockpilers of landmines: the United States, Russia, China, Pakistan, and India. From mid-2018 to October 2019, government security forces deployed mines in only one country, Myanmar, underscoring the ongoing conflicts raging on multiple fronts in the Southeast Asian nation. Accused of widespread rights abuses, Myanmar’s army largely operates without civilian oversight..."
Source/publisher: "The New Humanitarian" (Geneva)
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Woman Killed in Another Kyaukme Tea Farm Landmine Accident
Description: "A landmine explosion on a tea farm killed a woman and injured her husband this week in Kyaukme Township. The couple—Nang Nguen and Sai Thein—accidentally set off the concealed landmine while picking tea in Mont Mart village of Khim Kawng village tract in Mong Ngor sub-township at around 3:00 p.m. on October 9. “They live in a hilltop village. They stepped on a landmine while they were picking tea leaves,” Mong Ngor local Lon Sai told SHAN. Lon Sai said that Nang Nguen endured serious injuries to her legs and died on the way to the hospital. Sai Thein’s hand was wounded in the blast. The mine explosions are becoming an increasingly common danger, he added. “Whenever people go to the tea leaf farms, they can step on landmines. I don’t know what we will do if we cannot work to pick tea in this area. There are many landmines,” Lon Sai explained. Multiple armed groups are active in Kyaukme Township, including the Burma Army, the Restoration Council of Shan State and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Clashes are frequent..."
Source/publisher: "Shan Herald Agency for News" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-23
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Human Rights Abuses Spike in Ta’ang Area, Says TWO
Description: "The number of documented human rights abuses in northern Shan State has increased dramatically over the past three months compared to the first quarter of the year, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO). The group, which based its data on reported cases of human rights abuses committed by armed groups active in predominantly ethnic Ta’ang areas, said there were 70 abuses reported from July to September, out of a total of 80 cases in the entire first half of the year. “The abuses include people who were killed by shelling of villages, death and injuries caused by landmines, and forcing civilians to act as porters. According to our records, at least 70 local people suffered human rights abuses during this three-month period,” TWO spokesperson Lway Chee Sangar told NMG..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-22
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Eight Landmine Explosions Hit Taninthary’s Yephyu Township In A Year
Description: "At least eight landmines have exploded around Ahlae Sakhan village in Tanintharyi Region’s Yephyu Township since October 2018. Most recently, a mine went off on an areca palm farm near the community on October 8. Local man Nai Chan Mon suffered injuries to his legs in the incident. Nai Tin Sakhan, the village headman of Ahlae Sakhan, said the mine was “hand-made” and exploded in the evening. The landmines that have gone off were planted on farms and near the road. While there have been no casualties, some people have lost limbs in the incidents. “There were no landmine explosions in our area in the past. We have faced landmines going off frequently in this area since 2018,” Aung, who lives in Yephyu, told NMG. “We are farmers. Our people frequently step on landmines when they go to their farms. We are so afraid of landmine explosions. But even though we are in fear, we have to go to work on our farms,” he explained. Control of the area has been disputed by the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Karen National Union (KNU), but both groups deny planting mines there. Nai Aung Mangae, the deputy in-charge of the NMSP’s central political department, said that his organization has already reported the landmine issue in Ahlae Sakhan to the government and asked that they resolve it. They have also negotiated with the KNU about it. NMSP’s Battalion 2 and the KNU’s Battalion 10 under Brigade 4 have been active in Yephyu Township. KNU forces have reportedly processed timber in the area. The NMSP and KNU forces have engaged in at least six clashes in the disputed area between 2016 and 2017..."
Source/publisher: "Network Media Group" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-19
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Three monks injured in Shan State mine blast
Sub-title: Three monks were injured when the motorcycle they are riding is believed to have hit a landmine in Namhsan Township in Palaung Self-Administrated Zone in northern Shan state, one of the victims said on Tuesday.
Description: "The monks were on their way to attend a worship ceremony in Lwe Kha Lay village when their motorcycle hit a landmine, triggering an explosion, said Sayadaw Khay Maida, a native of Namhsan. He said they are teachers at monastic schools in Mandalay. “Namhsan is my hometown. I came from Mandalay. It was past 7pm when we arrived in Kyaukme and went to Lwal Kalay village by motorcycle,” he told The Myanmar Times. “There was an explosion and all of us fell to the ground.” He added one of his colleagues suffered serious injuries in the explosion that occurred on Saturday. The sayadaw said since they were injured in a remote area and there was no way to get to a hospital, medics from the ethnic armed group Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) provided them with first aid treatment. One of the monks suffered injuries to his eyes and chest, while another suffered injuries to his ear, thigh and hand. Sayadaw Khay Maida said he suffered injuries in his thigh and leg..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-16
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Myanmar denies using landmines along Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas
Sub-title: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed during the meeting
Description: "Myanmar has denied all allegations of using landmines along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border areas. Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) made the claim during a regional commander-level meeting with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at Regional Headquarters in Cox’s Bazar on Monday. After the meeting, BGB Cox’s Bazar Region Commander Brig Gen Sajedul Rahman briefed journalists at a press conference held at The Central Resort in Teknaf at 6:30pm. Brig Gen Sajedul led the BGB delegation while BGP 1 Brig Gen Ming Tu led a 14-member Myanmar delegation. “They (BGP) said they did not implant any landmines or improvised explosive device (IED) in the common border areas with Bangladesh. However, they told us that they would inform their government about the matter once they go back to Myanmar,” the BGB commander said. “The Myanmar delegation was asked to cooperate with Bangladesh to stop yaba pills from entering into Bangladesh and in reply the Myanmar delegation head assured full cooperation,” he added. During the meeting, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to keep the good relations between the two countries intact..."
Source/publisher: "Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-15
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Another landmine blast on Burma-Bangladesh border kills Rohingya refugee
Description: "A landmine explosion has killed a Rohingya refugee on the Burma-Bangladesh border, according to Lieutenant Colonel Ali Haidar Azad Ahmed, Commanding Officer of 34 BGB Battalion, Cox’s Bazar. The explosion occurred near the Ambagan area, at Thoyangaziri Pillar number 38/3 under Naikhyangchari in Bandarban, at around 8 am on September 23, and is the second such incident this month, according to the officer. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Abdul Mazid, 35, son of Mohammad Abdul Malek, from Block-D/1 of Kutupalong mega camp, under Ukhiya police station of the district. On receiving information, police with the help of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) recovered the body from the zero-point area, said Anwar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Naikhongchhari Police Station. It was not known why the refugee went to the border region, said Anwar Hosen. But former Ghumdum UP Member Md Farid said Rohingyas usually use these border routes to smuggle illegal goods into Bangladesh. Rohingya refugee Abdul Mazid crossed the Bangladesh-Myanmar borderline on September 23 morning, but 50 yards inside Myanmar he stepped on a landmine and was seriously injured when it exploded. Later, local people rescued him from the Myanmar side and sent him to a BGB physician, according to witnesses and 34 Border Guard Bangladesh-BGB personnel. He died while under treatment due to heavy bleeding, BGB personnel said. Later, the BGB handed over the body to the Ghumdum police camp asking them to take necessary steps. Confirming the matter, Ghumdum Investigation Centre In-Charge Emon Chowdhury said the deceased’s body will be sent to the Bandarban Sadar Hospital morgue Dil Mohamed, a Rohingya community leader who lives in the makeshift camp on the tiny strip of “no man's land,” said the incident took place near their camp and was very frightening for them..."
Source/publisher: "Kaladan Press" (Bangladesh) via BNI Multimedia Group (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine blast on Bangladesh-Myanmar border kills Rohingya refugee
Description: "A Rohingya refugee has been killed in a landmine explosion along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, Bangladesh officials said on September 3, 2019. The body of the deceased was recovered near the Ghumdhum border of Naikhongchhari Upazila on the Bangladesh side, an official said. BGB regional commander Ali Haider Azad Ahmed has said the dead man is believed to be a Rohingya refugee. Locals have identified him as Md Shahjahan, aged 32, resident of a Rohingya refugee camp, Bangladesh border guards said they heard a loud explosion on September 3 and saw several men leaving behind a badly wounded person at the border village of Ghumdum. The body was sent to the Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue. The state of the body suggested that he was killed in a landmine explosion, as his legs were blown clean off, according to Ghumdhum police outpost in-charge Emon Chowdhury. “We suspect he was killed in a landmine explosion inside Myanmar and then these people carried the body to Bangladesh territory,” a senior Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) official said on condition of anonymity. The incident took place along the border around 7 pm on September 3, 2019..."
Source/publisher: "BNI Multimedia Group" via Kaladan Press (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-19
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Myanmar Military Says Remote Landmines Pose Major Threat in Rakhine
Summary: "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...
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..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-14
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Official warns of rising landmine casualties
Sub-title: The number of landmine casualties is increasing yearly in Myanmar, said U Win Naing Tun, director general of the Department of Rehabilitation.
Description: "“According to the records of the [ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center, or ARMAC] member countries, social media, and concerned organisations in rural areas, the number of mine casualties has increased yearly. Also, we’ve seen that the rate of disability is increasing,” he said in the opening speech at a meeting on mine-risk education held in Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday. Landmine explosions killed 27 people and injured 85 in 2015, killed 48 and injured 228 in 2018, and killed 33 and injured 98 as of the end of July. That is why we need more mine-risk education, U Win Naing Tun said. “Mine awareness courses, rehabilitation of those who were injured by mines and their social and financial development are our main duty,” he said. For fiscal 2017-18, the ministry earmarked K200,000 for each mine-affected person, and 525 people have received the subsidy. The states and regions of Kachin, Shan, Kayin, Kayah, Mon, Tanintharyi, Bago, and Rakhine are listed as having mines. Only the first phase of mine clearing, called a non-technical survey, has been done in Kayin and Kayah. Myanmar started clearing mines in 2012. In 2016, the National Mine Risk Education Working Group was established to support mine-affected people and education. In 2017, a mine-education app was released..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-14
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: "Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor" 2018
Description: This entry contains an html file in English and the English and Burmese 2018 reports..... ''Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor provides research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Cluster Munition Coalition. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) formed in 1992 to rid the world of the scourge of the anti-personnel landmine. The ICBL is a network of over 1,300 non-governmental organizations in 70 countries, and received the Nobel Peace Award in 1997. The Cluster Munition Coalition is an international civil society campaign working to eradicate cluster munitions, prevent further casualties from these weapons and put an end for all time to the suffering they cause. Landmine Monitor documents the implementation of the 1997 Ottawa Convention, or the Mine Ban Treaty. Cluster Munition Monitor documents the implementation of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. Both Landmine Monitor and Cluster Munition Monitor assess the efforts of the international community to resolve the crisis caused by these weapons. As of 1 November 2018, 164 countries, over 80% of the world’s governments, have ratified, or acceded to, the Mine Ban Treaty. 120 countries have signed, ratified, or acceded to, the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Myanmar/Burma has not yet joined either convention...''
Source/publisher: ''Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor"
Date of publication: 2018-12-12
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.25 MB 3.03 MB
more
Title: Townships with Known Landmine Contamination (2017) and Casualties in Myanmar (as of Dec 2016) - English and Burmese
Description: "Since 2007, Myanmar has suffered the second highest number of antipersonnel landmine casualties when compared to other countries in the Asian region..."
Source/publisher: Landmine Monitor, Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU)
Date of publication: 2017-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2018-06-29
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: KHRG STATEMENT ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MINE AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE IN MINE ACTION
Description: "On 8 December 2005, the General Assembly declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. On this occasion, KHRG calls on the Government of Myanmar to take action against the use of landmines in order to better protect villagers living in mine contaminated areas in Myanmar. Decades of ongoing conflict have left villagers living in fear due to the landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) that litter the land and continue to constitute a serious threat to the safety, health and lives of villagers. Despite Myanmar?s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) which states that all signatories to the 2015 agreement will end the use of landmines, and cooperate towards clearing all landmines, KHRG reports indicate that this promise is not being upheld. KRHG continues to receive reports on the new use of landmines and that landmines remain persistent threat to villagers in the region. KHRG reports show that throughout the last 26 years, Tatmadaw, Border Guard Forces (BGF), and the DKBA (Buddhist, Benevolent and splinter) have planted landmines as a strategy to terrorise villagers. More recently, armed actors are now planting landmines not only to defend themselves but also to protect key income generating industries of which armed groups control..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication: 2018-04-04
Date of entry/update: 2018-04-07
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 36.38 KB
more
Title: Bangladesh Prime Minister condemns mine use in Myanmar, Mine Ban Treaty President calls for Fact-Finding Mission
Description: "Yesterday, 21 September 2017, at the United Nations General Assembly, Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, stated, ?We are horrified to see that the Myanmar authorities are laying landmines along their stretch of the border to prevent the Rohingya from returning to Myanmar. These people must be able to return to their homeland in safety, security and dignity.” "
bmban
Source/publisher: Mine Free Myanmar
Date of publication: 2017-09-23
Date of entry/update: 2017-10-06
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmines on Myanmar/Burma-Bangladesh border & the flight of the Rohingya
Description: "...Some of the current wave of refugees have stepped on landmines during their attempts to leave Myanmar. International news agencies and human rights organizations have stated that they have witness testimony of new use of landmines by Myanmar?s Armed Forces along the NRS-Bangladesh border, and this has reportedly led to the issue being raised with Myanmar by Bangladesh authorities.,, UPDATE 19 SEPTEMBER 2017 "The ICBL/Landmine Monitor has verified that recent mine victims were from newly laid mines. On 28 of August, humanitarian workers providing relief to refugees camped on the Zero line of the border witnessed an Army truck arrive on the Myanmar side and unload three boxes from which soldiers took mines and placed in the ground. This continued on that day from 10am until 3pm. The mines were laid commencing in Taung Pyo Let Yar village tract of Maungdaw Township, which is adjacent to border pillar No. 31 in Bangladesh. This area demarcates the beginning of the land border between Bangladesh and Myanmar, as south of this area the border follows the Naf River.New mine use was witnessed along about a 20km stretch of the shared border between Burma and Banladesh. This stretch lies between the two main land crossing routes between Burma (Maungdaw township) and Bangladesh (Bandarban District). Subsequent to the daytime landmine operation, the Burmese Army brought trucks at night to continue laying mines, which could be seen under the lights by which they worked. Mine laying continued during the next few days, and was witnessed progressing along the border to the northeast in Mee Taik, Nga Yant Chaung, Hlaing Thi, Bauk Shu Hpweit and In Tu Lar townships. Mine laying was last seen continuing to the east of In Tu Lar township. All mines were laid on the eastern side of the border fence."
Source/publisher: Mine Free Myanmar
Date of publication: 2017-09-12
Date of entry/update: 2017-10-06
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Myanmar is facing, in certain areas, a serious problem with landmines?
Description: "...What assistance has the ICRC been providing to IDPs in Kachin and Shan states? I have had the opportunity to see two camps and a settlement where displaced people are living. One in Myitkyina, where people have been living for several years, and then two in Kutkai in northern Shan State, where displaced people had just arrived. I really feel that there is quite a difference in terms of living standards in one camp where there are people newly arrived. There, we provide emergency assistance. Whereas in Myitkyina we support livelihoods, for instance, in providing cash grants, so that people can open their own shop, earn their own money and stand on their own feet. What short- and long-term aid does the ICRC provide to IDPs? In the short term, it is basically humanitarian assistance, for instance the provisions of shelters. It was the first need that I saw in the camps that I visited in the north of Kutkai and we provided material to every family to build shelters. Then, it is about improving access to water, access to health care and to basic food. In order to provide access to food items, for instance, we distribute cash to every family every month so that they can buy their own food. We provide K7,000 per person per month. For a family of five, it?s K35,000 per month..... For the longer term, we develop other supports for families who show interest in developing economic projects, what we call conditional cash grants. With that money, I saw families in a camp in Myitkyina who opened their own shops, for instance, small grocery shops, or started to raise pigs. .....We have a program called Weapon Contamination [to raise awareness among the public]. We have specialists who are working with Myanmar Red Cross volunteers to sensitise the population on the risks of mines. Myanmar is not a signatory to the mine-ban convention known as the Ottawa Treaty. In our sensitisation work with the army and the armed groups, we very much base our arguments on the fact that we say that we understand why they use it for defence. But the problem is that if you use landmines, they will be there for a long time, and 30 years after, even if there is peace they might explode. So you are really creating a problem that will last for many decades and that will make the lives of people in these areas extremely difficult for a very long time. Landmines are a weapon that have lasting consequences. We see it in countries like Colombia, Afghanistan, even in Bosnia there are still landmines more than 20 years after the end of the conflict and people are at risk of getting hurt or their livestock affected. I think Myanmar is facing, not the whole country, but in certain areas, a serious problem with landmines. So our work consists not only of physical rehabilitation but also to encourage all parties to conflict to address this issue urgently, to start talks in order to clear the affected areas of mines so the population will be able to use the land for farming, to have access to water and grazing land. We are ready to help..."
SANN OO
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
Date of publication: 2016-06-11
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-14
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Dooplaya Situation Update: Kyainseikgyi Township, March to May 2015
Description: "This Situation Update describes events occurring in Kyainseikgyi Township, Dooplaya District between March and May 2015, including violent clashes between armed groups, injury caused by a landmine, and militarisation... On March 10th 2015, fighting broke out between Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #549 and LIB #231, and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) in A--- section, M--- village, lasting for around 30 minutes. KHRG is unable to confirm whether any villagers were injured during the fighting... On April 17th 2015, 31-year-old Saw B--- from D--- village was hit by a landmine which was purportedly planted by the DKBA. He sustained injuries to his feet but survived the explosion.... DKBA Battalion #901 established a new army camp in C--- village on April 25th 2015..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2015-11-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-12-20
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Three years, zero landmines cleared
Description: "Since the Scotland-based HALO Trust started work in Afghanistan in 1988 and Norwegian People?s Aid (NPA) cleared its first mine in Cambodia in 1992, the two NGOs have cleared and destroyed several million landmines and explosive weapons from conflict zones around the world. Their total haul in Myanmar? Zero. ?It is very frustrating,” says Henry Leach, HALO Trust representative in Yangon. ?We are the biggest operator in the world but have not cleared a single mine in Myanmar in three years of being here.” Aksel Steen-Nilsen, NPA program manager, says he is packing his bags and heading to Cambodia where there is de-mining work still to do. However, NPA will remain in Myanmar, working on all sides in continuing efforts to unblock an impasse built on decades of enmity and distrust. In the meantime, mines keep maiming and killing. No one knows for sure how many because there is no compilation of data by the warring parties. The NPA estimates 300 to 500 people, many of them civilians and children, are blown up each year. The southeast is perhaps the most mine-dense region in the world..."
Guy Dinmore
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times" (English)
Date of publication: 2014-07-14
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-29
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Hpapun Incident Report: Home guard killed by Tatmadaw landmine in Lu Thaw Township, January 2014
Description: This Incident Report describes the death of a home guard on January 24th 2014 after he stepped on a Tatmadaw landmine whilst hunting for birds in the forest. Home guards are villagers who provide security for communities of civilians in hiding. Widespread displacement occurred in Lu Thaw Township during Tatmadaw offensives in 1997 and between 2005 and 2008. Since then, many of those displaced have lived in make-shift, temporary housing in the jungle and mountainous areas with inadequate health and education facilities and without access to land on which to grow food for daily consumption. Villagers living in these areas have demanded that local Tatmadaw bases be closed so they can return to their homes, and have highlighted a range of risks associated with living in internal displacement sites, including exposure to landmines.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2014-06-23
Date of entry/update: 2014-12-08
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 908.47 KB
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report Myanmar/Burma, 2013 ( Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ )
Description: Includes Cluster Munition Monitor Report, 2013
Source/publisher: International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Date of publication: 2013-12-26
Date of entry/update: 2014-01-31
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format : pdf
Size: 646.27 KB
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report Myanmar/Burma, 2013 (English)
Description: Includes Cluster Munition Monitor Report, 2013
Source/publisher: International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Date of publication: 2013-12-26
Date of entry/update: 2014-01-31
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 540.17 KB
more
Title: Incident Report: Villager tortured by Tatmadaw commanders in Papun District, December 2012
Description: "This incident report was submitted to KHRG in January 2013 by a community member describing events occurring in Dwe Lo Township, Papun District in December 2012. The community member who wrote this report described an incident that occurred on December 28th 2012, when a female buffalo stepped on a landmine that was placed by Karen National Liberation Army soldiers. Coincidently, on the same day, Saw U---, also known as Saw P---, a 34 year old man from T--- village, went to take a bath in Buh Loh River and while he was on his way back home, he encountered two Tatmadaw soldiers, who called Saw U--- over to them. They were Tatmadaw LID #44, IB #9 Company Commander/ Camp Commander Ko Ko Lwin and Platoon Commander Kyaw Thu. As soon as Saw U--- reached them, Company Commander Ko Ko Lwin punched him in his chest and Platoon Commander Kyaw Thu punched him ten times across both sides of his face. While the soldiers did not ask Saw U--- any questions, they accused him of being in the KNLA; according to the community member who wrote this report and spoke directly with the villager, Saw U--- is not a soldier, but a villager who works on farms."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2013-06-27
Date of entry/update: 2013-08-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 272.4 KB
more
Title: Landmine injuries in Mone Township, Nyaunglebin District since January 2013
Description: "This news bulletin describes two landmine incidents occurring in February and June 2013 in Mone Township, Nyaunglebin District. On February 2nd 2013, 22-year-old Saw H--- from S--- village was walking home after collecting firewood in Maw Lay Forest when he stepped on a landmine, sustaining temporary injuries to his leg. On June 1st, 45-year-old Maung W--- stepped on a landmine at Chauck Kway. The landmine shrapnel caused major damage to his left leg, and it was amputated as a result. In both incidents, landmines were detonated on frequently used paths, indicating that the mines were likely to have been planted recently. Based on the information submitted from the community member, the Tatmadaw and KNLA are active in these areas, but it is not clear which actor is responsible for originally planting the mines in either incident. This bulletin is based on information submitted to KHRG in February and June 2013 by a community member in Nyaunglebin District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2013-07-08
Date of entry/update: 2013-08-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 60.9 KB
more
Title: Nyaunglebin Situation Update: Kyauk Kyi Township, July to September 2012
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Nyaunglebin District between July and September 2012, including the imposition of taxes by Tatmadaw soldiers on villagers mining gold, use of a landmine by KNLA soldiers and the distribution of humanitarian aid by multiple international and local organizations. Specifically, the report describes Tatmadaw IB #57 imposing taxation over 40 villagers mining gold for their livelihoods. The report also describes the attempt of the Myanmar Peace Support Initiative to send food supplies by truck to Hsaw Mee Luh base camp in August 2012, as well as the placing and marking of an anti-vehicle mine by KNLA Battalion #9 soldiers between Kat Pe base camp and Mu Theh village. Flooding in Kyauk Kyi area that started in July is also reported, which caused villagers problems with travel and work and destroyed rice paddies. World Food Programme staff visited flood victims and provided some relief during this time as well and, in August, Back Pack Health Worker Team members distributed rice on behalf of Emergency Assistance Team-Burma and also delivered soap and medicine to flood victims in Ma Au Pin village tract. During the period of flooding, villagers were worried that if gold mining operations continued along the Tha Ye stream that polluted water would contaminate their paddies and cause destruction. Villagers thus requested that gold mining stop during the floods. This request was not heeded, and all paddies in 30 acres of flat field farms died during flooding. The report also details that road builders and village officials demanded 200 kyat (US $.21) from each traveler along the road through M--- village, including students from the M--- primary school. Additionally, it details financial offers made to villagers by the Burma government, as well as issues villagers have had with accessing deposits."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2013-06-20
Date of entry/update: 2013-08-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 286.41 KB
more
Title: Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, January to March 2013
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in March 2013 by a community member describing events occurring in Papun District between January and March 2013. The report describes the use of villagers from approximately 40 villages in Htee Th?Daw Hta village tract for forced labour. The perpetrators were led by the presiding monk of Myaing Gyi Ngu, U Thuzana. Villagers, including elderly people, women and children, have been forced to work on the construction of the Htee Lah Eh Hta Bridge. Villagers are required to perform labour for consecutive days and are not informed of what length of time they will be required to work before the project?s completion. The report also describes a landmine incident on February 11th 2013, which occurred between P--- village and S--- village in K?Ter Tee village tract, Bu Tho Township. A landmine exploded while five villagers were transporting sand by car for the Green Hill Company and all five villagers in the vehicle were killed. No armed group took responsibility for the incident, though the Green Hill Company compensated 300,000 kyat (US $318.13) to the family of each victim. Additionally, the manager of the company, Ko Myo, donated 200,000 (US $212.10) kyat to each of the victims? families."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2013-06-18
Date of entry/update: 2013-08-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 267.53 KB
more
Title: Landmine explosion and death of villagers in Papun District
Description: "This report is based on information submitted by community members in March 2013 describing events occurring in Papun District in February 2013. On February 11th 2013, a landmine exploded in K?Ter Tee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Papun district. A total of five villagers were killed in the explosion, three of whom were under the age of 18. The villagers were hit by the landmine while transporting sand in a car for the Green Hill Company, a company affiliated with BGF Battalions #1013 and #1014. The group who planted the landmine is unknown. While no groups have taken responsibility for the incident, Green Hill Company paid 300,000 kyat (US $341) to the family of each victim, alongside the manager of the Company, Ko Myo, personally contributing 200,000 kyat (US $227) to each family. This and other landmine incidents received by KHRG between August 2012 and March 2013 were published in a Briefer; see "Landmines shatter peace for villagers in eastern Burma," April 2013.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2013-05-13
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-18
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 282 KB
more
Title: Landmines shatter peace for villagers in eastern Burma
Description: "To mark International Mine Awareness Day, Karen Human Rights Group published new data collected by community members in eastern Burma that describes the ongoing devastation caused by landmines. Each year the United Nations International Mine Awareness Day draws attention to the global impact of landmines and notes progress towards their eradication. Landmines continue to disrupt the potential for civilians to return to their way of life even after the conflict has subsided. Old landmines pose serious restrictions on villagers? ability to travel safely or resume farming and reconstruction of previously abandoned homes. Fatalities and injuries to people and livestock occur frequently, especially when there is no prior knowledge of the mined areas, making displaced communities particularly vulnerable."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2013-04-09
Date of entry/update: 2013-04-30
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, November 2011 to July 2012
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2012 by a community member, describing events occurring in Papun District from November 2011 to July 2012. The report describes restrictions placed upon villagers? movement by Major Thi Ha of Tatmadaw LIB #212; villagers were told not to travel to their farms and were threatened with being shot at if they were seen outside of their village. Villagers also faced restrictions on their movement as a result of unexploded landmines. The community member also describes the use of villagers for forced labour in May 2012 by BGF Battalions #1013 and #1014, including the collection of materials for the building of an army camp for Battalion #1013. The village heads of P---, as well as two villagers, were ordered to stay at BGF #1014?s camp in order to work in the camp and porter for the soldiers. Also described, is an incident prompting fear amongst villagers, in which KNLA Battalion #102 Major Saw Hsa Yu Moo shot a gun in front of a villager?s house. The community member raises concerns that, despite the ceasefire, cases of villagers being threatened, forced labour, and risks from landmines, continue to pose serious problems for villagers..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2013-04-12
Date of entry/update: 2013-04-30
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 267.12 KB
more
Title: Landmine death and injuries, old mines continue to make travel unsafe in Pa?an District
Description: "This report is based on information submitted to KHRG in November 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Pa?an District, between August 28th 2012 and November 1st 2012, where one landmine exploded in Htee Klay village tract, one landmine exploded in Noh Kay village tract and one landmine exploded in Htee Kyah Rah village tract. These explosions injured a 21-year-old man named Saw P---, who died, a man of around 40-years-old, named Saw B---, who lost one leg, and an unknown Tatmadaw soldier from Light Infantry Battalion #275, who lost both of his legs. One explosion also destroyed the leg of Saw P---?s cow, when it stepped on the mine that killed him. Based on information from a community trained by KHRG, landmines have been planted by both the Border Guard and the Karen Nation Liberation Army, in Noh Kay village tract, T?Nay Hsah Township, Pa?an District, and in Htee Kyah Rah village tract, the community member reported that landmines have been planted by the Tatmadaw and the Karen National Liberation Army."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-12-11
Date of entry/update: 2012-12-23
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 220.83 KB
more
Title: Dooplaya Situation Update: Kawkareik Township and Kya In Township, April to June 2012
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in June 2012 by a community member who described events occurring in Dooplaya District during the period between April 2012 and June 2012, specifically in relation to landmines, education, health, taxation and demand, forced labour, land confiscation, displacement, and restrictions on freedom of movement and trade. After the 2012 ceasefire between the Burma government and the KNU, remaining landmines still present serious risks for local villagers in Kawkareik Township because they are unable to travel. Details are provided about 57-year-old B--- village head, Saw L---, 70-year-old Saw E--- and Saw T---, who each stepped on landmines. During May 2012, Tatmadaw soldiers ordered three villagers? to supply hand tractors to transport materials for them from Aung May K? La village to Ke---, plus Tatmadaw soldiers ordered five hand tractors to transports materials from Kyaik Doh village to Kya In Seik Gyi Town. Also described in the report are villagers? opinions on the ongoing ceasefire and whether or not they feel it is benefiting them, as well as village responses to land confiscation by Tatmadaw forces. After a village head was informed that any empty properties found would be confiscated, villagers in the area stayed temporarily in other peoples? houses on request of the owner..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-09-14
Date of entry/update: 2012-11-08
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 214.34 KB
more
Title: Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor Report Myanmar/Burma 2012
Description: Myanmar/Burma:- Mine Ban Treaty status: Not a State Party... Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record: Abstained on Resolution 66/29 in December 2011, as in previous years... Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings: Attended the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in Phnom Penh in November–December 2011... Key developments: Foreign Minister stated Myanmar is considering accession to the Mine Ban Treaty. President Thein Sein requested assistance for clearance of mines. Parliamentarians raised the need for mine clearance.
Source/publisher: Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor
Date of publication: 2012-11-03
Date of entry/update: 2012-11-05
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Local URL:
more
Title: Myanmar/Burma - Mine Action Contamination and Impact Mines
Description: An update was made to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor Country Profile for Myanmar/Burma. Updated Content: Mine Action... Mines are believed to be concentrated on Myanmar?s borders with Bangladesh and Thailand, but are a particular threat in eastern parts of the country as a result of decades of post-independence struggles for autonomy by ethnic minorities. Some 47 townships in Kachin, Karen (Kayin), Karenni (Kayah), Mon, Rakhine, and Shan states, as well as in Pegu (Bago) and Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) divisions[1] suffer from some degree of mine contamination, primarily from antipersonnel mines. Karen (Kayin) state and Pegu (Bago) division are suspected to contain the heaviest mine contamination and have the highest number of recorded victims. The Monitor has also received reports of previously unknown suspect hazardous areas (SHAs) in townships on the Indian border of Chin state.[2] No estimate exists of the extent of contamination, but the Monitor identified SHAs in the following divisions and townships: Karenni state: all seven townships; Karen state: all seven townships; Kachin state: Mansi, Mogaung, Momauk, Myitkyina, and Waingmaw; Mon state: Bilin, Kyaikto, Mawlamyine, Thanbyuzayat, Thaton, and Ye; Pegu division: Kyaukkyi, Shwekyin, Tantabin and Taungoo; Rakhine state: Maungdaw; Shan state: Hopong, Hsihseng, Langkho, Mawkmai, Mongpan, Mongton, Monghpyak, Namhsan Tachileik, Nanhkan, Yaksawk, and Ywangan; Tenasserim division: Bokpyin, Dawei, Tanintharyi, Thayetchaung and Yebyu; and Chin state...."
Source/publisher: Landmines and Cluster Munitions Monitor
Date of publication: 2012-09-19
Date of entry/update: 2012-09-20
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Papun Interview: Saw D---, January 2012
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during January 2012 in Bu Thoh Township, Papun District, by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw D---, the 44-year-old L--- village head, who described forced labour, Tatmadaw and Border Guard targeting of civilians, demands for food, and denial of humanitarian services, such as a school. He specifically described that both the Border Guard and the KNLA planted landmines around the village and, as a result, the villagers had to flee to another village because they were afraid and unable to continue with their farming. Saw D--- also mentioned that the Tatmadaw often made orders for forced portering without payment, or if they did pay, the payments were not fair for the villagers, including one villager who stepped on a landmine while portering. In addition, he described an incident in which one villager was shot at and arbitrarily tortured while returning from Myaing Gyi Ngu town to L--- village. Saw D--- also raised concerns regarding food shortages and the adequate provision of education for children."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 305.59 KB
more
Title: Papun Interview: Saw Kr---, October 2010
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during October 2010 in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw Kr---, a 23-year-old hill farmer from L--- village, Pla Koh village tract, who described an incident where he was injured after stepping on a landmine while on Home Guard duty in Kaw Mu Day, which resulted in him losing his left leg. Saw Kr--- describes how the Tatmadaw deliberately laid landmines on a public pathway, knowing that villagers were likely to tread on the devices. He also mentions that local villagers are active in defending themselves against Tatmadaw troops in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District. This incident is also described in the report Uncertain Ground: Landmines in eastern Burma, published by KHRG on May 21, 2012."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-07-18
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 282.43 KB
more
Title: Papun Interview: Saw T---, December 2011
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during December 2011 in Bu Tho Township, Papun District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed a 40-year-old Buddhist monk, Saw T---, who is a former member of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO), Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Border Guard, who described activities pertaining to Border Guard Battalion #1013 based at K?Hsaw Wah, Papun District. Saw T--- described human rights abuses including the forced conscription of child soldiers, or the forcing to hire someone in their place, costing 1,500,000 Kyat (US $1833.74). This report also describes the use of landmines by the Border Guard, and how villagers are forced to carry them while acting as porters. Also mentioned, is the on-going theft of villagers money and livestock by the Border Guard, as well as the forced labour of villagers in order to build army camps and the transportation of materials to the camps; the stealing of villagers? livestock after failing to provide villagers to serve as forced labour, is also mentioned. Saw T--- provides information on the day-to-day life of a soldier in the Border Guard, describing how villagers are forcibly conscripted into the ranks of the Border Guard, do not receive treatment when they are sick, are not allowed to visit their families, nor allowed to resign voluntarily. Saw T--- described how, on one occasion a deserter?s elderly father was forced to fill his position until the soldier returned. Saw T--- also mentions the hierarchical payment structure, the use of drugs within the border guard and the training, which he underwent before joining the Border Guard. Concerns are also raised by Saw T--- to the community member who wrote this report, about his own safety and his fear of returning to his home in Papun, as he feels he will be killed, having become a deserter himself as of October 2nd 2011."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-07-16
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 330.43 KB
more
Title: Pa?an Interview: Saw Bw---, September 2011
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during September 2011 in Lu Pleh Township, Pa?an District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw Bw---, a 25-year-old logger from Eg--- village, who described events that occurred while he was carrying out logging work between the villages of A--- and S---. He provides information on military activity in the area, specifically about shifting relations between armed groups, with Border Guard and DKBA troops ceasing to cooperate, and a heightened Tatmadaw presence in the area. Saw Bw--- also explained the disruptive impact of fighting between Border Guard and armed groups in the area on A--- villagers, who are described as fleeing to avoid conflict, as well as providing information on one instance in which A--- villagers were ordered to relocate by the commander of Border Guard Battalion #1017, but instead chose strategic displacement into hiding. He mentions the difficulties that he had in logging following the Border Guard?s increased presence in the area. Saw Bw--- also described the presence of landmines in the area around A--- and how his employer paid approximately US $1222.49 to DKBA troops to have them removed. This incident concerning landmines is also described in a thematic report published by KHRG on May 21st, 2012, Uncertain Ground: Landmines in eastern Burma."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-06-13
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-13
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 163.9 KB
more
Title: Pa?an Situation Update: T?Nay Hsah Township, September 2011 to April 2012
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in May 2012, by a community member describing events occurring in Pa?an District during the period between September 2011 and April 2012. It describes the planting of landmines by Border Guard soldiers near Y--- and P--- villages, resulting in villagers from B---, N--- and T--- being injured, and some villagers committed suicide after sustaining injuries. It also includes demands for forced labour by Tatmadaw LIBs #358, #547 and #548, in which villagers were required to harvest paddy on government land; this information concerning forced labour is also described in a news bulletin published by KHRG on June 22nd 2012, "Forced labour and extortion in Pa?an District." This report also includes information about the removal of 30 landmines by the Border Guard, before a landmine injury to one soldier halted the removal operations. In order to deal with problems related to insufficient landmine removal, villagers have taken precautions to limit their activities to areas unlikely to be mined. Due to limited opportunities for villagers to earn their livelihoods, some have begun to commercially produce charcoal and alcohol, or breed their livestock for consumption. Parents in these areas are also reportedly sending their children to Bangkok to assist the family income; young girls have also begun to work using their vocational skills to weave traditional bags."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-07-06
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 447.43 KB
more
Title: Incident Report: Killings in Papun District, March 2012
Description: "The following incident report was written by a community member who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights abuses. It describes an incident involving four villagers at A---, including two home guard members and their relatives, as they were trying to covertly cross a Tatmadaw-controlled road near See Day army camp. Two home guard villagers, Saw M--- and Saw W---, were shot by Tatmadaw soldiers, resulting in the death of Saw M--- and injuring Saw W---. The community member also described a previous incident that took place while home guard villagers were monitoring Tatmadaw troop movements in their area, during which Tatmadaw soldiers reportedly stepped on landmines and were killed during the confrontation."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-05-28
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-25
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 253.75 KB
more
Title: Pa?an Interview: Saw Hn---, March 2012
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during May 2012 in T?Nay Hsah Township, Pa?an District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed 25-year-old Saw Hn---, from H--- village, who described an incident in which he was injured by a landmine when returning from a fishing excursion to his village in November 2011. Saw Hn--- describes how he was taken to hospital for medical treatment, where he had his leg repaired with a steel plate. Such abuses are also described in a thematic report published by KHRG on May 21st, 2012, Uncertain Ground: Landmines in eastern Burma."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-25
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 146.06 KB
more
Title: Pa?an Interview: Saw Ht---, March 2012
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during March 2012 in T?Nay Hsah Township, Pa?an District by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The community member interviewed Saw Ht---, from M--- village, who described being injured by a landmine planted by Border Guard forces near villagers? plantations. Saw Ht--- described receiving no assistance from the Border Guard, neither with transportation to hospital or money for medical costs, and explained how he was instead taken to hospital by friends, and his medical treatment fees paid by a local humanitarian organisation. This interview is also available in a thematic report published by KHRG on May 21st, 2012, Uncertain Ground: Landmines in eastern Burma."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-25
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 54.65 KB
more
Title: Uncertain Ground: Landmines in eastern Burma
Description: "Analysis of KHRG?s field information gathered between January 2011 and May 2012 in seven geographic research areas indicates that, during that period, new landmines were deployed by government and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in all seven research areas. Ongoing mine contamination in eastern Burma continues to put civilians? lives and livelihoods at risk and undermines their efforts to protect against other forms of abuse. There is an urgent need for humanitarian mine action that accords primacy to local protection priorities and builds on the strategies villagers themselves already employ in response to the threat of landmines. In the cases where civilians view landmines as a potential source of protection, there is an equally urgent need for viable alternatives that expand self-protection options beyond reliance on the use of mines. Key findings in this report were drawn based upon analysis of seven themes, including: New use of landmines; Movement restrictions resulting from landmines; Marking and removal of landmines; Forced labour entailing increased landmine risks; Human mine sweeping, forced mine clearance and human shields; Landmine-related death or injury; and Use of landmines for self-protection."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-05-21
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-21
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.93 MB
more
Title: Pa?an Situation Update: September 2011
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in October 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa?an District, in the period between September and October 2011. Villagers in T?Nay Hsah Township are reported to be subject to demands for forced labour by Border Guard Battalion #1017, specifically to work on Battalion Commander Saw Dih Dih?s own plantations. Information is also provided on an incident that occurred in T?Nay Hsah Township in which the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Battalion #101?s temporary camp in Kler Law Seh village was attacked with heavy weapons by Border Guard Battalions #1017 and #1019, and by Tatmadaw Light Infantry Division (LID) #22. Since the takeover of the KNLA Battalion #101 camp by Border Guard troops, villagers in T?Nay Hseh Township have experienced an increase in demands for forced labour such as portering, as well as demands for villagers to cook at the Border Guard base and to serve as soldiers in the Border Guard, with payment demanded in lieu of military service. Such abuses are also described in the report, "Pa?an Situation Update: September 2011", published by KHRG on October 24th 2011, and "Pa?an Situation Update: September 2011 to January 2012", published by KHRG on May 2nd 2012. Border Guard troops have also embarked on the extensive laying of landmines near Th--- village, including near villagers? fields, and one villager was reported to have been seriously injured by a landmine whilst serving as a soldier in the Border Guard. Villagers are said to be concerned about the potential impact of the landmines on the welfare of their livestock, with one villager reportedly confronting a Border Guard soldier over this issue."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-05-12
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-15
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Myanmar/Burma - The World?s Least Known Landmine Tragedy
Description: 15 images of landmine victims..."Myanmar, or Burma, is home to one of the world?s longest running civil wars. Conflict has occurred since the country gained independence in 1947. Mine warfare has been a feature of the conflict throughout that time. Mines are thought to be used by all parties to the conflict. No one knows how many people have been killed or maimed by mines. This photo exhibit provides a glimpse into the lives of a few of those who survived their mine injury and now live tenuous lives near the border with Thailand..." This exhibition has been co-sponsored by DanChurchAid (DCA) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Photo: Giovanni Diffidenti; Art installation: Laura Morelli; Text: Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan
Source/publisher: Giovanni Diffidenti, Photojournalist
Date of publication: 2010-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-13
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Abuses since the DKBA and KNLA ceasefires: Forced labour and arbitrary detention in Dooplaya
Description: "In the six months since DKBA Brigade #5 troops under the command of Brigadier-General Saw Lah Pwe (?Na Kha Mwe?) agreed to a ceasefire with government forces, and in the four months since a ceasefire was agreed between KNLA and government troops, villagers in Kawkareik Township have continued to raise concerns regarding ongoing human rights abuses, including the arbitrary detention and violent abuse of civilians, and forced labour demands occurring as recently as February 24th 2012. One of the villagers who provided information contained in this report also raised concerns about ongoing landmine contamination in two areas of Kawkareik Township, despite the placing of warning signs in one area in January 2012 and the incomplete removal of some landmines by bulldozer from another area in March 2012. The same villager noted that the remaining landmines, some of which are in a village school compound and in agricultural areas, continue to present serious physical security risks to local villagers, as well as disrupt livelihood activities and children?s education."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-05-07
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 295.18 KB
more
Title: Pa?an Situation Update: September 2011 to January 2012
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in January 2012 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa?an District between September 2011 and January 2012, and contains updated information concerning military activity in the area, specifically Border Guard Battalion #1017?s use of forced labour and their planting of landmines. In September 2011, over 200 villagers from Th---, Sh---, G--- and M--- were forced to harvest beans and corn, an incident which is also described in the report "Pa?an Situation Update: September 2011", published by KHRG on November 25th 2011. Villagers are also described as being forced to porter rations, ammunition and landmines, and carry out various tasks at Battalion #1017?s camp. The pervasive presence of landmines has resulted in the deaths of two villagers and injuries to eight others in Sh--- and K--- village tracts, as well as the deaths of villagers? livestock. Information is also provided on the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) ceasefire with the Tatmadaw and their subsequent transformation into the Border Guard, and how this has reduced the capacity of soldiers to engage in mining and logging enterprises. The subsequent increase in pressure on villagers by DKBA and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) troops to resist Border Guard military recruitment demands had meant that village heads often fled, rather than serve their one-year term. Villagers? perspectives on the January 2012 ceasefire agreement between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burma government are also outlined, as are villagers? responses to abuses, including the introduction of a village head system that rotates on a monthly basis..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Toungoo Situation Update: August to October 2011
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in November 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District between August and October 2011. It contains information concerning military activity in the district, specifically demands for forced labour by Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #375. Villagers from D--- and A--- were reportedly forced to clear vegetation surrounding their camp and some A--- villagers were also used to sweep for landmines. Villagers in the A--- area faced demands for bamboo poles and some villagers from P--- were ordered to undertake messenger and portering duties for the Tatmadaw. The situation update provides information on two incidents that occurred on September 21st 2011, in which several villagers from Y--- were shot, and four other Y--- villagers were arrested by Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion (IB) #73 and detained until the Y--- village head paid 300,000 kyat (US $366.75) to secure their release. It also provides details of the arrest of five villagers from D--- village by LIB #375 in August 2011, who remained in detention as of November 2011. It documents the killing of two villagers from E--- village by Military Operations Command (MOC) #9, and the shooting of 54-year-old A--- villager, Saw O---, by LIB #375 for violating movement restrictions. Information was also given concerning a mortar attack on W--- village by LIB #603 and IB #92, which was previously reported in the KHRG News Bulletin "Tatmadaw soldiers shell village, attack church and civilian property in Toungoo District, November 2011", in which shells hit the village church and destroyed five villagers? houses. Tatmadaw soldiers also shot the statue of Mother Mary in W--- village and damaged pictures on the church walls; stole villagers? belongings, including money and staple foods; and destroyed villagers? household supplies, livestock, and food."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2012-04-21
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Toungoo Situation Update: November 2011 to January 2012
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in February 2012, by a villager describing events occurring in Toungoo District during the period between November 2011 and January 2012. It discusses augmented troop rotations, resupply operations and the sending of bulldozers to construct a new vehicle road between the 20-mile point on the Toungoo ? Kler La road and Kler La. It also contains reports of forced labour, specifically the use of villagers to porter military equipment and supplies, to serve as set tha, and the clearing of vegetation by vehicle roads. Movement restrictions were also highlighted as a major concern for villagers living both within and outside state control, as the imposition of permission documents and taxes limits the transportation of cash crops, and impacts the availability of basic commodities. The villager who wrote this report raised villagers? concerns about rising food prices, the lack of medicine due to government restrictions on its transportation from towns to mountainous areas, and the difficulty in obtaining an education in rural villages beyond grades three and four. The villager who wrote this report flagged the ongoing use of landmines by armed groups and noted that this poses serious physical security risks, particularly where villagers are not notified of landmine-contaminated areas, but also noted that some villagers view the use of landmines by non-state armed groups in positive terms as a deterrent of Tatmadaw activity."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-03-01
Date of entry/update: 2012-03-13
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Pa?an interviews: Conditions for villagers returned from temporary refuge sites in Tha Song Yang
Description: "This report contains the full transcripts of seven interviews conducted between June 1st and June 18th 2010 in Dta Greh Township, Pa?an District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed seven villagers from two villages in Wah Mee Gklah village tract, after they had returned to Burma following initial displacement into Thailand during May and June 2009. The interviewees report that they did not wish to return to Burma, but felt they had to do so as the result of pressure and harassment by Thai authorities. The interviewees described the following abuses since their return, including: the firing of mortars and small arms at villagers; demands for villagers to porter military supplies, and for the payment of money in lieu of the provision of porters; theft and looting of villagers? houses and possessions; and threats from unexploded ordnance and the use of landmines, including consequences for livelihoods and injuries to civilians. All seven interviewees also raised specific concerns regarding the food security of villagers returned to Burma following their displacement into Thailand."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-05-06
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-27
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Human rights abuses and obstacles to protection: Conditions for civilians amidst ongoing conflict in Dooplaya and Pa?an districts
Description: "Amidst ongoing conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed groups in eastern Dooplaya and Pa?an districts, civilians, aid workers and soldiers from state and non-state armies continue to report a variety of human rights abuses and security concerns for civilians in areas adjacent to Thailand?s Tak Province, including: functionally indiscriminate mortar and small arms fire; landmines; arbitrary arrest and detention; sexual violence; and forced portering. Conflict and these conflict-related abuses have displaced thousands of civilians, more than 8,000 of whom are currently taking refuge in discreet hiding places in Thailand. This has interrupted education for thousands of children across eastern Dooplaya and Pa?an districts. The agricultural cycle for farmers has also been severely disrupted; many villagers have been prevented from completing their harvests of beans, corn and paddy crops, portending long-term threats to food security. Due to concerns about food security and disruption to children?s education, as well as villagers? continuing need to protect themselves and their families from conflict and conflict-related abuse, temporary but consistent access to refuge in Thailand remains vital until villagers feel safe to return home. Even after return, food support will likely be necessary until disrupted agricultural activities can be resumed and civilians can again support themselves."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-01-21
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Papun Incident Reports: November 2010 to January 2011
Description: This report contains 12 incident reports written by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions, based on information provided by 12 different villagers living in hiding sites in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District between November 2010 and January 2011.[1] The twelve villagers described human rights concerns for civilians prior to and during displacement to their current hiding sites, including: deliberate firing of mortars and small arms into civilian areas; burning and destruction of houses, food and food preparation equipment; theft and looting of villagers? animals and possessions; and use of landmines by the Tatmadaw, non-state armed groups, and local gher der ?home guard? groups in civilian areas, resulting in at least one civilian death and two civilian injuries. The reports register villagers? serious concerns about food security in hiding areas beyond Tatmadaw control, caused by effective limits on access to arable land due to the risk of attack when villagers cultivating land proximate to Tatmadaw camps, depletion of soil fertility in cultivable areas, and a drought during the 2010 rainy season which triggered widespread paddy crop failure.[2] To address the threat of Tatmadaw attacks targeting villagers, their food stores and livelihoods activities, villagers reported that they form gher der groups to monitor and communicate Tatmadaw activity; utilise early-warning systems; and communicate amongst themselves and with non-state armed groups to share information about Tatmadaw troop movements. Two villagers stated that the deployment of landmines by gher der groups and KNLA soldiers prevents access to civilian areas by Tatmadaw troops and facilitates security for villagers to pursue their agricultural activities. Another villager described how his community maintained communal agricultural projects to support families at risk from food shortages. These reports were received by KHRG in May 2011, along with other information concerning the situation in Papun District, including 11 other incident reports, 25 interviews, 137 photographs and a general update on the situation in Lu Thaw Township.[3]
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-08-24
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-12
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 840.59 KB
more
Title: Papun Interview: Saw H---, March 2011
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during March 2011 in Bu Tho Township, Papun District, by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw H---, a 34-year-old hillfield farmer and the head of N--- village. Saw H--- described an incident in which a 23-year-old villager stepped on and was killed by a landmine at the beginning of 2011, at the time when he, Saw H--- and three other villagers were returning to N--- after serving as unpaid porters for Border Guard soldiers based at Meh Bpa. Saw H--- also detailed demands for the collection and provision of bamboo poles for construction of soldiers? houses at Gk?Ter Tee, as well as the payment of 400,000 kyat ((US $ 519.48) in lieu of the provision of porters to Maung Chit, Commander of Border Guard Battalion #1013, by villages in Meh Mweh village tract. These payments were described in the previous KHRG report "Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, April 2011." Saw H--- also described demands for the provision of a pig to Border Guard soldiers three days before this interview took place and the beating of a villager by DKBA soldiers in 2010. He noted the ways in which movement restrictions that prevent villagers from travelling on rivers and sleeping in or bringing food to their farm huts negatively impact harvests and food security. Saw H--- explained that villagers respond to such concerns by sharing food amongst themselves, refusing to comply with forced labour demands, and cultivating relationships with non-state armed groups to learn the areas in which landmines have been planted."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-02-08
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-08
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Papun Interview: Maung Y---, February 2011
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in February 2011 in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District, by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Maung Y---, a 32 year-old married hill field farmer, who described an incident that occurred on February 5th 2011, in which he and eight other villagers were arrested at gunpoint by Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1013 soldiers and arbitrarily detained. During this time, Maung Y--- reported that they were forced to porter military rations and sweep for landmines using basic tools. He described how one villager was denied access to medical treatment and forced to porter despite serious illness, and reported that families of the detained villagers were forced to pay arbitrary amounts of money to the Battalion #1013 troops in order to secure their release. Maung Y--- also reported that, after this incident, his village was ordered by Battalion #1013 to produce and deliver 7,000 thatch shingles, as well as to provide four more villagers to serve as porters. In response to this, Maung Y--- reported that villagers had, at the time of interview, refused to comply with these forced labour demands."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-09-02
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-01
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 683.33 KB
more
Title: Papun Situation Update: Dweh Loh Township, May 2011
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in May 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Dweh Loh Township, Papun District between January and April 2011. It contains information concerning military activities in 2011, specifically resupply operations by Border Guard and Tatmadaw troops and the reinforcement of Border Guard troops at Manerplaw. It documents twelve incidents of forced portering of military rations in Wa Muh and K?Hter Htee village tracts, including one incident during which villagers used to porter rations were ordered to sweep for landmines, as well as the forced production and delivery of a total of 44,500 thatch shingles by civilians. In response to these abuses, male villagers remove themselves from areas in which troops are conducting resupply operations, in order to avoid arrest and forced portering. This report additionally registers villagers? serious concerns regarding the planting of landmines by non-state armed groups in agricultural workplaces and the proposed development of a new dam on the Bilin River at Hsar Htaw. It includes an overview of gold-mining operations by private companies and non-state armed groups along three rivers in Dweh Loh Township, and documents abuses related to extractive industry, specifically forced relocation and land confiscation."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-09-02
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-01
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 627.56 KB
more
Title: Tenasserim Interview: Saw K---, August 2011
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in August 2011. The KHRG researcher interviewed Saw K---, a 30-year-old medic with the Backpack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), an organisation that provides health care and medical assistance to displaced civilians inside Burma. Saw K--- described witnessing a joint attack by Tatmadaw soldiers from three different battalions on a civilian settlement in Ma No Roh village tract, Te Naw Th?Ri Township, Tenasserim Division in January 2011. Saw K--- reported that mortars were fired into P--- village, causing residents and Saw K---, who was providing healthcare support in P--- village at that time, to flee. Saw K--- reported that Tatmadaw soldiers subsequently entered P--- village and burned down 17 houses, as well as rice barns and food stores belonging to villagers, before planting landmines in the village. According to Saw K---, the residents of P--- have not returned to their homes, and have been unable to coordinate to restart the school that was abandoned in P--- because most households now live at dispersed sites in the area."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-09-15
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-01
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 149.83 KB
more
Title: Papun Situation Update: Bu Tho Township, August 2011
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Papun District in January 2011 and human rights consequences for local communities. It contains updated information concerning Tatmadaw military activities and details the following human rights abuses: coordinated attacks on villages by Tatmadaw and Border Guard troops and the firing of mortars and small arms in civilian areas, resulting in displacement of the civilian population and the closure of two schools; the use of landmines by the Tatmadaw and non-state armed groups; and forced portering for the Tatmadaw and Tatmadaw Border Guards. The report also mentions government plans for a logging venture and the construction of a dam. Moreover, it documents villagers? responses to human rights concerns, including strategic displacement to avoid attacks and forced labour entailing physical security risks to civilians; advance preparation for strategic displacement in the event of Tatmadaw attacks; and seeking the protection of non-state armed groups against Tatmadaw attacks and other human rights threats."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-10-06
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-31
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 254.27 KB
more
Title: Papun Interview: Saw T---, August 2011
Description: "This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during August 2011 by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw T---, a 74 year-old Buddhist village head who described the planting of what he estimated to be about 100 landmines by government and non-state armed groups in the vicinity of his village. Saw T--- related ongoing instances of forced labour, specifically villagers forced to guide troops, porter military supplies and sweep for landmines, and described an incident in which two villagers stepped on landmines whilst being forced to serve as unpaid porters for Tatmadaw troops. He described a separate incident in which another villager stepped on and was killed by a landmine whilst fleeing from Border Guard soldiers who were attempting to force him to porter for one month. In both cases, victims? families received no compensation or opportunity for redress following their deaths. Saw T--- noted that landmines planted in agricultural areas have not been removed, rendering several hill fields unsafe to farm and resulting in the abandonment of crops. He illustrated the danger to villagers who travel to their agricultural workplaces by recounting an incident in which a villager?s buffalo was injured by a landmine. He further explained that villagers? livelihoods have been additionally undermined by frequent demands for food and by looting of villagers? food and animals. Saw T--- highlighted the fact that demands are backed by explicit threats of violence, recounting an instance when he was threatened for failing to comply quicky by a Tatmadaw officer who held a gun to his head. Saw T--- noted that villagers have responded to negative impacts on their food production capacity by performing job for daily wages and sharing food with others and, in response to the lack of health facilities in their community, travel over two hours by foot to the nearest clinic in another village."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2012-01-27
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-29
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Pa?an Situation Update: September 2011
Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in T?Nay Hsah Township, Pa?an District during September 2011. It details an incident in which a soldier from Tatmadaw Border Guard #1017 deliberately shot at villagers in a farm hut, resulting in the death of one civilian and injury to a six-year-old child. The report further details the subsequent concealment of this incident by Border Guard soldiers who placed an M16 rifle and ammunition next to the dead civilian and photographed his body, and ordered the local village head to corroborate their story that the dead man was a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) soldier. The report also relates villagers? concerns regarding the use of landmines by both KNLA and Border Guard troops, which prevent villagers from freely accessing agricultural land and kill villagers? livestock and pets, and also relates an incident in September 2011 in which a villager was severely maimed when he stepped on a landmine that had been placed outside his farm."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication: 2011-11-03
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-23
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 218.05 KB
more
Title: The world?s longest ongoing war (video)
Description: "For more than 60 years, Karen rebels have been fighting a civil war against the government of Myanmar...In February 1949, members of the Karen ethnic minority launched an armed insurrection against Myanmar?s central government. In pictures: Sixty years of war. Over 60 years later, the conflict continues, with more than a dozen ethnic rebel groups waging war against the army in their fight for self-rule. Now, the war is entering a new and bloody stage. Myanmar is the only regime still regularly planting anti-personnel mines. But it is not only the army that uses them. Rebel groups also regularly use homemade landmines or mines seized from the military. As the conflict escalates, civilians are trapped in the middle of some of the worst fighting in decades. 101 East travels to Myanmar, home to the world?s longest running civil war."
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera (101 East)
Date of publication: 2011-08-11
Date of entry/update: 2011-12-27
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Karen (English sub-titles)
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor - Myanmar/Burma
Description: "The Myanmar Army (Tatmadaw) has used antipersonnel mines extensively throughout the long-running civil war. It appears that the army?s use of mines decreased significantly during 2009 and 2010, as the level of conflict with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) waned, and the army withdrew from many frontline bases where it previously laid mines. In one specific report of army use, in June 2009, Light Infantry Battalions 372 and 373 reportedly laid antipersonnel mines in the Saw Wa Der area, Taungoo district, in northern Karen (Kayin) state, which resulted in the death of a 20-year-old villager. Myanmar Defense Products Industries (Ka Pa Sa), a state enterprise at Ngyaung Chay Dauk in western Pegu (Bago) division, produces fragmentation and blast antipersonnel mines, including a non-detectable variety. Authorities in Myanmar have not provided any information on the types and quantities of stockpiled antipersonnel mines. Landmine Monitor has previously reported that, in addition to domestic production, Myanmar has obtained and used antipersonnel mines of Chinese, Indian, Italian, Soviet, United States, and unidentified manufacture. Myanmar is not known to have exported antipersonnel mines... Non-state armed groups: Many ethnic rebel organizations exist in Myanmar. At least 17 non-state armed groups (NSAGs) have used antipersonnel mines since 1999, however some of these groups have ceased to exist or no longer use mines..." ..... N.B. BURMESE TRANSLATION (MARCH 2011)
Source/publisher: Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor
Date of publication: 2011-03-01
Date of entry/update: 2011-03-02
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Local URL:
more
Title: Humanitarian Impact of Landmines in Burma/Myanmar
Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "While the existing data available on landmine victims indicate that Burma/Myanmar1 faces one of the most severe landmine problems in the world today, little is known about the actual extent of the problem, the impact on affected populations, communities? mine action needs and how different actors can become more involved in mine action. The Government of Burma/Myanmar has prohibited almost all forms of mine action with the exception of a limited amount of prosthetic assistance to people with amputated limbs through general health programmes. Some Mine Risk Education (MRE) is also conducted in areas which are partly or fully under the control of armed non-State actors (NSAs) as is victim assistance and some survey work, however, without Government authorisation. Since starting operations in 2006, Geneva Call and DCA Mine Action, like other local and international actors wishing to undertake mine action, have been struggling to identify how best to do this in the limited humanitarian space available in Burma/Myanmar. Lack of Government permission to start mine action activities and difficult access to mine-affected areas are two of the main obstacles identified by these actors. In response to this apparent conflict between interest and opportunity, Geneva Call and DCA Mine Action decided to produce a report on the landmine problem in Burma/Myanmar, which would pay particular attention to what can be done to address the identified needs. The report is based on research carried out between June and September 2010. Thirty two different stakeholders in Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh and China were interviewed in order to better understand the current, medium- and long-term effects of the landmine problem on affected local communities and to identify possible mine action interventions. The problem with anti-personnel mines in Burma/ Myanmar originates from decades of armed conflict, which is still ongoing in some parts or the country. Anti-personnel mines are still being used today by the armed forces of the Government of Burma/ Myanmar (the Tatmadaw), by various non-State actors (NSAs), as well as by businessmen and villagers. Ten out of Burma/Myanmar?s 14 States and Divisions are mine contaminated. The eastern States and Divisions bordering Thailand are particularly contaminated with mines. Some areas bordering Bangladesh and China are also mined, and mine accidents have occurred there. An estimated five million people live in townships that contain mine-contaminated areas, and are in need of Mine Risk Education (MRE) to reduce risky behaviour, and victim assistance for those already injured. With estimates of mine victim numbers still unclear due to a lack of reliable data, the report finds that a significant proportion of the children affected in landmine accidents in NSA areas are child soldiers. In Karenni/Kaya State every second child is a child soldier; in Karen/Kayin State every fourth child is a child soldier. The Government?s refusal to grant permission for mine action activities and the ongoing conflict have left no real space for humanitarian demining in Burma/Myanmar. However, some demining activities are being undertaken by the Tatmadaw and by NSAs, although it is unclear whether these activities should be regarded as military or humanitarian demining. Similarly, the complicated domestic situation only leaves limited space for implementing comprehensive surveys. Those surveys that have been carried out by Community Based Organizations (CBO), show significant mine contamination. However such surveys can only be an indicator of the reality on the ground as they are limited in geographical scope. At present, local CBOs and national NGOs have better access to mined areas than the UN and international NGOs. However, CBOs and national NGO mine action activities are limited to MRE and victim assistance-related activities because of the Government restrictions placed on other forms of mine action. These activities are only conducted on a discreet level ? MRE is provided under general Risk Reduction or health programmes while victim assistance falls under general disability assistance programmes. A national ban on anti-personnel mines and a ban by the major NSA users of landmines do not seem to be realistic in the near future. Nevertheless, the success of local/regional bans on anti-personnel mines, especially in the western part of Burma/Myanmar could serve as an inspiration and a positive harbinger of progress for this country marred by decades of internal strife and war."
Source/publisher: Geneva Call, DCA Mine Action
Date of publication: 2010-12-31
Date of entry/update: 2011-02-02
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.48 MB
more
Title: Burma (Myanmar) country profile on Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor (Update 2012-10-02)
Description: Mine Ban Policy; Casualties and Victim Assistance; Cluster Munition Ban Policy; Support for Mine Action; Mine Action; Complete Profile.
Source/publisher: Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor (2 October 2012 update)
Date of publication: 2012-10-02
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-11
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Villagers injured by landmines, assisted by neighbours in southern Toungoo
Description: "In a span of just four days at the end of March 2010, two civilians from Wo--- village were injured by landmines while engaging in regular livelihoods activities outside their village in southern Toungoo District. In both cases, fellow community members assisted the injured villagers, carrying them to the nearest medical facility, nearly two hours away on foot. These incidents illustrate the risks mines pose to communities and local livelihoods in southern Toungoo. Local villagers believe risks from the continued deployment of landmines around their villages, agricultural projects and other areas essential to civilian livelihoods are exacerbated by lack of access to information about mined areas."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B10)
Date of publication: 2010-10-22
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-28
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 368.67 KB
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Burma (Myanmar)
Description: "Modern mine warfare began in 1969, and over the past thirty years mine pollution has increased greatly. Today mines are being laid on a near daily basis by both government forces and several armed ethnic groups. The military government of Burma, formerly known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), now calls itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)."
Source/publisher: International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Date of publication: 1998-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-27
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2000: Burma (Myanmar)
Description: "Key developments March 1999-May 2000: Government forces and at least ten ethnic armed groups continue to lay antipersonnel landmines in significant numbers. Landmine Monitor estimates there were approximately 1,500 new mine victims in 1999. The Committee Representing the People?s Parliament endorsed the Mine Ban Treaty in January 2000." Includes chart of Ethnic Political Organizations with Armed Wings in Burma.
Source/publisher: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication: 2000-07-31
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-25
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 199.82 KB
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2008: Burma (Myanmar)
Description: Mine Ban Treaty status: Not a State Party... Use: Government and NSAG use continued in 2007 and 2008.... Stockpile: Unknown... Contamination: Antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, ERW... Estimated area of contamination: Extensive... Demining progress in 2007: None reported... Mine/ERW casualties in 2007: Total: 438 (2006: 243); Mines: 409 (2006: 232); Unknown: 29 (2006: 11)... Casualty analysis: Killed: 47 (2006: 20); Injured: 338 (2006: 223); Unknown: 53 (2006: 0)... Estimated mine/ERW survvors: Unknown, but substantial... RE capacity: Unchanged�inadequate... Availability of services in 2007: Inadequate... Funding in 2007: International: $185,000 (2006: none reported)... Key developments since May 2007: 2007 saw a very substantial increase in reported casualties, despite government claims of reduced conflict. ICRC support of government rehabilitation centers was suspended.
Source/publisher: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication: 2008-11-21
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-25
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 1.25 MB
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2006: Burma (Myanmar)
Description: "Key developments since May 2005: Both the military junta and non-state armed groups have continued to use antipersonnel mines extensively. The Myanmar Army has obtained, and is using an increasing number of antipersonnel mines of the United States M-14 design; manufacture and source of these non-detectable mines—whether foreign or domestic—is unknown. In November 2005, Military Heavy Industries reportedly began recruiting technicians for the production of the next generation of mines and other munitions. The non-state armed group, United Wa State Army, is allegedly producing PMN-type antipersonnel mines at an arms factory formerly belonging to the Burma Communist Party. In October 2005, the military junta made its first public statement on a landmine ban since 1999. There were at least 231 new mine casualties in 2005. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-France closed its medical assistance program and withdrew from Burma, due to restrictions imposed by the authorities."
Source/publisher: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication: 2006-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-24
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 891.8 KB
more
Title: The Enemy Underfoot
Description: Landmines are a threat to life and limb in Karen State... "The victims face a future without an arm or a leg, or with just one eye if they have not been blinded for life. Some try to sleep, groaning when they roll over. Others sit up and talk with relatives, trying to come to terms with the disability that will afflict them for the rest of their lives. These are the victims of landmines who have been lucky enough to make it to Mae Sot General Hospital, near the Thai-Burmese border in Thailandâ�?„?s Tak Province. a 23-year-old KNla soldier, Saw Naing Naing, lost his right eye and both hands in a landmine explosion. (Photo: Alex Ellgee/The Irrawaddy) Formerly enemies on the battlefield, soldiers from both the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) who were injured during three weeks of clashes in the KNLA Brigade 7 area in June now find themselves lying in adjacent beds in this small district hospital..."
Saw Yan Naing
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 5
Date of publication: 2009-07-31
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2008 - Chapter 4: Landmines and Other Explosive Devices
Description: "...Throughout 2008, the HRDU documented a total of at least 28 deaths and a further 64 injuries occurring through explosions and explosive devices in Burma. Each of these incidents is described in detail over the following pages. However, it must be noted here, as elsewhere throughout the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2008, that while these figures are high, the HRDU believes that they are still quite conservative and that the number of fatalities arising from exposure to landmines and other explosive devices in Burma is higher than that reported..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication: 2009-11-23
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-05
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.17 MB
Local URL:
  1. PDF icon landmines.pdf
more
Title: Exploitative abuse and villager responses in Thaton District
Description: "...SPDC control of Thaton District is fully consolidated, aided by the DKBA and a variety of other civilian and parastatal organisations. These forces are responsible for perpetrating a variety of exploitative abuses, which include a litany of demands for ?taxation? and provision of resources, as well as forced labour on development projects and forced recruitment into the DKBA. Villagers also report ongoing abuses related to SPDC and DKBA ?counter insurgency? efforts, including the placement of unmarked landmines in civilian areas, conscription of people as porters and ?human minesweepers? and harassment and violent abuse of alleged KNLA supporters. This report includes information on abuses during the period of April to October 2009..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F20)
Date of publication: 2009-11-25
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-29
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Notes on Landmine Use: SLORC and KNLA
Description: "...The technical mine information below was obtained from KNLA sources and was current as of early 1994, though it is apparently still current. The notes regarding effect on civilians are mainly from KHRG observations. Abbreviations: SLORC = State Law & Order Restoration Council, the junta ruling Burma; KNLA = Karen National Liberation Army, the Karen resistance force; DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, a Karen faction allied with SLORC..." "...The most common landmine used is the American M-76, of which the Burmese now manufacture their own copies. Almost all of these found used to be American-made, but now more are the Burmese copies. They are the "classic" landmine design, made of heavy-duty metal, cylindrical, about 2" diameter and 4-5" high, with a screw-in top the diameter of a pencil which extends a couple of inches above the body of the mine - this screw-in top is surmounted by a plunger the size of a pencil eraser which is what sets off the mine. The safety pin goes through the plunger, and can be used to rig a tripwire. However, most common use is to bury the mine with only the plunger above ground, generally hidden by leaf litter. The body of the mine is Army green, stencilled with yellow lettering: for example "LTM-76 A.P. MINE / DI-LOT 48/84" (copied off a recovered SLORC mine). "A.P." means Anti-Personnel. This mine is designed to kill or maim people. The person who steps on it is almost certainly killed, and anyone in a 5-metre radius is wounded..." These informal notes were prepared in response for specific requests for information on landmine use. They are not intended to present a complete picture of landmine use.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles & Papers)
Date of publication: 1996-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Burma (Myanmar)
Description: Ten-Year Summary" "The Union of Myanmar has remained outside efforts to ban antipersonnel mines. Government forces and armed ethnic groups have used antipersonnel mines regularly and extensively throughout the last decade. Between 2003 and 2007, six insurgent groups agreed to ban antipersonnel mines. Myanmar remains one of the few countries still producing antipersonnel mines. Continuing hostilities between the Myanmar government and ethnic minority armed opposition groups have increased mine contamination, but political conditions have not permitted any humanitarian mine clearance program. The precise extent of mine or explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination, although significant, remains unknown. Landmine Monitor identified 2,325 casualties (175 killed, 2002 injured, and 148 unknown) from 1999 to 2008. Despite this high level of casualties, mine/ERW risk education was either non-existent or inadequate in areas with reported casualties. Assistance to mine/ERW survivors and persons with disabilities in Myanmar is marginal due to many years of neglect of healthcare services by the ruling authority. Myanmar governing authorities have not developed a victim assistance program or strategy..."
Source/publisher: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Date of publication: 2009-11-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-24
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 428.21 KB
more
Title: Mortar attacks, landmines and the destruction of schools in Papun District
Description: "SPDC abuses against civilians continue in northern Karen State, especially in Lu Thaw township of Papun District. Because these villagers live within non-SPDC-controlled "black areas", the SPDC believes it has justification to attack IDP hiding sites and destroy civilian crops, cattle and property. These attacks, combined with the SPDC and KNLA?s continued use of landmines, have caused dozens of injuries and deaths in Papun District alone. Such attacks target the fabric of Karen society, breaking up communities and compromising the educations of Karen youth. In spite of these hardships, the local villagers continue to be resourceful in providing security for their families and education for their children. This report covers events in Papun District from May to July 2008..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2008-F12)
Date of publication: 2008-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-01
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Insecurity amidst the DKBA - KNLA conflict in Dooplaya and Pa
Description: "The DKBA has intensified operations across much of eastern Pa?an and north-eastern Dooplaya districts since it renewed its forced recruitment drive in Pa?an District in August 2008. These operations have included forced relocations of civilians, a new round of forced conscription and attacks on villages. The DKBA has also pushed forward in its attacks on KNLA positions in both districts in an apparent effort to eradicate the remaining KNLA presence and wrest control of lucrative natural resources and taxation points in the lead up to the 2010 elections. Skirmishes between DKBA, SPDC and KNLA forces have thus continued throughout this period. Local villagers have faced heightened insecurity in connection with the ongoing conflict. DKBA, SPDC and KNLA forces all continue to deploy landmines in the area and DKBA forces have fined or otherwise punished local villagers for attacks by KNLA soldiers. This report documents incidents of abuse in Dooplaya and Pa?an districts from August 2008 to February 2009..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F3)
Date of publication: 2009-02-06
Date of entry/update: 2009-10-31
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Townships [in Burma/Myanmar] with Known Hazard of Antipersonnel Mines
Description: Data compiled by Landmine Monitor. This map does not indicate how extensive mine pollution is in any indicated Township. Explosive symbol denotes townships in which antipersonnel mines have claimed casualties between 1 January 2007 to 1 June 2009. All other data 1 January 2008 to 1 June 2009.
Source/publisher: MIMU, Landmine Monitor/ International Campaign to Ban Landmines (Map ID/မြေပုံ အမှတ်- MIMU195v01)
Date of publication: 2009-05-13
Date of entry/update: 2009-07-21
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 489.16 KB
more
Title: "Inside News" December 2008 - Volume 3 Issue 4
Description: BURMA LANDMINE ISSUE 2009: UN Security Council - act now!...Understand us...KNU LANDMINE POLICY...Mine incidents rise...Landmine deaths double...Pizza-oven helps mine victims walk...Worried about mines, but who will feed us?...How to help -- when there's no doctor...Ranger's deliver aid...No place to call home...Landmines show no mercy...Once were enemies...More attacks - more landmines...Uncle Maw Keh offers hope to landmine victims...Burma's Killing Fields...Lucky to be alive...
Source/publisher: Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP)
Date of publication: 2008-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2009-03-31
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.99 MB
Local URL:
  1. PDF icon IN2008-12.pdf
more
Title: "Inside News" January-March 2007 - Volume 2 Issue 10
Description: SPECIAL ISSUE ON LANDMINES:- Burma's Landmine Tragedy...EDITORIAL: Landmines have no friends...Human mine sweepers...Beaten, starved and forced through mine fields...Explosive Nightmares...Reducing the risk of landmine injury...Beware landmines!...Avoid the following places...KNU landmine policy...Landmine Monitor Report 2006...Where's there no doctor — treating a landmine victim...Soldiers destroy village life...Landmines — a chronic emergency...Mines are deadly!...Landmines are never safe...Villagers used to clear mines...Clear Path offers help...Landmines — everyone suffers
Source/publisher: Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP)
Date of publication: 2007-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2009-03-31
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.91 MB
Local URL:
  1. PDF icon IN2007-03.pdf
more
Title: Landmines: reason for flight, obstacle to return
Description: "Burma/Myanmar has suffered from two decades of mine warfare by both the State Peace and Development Council and ethnic-based insurgents. There are no humanitarian demining programmes within the country. It is no surprise that those states in Burma/Myanmar with the most mine pollution are the highest IDP- and refugee-producing states. Antipersonnel mines planted by both government forces and ethnic armed groups injure and kill not only enemy combatants but also their own troops, civilians and animals. There is no systematic marking of mined areas. Mines are laid close to areas of civilian activity; many injuries occur within half a kilometre of village centres. Although combatants have repeatedly said that they give ‘verbal warnings? to civilians living near areas which they mine, no civilian mine survivor interviewed by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines reported having had verbal warnings..."
Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan
Source/publisher: "Forced Migration Review" No. 30
Date of publication: 2008-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-30
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Local URL:
more
Title: Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2007: Landmines
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
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : html pdf
Size: 89.04 KB 407.75 KB
more
Title: Landmine chapter of the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2003-2004
Description: "...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: 2004-10-31
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 31.76 KB
Local URL:
  1. HTML icon Landmines.htm
more
Title: Landmine chapter of the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2004
Description: "...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: 2005-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 52.23 KB
more
Title: Landmine chapter of the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2005
Description: "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: 2006-06-30
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 60.16 KB
more
Title: Landmine chapter of the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006
Description: "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: 2007-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-26
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : html pdf pdf
Size: 75.8 KB 891.8 KB 418.97 KB
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2007: Burma (Myanmar)
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
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 602.32 KB
more
Title: Burma?s Killing Fields
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: 2005-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-30
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: The Wounds of War
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: 2005-03-31
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-27
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Burma (Myanmar)
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: 2005-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2005-12-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 262.22 KB
more
Title: "Health Messenger" Issue 17 -- Special Issue on Landmines
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: 2002-07-31
Date of entry/update: 2005-01-23
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf
Size: 962.68 KB
Local URL:
  1. PDF icon ISSUE 17.pdf
more
Title: Border landmines have far reaching effects
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
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 7.23 KB
Local URL:
  1. HTML icon NN2004-12-14.htm
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2004: Burma (Myanmar)
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: 2004-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2004-11-20
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine chapter of the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2002-2003
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: 2003-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-11-10
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 31.4 KB
more
Title: Landmine Monitor Report 2003: Burma (Myanmar)
Description: 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
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Local URL:
more
Title: Burma: One of the World?s Landmine "Black Spots"
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: 2000-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Local URL:
more
Title: Landmine chapter of the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2000
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: 2001-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
[field_licence]
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm htm
Size: 19.47 KB 6.04 KB
more

Pages