Librarian's Choice

Librarian's Choice

expand all
collapse all
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute ( Amsterdam)
2023-04-20
Sub-title: Promoting Ethnic Peace or Strengthening State Control?
Description: "The ethnic ‘peace process’ in Myanmar is one of the most labyrinthine in the modern world. Dating back to 1989, a variety of bilateral, multilateral and unilateral initiatives have been underway. In recent years, they were linked by the aspirations of a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and 21st Century Panglong Conference. None of these processes have led to inclusive political dialogue or sustainable peace, and both came to a halt with the military coup on 1 February 2021. Since this time, national breakdown has further ensued, and a new cycle of armed conflicts has begun, including in both rural and urban areas that have not seen fighting and displacement in many years. Myanmar today is among the most war-torn lands in both Asia and the world. Using the NCA as a spectrum, this new report by TNI seeks to analyse the most significant attempt to resolve ethnic conflict by negotiation since independence in 1948. Critical issues include the challenges in the negotiation of ceasefires; the failure to implement the NCA, including military violations; endeavours to overcome peace obstacles while the National League for Democracy was in government office; and analysis of how conflict parameters have changed in the fall-out from the 2021 coup. The NCA, though, did not occur in a vacuum. Over the years, a host of other challenges came to overshadow implementation and focus, undermining peace progress on the ground. Key issues include conflict regression in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States, people’s militia and Border Guard Forces, economic opportunism and exploitation in the ethnic borderlands, and the divergent and ineffective responses by different international actors. Such factors are integral elements in Myanmar’s conflict landscape. Ultimately, there was no single reason why the NCA failed. The lack of inclusion, implementation, political will and political accomplishment are outstanding. Positioned at the heart of these failures is the Tatmadaw or Sit-Tat. After decades in government, the country’s military leaders sought to use the NCA as a mechanism for state control rather than a gateway to ethnic peace and reform. Myanmar was never at peace following the NCA’s 2015 inception. Myanmar is currently in its deepest state of civil war in several decades. Repression, political violence and humanitarian emergency are sweeping every state and region. All the peoples are suffering. It is thus vital that lessons are learned from the bitter experiences of peace failure in the past in order to build a better path to reform and reconciliation in the future. Any new process to address such challenges must be equitable, inclusive, just and sincere among all parties in order to contribute to this essential task..."
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-20
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 8.27 MB (160 pages) - Original version
more
Source/publisher: UN Human Rights Council via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2022-03-16
Description: "Human Rights Council Forty-ninth session 28 February–1 April 2022 Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Summary Thirteen months after launching a coup against the government, an illegal military junta has waged a relentless war against the people of Myanmar and their fundamental rights. The results have been devastating. Junta forces have killed at least 1,600 civilians and displaced over 500,000. Half of the population has fallen into poverty. The World Health Organization is now projecting that there will be over 47,000 preventable deaths in Myanmar this year. Thirteen million people face food insecurity. This report highlights some of the most serious human rights violations in Myanmar during the period September 2021 through February 2022. It documents the military’s violent attacks on civilian populations, including airstrikes, mortaring, arson, extrajudicial killings, and the use of forced labor and human shields. The report describes the junta’s campaign to arrest and imprison activists, journalists, peaceful protesters and other opponents. It documents the junta’s criminalization of fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. It also shares the experiences of those who have faced torture and other illtreatment during periods of detention. Many of these attacks constitute probable crimes against humanity and/or war crimes, and perpetrators must be brought to justice. The report describes the efforts of the people of Myanmar to oppose the military junta and defend their nation. Led by large numbers of young people, including many young women, protest organizers have demonstrated great skill, tenacity and creativity in the mobilization of opposition despite the near constant threat of imprisonment or death. The Special Rapporteur is inspired by their conviction and tireless efforts. To succeed, the people of Myanmar need a much stronger level of support from the international community. The report concludes with specific recommendations that he urges UN Security Council and Member States to take. I. Introduction More than 13 months after overthrowing a democratically elected government, the Myanmar junta has intensified its war against the people of Myanmar. The military has escalated its indiscriminate attacks against civilians using jet fighters, attack helicopters and heavy artillery, and soldiers have burned entire villages to the ground. Civilians and combatants have been tortured, raped, executed and used as human shields. The scale of these atrocities is immense. According to conservative estimates, at least 1,600 civilians have been killed by the junta’s forces. Nearly 10,000 people are currently detained because of their opposition to military rule, and the junta has amended the legal code to further criminalize the exercise of fundamental rights including the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. More than 500,000 people have been displaced since the coup bringing the current number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar to over 800,000. Tens of thousands who have sought safety in Bangladesh, India and Thailand have joined the approximately one million refugees from Myanmar in neighboring countries. Many of the junta’s human rights violations constitute probable crimes against humanity and war crimes. Those responsible must be held to account. This report highlights some of the most serious human rights concerns in Myanmar during the period September 2021 through February 2022. It documents the military’s violent attacks on civilian populations, including airstrikes, mortaring, arson, extrajudicial killings, and the use of forced labor and human shields. These attacks have created and exacerbated the dire humanitarian crisis that now grips the country, threatening the livelihoods, health and lives of millions. The report describes the junta’s campaign to arrest and imprison thousands of activists, journalists, peaceful protesters and other opponents. It also shares the experiences of those who have faced torture and other ill-treatment during periods of detention. The Special Rapporteur describes the particular dangers and human rights challenges faced by women and children and outlines the junta’s efforts to criminalize and otherwise suppress fundamental rights and freedoms. This report also describes the dire human rights situation for Rohingya populations in Rakhine State, including those who are confined to IDP camps. In December 2021, the Special Rapporteur traveled to Bangladesh, as part of his overall assessment of the human rights situation of the Rohingya people of Myanmar. In an annex to this report, the Special Rapporteur reflects on his trip, noting the role that the people and government of Bangladesh played in saving untold numbers of Rohingya as they fled the genocidal attacks of the Myanmar military in Rakhine State. He makes recommendations with respect to the protection of and support to Rohingya in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char island. The report follows the publication in February 2022 of the Special Rapporteur’s conference paper on arms sales to the Myanmar military (A/HRC/49/CRP.1). It underscores concerns raised in the paper, namely that several nations continue to sell or authorize the transfer of weapons of war to the Myanmar military, despite knowledge that the weapons are almost certain to be used in attacks against civilians. These transfers violate international law. Many people in Myanmar—including the victims of human rights abuses and their family members, some of whom are highlighted in this report—have told the Special Rapporteur that they are profoundly disappointed with the failure of the international community to act decisively to help prevent atrocities and hold perpetrators accountable. The Special Rapporteur reiterates his call to the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution imposing an arms embargo and targeted economic sanctions against the Myanmar military and referring the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. He elaborates steps that Member States should take in the absence of Security Council action. The Special Rapporteur notes the strong and swift action taken by Member States on behalf of the people of Ukraine and implores the international community to act similarly to protect the people of Myanmar. They too are under siege by a brutal and relentless military attack. The Special Rapporteur reiterates his deep admiration for the courage and resilience of the Myanmar people. He has been inspired by the bravery of survivors of human rights violations who have taken great personal risks to speak with him, by the resourcefulness of activists who have found new and creative ways to challenge military rule, and by the resilience of communities that have repeatedly rebounded from attacks over many months, years or decades. The Special Rapporteur is honored to share their stories, and their words, in this report. He is also grateful to the non-governmental and civil society organizations, human rights defenders, local human rights groups, Member States and United Nations programs and agencies that contributed to this report..."
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-17
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 603.09 KB (Original version) - 28 pages
more
Source/publisher: UN Human Rights Council via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2022-03-15
Description: "Human Rights Council Forty-ninth session 28 February–1 April 2022 Agenda item 4 Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Progress made in the implementation of follow-up action to the recommendations of the “A Brief and Independent Inquiry into the Involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018” to strengthen the prevention capacity of the United Nations system* Report of the Secretary-General Summary In resolution 73/264 on the “Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar”, the UN General Assembly noted “the recommendation by the fact-finding mission on the conduct of a comprehensive, independent inquiry into the involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar since 2011 and encourage[d] the United Nations system to follow up on the issues raised and to ensure that all engagement with Myanmar takes into account, and addresses, human rights concerns.” Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/264 of 22 December 2018, and to resolution 39/2 Adopted by the Human Rights Council, the Secretary-General appointed Mr. Gert Rosenthal in December 2018 to conduct an independent inquiry into the involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018. Following oral presentations to the Human Rights Council on the findings and implementation of the recommendations of Mr. Rosenthal’s review in 2020 and 2021, Human Rights Council resolution 46/21 (March 2021) invited the Secretary-General to provide a written report on progress made in the implementation of follow-up action to enable more effective work in the future and to strengthen the prevention capacity of the United Nations system. **I. Introduction ** In resolution 73/264 on the “Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar”, the UN General Assembly noted “the recommendation by the fact-finding mission on the conduct of a comprehensive, independent inquiry into the involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar since 2011 and encourage[d] the United Nations system to follow up on the issues raised and to ensure that all engagement with Myanmar takes into account, and addresses, human rights concerns.”1 Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/264 of 22 December 2018,2 and to resolution 39/2 Adopted by the Human Rights Council,3 the Secretary-General appointed Mr. Gert Rosenthal in December 2018 to conduct an independent inquiry into the involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018. Mr. Rosenthal’s observations can be categorised as three sets of interrelated areas and challenges to be addressed: (i) UN structures, coordination, information sharing and decisionmaking; (ii) interaction with the host government; (iii) interaction with other Member States (both within UN bodies and bilaterally) and the wider international community, including international NGOs. Following oral presentations to the Human Rights Council on the findings and implementation of the recommendations of Mr. Rosenthal’s review in 2020 and 2021, Human Rights Council resolution 46/214 (March 2021) invited the Secretary-General to provide a written report on progress made in the implementation of follow-up action to enable more effective work in the future and to strengthen the prevention capacity of the United Nations system. Since Mr. Rosenthal’s review, the Secretary-General launched his Call to Action for Human Rights (Call to Action), which promotes a transformative vision of human rights across the United Nations system, recognising human rights as offering solutions and tools, and as speaking to the aspirations of every human being. The initiative underlines that “human rights are the responsibility of each and every United Nations actor and that a culture of human rights must permeate everything we do, in the field, at regional level and at Headquarters”.5 It also makes clear the link between human rights protection and prevention. The present report should be read in conjunction with efforts underway in the context of the Call to Action, as well as Our Common Agenda,6 launched by the Secretary-General in September 2021. Our Common Agenda contains recommendations across four broad areas, including a new social contract anchored in human rights. Together, the Call to Action and Our Common Agenda provide the UN system with the necessary frameworks, coherence, and momentum, to ensure that human rights is placed at the centre of our efforts across the three pillars, as envisaged in Mr. Rosenthal’s review..."
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-16
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 166.37 KB
more
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2022-03-12
Sub-title: Protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people of Myanmar
Description: "1. Introduction:This budget is a historic first budget of the National Unity Government, following a year of tumultuous and catastrophic change in our country brought on by the military junta. In delivering this budget statement, the National Unity government intends to present to our people and to friends of freedom around the world: • an assessment of our economy and of the military’s inability to arrest its unprecedented decline, • a statement on the efforts by the National Unity Government (NUG) to provide humanitarian relief directly by the NUG and through our partners across the country, • an enumeration of the NUG’s priority initiatives - to support the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), to expand access to life-saving assistance to those most impacted by the military’s actions, and to contain the spread of COVID-19 - which will be scaled up throughout this coming year, and • a vision as to how the NUG’s humanitarian efforts will support our people as they seek a return to peace, stability, and respect for the rule of law; as they set about rebuilding our country’s economy; and as we together bring about a democracy that embraces and serves all of our people. The release of this budget statement comes amid a period of chaos for people across Myanmar. Since 1 February 2021, the military has been solely responsible for creating a three-dimensional crisis - political turmoil and violence perpetrated by the military, an economy that has collapsed and remains paralysed, and the persistent threat posed by COVID-19. The military is actively manipulating each element of this crisis for its own enrichment and in ways that are exacerbating suffering throughout the country. The military’s only strategy is to wage a reign of terror. The military is failing and continues to fail in their attempt to break the people’s will and govern by fear. Against this backdrop, the people of Myanmar continue to stand alongside each other in solidarity. The people remain steadfast in their rejection of the military’s attempts to destroy our country’s future as part of their desperate efforts to preserve their own power and privilege. The NUG shall address each element of Myanmar’s present crisis in our role as the legitimate representatives of the democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar. The NUG is working to reduce the harm suffered by those most impacted by the military’s actions and to shift the economic cost of this attempted coup to the military and those who prop them up. Doing so will help to amplify our people’s resistance and deliver change, as those across the country continue to deny the military and demand the return of legitimate government. With the release of this budget statement, the NUG also reaffirms its commitment to a Federal Democratic Union - a fundamental basis for security and prosperity for all the people of Myanmar. Not only we are working to hasten the end of the military’s role in political life, but with this budget statement, we are also working to prepare for the return to civilian rule. The priorities that follow each aim to help our people and to turn their sacrifice for freedom into the basis for such a Federal Democratic Union..."
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-12
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 584.63 KB 4.95 MB
more
Source/publisher: Shoklo Malaria Research Unit
2006-12-28
Description: "Located on a strategic cross-roads in Asia, the borderlands of Burma (Myanmar)1 have witnessed extraordinary social and political upheaval during the past two decades. However, unlike in the adjoining states of China and Thailand, malaria morbidity and other health crises have remained at internationally high and often epidemic levels. It is a legacy that exemplifies much about the state failures of contemporary Burma. It is also a record of humanitarian malaise that, with too few exceptions, reflects the failure of key stakeholders in both Burma and the international community to prioritize health needs and conflict resolution in one of Asia’s poorest lands. Far too late, a notion of humanitarian crisis has developed that in 2006 witnessed briefings about Burma at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the basis that, along with political impasse, the transmission of malaria, HIV and tuberculosis across international frontiers could pose a threat to regional peace and security.2 In reality, however, this is an analysis of humanitarian emergency that could have been made at any time in any of the preceding 20 years. In Burma, the humanitarian and political challenges have long been inextricably inter-linked. As the UNSC briefings highlight, any discussion about health issues in Burma is invariably tinged with controversy and, very often, doubt. There is a paucity of research in many health and socio-economic fields. But about the national significance of malaria, there can be no uncertainty. Data from every part of the country has long since pointed to the disease as Burma’s pre-eminent health challenge. Official statistics presently record malaria as the leading cause of both morbidity and mortality among the country’s ten priority diseases, with incidence rates of 11.1/1000 and 3.65/100,000 respectively.3 Plasmodium falciparum has been identified as the cause of around 80 per cent of the 600- 700,000 cases and 3,000 deaths reported annually.4 And a recent study estimated that Burma accounts for around 7 per cent of cases reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the Southeast Asia region (including India), but 53.6 per cent of all malariarelated deaths.5 The difficulties, however, in addressing Burma’s malaria challenges go very much further. Malaria is acknowledged to be endemic in 284 of the country’s 324 townships, with over 70 per cent of the 54 million population at risk.6 But in vast areas of the countryside there is little access to basic health care, and it is estimated by the UN that only 25-40 per cent of malaria suspects currently seek treatment in the public sector.7 Indeed one UNICEF estimate in the early 1990s claimed that the real levels of malaria incidence could be up to seven times higher than WHO figures.8 Against this backdrop, multi-drug resistant malaria has become widespread, and essential combination drug treatments are frequently beyond the reach of the most at risk populations. As in all countries, the recorded incidence of malaria in Burma often reflects local pockets of emergency that can be attributed to particular environmental or socioeconomic factors. About 60 per cent of recorded cases, for example, are considered to be related to “forestry work”. 9 However mapping on a national scale reveals a much more disturbing reality, explaining why malaria has remained so endemic and with such high levels of morbidity.10 The areas of greatest risk exactly match the rugged horseshoe of highlands that surround the central Irrawaddy plains. In these areas, four characteristics stand out: they are borderlands adjoining the neighbouring states of Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand; they are heavily forested; they are inhabited by ethnic minority peoples; and they are the scenes of among the longest-running and most diverse insurgencies to be found anywhere in the world. The consequences of such frontier-land volatility have been profound, underpinning many of the health and political crises in the country. For decades, many different state and quasi-state actors have competed for authority in the borderlands. However during the era of Gen. Ne Win’s isolationist Burmese Way to Socialism (1962-88), public health care never extended to more than one third of the country.11 Meanwhile many of the borderlands remained under the de facto control of different armed opposition forces, including the Kachin Independence Organisation, Karen National Union, New Mon State Party and Shan State Progress Party. Each of these different authorities administered its own system of field clinics and health programmes. But whether in government or antigovernment areas, clinical diagnosis and appropriate treatment were frequently unavailable for most communities. Equally serious, there was no real coordination on public education nor on national and international responses to disease. Every kind of drug – both real and fake – entered Burma through blackmarkets that flourished along the frontiers with Thailand, China, India and Bangladesh. This proved especially damaging in the case of malaria. As research by the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU) has demonstrated, conditions in Burma’s borderlands became very conducive to high levels of malaria infection and the spread of drug resistance.12 Throughout the Ne Win era, there remained little reliable data on humanitarian conditions in most regions of Burma. When media headlines occurred, it was only the lucrative trade in illicit opium and, from the mid-1980s, Karen refugees fleeing the fighting that alerted international attention to the endemic state of conflict in what had become one of the world’s most hermetic lands. Indeed so non-aligned had Burma become that in 1979 Ne Win even withdrew the country from the Non-Aligned Movement. But the seriousness of malaria incidence could never be disguised, and by 1988 the number of officially recorded malaria-related deaths had grown to over 4,000.13 It remained impossible, however, to put such statistics into any kind of national context. As any traveller in Burma’s borderlands could witness, malaria was the major cause of illness and death on far greater scale, evidenced by seasonal epidemics and the treatment of increasing numbers of refugees in neighbouring Thailand. A new landscape in both health needs and perspectives emerged following the 1988 collapse of Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party and the assumption of power by the present-day State Peace and Development Council ([SPDC] formerly State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC]). Three factors, especially, began to focus attention on the urgency and details of Burma’s health crises. The first was the accelerating departure of refugees and migrant workers into neighbouring countries. There can only be guesstimates about the exact scale of population movement since 1988 in what has become a constant state of cross-border human flow across some of the least regulated frontiers in Asia. But by the beginning of the 21st century, there were around 150,000 refugees (mainly ethnic Karen, Karenni and Mon) recorded in official camps in Thailand where there were also over one million migrant workers from Burma – both those described as “legal” and those “illegal”.14 In India, too, the refugee population is presently estimated as in excess of 50,000 (predominantly ethnic Chin), while during 1991-92 the Rakhine State border was the scene of one of the largest refugee exoduses in modern times when over 200,000 minority Muslims (known as Rohingyas) crossed into Bangladesh.15 In the following years, most of the Muslim refugee population was resettled back across the border under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. However the conditions of socio-political volatility along the Bangladesh and Burma’s other borders have generally continued. Such intervention by UN agencies leads to the second important change after 1988: the growing engagement by international aid organisations in and around Burma. The refugee populations along the Thai and Bangladesh borders have remained a principal focus of international concern. However from the early 1990s the new military government of the SLORC-SPDC also began allowing international aid agencies access to many off-limits parts of Burma. As the first international analysts conducted research in a quarter of a century, they swiftly began providing data confirming what health workers in the country had always known but could rarely address: the close links between conflict, public health failures and humanitarian suffering. In the early 1990s, the scale of its discoveries led UNICEF to frame the concept of Burma’s “Silent Emergency”, considering an appeal for “humanitarian ceasefires” to deliver relief aid to conflict-affected parts of the country.16 UNICEF’s strategies for “corridors of peace” through the borderlands remained on the drawing boards. But with the impetus of international analysis, public health statistics in Burma began to show more accuracy. In 1992 the official infant mortality rate was doubled to 94 per 1,000 live births, while there were estimates that the figure in conflict areas of the Karen and Shan States could be as high as 200 to 300 per 1,000 live births.17 As the new health data showed, children under five were accounting for nearly half the deaths annually recorded in Burma, due largely to a few treatable or preventable illnesses including malaria, pneumonia, measles and water-born diseases.18 Confirmatory evidence of the health complexities in the field then accelerated from the mid-1990s with the increasing access of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) into Burma. Their arrival coincided with the spread of ceasefires between the SLORC-SPDC government and a growing number of armed ethnic opposition groups. For the first time in three decades, day-to-day fighting halted in many conflict-torn areas, especially in the borderlands with China. In a break with past isolation, by the end of the 20th century around 20 international NGOs were registered inside Burma working on health issues.19 Their dynamic mirrored a resurgence in energy by local community-based organisations, 5 many of which also have an emphasis on health. Indeed, by one estimate, the 1990s saw the fastest decade in NGO growth in Burma’s history.20 It is important to stress that, throughout this period, the countrywide picture was by no means stable or even. In particular, there were several borderland areas where armed conflicts still continued. But whether due to humanitarian concerns inside or outside of Burma, this increased international focus on health issues meant that many of the particular causes and localities of health emergency became better identified. In the case of malaria, the borderlands with Bangladesh, India and Thailand became recognised as particular epicentres for high levels of malaria incidence. This led to increasing collaboration between international organisations and public health authorities in both Burma and abroad. New approaches were very clearly needed. A noteworthy example was Medecins Sans Frontieres-Netherlands (MSF-N) which, following its 1992 entry into Burma, prioritized malaria-related morbidity among vulnerable populations in the Rakhine State borderlands, treating over 100,000 malaria patients annually by the turn of the century.21 During the same years, the SMRU continued its anti-malarial programmes along the Thai border together with NGOs and the Thai government, helping reduce the incidence of P. falciparum by over 90 per cent in the refugee camps and surrounding regions.22 Recognition of these unaddressed “gateway” dynamics in the incidence of disease proved the final factor in changing perceptions about the nature of humanitarian crises in Burma. Neither conflict nor malaria, however, was the main catalyst for concern but HIV/AIDS which, during the 1990s, became a major health challenge throughout the sub-Asian region. With an international frontier-line of 3,650 miles, it was always likely that the patterns of human flow to and from Burma would be critical. Many worst fears were soon realised. From the first HIV sentinel surveillance begun in 1992, the number of officially estimated cases of HIV infection rapidly increased in Burma to around 350,000 adults in 2004-5, with a national prevalence rate of 1.3 per cent.23 As with malaria, however, there continue to be many doubts about statistics, with nongovernmental groups claiming national prevalence rates of 2 per cent or even higher.24 But on all sides of the arguments, there is recognition that many socio-economic conditions exist in Burma for the virulent spread of the disease, including borderland conflicts, intravenous drug users, commercial sex workers, mine workers and large numbers of other migrants.25 As UNAIDS points out, the spread of HIV infection in Burma is “heterogenous varying widely by geographical location and by population sub group”. 26 Equally concerning, there has been an inter-linked upsurge in the spread of tuberculosis during the past decade, with 97,000 new cases detected each year and a worrying increase in multi-drug resistance.
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-26
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 167.73 KB
more
Source/publisher: Major N’Chyaw Tang
1980-00-00
Description: "The Wunpawng Migrated South crossing the rivers Kinsa Hka, Lam Taing Hka, and Nu Hka to finally reach Putao, From Putao they a pread East, West and South to this day we find Wunpawng in india ( Assam ), China ( Yunnan ) and in Shan states. TRADITION AND CULTURE:- Before the impact of the American Baptist mission-aries, the Wunpawng were animists and the practice of animism comes under clannish - kinship system, unlike the European Feudalism, the Wunpawng feudal Authority had boundary and subjected to kinahip-relation mutual arrangement, the society of the Wunpawng is closely coalesced under kinship-relationship with a common language conversant by all ethnics, The communities of Wunpawng have a pattern of rule of chiefs who worked out their relationship in kinship manner brought down from generation to generation. The Du Was ( Wunpawng Chiefs ) did not under take subordination among themselves, they understood that were equal, in respect to liberty, ownership of property and the right to resist oppression subjugation and aggression. No chief would single out hims elf and considered himself to bo senior or more powerful than the others because of his affluence. For this reason alone, there was not one chie f to promote himself as lord of the others Du Was, Thus in the history of Wunpawng people d o not have any king, the society had no central authority but communities as republics on equal and independent. The republic of Wunpawng land as emerged to day has never bear subordinated to any of the Burmese king. Even in 1884 when the British annexed upper Burma, the British administration was only set up Bhamo and Myitkyina Leaving for the most part, Kachin frontier areas to Du Was, to administers according to their traditional customary, it was only in 1932 after Burma was separated from India, did the British consider it was obligatory to take charge of the Du Was territories and classified them as scheduled kachin frontiers to be taken care of by the Governor of Burma it was no English men but the Americans who brought in civilization religion and Education to the Wunpawng, with Christian teaching and western education, the inherent nationalism whish Wunpawng fostered through ages is leaning towards western Democracy. MILITARY POTENTIAL AND CAPABILITY:- That during the seies of Rangoon in 1824 that Burmese king solicited wunpawng mercenaries to come to his did through the2 renawu Burmese General MAHA BANDOOLA many Wunpawng mercenaries fought for the Burmese king against the British india seroys, Bandoola was a Wunpawng by the name of BUN DU LA, the Burmans usually obliterated the right proper name to cancel authenticity, upserp ation is the common practice of the Burmans above all recognition and respect to Wunpawng sovereignty as and independent nation that Burmese king himself did present his majestic dress to Wunpawng chiefs, it is still with DAI HPA DU WA Hukawng District, and it is a salient fact indeed. It took the British decade to pacify the Wunpawng resisting spirit against s subordination to the British. In 1928 when the British government brought and freed the slaves, then only did the Du Was reconciled with the British authority and become vassals to the Governpr of Burma. With aptitude to military carcer, Wunpawng were drafted into military services. First, military police fprce, then Burma Army, and in world warI the Wunpawng military unit (Bhamo Battalion ) rank and file of 1589 strong were s ent to mediterranean theatre for active combat. In 1917, some 349 Wunpawng soldiera took part in Mesopotamia and Turkey battle frontline actions. A company strength was stationed in Egyt for garrison d uty, the total casualty of Wunpawng soldiers in world war I, was sixty dead and 113 wounded..."
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-26
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 28.61 MB (100 pages) - Reduce version
more
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute ( Amsterdam)
2021-11-25
Sub-title: Covid-19 and the Struggle for Peace and Justice in Myanmar
Description: "The peoples of Myanmar are presently struggling with three grave challenges: a coup, conflict and Covid-19. This new TNI briefing analyses how these three crises have unfolded, leading to health system collapse, a new cycle of humanitarian emergency and deepening political divisions within the country. Taking a narrative approach, the report focuses on the consequences of state failure, the impact of Covid-19 and the actions taken by different military, political and civil society actors during a time of national breakdown. Special attention is paid to community perspectives, the plight of at-risk populations, the neglect of ethnic conflict, the issues of peace and justice, political and health schisms, international dilemmas, and the attendant challenges in addressing Covid-19. Great suffering has already occurred. But the vision must be that the Covid-19 response serves as a model for equality and inclusion rather than regression and division. Health is a human right for everyone, and this primacy must not be lost sight of amidst political breakdown in the country. Key Points Following the assumption of power on 1 February 2021 by the military State Administrative Council, Myanmar has slid into ever-deeper crisis. Compounding the worsening situation is a new wave of Covid-19 infections that have spread to all parts of the country. Every sector of society has been affected. With the government’s health system all but collapsed, the peoples of Myanmar have been thrust into the precarious position of addressing the pandemic with little or no assistance. The three “Cs” – covid, coup and conflict – have come together in a terrible collision. During 2020, the looming scale of the crisis indicated the need for cooperation between the key actors in national politics to combat the disease. Even before the SAC coup, Myanmar did not have a response capacity that covered the whole country. For its part, the National League for Democracy administration pledged a policy of “No One Left Behind”. This promise was not delivered by the authorities, and United Nations calls for a global “Covid ceasefire” were not acted upon. The peoples of Myanmar are now paying a heavy price. Testing was fragmentary, the security forces disrupted non-governmental programmes in the ethnic conflict-zones, and an equitable system of vaccine rollout was not prepared. Instead, the socio-political landscape became dominated by the rivalry between the two leading actors in national politics: the NLD, which won the November 2020 general election; and the national armed forces (Tatmadaw), which seized control of government on 1 February. A perfect storm was created, and the health crisis has exponentially worsened since the SAC takeover. In one of the poorest countries in Asia, there are huge limitations in health infrastructure, medical supplies, human resources, monitoring, personal protective equipment and emergency response to address Covid-19. Communities from every ethnic background lack access to essential health facilities and reliable information about the virus. Adding to the emergency, the country is in the midst of one of its most volatile periods of political turbulence since independence in 1948. Covid-19 is not the only crisis facing the country. Rather, its emergence – and the inability to cope – have further exposed the political failings and long-standing need for peace, reconciliation, consequential reforms, and end to military rule..."
Date of entry/update: 2021-11-30
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 904.68 KB 832.85 KB
more
Source/publisher: The Burma Studies Group, Association of Asian Studies Conference (Washington D.C.)
2002-04-05
Description: "Ethnic conflict has dominated the political landscape of Burma (Myanmar) since independence from Great Britain in 1948. In the process, countless lives have been lost, many communities dislocated from their homes, and a country that was deemed to have the brightest future of any of its Asian neighbors at independence has stagnated to become one of the world’s poorest. In such state failures, tragedy is interwoven with irony. Burma, indeed, is the land where the anthropologist Edmund Leach carried out his ground-breaking studies into patterns of cultural inter-change among peoples. In essence, Leach concluded that ethnic and political identities are neither innate nor inflexible, but develop on the basis of understandings and cultural exchanges between different societies. Since this time, ethnic field research in Burma has come to a virtual halt. The world of Asian studies thus owes a profound debt of gratitude to Prof. Josef Silverstein. Since the 1950s, his writings on ethnic questions have stood out as a persistent – and often lone – beacon of concerned but independent analysis. At the beginning of the 21st century, his works are as pertinent as when he first began. Not only has he crystallized complex issues in understandable form, but he has done this in a language that has become common currency in many international understandings of the country and its challenges. A particular issue in Burmese politics over the past 60 years has been the lack of common forums or platforms where different parties and nationalities might equally work together. As Prof. Silverstein has described, underpinning these failures is the ‘dilemma of national unity’.1 Important ethnic questions date back to the pre-colonial past. But, in general, the modern roots of many problems can be found in the political divisions of Burma, under a diarchic system, between ‘Ministerial Burma’ and the ethnic minority ‘Frontier Areas Administration’ during British rule. Inter-communal relations were then exacerbated by conflict during the Second World War, and the challenge of national unity has remained evident in all political eras since Burma’s independence in 1948..."
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-27
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 39.22 KB (10 pages)
more
Source/publisher: Covenant Institute via Myanmar Information Management Unit
2020-06-29
Description: "June 29th 2020 marks 25 years since the New Mon State Party (NMSP) agreed a ceasefire with the then State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military government in Burma (as the country was officially called until 1989). The essays collected here reflect on the experiences of Mon communities and the NMSP, before and after the ceasefire. The NMSP and the (ex-Communist Party of Burma) United Wa State Army are among the few “ceasefire groups” of the 1990s which still have ceasefires. Other ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) were either forced in 2010 to become Myanmar Army-controlled Border Guard Forces (BGFs: e.g. most units of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) or Peoples Militias (pyithusit: e.g. the Pa-O National Organisation), or ceasefires broke down amid recrimination and return to largescale state violence against ethnic nationality communities (e.g. the Kachin Independence Organisation, whose 1994 ceasefire broke down after 17 years, in 2011). In contrast, other groups like the Karen National Union (KNU) continued the armed struggle for self-determination through the 1990s and 2000s, before agreeing a ceasefire with the U Thein Sein government in 2012. The NMSP ceasefire effectively broke down in 2010 under military government pressure to become a BGF. However, despite considerable tensions at the time, fighting did not break out again. The NMSP resisted pressure to transform into a BGF, and eventually confirmed a new bilateral ceasefire with the government in February 2012. Both the KNU (in 2015) and NMSP (in 2018) signed the multilateral Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Unfortunately, the NCA has largely failed. The hoped-for “Political Dialogue” has stalled, with the Myanmar government and armed forces (Tatmadaw) unwilling to allow necessary sub-national (ethnic community) consultations, or to accept EAO demands for meaningful federalism. Security elements of the NCA (the Joint Monitoring Committee) have been largely dysfunctional and/or dominated by the Tatmadaw. While key EAOs (including the NMSP) continue to deliver governance administration and services (e.g. health and education) in their areas of control and authority, the peace process has yet to provide a credible vehicle for delivering “Interim Arrangements”, despite these being mandated by the NCA (Chapter 6, Article 25). The four essays collected here discuss different aspects of the NMSP’s long struggle for Mon self-determination in the context of the 1995 ceasefire. Martin Smith and Ashley South are writers and analysts, who have studied Mon history and society since before the ceasefire. Martin offers a historical-cultural and political account of the Mon armed struggle, which frames the essays to follow. Ashley presents an assessment of the NMSP’s achievements and challenges since the ceasefire. Nai Kasauh Mon and Nai Banya Hongsar are civil society activists and authors. Nai Kasauh Mon provides a critical analysis of the ceasefire years, highlighting both successes and failures. And Nai Banya Hongsar discusses the challenges that the NMSP and Mon movement continue to face in a country still entrapped within a cycle of conflict and ceasefire..."
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-27
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 3.88 MB
more
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
2020-12-28
Description: "My friend David Arnott, who has died aged 77, made an important contribution to the struggle for human rights in Burma (Myanmar) through founding and running the Online Burma/Myanmar Library and the Burma Peace Foundation. Born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, he went to Wakefield grammar school and studied languages at Reading University. He spent the 1960s and 70s immersed in parts of the counterculture: driving a van-load of youngsters to the Soviet Union; joining CND marches; living alone for months on meagre means in Ibiza, while expanding his interest in Buddhism. In London in the 80s he founded or co-founded several mainly Buddhist or Burma-related organisations, including the Tibet Support Group and Burma Campaign UK. From 1991 until 1996 he worked in New York, supplying documentation to the UN human rights mechanisms, introducing Burma democracy activists to the UN scene, and supporting their lobbying. He then played a similar role in Geneva, where I co-operated with him, along with members of the European Burma Network. Projects there included a conference on the impact of tourism on indigenous peoples. His life’s work culminated in the Online Burma/Myanmar Library, a database featuring more than 60,000 documents in many languages. David was ahead of his time in advocating free information access as being a key to Burma’s future. From 2004 until his death he lived in the Mae Sot district in Thailand, an important centre for Burmese exiles. Over the last few years he struggled to raise funding for the library and to arrange a satisfactory succession. It is now run by a younger group of people inside Myanmar..."
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-04
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2020-12-18
Description: "David Arnott, who died earlier this month in Thailand, was at the vanguard of online activism targeting Myanmar’s regime and spent the last two decades of his life building the internet’s largest collection of material about the country. By TIMOTHY MCLAUGHLIN | FRONTIER Mr David Arnott, a longtime human rights activist who built and for almost two decades dutifully maintained a vast online collection of Myanmar documents, died earlier this month in Mae Sot, Thailand. He was 77. Arnott’s death at his home on December 7 was confirmed by Daw Khin Ohmar, a fellow activist and friend. The cause of death was heart disease, she said. Arnott’s health had deteriorated in recent years. Melding decades of dogged activism with a penchant for combing through piles of source material, Arnott began creating an online archive of documents related to Myanmar in 2001. The collection, officially titled The Online Burma/Myanmar Library, grew continuously over the next 19 years, more than living up to its claim to be the “largest single source of organised Burma/Myanmar material on the internet”. Built on a shoestring budget, Arnott’s bare-bones website provided anyone with an interest in Myanmar and an internet connection (even a patchy one) access to tens of thousands of pages of material: news stories, government announcements, reports, laws and legal documents, some dating to the 1800s. Much of it had been previously unavailable in a digital format and all of it was provided at no cost. The library would have been a tremendous resource for research on any country, but was all the more valuable because for much of the site’s life the military’s State Peace and Development Council government heavily restricted the flow of information out of Myanmar. Exiled journalists pored over the state-run newspapers Arnott uploaded daily, searching for clues on who was on the rise and who among the ruling military brass had been “allowed to retire”. Academics and researchers navigated the prosaic pale yellow-coloured site, overlaid with dark brown headings and body text and bright blue links, in search of documents to bolster their research. “At a time when authoritarian regimes are finding new novel ways to stifle the collection, management and distribution of information, he [Arnott] had already amassed an unparalleled cache of documents on one of the most closed dictatorships of the 20th century,” said Mr Lee Morgenbesser, a senior lecturer at Griffith University in Australia. “Thanks to his efforts, the Burma Library has been an invaluable resource for scholars investigating the very nature of Myanmar politics and society.” Arnott’s project began as activists outside Myanmar were experimenting with online advocacy, which was then still in its infancy. Ms Edith Mirante, the author of two books on Myanmar, first met Arnott in the mid-1990s and described him as an “intellectual adventurer”. He envisioned building an ever-expanding online library made up of not only mainstream press and dissident sources, but also government edicts and historical materials important to researchers seeking a wide range of perspectives. In many ways, she said, “he was ahead of his time on understanding free information access as key for Burma’s future”. There is no doubt that he succeeded in his mission. Tributes to Arnott’s legacy were shared on social media and spread quickly among Myanmar watchers and activists in the days following his death. Martin Smith, a Myanmar researcher and analyst who first met Arnott in London in the late 1980s, wrote that the library was a “powerful testimony to a lifetime of selfless endeavour and human rights dedication”. A focal point for activism David Nicholas Arnott was born October 13, 1947 in Dewsbury, England. He studied at Reading University and travelled extensively in the 1960s and 70s. An avid photographer, Arnott wrote that while he did occasionally take photos of landscapes or people, he preferred to take pictures of walls, rubbish bins and trees, the “ugly or banal – valorising the everyday”. It’s not known if he had any family members or relatives. Throughout the early 1980s Arnott founded a number of organisations focused on Buddhism, Tibet, Vietnam and the Chittagong Hill Tracts region in southeastern Bangladesh, according to a copy of his resume. In 1987, he turned his focus to Myanmar, co-founding the Burma Peace Foundation with the assistance of an influential UK-based Sayadaw, U Rewata Dhamma. Arnott relocated the organisation four years later to New York City to be closer to the United Nations, where he assisted activists and provided UN officials with information on Myanmar. The same year Arnott founded the Burma Action Group UK, which became the advocacy group Burma Campaign UK in 1999. Arnott then uprooted in the mid-1990s and moved to Geneva, where he remained a constant presence in and around the UN. Mirante recalled him wheeling a stack of documents nearly as tall as himself into a meeting of the International Labor Organization on forced labor in Myanmar. He had, she said, “collected everything, organised thousands of pages, so much proof of human rights violations, the incontrovertible evidence that was needed”. Over the years Arnott welcomed hundreds of Myanmar activists to his small apartment in Geneva, which was just steps away from the Palace of Nations. His living room, which doubled as an office, was covered with maps of Myanmar and stacked with filing cabinets and books. Arnott’s collection of tropical plants snaked through the space, making it resemble a scene from the sci-fi novel “The Day of the Triffids”, said Ms Debbie Stothard. The founder and coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, Stothard stayed with him during her visits to Switzerland in the late 1990s and early 2000s. During major UN meetings, Stothard said, his apartment would be crammed with visitors. To feed the crowd, Arnott, a vegetarian and Buddhist, cooked large pots of red curry with pumpkin, canned beans and whatever other vegetables he could purchase at a discount. Stothard estimated she had “smuggled kilos” of curry paste to Switzerland for him in her years visiting Geneva. In October 2001, Arnott launched the Online Burma/Myanmar Library. It soon became the Burma Peace Foundation’s main activity. The creation of the site came a few years after Myanmar activists had begun to skilfully embrace the internet, using it not just to share information but also wage campaigns aimed at pressuring corporations to boycott the country and governments to take tougher measures against the military. Maung Zarni, then a graduate student, founded the Free Burma Coalition in the mid-1990s, pioneering the use of the internet in advocacy work. Around the same time, Mr Douglas Steele, a recent university graduate, launched the BurmaNet newsletter, compiling news from along the Thai-Myanmar border and sending it out on a daily basis. The newsletter delivered a near-daily news roundup to inboxes until the end of 2016. ‘You can find them on the OBL’ For many years, OBL, as the library is widely referred to by its enthusiastic users, had a rudimentary appearance. What it lacked in style it more than made up for in substance. Working mostly on his own, Arnott compiled the thousands of documents and catalogued them, including daily updates of state-run newspapers – The New Light of Myanmar, Myanma Ahlin and Kyemon – that carried detailed, if monotonous, official reports on the inspection tours and meetings of government officials, as well as screeds against the military regime’s critics. The library included more obscure periodicals, like The Mon Forum, and ones with limited or no internet presence at all. “On the border, we were in the jungle; we didn’t have a place to archive meetings. The publications, we don’t have them anymore, but you can find them on the OBL,” said Khin Ohmar. The library also contained a host of other valuable material like the 13-volume Burma Code, an enormous set of laws and regulations dating from 1818 to 1954. Mr Thomas Kean, the former editor of The Myanmar Times, said Arnott was often the first to alert him that the newspaper’s IT team had forgotten to upload the most recent edition of the paper to the site in a PDF format. The site was regularly offline due to internet outages, technical issues or hacking attempts, and Arnott, always eager to make sure he didn’t miss an edition, was usually the first to enquire when it would be back up and running, Kean said. “David’s dedication to ensuring The Online Burma Library had a complete archive of everything in the public domain was unwavering,” said Kean, who is now editor-in-chief of Frontier. Relocation to Mae Sot in 2004 meant Arnott could more easily liaise with the active Myanmar community on the border, but government restrictions on the internet within Myanmar kept many people there from accessing the library. That ended in 2011 when controls on the web were eased by the government of then-President U Thein Sein. A recent funding proposal to expand the library said Google Analytics showed some 30 percent of the traffic to the site now originated from within Myanmar. The library, which subsisted on small grants and donations, faced financial difficulties in recent years. Like many border-based organisations, it struggled to attract support as donor funding increasingly shifted to Myanmar-based groups. Arnott, who friends described as extremely private and at times could be demanding and abrasive, also found fundraising activities “very tedious”, the recent funding proposal said. He resisted promoting the library on social media, in part to avoid any appearance of bias. In 2018 the site received its first major facelift since its launch almost two decades earlier. Along with a more modern palette and fonts, the interface was re-worked and search function improved. Arnott was keen to add more Burmese and texts in ethnic minority languages, such as Pwo and S’Gaw Karen, to the library. He also had contemplated handing off operations and moving it inside Myanmar. Khin Ohmar said the library transcended the political changes of Myanmar and the waves of people who have become interested in the country over time. It is exhilarating, she said, when someone tells her that they have found the site for the first time. “I’m so thrilled to see that the young generations have access to it.”..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-12-18
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: "Talk To Aljazeera"
2020-05-23
Sub-title: As COVID-19 shutdowns spike unemployment, the labour body's Guy Ryder discusses how governments can protect workers.
Description: "he coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we live. Nearly every country in the world has been affected. There have already been millions of infections, and hundreds of thousands of deaths. And while scientists work on developing a vaccine, governments are focusing on reducing the number of infections through social distancing and other preventive measures. But these restrictions have brought with them countless financial losses across the globe. The coronavirus recession is considered to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of 1929. As COVID-19 measures halt international trade, shut down airports and leave businesses bankrupt, tens of millions of people have lost their jobs. And for many, being unemployed in the middle of a pandemic means not only losing their income but also losing access to healthcare. So, how can governments protect their workers and rebuild their economies? The director-general of the International Labour Organization (ILO)..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-26
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: "International Crisis Group (ICG)" (Belgium)
2020-05-19
Sub-title: Conflicts have paused in much of Myanmar, opening a window for the government, military and ethnic armed groups to pursue a holistic response to the coronavirus. The parties should also work together in Rakhine State, where fighting persists, to limit the disease’s spread.
Description: "What’s new?...Amid a lull in fighting in much of the country, the Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups appear willing to put aside politics and work together to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The exception is Rakhine State, where conflict is escalating, putting medical workers at risk and exacerbating a potential health disaster. Why does it matter?...Conflict-affected areas of the country are highly vulnerable to COVID-19 but often outside state control. A successful response to the pandemic will require close coordination among the government, the military and ethnic armed groups, many of which have long run their own health systems. What should be done? The government, military and ethnic armed groups should work together to combat the virus through prevention, surveillance, testing and referrals. In Rakhine, they should ensure the safety of health workers, enable access to displaced populations and strengthen COVID-19 prevention messaging...Overview A major COVID-19 outbreak could have devastating consequences in a country as conflict-affected as Myanmar, where health spending is limited, governance is weak, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced by fighting, and the government cannot reach many areas held by ethnic armed groups. Reducing transmission as much as possible so that the health system can better cope will require cooperation with these groups, many of which run their own health systems. Promising discussions that have already begun between the government and various ethnic armed groups should continue in earnest to enable a holistic response in areas of the country where conflict is presently limited. The exception is Rakhine State, where fighting continues to escalate between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army, undermining prevention efforts and putting the lives of health workers at risk. Here, all sides should ensure the safety of medical personnel, allow humanitarian access to displaced and other vulnerable populations, and work to improve public adherence to mitigation measures..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-21
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
2020-01-21
Description: "...Shan community groups launched today a new video, The Four Cuts, documenting atrocities committed by the Burma Army during past “clearance operations” in Shan State. On December 11, 2019, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi defended Burma’s military against charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice, saying they were just carrying out “clearance operations” targeting insurgents or terrorists. The video shows the real meaning of “clearance operations” for Shan State inhabitants: brutal scorched earth campaigns – better known as “Four Cuts operations” - which have devastated and depopulated large areas of Shan State. In new video testimony, witnesses recount Burma Army atrocities committed during operations which forced about 400,000 people out of 1,800 villages in fifteen townships in central and southern Shan State. Between 1996 and 1998, over 1,000 villagers were killed, and at least 625 women and girls suffered rape and other forms of sexual violence..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-17
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: "Inter-Agency Standing Committee"
2020-03-31
Description: "...This book was a project developed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC MHPSS RG). The project was supported by global, regional and country based experts from Member Agencies of the IASC MHPSS RG, in addition to parents, caregivers, teachers and children in 104 countries. A global survey was distributed in Arabic, English, Italian, French and Spanish to assess children’s mental health and psychosocial needs during the COVID-19 outbreak. A framework of topics to be addressed through the story was developed using the survey results. The book was shared through storytelling to children in several countries affected by COVID-19. Feedback from children, parents and caregivers was then used to review and update the story..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-16
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : PDF
Size: 3.31 MB
more
Source/publisher: Sebastião Salgado and John Berger via YouTube
2018-01-10
Description: "THE SPECTRE OF HOPE brings together art critic John Berger, author of WAYS OF SEEING, and world-renowned photographer Sebastião. Critic and writer John Berger talks with brazilean photographer Sebastião Salgado on his photographs book Migrations..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-11
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: International Court of Justice (ICJ) (The Hague)
2020-01-23
Description: "Present: President YUSUF; Vice-President XUE; Judges TOMKA, ABRAHAM, BENNOUNA, CANÇADO TRINDADE, DONOGHUE, GAJA, SEBUTINDE, BHANDARI, ROBINSON, CRAWFORD, GEVORGIAN, SALAM, IWASAWA; Judges ad hoc PILLAY, KRESS; Registrar GAUTIER. The International Court of Justice, Composed as above, After deliberation, Having regard to Articles 41 and 48 of the Statute of the Court and Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Rules of Court, Makes the following Order: 1. On 11 November 2019, the Republic of The Gambia (hereinafter “The Gambia”) filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (hereinafter “Myanmar”) concerning alleged violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (hereinafter the “Genocide Convention” or the “Convention”)..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English, French
Format : pdf
Size: 227.63 KB (28 pages)
more
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
2020-01-23
Description: "The International Court of Justice, the world's highest court, has ordered Myanmar's government to prevent it's military from committing acts of genocide against the Rohingya. The ICJ has also warned that the Rohingya Muslim minority remain at serious risk of genocide and ordered the country to abide by the genocide convention, and take all measures within its power to prevent further killings. The case brought by The Gambia last year accuses Myanmar of committing an ongoing genocide against its minority Muslim Rohingya population. Myanmar denies the allegations. Thursday's ruling comes just days after an inquiry backed by Myanmar's government dismissed allegations of genocide. Myanmar's leader Suu Kyi says the Rohingya have 'exaggerated' abuses. So what does this ruling mean and will Myanmar abide by the orders? ..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: "Chi Suwichan is an actor and composer, known for Songs from the Karen Forest (2012)..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-06
Type: Individual Documents
Category: Karen Music
Language: Sgaw Karen
more
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI) ( Netherlands)
2019-12-18
Description: "Rakhine State, historically known as Arakan, represents the post-colonial failures of Myanmar in microcosm: ethnic conflict, political impasse, militarisation, economic neglect and the marginalisation of local peoples. During the past decade, many of these challenges have gathered a new intensity, accentuating a Buddhist-Muslim divide and resulting in one of the greatest refugee crises in the modern world. A land of undoubted human and natural resource potential, Rakhine State has become one of the poorest territories in the country today. The current crisis is often characterised as a “Buddhist Rakhine” versus “Muslim Rohingya” struggle for political rights and ethnic identity. But the challenges of achieving democracy, equality and the right of self-determination have always been more complex and nuanced than this. Arakan’s vibrant history reflects its frontline position on a cultural and geo-political crossroads in Asia. Taking a narrative approach, this report seeks to analyse the challenges facing Rakhine State and its peoples during a critical time of transition from military rule. As always in Myanmar, a balanced understanding of local societies and perspectives is essential in a territory that reflects different ethnic, religious and political viewpoints. In the case of Rakhine State, the social and political challenges facing the peoples have been little documented or understood. Decades of civil war and international isolation have resulted in a dearth of reporting on the ethnic conflicts and governmental failures that have had a devastating impact on the ground. Equally resonant, the instabilities in Arakan cannot be separated from the challenges of peace and inclusion for all peoples and faiths in the sub-Asian region..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 7.9 MB 5.54 MB
more
Source/publisher: "Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series"
2017-00-00
Description: "Despite hundreds of “Rule of Law” projects at the World Bank and a host of research into the foundations and content of the Rule of Law, we are still nowhere near an altogether satisfactory definition. While the Rule of Law is repeatedly being referred to in ‘legal assistance’ and ‘law reform’ projects and lives as a guiding principle in constitutions around the world, we don’t seem able to settle on a commonly agreedupon approach to its nature and institutional form. In this context, the Rule of Law provides an opportunity to engage critically with the differences in perception and bias from which participants in the debate define and situate the principle and its underlying values. This short paper argues for a legal pluralist understanding of the Rule of Law as a set of selective institutional experiences and normative contentions which look very different when studied across time and space. Complementing some of the work that has been done in post-colonial studies and by TWAIL (Third World Approaches to International Law) scholars in law, the ‘transnationalization of the rule of law’ might be one of the important next frontiers in deconstructing Western and Northern narratives of legal ordering... Rule of Law, Legal Pluralism, Post-colonialism, World Bank, Orientalism, Legal Transplants, Empire..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-14
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 317.69 KB (26 pages)
more
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
2019-12-12
Description: "Two years ago, Myanmar's military launched its crackdown on the Rohingya after attacks on its soldiers by members of the mainly Muslim minority. The UN described what happened next as a 'textbook example of ethnic cleansing'. The army was accused of rape, torture and murder, and villages were burned to the ground. Almost three-quarters of a million Rohingya were forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they live in the world's biggest refugee camp. The Gambia wanted Myanmar's military tried for genocide, and went to the International Court of Justice in the Hague. But Aung San Suu Kyi, Head of Myanmar's government, and a Nobel peace laureate, dismissed the case as "misleading and incomplete." Why is this one-time champion of human rights defending the army that kept her under house arrest for years?..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-14
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: UNited Nations (New York)
2017-10-24
Description: "United Nations - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and the world’s highest international court. It has a dual role: to settle in accordance with international law the legal disputes submitted to it by UN Member States, and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized international organs and agencies of the UN system. This short film (available in over 50 languages) presents its main features. Use of this file is free for non-profit and educational/editorial purposes. The ICJ encourages its use, reproduction and distribution for the same purposes. Sale or commercial use strictly prohibited..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-13
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: "Gambiana News" (UK)
2019-12-10
Description: "The International Court of Justice (ICJ) begins hearing on the Gambia’s Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar today in The Hague. The three day hearings will include the first response by Myanmar to allegations of atrocities against the Rohingya before an independent and impartial court. The Gambia, with the backing of the 57 members of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, filed a case on November 11, with the court alleging that the Myanmar military’s atrocities in Rakhine State against Rohingya Muslims violate the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-13
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: Eye Africa TV
2019-12-12
Description: "Gambia maintains position that Myanmar committed gross human right violations.."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-13
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: "Global News" (Toronto)
2019-12-11
Description: "Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the case brought against her country at the World Court was "incomplete and misleading" as she began her defence to accusations of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority on Wednesday. Suu Kyi, once feted in the West as a heroine of democracy, spoke for about 30 minutes at the courtroom in The Hague in defence of the actions of the Myanmar military, which she said did not constitute genocide. In three days of hearings this week, judges are hearing the first phase of the case: Gambia's request for "provisional measures" - the equivalent of a restraining order against Myanmar to protect the Rohingya population until the case is heard in full. More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh after the military launched a crackdown in western Rakhine state in August 2017..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-13
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: International Court of Justice (ICJ) (The Hague)
2019-09-30
Sub-title: The ICJ today published a “Strategic Litigation Handbook for Myanmar.” In this, the ICJ seeks to offer an accessible, concise and substantial overview of the conceptual basis and purpose of strategic litigation.
Description: "The Handbook shows the potential impacts of strategic litigation in Myanmar, by drawing on experiences from Myanmar and other countries, while recognizing the related challenges and opportunities, as expressed by legal professionals and civil society actors. It is intended to be useful to all legal practitioners and community activists in Myanmar. While there is no universal definition or conception of ‘strategic litigation,’ the term is typically used to describe litigation whereby the interests may go beyond those of the primary litigants. The various adjudication processes it entails are sometimes referred to as ‘public interest litigation’, ‘impact litigation’, ‘test case litigation’, or ‘community lawyering’. What they all have in common is the idea that courts and the law can be used as part of a campaign to achieve broader change in relation to matters seen to be in the broader public interest...ကမ္ဘာ့ဒေသအားလုံးမှ အထင်ကရတရားသူကြီးနှင့် ရှေ့နေပေါင်းအယောက် ၆ဝ ဖြင့်ဖွဲ့စည်းထားသော အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ ဥပဒေပညာရှင်များကော်မရှင် (International Commission of Jurists – ICJ)သည် ပြည်တွင်းနှင့်အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ တရားရေးစနစ်များဖွံဖြိုးတိုးတက်ပြီး ပိုမိုအားကောင်းလာစေရန် ၎င်း၏ဥပဒေဆိုင်ရာကျွမ်းကျင်မှုကို အသုံးချ၍ တရား ဥပဒေစိုးမိုးမှုမှတစ်ဆင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကို ကာကွယ်မြှင့်တင်ပေးပါသည်။ ၁၉၅၂ ခုနှစ်တွင် တည်ထောင်ခဲ့ပြီး ကမ္ဘာ့တိုက် ကြီးငါးခုတွင် လုပ်ကိုင်ဆောင်ရွက်နေသော ICJ သည် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာလူ့အခွင့်အရေးဥပဒေများနှင့် အပြည်ပြည် ဆိုင်ရာ လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုဆိုင်ရာဥပဒေများ တိုးတက်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးလာစေရန်နှင့် ထိရောက်စွာ အကောင်အထည် ဖော်မှုရှိစေရန်၊ နိုင်ငံသားဆိုင်ရာ၊ ယဉ်ကျေးမှုဆိုင်ရာ၊ စီးပွားရေးဆိုင်ရာနှင့် လူမှုရေးဆိုင်ရာ အခွင့်အရေးများရရှိစေရန်၊ လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အာဏာခွဲခြားသတ်မှတ်ချက်ကိုကာကွယ်ရန်၊ တရားစီရင်ရေးနှင့် ဥပဒေဆိုင်ရာလွတ်လပ်မှုကို အာမခံချက် ပေးနိုင်ရန် ရည်ရွယ်ပါသည်။ အခြားသောပုဂ္ဂိုလ်များအပြင် ဥပဒေပညာရှင်များနှင့် အရပ်ဘက်လူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းမှ တက်ကြွလှုပ်ရှားသူများနှင့် ဆွေးနွေး မှုများကြောင့်လည်း ဤလက်စွဲစာအုပ်အတွက် အဖိုးတန်သော အချက်အလက်များကို ရရှိခဲ့ပါသည်။..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-12
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 1.23 MB (46 pages)
more
Source/publisher: International Court of Justice (ICJ) (The Hague)
2019-09-30
Sub-title: The ICJ today published a “Strategic Litigation Handbook for Myanmar.” In this, the ICJ seeks to offer an accessible, concise and substantial overview of the conceptual basis and purpose of strategic litigation.
Description: "The Handbook shows the potential impacts of strategic litigation in Myanmar, by drawing on experiences from Myanmar and other countries, while recognizing the related challenges and opportunities, as expressed by legal professionals and civil society actors. It is intended to be useful to all legal practitioners and community activists in Myanmar. While there is no universal definition or conception of ‘strategic litigation,’ the term is typically used to describe litigation whereby the interests may go beyond those of the primary litigants. The various adjudication processes it entails are sometimes referred to as ‘public interest litigation’, ‘impact litigation’, ‘test case litigation’, or ‘community lawyering’. What they all have in common is the idea that courts and the law can be used as part of a campaign to achieve broader change in relation to matters seen to be in the broader public interest. ICJ publishes “Strategic Litigation Handbook for Myanmar” SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 The ICJ today published a “Strategic Litigation Handbook for Myanmar.” In this, the ICJ seeks to offer an accessible, concise and substantial overview of the conceptual basis and purpose of strategic litigation. The Handbook shows the potential impacts of strategic litigation in Myanmar, by drawing on experiences from Myanmar and other countries, while recognizing the related challenges and opportunities, as expressed by legal professionals and civil society actors. It is intended to be useful to all legal practitioners and community activists in Myanmar. While there is no universal definition or conception of ‘strategic litigation,’ the term is typically used to describe litigation whereby the interests may go beyond those of the primary litigants. The various adjudication processes it entails are sometimes referred to as ‘public interest litigation’, ‘impact litigation’, ‘test case litigation’, or ‘community lawyering’. What they all have in common is the idea that courts and the law can be used as part of a campaign to achieve broader change in relation to matters seen to be in the broader public interest. Part one of the Handbook explores core aspects of strategic litigation, including its origins, key concepts, potential impacts, challenges and forums. In part two, areas of law are identified which offer potential options for strategic litigation actions, including procedures, legislation and constitutional writs. Practical steps for the planning and application of strategic litigation, such as media strategy and case selection, are outlined in part three. Finally, part four of the Handbook discusses related challenges in the Myanmar context, including a discussion of requisite reforms required in the justice sector more broadly.."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-12
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 514.91 KB (34 pages)
more
Source/publisher: Myanmar State Counsellor Office (Myanmar)
2019-12-11
Description: "1. Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Court. It is an honour to appear as Agent of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar in these proceedings, in my capacity as Union Minister for Foreign Affairs. For materially less resourceful countries like Myanmar, the World Court is a vital refuge of international justice. We look to the Court to establish conditions conducive to respect for obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law, one of the fundamental objectives of the United Nations Charter. 2. In the present case, Mr. President, the Court has been asked to apply the 1948 Genocide Convention, one of the most fundamental multilateral treaties of our time. Invoking the 1948 Genocide Convention is a matter of utmost gravity. This is the treaty that we made following the systematic killing of more than six million European Jews, and that my country whole-heartedly signed as early as 30 December 1949 and ratified on 14 March 1956. Genocide is the crime that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda applied in response to the mass-killing of perhaps 70% of the Tutsis in Rwanda. It is the crime that was not applied by the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to the displacement of approximately one million residents of Kosovo in 1999. Neither was it applied by that Tribunal nor by this Court when deciding upon the exodus of the Serb population from Croatia in 1995. In both situations international justice resisted the temptation to use this strongest of legal classifications because the requisite specific intent to physically destroy the targeted group in whole or in part was not present. 3. Regrettably, The Gambia has placed before the Court an incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar. Yet, it is of the utmost importance that the Court assess the situation obtaining on the ground in Rakhine dispassionately and accurately..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-12
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 153.4 KB (6 pages)
more
Source/publisher: YouTube
2019-12-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-12
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: One News (Myanmar)
2019-12-10
Description: "နယ်သာလန်နိုင်ငံက ICJ တရားရုံးအထိ ကိုယ်တိုင်သွားပြီး နိုင်ငံ့ကိုယ်စား ဦးဆောင်ရင်ဆိုင်ရဲတဲ့ ဒေါ်အောင် ဆန်းစုကြည်ရဲ့လုပ်ရပ်ကို ကြိဆိုထောက်ခံတယ်လို့ ဝါရင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးလှုပ်ရှားသူ Equality Myanmar ရဲ့ အမှုဆောင်ဒါရိုက်တာ ဦးအောင်မျိုးမင်းကပြောပါတယ်။ One News က ဦးထက်အောင်ကျော်နဲ့ သီးသန့် မေးမြန်းခန်းအတွင်း သူက အဲဒီလိုပြောခဲ့တာပါ။ အခု ထုတ်လွှင့်ပေးမယ့် မေးမြန်းချက် ပထမ ပိုင်းမှာတော့… ICJ နဲ့ ICC ဘာကွာသလဲ၊ ICC က စွပ်စွဲစဉ်က ဘာမှမတုန့်ပြန်ဘဲ ICJ ပြောမှ နိုင်ငံတော်အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ်ကိုယ်တိုင် သွားရောက်ဖြေရှင်းတာ ဘာကြောင့်လဲ၊ တရားရုံးရဲ့ ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်က ဘာဖြစ်နိုင်သလဲ၊ လူထုထောက်ခံပွဲတွေက ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်ကို ထောက်ခံ တာအပြင် ရခိုင်အရေးဖြစ်စဉ်တွေအပေါ်ပါ ကရက်ရိုက်မှုရှိလာနိုင်သလား… စတဲ့အကြောင်းအရာတွေကို ဆွေးနွေးတင်ပြထားပါတယ်။..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-10
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Font: Unicode
more
Source/publisher: "FORSEA Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia"
2019-08-29
Description: "Speaking at the first day of the International Conference on Protection of Rohingya Survivors and Accountability for Genocide, professor and UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee delivered an inspirational opening keynote, calling Myanmar’s policies of persecution towards Rohingyas a classic genocide while exhorting activists in the audience – and on YouTube – to “call a spade a spade”. She invoked the inter-state treaty known as the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Lee rightly slammed the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, to discharge its founding charter, exposed the unconscionable presence of Myanmar solders among the UN Peacekeepers and destroyed the credibility of the United Nations. The two-day International Conference was at at Sogang University in Seoul, S. Korea, August 23-24, 2019..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-09
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: Just Have a Think
2019-09-01
Description: "Carbon Dioxide levels in our atmosphere continue to climb, as does our global atmospheric temperature. Despite greater awareness of the issues, and huge strides forward by the renewable energy industry, we are not having any effect on the overall problem. But some people think we're looking in the wrong place for the solution and that all we need to do is take some lessons from the way nature has always used it's resources to regulate heat across our blue planet..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: KIC (Karen Information Center)
2019-11-12
Description: "The Karen National Union said the effectiveness and the usefulness of foreign funding has been nullified by need for ethnic armed organizations to seek permission from the government. The National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC), formed by the President’s Office to set policies and guidelines for reconciliation and peace process taking place, sent an official letter to 10 ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) who are signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on September 3, 2019, informing them of the procedure..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-02
Type: Individual Documents
more
Source/publisher: Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN)
2019-04-08
Description: "On this day, the 5th of April 2019, we the indigenous Karen communities of the Salween Peace Park gather to mark a moment of sorrow, and one of hope. Today marks the formal establishment of the Salween Peace Park General Assembly, with the swearing in of its 106 members who represent communities from the Park’s 26 village tracts, Mutraw District Karen National Union, and Karen civil society..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-02
Type: Individual Documents
Language: Sgaw Karen, English, Burmese(မြန်မာ)
more
Source/publisher: Karen News
2019-11-04
Description: "Thoo Mwe Khee School, a popular migrant school on the Thai-Burma border, is having difficulties coping with almost 1,000 student’s packed classrooms and an overcrowded boarding house. “We would like to limit the number of students we admit to the school. But it’s hard to reject students who want to come here to study. If we reject their admission, it will be difficult for them, as they will have to find another school. We take into consideration the students’ opportunities, enthusiasm and their wishes to study at our school in admitting them...”
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-18
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: Karen News
2019-11-08
Sub-title: Karen women’s groups called for more women to be involved in Burma’s federal political and Karen National Union elections.
Description: “The calls we made are important and need to be carefully taken into consideration. Our view is that a collective call is more effective than an individual one. Some of the points we made have already been communicated to the KNU, ethnic armed groups and the government. We have made these calls repeatedly so, we hope that the relevant government notices and implements them...”
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-18
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: Karen News
2019-11-13
Sub-title: Communities in rural Karen State don’t refer to climate change by name, but they have experienced its negative impacts and are responding
Description: "At the foot of Maw Law Ei Mountain, the highest peak in eastern Myanmar’s Karen State, increasing temperatures, drought and extreme weather events, such as flash-flooding, have become common. Members of the indigenous groups that make up the majority of the population here, talk about the significant changes they’ve seen in both the natural environment and the climate. “In the past, it was cooler because we had many big trees,” said Kyaw Blar, a villager from Ta Deh Koh village, one of the villages at the foot of Maw Law Ei mountain (pronounced Mulayit). “It’s all plain area now… it is hotter now...”
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-18
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: MSNBC
2019-04-01
Description: "Watch the full "Green New Deal with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" on All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc MSNBC delivers breaking news and in-depth analysis of the headlines, as well as informed perspectives. Find video clips and segments from The Rachel Maddow Show, Morning Joe, Hardball, All In, Last Word, 11th Hour, and more..."
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-17
Type: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Source/publisher: Google Search
2019-10-30
Description: About 38,900 results (0.31 seconds)
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-30
Type: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more

Pages