Shan State

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Title: Google search results for Shan conflict
Description: About 12,300,000 results (January 2018)
Source/publisher: www via Google
Date of entry/update: 2018-01-02
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English +?
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Title: Internal conflict in Myanmar
Description: "The internal conflict in Myanmar refers to a series of ongoing insurgencies within Myanmar that began shortly after the country, then known as Burma, became independent from the United Kingdom in 1948. The conflict has been labeled as the world?s longest running civil war....."Main fronts: Kachin State... Kayah State... Kayin State... Rakhine State... Shan State..."
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2018-01-02
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Title: Shan Profile
Description: "Most ethnic Shan live in the Shan State, though there are also pockets in other parts of Burma such as in Kachin State. Most of them are Theravada Buddhists, with some elements of animist practices, and speak a language which is part of the Tai-Kadai language family, and closely related to Thai and Lao. As there are no reliable population figures for Burma since the Second World War, the size of the Shan minority is a matter of some uncertainty, though most outside sources appear to agree that the Shan are probably the country?s largest minority (Ethnologue [www.ethnologue.com] estimates 3.2 million in 2001; the US State Department gave an estimate of over 4 million in 2007). The term Shan itself is however problematic, at least as it is used by Burma authorities, since they include under this term 33 ethnic groups that are in fact quite distinct and to a large degree unrelated except for close geographic proximity..."
Source/publisher: Minority Rights Group
Date of entry/update: 2014-08-21
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Category: Shan State
Language: English
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Title: New Clashes Between Myanmar’s Military and Ethnic Armies Exacerbates Refugee Crisis
Sub-title: Fighting in recent weeks has displaced some 45,000 civilians in Chin and Kachin states.
Description: "At least 10 military junta troops were killed and around 20 critically wounded in five clashes over the last two days in Myanmar’s Chin state, militia groups said Thursday, while tens of thousands of civilians have fled and are living in dire conditions as fighting has intensified in the region. Four of the engagements took place in Chin’s Hakha township, killing and injuring regime soldiers, a Hakha-based Chin-land Defense Force (CDF) spokesman told RFA’s Myanmar Service. The first occurred when CDF forces entered Lot Klone village on May 18 and were fired on by the junta troops, while the second took place the following morning, when a CDF unit ambushed soldiers on Matupi Road, killing seven, he said. “This morning [Thursday] we heard from sources close to the area that more than 10 troops were killed and more than 20 injured,” the spokesman said. Additionally, the CDF reported, a clash took place at a security checkpoint near Hakha University on May 18 and another near the intersection of Hakha Thar 6 and Hakha-Gangaw Roads the same day. On the evening of May 19, the military set fire to more than 30 motorbikes owned by Hakha CDF members, the group said, although no casualties were suffered. In Chin’s nearby Mindat township, the Mindat People’s Administration (MPA) militia said it engaged with regime troops on May 19 between mile markers 40 and 50 on Mindat-Matupi Road, killing three junta soldiers, including a sergeant. As of Thursday, the military had yet to confirm details of any of the clashes in Chin state, where soldiers are battling volunteer militias wielding mostly home-made weapons more than three months after it overthrew the country’s elected government in a Feb. 1 coup and reinstated junta rule. Za Op Ling, deputy executive director of the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), told RFA that more than 35,000 civilians from Chin state have fled their homes since the attack on Lot Klone village—15,000 of whom have crossed Myanmar’s border into India’s Mizoram state. “Whenever there is a clash, the soldiers later search every house and make arrests,” he said. “Their main target is young people, so all the youths have fled to nearby villages. Some escaped to the Indian border. All this happened mostly in Mindat and at least 8,000 people have fled from the township alone.” Za Op Ling said that local authorities in Mizoram state have asked India’s central government to provide assistance to the refugees from Myanmar. A resident of Mindat confirmed that the township is nearly deserted after the military “opened fire with heavy artillery,” killing several residents. “In this kind of situation, it isn’t possible for people to live in the town. It’s not safe to stay at home at all,” she said. “People just fled to nearby forests or villages. The young people from our village have helped some of the refugees. Now there are only some elderly people left in the town, most of whom are trapped.” Around 3,000 people taking shelter in four villages in Mindat township are currently facing food shortages due to logistical difficulties and with water and power cut off, according to a local aid worker. A member of the Mindat CDF, which is helping the refugees, said the group plans to ask the United Nations refugee agency for help in distributing food and other necessities. A spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General said in a statement on Tuesday that that the UN Office for Human Rights is investigating reports of arbitrary detentions, including the killing of six people in Mindat over the weekend. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 797 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by security forces since the latest military coup, while more than a thousand civilians have been injured. The fighting in Mindat over the weekend prompted Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) on Thursday to condemn the military’s blocking of humanitarian and medical aid and access to clean water. “The reports out of Mindat … expose the horrifying reality of ongoing violence against tens of thousands of civilians in Mindat by the Myanmar military,” the group said. “These actions further echo the unconscionable actions and severe breaches of international human rights law perpetrated by the Tatmadaw since the group seized power in a February 1 coup d’etat,” it said, using the Burmese name for the military. “Physicians for Human Rights is appalled by the Myanmar military’s unlawful implementation of martial law in Mindat, who has pushed civilians into Mindat’s surrounding jungles to escape detention, and the reported obstruction in access to clean drinking water.” The group noted that the fighting has left women and children in Mindat vulnerable to tactics of war it said the military regularly employs, including sexual and gender-based violence.....Kachin state refugees: In Kachin state, where junta troops have also been fighting the veteran ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since clashes broke out between the two sides on April 10, residents told RFA that the military has launched more than 30 airstrikes in the area over the past 40 days. The two sides have engaged in some 90 engagements in Kachin state’s Momauk township alone, prompting more than 10,000 people to flee from 20 villages. More than 3,000 have arrived in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), while the remainder are in hiding in forests near their homes, hoping to remain able to harvest their crops. A woman refugee from Momauk’s Sihak village told RFA her family had lost nearly everything in the fighting. “The three or four houses in front of ours were razed to the ground during the clashes,” she said. “The owners have nowhere to live and have fled.” A resident of Momauk’s Kone Law village said that clashes intensified just as farmers were preparing to harvest peanuts, and many crops were damaged. “We should have been harvesting then, but now, the harvest time has passed, and the ground has become very hard,” he said. “It’s very difficult to pull out the plants. We had to hire more people, but we still can’t get it done because the soil has hardened. There are a lot of people who dare not go to the fields because the soldiers are too close.” Civil society groups are attempting to provide food, shelter and medicine to Momauk, but refugees told RFA that the military is blocking them from doing so and confiscating the goods. Residents also complained that soldiers regularly plant landmines in area fields that kill essential cattle, but then demand compensation from farmers for “destroying their weapons.” A civil society worker who is assisting refugees in Momauk told RFA there are still not enough camps for those who have fled the fighting. “Even monasteries that used to take in refugees are full, so many people lack shelter because there is no place for them to live,” he said. “We are now trying to find ways to set up a new camp in a convenient location with the help of U.N. agencies, but it is difficult because of the rising number of refugees.” While the most intense fighting between the military and KIA has taken place in Momauk, clashes have also occurred in several other townships in Kachin state, including Laiza, Hpakant, Mohnyin, Mogaung, Tanaing, Bhamo, Putao, Mansi and Myitkyina.....Inter-ethnic conflicts: In addition to clashes with the military regime, Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armies have continued to fight amongst themselves in the pursuit of new territory, further exacerbating the country’s refugee crisis. Clashes between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the combined forces of the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N) and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) broke out near Manli village in northern Shan state’s Namtu township in April. More than 2,000 residents of Namtu’s Panlong, Chaungsa and Manli villages, have since fled to the nearby town centers of Hsipaw and Namtu. Additionally, clashes between the SSPP/SSA-N and RCSS on May 19 prompted another 1,000 villagers to flee Hsipaw’s Wan Sein village, bring the total number of IDPs in the area to around 3,000. The SSPP/SSA-N and TNLA have called on the RCSS to withdraw their troops back to their home base in southern Shan state to ease fighting in the northern part of the region. Fighting between the RCSS and the TNLA intensified between 2015 and the end of 2017 in northern Shan state and in April 2018, the TNLA began joint operations with the SSPP/SSA-N in Namtu township. According to the SSPP/SSA-N, talks between the two Shan ethnic armies have yielded little progress..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Australian-led mining company pushes ahead with large-scale gold exploration in eastern Shan State amidst military atrocities
Description: "On March 8, 2021, one of the bloodiest days of the military regime’s crackdown on nationwide anti-coup protests, staff of Australian-led Access Resources Asia (ARA) met with local officials in Mong Phyak, eastern Shan State, to push ahead with large-scale gold exploration. ARA’s initial exploration site covers 574 square kilometers, out of its total 1,800 sq. km. concession area in eastern Shan State. This giant gold mining venture is strongly opposed by local communities, due to the devastating environmental and social impacts of existing gold excavation in eastern Shan State, which has gutted mountains and poisoned farmlands and water sources over a wide area, particularly in Tachileik township. In 2017 and 2018, Mong Phyak residents sent petitions to the NLD government to stop the ARA project, but to no avail. On November 26, 2020, ARA was granted a 3-year exploration permit in Mong Phyak by Burma’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. On January 6, 2021, ARA staff visited Mong Phyak to meet with local officials regarding the opening of a branch office. On January 24, 2021, Mong Phyak locals, including community leaders from 13 village tracts and 3 town wards, wrote a petition to the President and State Counsellor to stop the project signed by 3,883 people. ARA ignored this petition, and is now openly partnering with the new coup regime in pushing through its investment. Long before the coup, SHRF had called for Access Asia Mining Pte Ltd (the Singapore-based parent company of ARA) to end its exploration plans in Eastern Shan State, citing community opposition, the ongoing conflict and heavy Burma Army militarization. In April 2018, SHRF documented the rape and robbery of a 73-year-old woman by a Burma Army soldier in Mong Phyak, and urged Access Asia Mining (AAM) to stop planned mining exploration in the area or risk complicity in the military’s atrocities. In response to SHRF’s concerns, AAM sent a letter on May 14, 2018, to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, stating it had “never engaged with the Tatmadaw to solicit their support or to request security. We state this categorically and unequivocally. AAM has always found the areas of Myanmar that we operate in safe and secure with a welcoming people. We have never felt the need for security and indeed, as stated above, as we have no operations or permanent presence in Shan State there is nothing to be protected.” It is clear that ARA/AAM does indeed now have “operations” in Shan State, and, particularly following the February 1 coup, ARA/AAM is now undeniably partnering with the military authorities in implementing these operations. ARA/AAM is therefore directly complicit in the security forces’ atrocities against unarmed protesters across the country, as well as ongoing atrocities against villagers in ethnic conflict areas. Although registered in Singapore, the management of Access Asia Mining is comprised of Australian nationals, self-advertised as “principals behind several major Australian engineering firms,” who must realize the risks now far outweigh any potential benefits of staying in Burma. SHRF reiterates our call for Access Resources Asia/Access Asia Mining to immediately end their investments in Burma. SHRF urges foreign companies not to invest in Burma until there is peace and a new federal democratic constitution, enabling local communities to protect their lands and resources from predatory exploitation..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of publication: 2021-04-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Burma Army forces ethnic villagers in eastern Shan State to hold pro-coup rallies
Description: "On February 19 and 23, 2021, the Burma Army forced several thousand ethnic villagers in four townships of eastern Shan State to hold demonstrations in support of the February 1 coup. On February 19, rallies were held in Mong Hsat, Mong Ton, and Mong Phyak townships, where Lahu, Akha and Shan villagers were forced to march in the streets holding Burmese national flags and pictures of General Min Aung Hlaing, and shout pro-Burma Army slogans including, “National stability and peace -- our cause!” and “Expose electoral fraud!” They were also forced to shout “Preserve our national religion and race!” – the slogan of Burmese Buddhist nationalists -- despite their ethnicity, and despite many of the Lahu and Akha villagers being Christian. The Burma Army organised the rallies through their local militia allies in each of the townships. The militia ordered villagers in their areas to gather in the towns at 9 am on February 19. In Mong Hsat, one member of each household in about 20 militia-controlled villages around the town were ordered to join the rally. They were told that if they did not join, they would not be allowed to stay in their villages. Residents of Mong Hsat town were forbidden from coming out into the street during the rally, and were told they would be arrested if they did. About 2,000 villagers joined the rally in Mong Hsat, and were given 2,500-3,000 kyat each. Lunch was also provided. The rally began with a speech by a Lahu member of the Burma Army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who said that those who did not support the Burma Army coup were traitors to their country. In Mong Ton, a militia leader in Na Kong Mu ordered villagers to join the rally. Some received 5,000 kyat for joining, and some 20,000 kyat. In a video of the Mong Ton rally released on social media, villagers can be heard telling each other: “Shout loudly!” “If you don’t shout, you will get arrested!” “You’re not here to walk, you’re here to shout!” In Mong Phyak, a militia leader in Mong Yoom organised about 100 Lahu and Akha to join the rally. Those who joined received 6,000 kyat. On February 23, an USDP member organized a pro-coup rally in Mong Khark, north of Kengtung, telling local Shan, Akha and Lahu villagers that anyone participating in the rally would receive 5,000 kyat. About 50 villagers from Mong Ka joined. They said they were not told that the rally was to support the Burma Army, and regretted joining. Eastern Shan State is heavily militarized by the Burma Army. Military Operations Command 14 is based in Mong Hsat, and Military Operations Command 18 at Mong Phyak, each comprising 10 battalions. All are under the Triangle Region Command in Kengtung, where large-scale people’s protests have been taking place against the military coup..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of publication: 2021-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Forced labour, use of human shields, looting by Burma Army during operation against RCSS/SSA in Namzarng, southern Shan State
Description: "During the last week of April 2021, Burma Army troops and their militia allies used villagers as forced laborers and human shields, and looted property, during a multi-pronged operation against the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) in Namzarng, southern Shan State. On April 21, the Burma Army’s Eastern Central Regional Commander, Major-General Kyaw Kyaw Naing, summoned leaders of four of their militia allies to a meeting in Namzarng town, and ordered them to help crack down on the Civil Disobedience Movement and clear out RCSS/SSA troops from around Kengtawng, southern Shan State. Each militia group was ordered to provide 100 men each. The militia groups were the Mak Keng militia, Na Yai militia, SSS militia, and Kali militia, which all operate in southern Shan State. About 500 Burma Army troops were then deployed from north, south and west towards the Nam Teng river valley in southeast Namzarng township, adjoining Kengtawng. On April 22, around 7-8 am, Burma Army troops from Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 332 and 575 based in Mong Pan clashed with RCSS/SSA troops north of Mong Nai, around Na Khan and Kawng Yao villages. On the same day, Burma Army troops from Namzarng clashed with RCSS/SSA troops near Loi Ngern village, about 20 kilometers east of Namzarng town. On April 23, at 3:10 pm, over 100 Burma Army troops from LIB 574 and LIB 576, based in Kengtawng, together with militia members, arrived in the village of Pha Sawn, about 25 kilometers south of Kho Lam on the Nam Teng river, and forced seven male villagers to carry water for them in two small trucks to the road intersection east of the village. At 3:30 pm, these Burma Army troops ordered all the villagers in Pha Sawn to gather at the local temple. There are 80 houses in Pha Sawn, with about 300 villagers. The Burma Army troops then divided into two groups; one went to search in the village and the other stayed guarding the villagers at the temple. At 5 pm, some Burma Army troops patrolling in the jungle ran into RCSS/SSA troops and fighting broke out near Pha Sawn village. At about 6 pm, during the fighting, the Burma Army troops at Pha Sawn temple arrested six male villagers from the temple and tied them up outside the temple. At 7: 30 pm, the Burma Army and militia troops in Pha Sawn looted property from six villagers’ houses. Due to the fighting and Burma Army abuses, some inhabitants of villages around Pha Sawn fled to take shelter in nearby towns. On April 24, at 4:30 pm, some Pha Sawn elders appealed to the Burma Army troops to release the six villagers who had been arrested from Pha Sawn temple. The troops untied them, but did not release them. On April 24, another group of Burma Army soldiers forced two men from Seven Mile village, 10 kilometers south of Kho Lam, to guide them south to Na Law village on the Nam Teng river. The two villagers were released at 7:30 pm. On April 25, at 11 am, the Burma Army and militia troops at Pha Sawn split up into two groups: one group went south, and the other group went to the northeast of Pha Sawn village. The six Pha Sawn villagers arrested by the Burma Army were taken south, and made to walk with the troops as human shields for about five kilometers until they reached the village of Wan Khai, beside the Nam Teng river. After spending the night at Wan Khai, the troops released the six Pha Sawn villagers, and allowed them to return home. On April 28, the villagers around Pha Sawn who had fled to take shelter in town returned to their homes. On March 30, the Burma Army warned the Thai authorities they would start attacking the RCSS/SSA camps along the southern Shan State-Thai border, because the RCSS/SSA was siding with the anti-coup protest movement. The Burma Army fired shells at these camps on April 18, 19 and 21, striking fear among the over 6,000 IDPs sheltering in these areas..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of publication: 2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: France’s Razel-Bec should follow EDF’s lead and end controversial dam project in Shan State
Description: "On March 19, 2021, France’s state-owned Electricite de France (EDF), revealed it was suspending development of the Shweli 3 dam project in northern Shan State, due to human rights concerns after the February 1 military coup. SHRF welcomes EDF’s decision, and urges the French engineering company Razel-Bec (part of the Fayat Group) to follow suit and immediately withdraw from the controversial Upper Yeywa dam project on the Myitnge/Namtu river in northern Shan State. Shan civil society groups are strongly opposed to the building of the Upper Yeywa dam, which was started by the military regime in 2008, without local consultation or consent. The reservoir of the 280 megawatt dam will stretch for 60 kilometers up to Hsipaw town, submerging centuries-old Shan communities and fertile farmlands. The dam-site lies in an active conflict zone, and Burma Army troops guarding the site have committed gross human rights violations against local villagers, including extrajudicial killing, torture and use of human shields. The Upper Yeywa dam is being financed by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. Shan community groups have repeatedly urged foreign companies involved in the dam to divest or risk complicity in the military’s human rights violations. After SHRF issued a report on July 9, 2020, “Extrajudicial killing, torture by Burma Army during operation against RCSS/SSA near Upper Yeywa dam site in Kyaukme,” the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, an international watchdog, wrote to all the companies involved, but only Swiss company Stucky replied, saying it was no longer involved in the project. The other companies, including IPGRB (Razel-Bec’s joint venture in Burma), did not reply. IPGRB is a joint venture between Razel-Bec and the International Power Group Public Company Ltd. (IPG). IPG is a subsidiary of International Group of Entrepreneurs (IGE), one of the leading business conglomerates in Burma, set up by the sons of former Burmese military general Aung Thaung, who was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in October 2014, for “undermining the positive political and economic transition in Burma,” and “perpetuating violence, oppression, and corruption.” IGE is the local partner of Chinese and Thai companies planning three giant dams on the Salween River in Shan and Karen State, strongly opposed by local communities (the Naung Pha, Mong Ton and Hatgyi dams). IPGRB appears to be the main foreign company now on the ground at the Upper Yeywa dam-site. The current Google satellite image of the site labels it as “IPGRB BASE CAMP.” Since the military coup on February 1, anti-coup protests have taken place in towns near the Upper Yeywa dam site, including Kyaukme and Hsipaw. On February 17, workers from the Upper Yeywa dam site joined the protests in Kyaukme, holding a banner saying “Upper Yeywa Hydropower Project Civil Disobedience Movement.” They were not seen joining any public protests after this date, but the sound of pot-banging in support of the CDM movement has been heard from the dam site in the evenings. Construction work at the dam site appears to have almost completely stopped. In the past few weeks, atrocities by the regime’s security forces have mounted, both against unarmed protesters in urban areas, and against villagers in conflict areas, who have been killed by aerial bombing. EDF cited its obligations to international human rights principles as the reason for suspending its dam project. This begs the question whether Razel-Bec adheres to the same principles. From the outset, Razel-Bec should never have cooperated with a military crony company to build a dam in war-torn Shan State against the wishes of local communities, and should never have ignored the gross human rights violations by security forces guarding its worksite. It is time now for Razel-Bec to stop siding with the murderous Burmese military regime, and to take a principled stand. We urge Razel-Bec to immediately pull out of the Upper Yeywa dam project..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of publication: 2021-04-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Nightmare of forced relocation begins again for villagers in Mong Pan, southern Shan State
Description: "On March 14, 2021, about 300 residents of Hsarm Lak village, Wo Lai village tract, Mong Pan township, Lang Khur district, southern Shan State were ordered to move out of their village by the Burma Army. The order was given by Military Operations Command (MOC) 17 in Mong Pan, under the control of the Eastern Central Command in Kholam. The villagers were told that they were illegally living on military territory. Hsarm Lak (also known as Kyawng Tham) is situated three miles east of Mong Pan town, along the main road leading to the Ta Hsang bridge over the Salween River. The entire southern half of the village, south of the road, comprising 45 houses, is being forced to move. 12 households are Burmese and the rest are Lisu. Hsarm Lak village was set up in 2001 by eight Lisu families who had been forcibly relocated by the Burma Army from their original homes in Loi Loam village, Wo Lai tract, and Kho Hak village, Tawng Gwai tract in Mong Pan during the Burma Army’s mass forced relocation campaign in central and southern Shan State during 1996-1998. At that time, the entire rural population of Mong Pan – about 10,000 people from 61 villages -- was forced from their homes into makeshift camps around the town, where nothing was provided for them. Those trying to return to their homes to forage for food were tortured and killed. In 1997 alone, SHRF documented extrajudicial killing of 37 villagers in Mong Pan, many of whom were beaten and tortured to death by Burma Army troops of LIB 331, 332 and 520. One old woman was burned alive in Wo Lai village. The Lisu villagers spent several years in the relocation sites. In 2001, they were still not allowed to return to their original villages, but were ordered by the Burma Army to set up a new village by the side of the main road at Hsarm Lak. This is now the third time the Lisu villagers are being forcibly relocated by the Burma Amy. The site to which they have been ordered to move is about ½ kilometer northeast of Hsarm Lak village, along the main road. They do not want to move there as the area is mountainous, with little available water, and the soil is poor. When the Hsarm Lak villagers were given the relocation order on March 14, they were pressured to sign a written agreement that they would move, since the land belonged to the military. However, only 14 households signed the agreement. 31 households, all Lisu, did not sign. On March 19, the Hsarm Lak villagers who had not signed were summoned to the MOC 17 base by Lieutenant General Myo Min Than, who pressured them again to sign, saying their village was on MOC 17 territory. He said his tenure at MOC 17 was five years. He had been there for two years already, and they had to move out before he left. The villagers still refused to sign. MOC 17, which comprises 10 battalions, was set up in Mong Pan in 2000. Mong Pan is a key strategic location for the Burma Army, lying along the main southern Shan State transport route which crosses the Salween River at Ta Sang, linking to Mong Ton in eastern Shan State. The MOC 17 base is strategically positioned on the hills east of Mong Pan town, overlooking the town and the main road. However, the base currently does not extend to the high hills behind Sarm Lak village. It appears that the relocation of Sarm Lak is linked to plans by MOC 17 is expand and fortify its base eastwards, to defend against potential attacks from that direction. Tension between the Burma Army and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), which operates in Mong Pan, has escalated sharply since the military coup on February 1. The Burma Army’s mass forced relocation campaign in 1996-1998, which uprooted over 300,000 villagers in eleven townships in Shan State, was aimed at cutting off support for the newly formed RCSS/SSA..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of publication: 2021-04-09
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: The hotel, the teen singer and the UWSA: eastern Shan’s COVID emergency
Sub-title: A coronavirus outbreak in Tachileik has shone a rare spotlight on border-based hotels, KTVs and casinos with links to powerful armed groups, whose open flouting of pandemic restrictions has put Myanmar and Thailand in danger.
Description: "On November 25, Ma Nang, 18, lost her sense of smell. Known as anosmia, it is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. In hotspots across Myanmar, thousands of people have reported losing their sense of smell, and many have later tested positive for the coronavirus. But Ma Nang was not in a COVID-19 hotspot, and had neither travelled to an area with COVID-19 cases nor seemingly been in contact with any infected people. The resident of Tachileik, in eastern Shan State on the border with Thailand’s Mae Sai, had been working as a KTV singer at 1G1-7 Hotel until November 16, when she quit her job. She travelled north to Kengtung for a few days with friends but fell ill after returning to her hometown. “I went to a fever clinic but I wasn’t worried – there were no cases in Tachileik,” Ma Nang said. “I was shocked when the test came back positive.” Until her positive test, Tachileik, which is sometimes referred to as the capital of the Golden Triangle – the notoriously lawless area where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet – had seemingly escaped Myanmar’s “second wave” of COVID-19. Since the first cases emerged in Rakhine State and Yangon in late August, the virus has gradually spread across most of the country. Eastern Shan State is one of the few exceptions: it has recorded the lowest number of cases outside Kayah State, which only registered its first patient in October. In the week before Ma Nang tested positive, several other cases had been detected in Tachileik but they had all been among people undergoing quarantine, with no evidence to suggest the virus had spread in the community. In response to her positive test, the Tachileik District COVID-19 Prevention and Rapid Response committee issued a notice on November 28 advising residents to stay at home, to adhere to a curfew and not to hold gatherings. Restaurants were told to only sell take-away, and anyone with COVID-19 symptoms was advised to immediately visit a fever clinic. Residents needed little warning; the streets would be mostly deserted for the next two weeks. “Of course, I’m worried about the virus,” said U San Shwe Myint, owner of Happy restaurant. “In the circumstances I decided it would be better to close my restaurant completely.” By mid-December the outbreak was mostly under control, with few new cases of community transmission. But the emergence of COVID-19 in eastern Shan State raises serious questions about the enforcement of prevention measures, including the closure of high-risk venues, monitoring of overland travellers and control of international borders..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2020-12-23
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-05
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Title: Myanmar military seizes large amount of arms, ammunition in fight with insurgents
Description: " Myanmar's armed forces have seized a large amount of arms and ammunition in Namsang township, northern Shan state, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services said on Sunday. The seizure was made during an encounter between a military column and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) near Homein village on Friday. As the TNLA withdrew after a brief fight, the military column conducted a detailed search and clearance in the area later on the day and found the large amount of arms and ammunition stored in three locations. The weapons confiscated include portable air defense system, hand grenades, TNLA uniforms, assault rifles, machine guns, mortar rounds and propellants, and explosives. TNLA is a non-signatory to the government's Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA)..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication: 2019-11-24
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: China’s Enduring Influence Over Wa State In Myanmar – Analysis
Description: "n the northern part of Myanmar next to the Chinese border, there lies a Wa state where the way of life resembles that across the border in China. The yuan has become the main currency, Chinese language is widely spoken, and mobile telephones are connected to Chinese networks. It is also where the United Wa State Party (UWSA), the largest non-state armed group in the country, is located. This April marked the 30th anniversary of an internal coup within the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) by the Wa, with a three-day military parade. During the parade, Bao Youxiang, the President of Wa, even vowed, “We will not hesitate to sacrifice our lives and achieve the goal of being an autonomous state.” This article will discuss the reasons behind such a phenomenon in Wa state, the way and the extent of China’s intervention, and also the challenges faced by the Myanmar government..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Eurasia Review"
Date of publication: 2019-11-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: More Than 2,000 People Displaced, 19 Killed in Myanmar Fighting
Description: "More than 2,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes, and 19 have been killed, since fighting broke out between government troops and ethnic minority insurgents in northern Myanmar last week, government officials said Wednesday. The escalation in hostilities in Myanmar’s fractured north is another setback for civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s bid to bring peace amid a stuttering transition from full military rule. The people displaced in the latest fighting are sheltering in monasteries around Lashio town in the north of Shan State, and are depending on aid groups and the government for their supplies, aid workers said. "We are providing basic rescue materials as well as cash to displaced people in the camps, the injured people and also to family members of those who got killed," Soe Naing, director of the Department of Disaster Management in Shan State, told Reuters..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: US News (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-08-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Arrests 17 Chinese Nationals, Including Five Posing as Police With Fake Guns
Description: "Myanmar authorities on Tuesday arrested 17 Chinese nationals posing as policemen and carrying fake guns in the Kokang region of northern Shan state, a police official said, raising questions as to whether they were involved in illegal activities targeting Chinese tourists in the border area. The Chinese citizens, believed to have entered Myanmar illegally, were apprehended in the Kokang capital Laukkai near the China-Myanmar border, said Zaw Khin Aung, chief of the Shan state police force. “Five of them have been charged with impersonating police officers,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “They even possessed police accessories like handcuffs.” “We got 17 of them in total,” he added. “We will check the status of the rest of them with immigration authorities.” Authorities found on them two uniforms, a bulletproof vest, two fake pistols made of fiber, and another fake gun that resembled an M22 pistol, Zaw Khin Aung said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-10-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Volunteer ambulance crews brave bullets to save lives
Topic: ambulance, Shan State, conflict, civil society, Northern Alliance, Tatmadaw, volunteers
Sub-title: Volunteers with community service ambulances in northern Shan State are taking big risks to help others in conflict zones – and sometimes pay with their lives.
Topic: ambulance, Shan State, conflict, civil society, Northern Alliance, Tatmadaw, volunteers
Description: "THE SMELL of the bodies permeates through the minivan as we make the 32-kilometre journey back to Lashio. In the back of the ambulance – a Toyota Super Custom minivan – are two yellow bags containing the bodies of U Win Maung, 61, and his wife, Daw Aye Mya, from Man Kaung village. The smell doesn’t seem to bother the volunteers from the Giving Hand aid group. As we pull out of Man Kaung, Ko Kaung Zaw, 22, slips down the surgical mask on his face and takes a long drink of Sprite from a bottle that had been resting beside the body bags. For most of the journey back to Lashio, Kaung Zaw, who has been volunteering with Giving Hand for about three years, scrolls through Facebook on his phone, paying little attention as the bodies slide around due to the winding road. But this was no ordinary emergency. Win Maung, a former member of the Tatmadaw, was the leader of the Mong Yan militia. The couple were killed when their home was bombarded with grenades and M79 grenade-launcher fire in an apparently targeted attack on the evening of August 20..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Embracing a slow time at Inle Lake
Topic: ecotourism, tourism, Inle Lake, hotels
Sub-title: In the final installment of our series about award-winning responsible tourism businesses, we meet Inle Princess Resort managing director Daw Yin Myo Su to discuss the industry slowdown and how the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Awards can serve as a platfor
Topic: ecotourism, tourism, Inle Lake, hotels
Description: "THERE IS much doom and gloom in Myanmar’s tourism industry. A sharp decline in higher-spending visitors from Western countries, who have spurned Myanmar as a destination because of the crisis in Rakhine State, has been offset by a huge increase in visitors from Asian countries, especially China. However, the number of tourists from China travelling on cheap package holidays known as zero budget tours has generated debate about sustainability and who benefits from tourism. Despite many challenges, veteran hotel entrepreneur and philanthropist Daw Yin Myo Su tries to see the positives. Her many years in the industry – back to when her family ran a small guesthouse in Nyaung Shwe during the socialist era – help to put the downturn since 2016 into perspective. After all, it’s not like Myanmar hasn’t been through similar troughs before. And even if the violence in Rakhine had not prompted a drop in Western arrivals, growth would likely have slowed from the breakneck pace of the U Thein Sein government, when Myanmar was flavour of the month and visitor arrivals were increasing by at least 50 percent a year..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of publication: 2019-10-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Life in Panghsang, a Chinese Enclave in Wa Region
Description: "Nestled in the hills of eastern Shan State near the China-Myanmar border, Panghsang is the capital of the Wa Region, a self-administered area approved by Myanmar’s Constitution. It is home to Myanmar’s largest and best-equipped ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), with an estimated 30,000 troops and 10,000 auxiliary members, according to Myanmar Peace Monitor. In April, the army celebrated the 30th anniversary of its foundation in Panghsang in grand scale, with columns of troops paraded in the city square. Founded in 1989, the UWSA signed a ceasefire with Myanmar’s then-military government—the State Law and Order Restoration Council—in the same year after splitting from the Communist Party of Burma. It also founded the United Wa State Party and the Wa State People’s Government while pressing the Union government to recognize their region as a state of Myanmar. Despite its location on the Myanmar side of the border, on a stroll around the town you could believe you’re in China. On the streets of Panghsang, most people communicate in Mandarin. Chinese characters, along with Myanmar and Wa translations are emblazoned on shopfronts. Yuan is the currency of choice here. For a good cell phone signal, you’d better connect with a Chinese network. Street signs are written in Myanmar and Chinese. Stores are stocked with goods imported from China..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication: 2019-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: No sign of lasting peace in Wa State
Sub-title: The far east of Myanmar is run by the country's largest rebel army which unilaterally declared it Wa State.
Description: "In Myanmar, it has been almost four years since a so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement was signed between ethnic rebel armies and the government. But there is still no sign of lasting peace. Some groups are refusing to sign the document, including what is regarded as East Asia’s largest non-state army, which runs an isolated state on the borders with China and Thailand. Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay takes a rare look at the secretive Wa State..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication: 2019-09-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: WFP Myanmar Country Brief, August 2019
Description: "Rakhine: New small internal displacements were reported during August due to the ongoing armed conflict. In northern Rakhine State, WFP’s emergency relief assistance continued to reach 97,700 conflict-affected people including 1,900 newly displaced people from 165 Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu villages in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. In addition, WFP reached over 7,800 children under 5 years and pregnant and lactating women (PLW) through nutrition interventions. In central Rakhine State, WFP continued to assist 110,800 food-insecure people including 2,200 who were newly displaced through emergency relief food assistance. In addition, WFP extended its lean season support to over 4,400 most vulnerable people in Rathedaung Township. WFP’s nutrition assistance reached 5,200 PLW and 24,600 children under five years of age. Kachin: WFP provided emergency food assistance to 43,700 displaced and flood-affected people in Kachin State using cash and E-Money transfers. Over 1,860 PLW and children under 2 received nutrition assistance from WFP. Shan: Armed clashes have flared up in Shan State since mid-August causing over 9,000 temporary internal displacements. Urgent needs of the displaced people were covered by the assistance from the Government and local well-wishers. WFP emergency relief distributions continued to support 7,300 displaced populations from northern Shan State. Hampered by the armed clashes, WFP could not reach about 8,000 targeted people in conflict-affected villages of the KoKang Self-Administered Zone. Over 1,400 PLW and children under 2 received nutrition assistance in Shan State..."
Source/publisher: World Food Programme (WFP) (Italy) via Reliefweb
Date of publication: 2019-09-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 187.02 KB
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Title: Myanmar: A Violent Push to Shake Up Ceasefire Negotiations
Description: "A trio of ethnic armed groups have escalated their fight with the military in Myanmar’s Shan State. This alliance has long been outside the country’s peace process. With China’s help, the government should pursue bilateral ceasefires – and longer-term rapprochement – with the three organisations. What’s new? On 15 August, an alliance of ethnic armed groups staged coordinated attacks against strategic targets in northern Myanmar. The offensive left up to fifteen people dead, and clashes reportedly continue in the northern part of Shan State, creating concerns for civilians’ safety. Why did it happen? The three ethnic armed groups behind the attacks have been largely excluded from the peace process for the past five years. In recent months, the government has proposed bilateral ceasefires to the groups but has set unrealistic demands and accompanied the offers with military pressure. Why does it matter? The attacks mark a serious escalation in Shan State’s conflict. They represent a rejection of bilateral ceasefire terms that the Myanmar government has proposed to the armed groups. While the Myanmar military has not yet responded with significant force, the brunt of mounting violence will inevitably fall on civilians. Myanmar’s military has not retaliated in the heavy-handed way many observers expected, given the attacks’ provocative nature. Instead, it has focused on securing key infrastructure and reopening the highway to the border with China. Contrary to most expectations, the military has also extended its unilateral ceasefire from 31 August to 21 September. The government negotiating team has moved quickly to resume talks with the groups, with meetings held on 31 August and 17 September. On 9 September, the Brotherhood Alliance announced a one-month ceasefire but also warned that it would retaliate if attacked. China, which wields strong influence in the border areas and over some of the groups, has also been encouraging dialogue and de-escalation. The Myanmar military could still decide to strike back, however. A counteroffensive would have dire consequences for the area’s civilian population, particularly ethnic Ta’ang (also referred to as Palaung), whom government forces suspect of providing support to the TNLA. Myanmar’s military and, to a lesser extent, the three ethnic armed groups have a history of human rights violations. Already, there are reports of indiscriminate shelling and mortar fire, as well as attacks on local aid groups’ vehicles and civilian cars and trucks on the highway. Thousands of residents have fled their homes, some pre-emptively out of fear of being targeted by forces on either side. Humanitarian access, which is already constrained, is likely to become more difficult..."
Source/publisher: "International Crisis Group (ICG)" (Belgium) via Reliefweb
Date of publication: 2019-09-25
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Why Myanmar’s Wa always get what they want
Topic: CHINA, MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, FPNCC
Sub-title: China-backed ethnic army is under pressure to disarm but tells Asia Times ‘if we don’t have weapons, we have nothing’
Topic: CHINA, MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, FPNCC
Description: "Shops, hotels and restaurants in Panghsang, the unofficial capital of Myanmar’s northeastern area controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), display signs in three languages: Wa, Chinese and Bamar. But while Wa, Chinese and other ethnic dialects are widely spoken in the city, very few residents can speak or read, Bamar. Other social and political influences from the country’s largest ethnic group are also largely non-existent. The UWSA and its political wing, the United Wa State Party (UWSP), have what the country’s many ethnic armed organizations crave: an autonomous region with no interference from central authorities, armed forces equipped with sophisticated weapons and, most significantly, bilateral ceasefire agreements with the Myanmar military, one of which has held firm for three decades. Now, however, the UWSA is under pressure to also sign the government’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), an initiative launched by the previous military regime that the current elected administration has made a pre-condition for political talks on the fractious nation’s future as a unitary state or federal union. “The government wants us to give up our weapons, but we can do that only when a political agreement has been reached, and when there is peace in the whole country. Only then, not now,” said Zhao Guoan, a member of the UWSP’s politburo’s standing committee tasked with handling foreign affairs, in an Asia Times interview..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication: 2019-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Pages with references to "Rakhine" from "The Global New Light of Myanmar" 18 September 2019
Description: "THE government’s National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC) and representatives of the four groups KIO (Kachin Independence Organization), MNTJP (Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party), PSLF (Palaung State Liberation Front) and ULA (United League of Arakan) met at the Amazing Kengtung Resort in Kengtung (Shan State) yesterday morning to discuss signing of the Bilateral Ceasefire Agreement. Union Attorney-General U Tun Tun Oo, in his capacity as the vice chairman of the NRPC, extended his greetings saying that the meeting was a significant event for the peace making process, and that discussions had been made during the previous occasions in Kengtung for the future ceasefire plan. During that meeting, both sides thoroughly discussed to stop recent armed conflicts. As a result, the attacks had significantly become fewer along the Union Road despite small remaining clashes in some areas. The three northern ethnic armed groups made a ceasefire announcement as proposed by the government. This situation was recognized as a progress in the ongoing ceasefire attempts. Both sides need to maintain this momentum. The government discussed the draft proposal of the northern four ethnic armed groups to sign the bilateral ceasefire agreement. Although there were no notable controversies, there were still pending issues on monitoring processes. He was hopeful that this agreement would be signed after both sides had reached agreement..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Ministry of Information via "The Global New Light of Myanmar"
Date of publication: 2019-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 232.06 KB
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Title: Myanmar's Wa rebels march in show of force
Description: "It has a standing army of 25,000, manufactures its own guns and conscripts at least one member of each household -- meet the United Wa State Army: Communist, reclusive, China-backed rebels determined to protect their supremacy over Myanmar's badland border zone. Thousands of soldiers, including a company of women and a sniper platoon in combat webbing, marched early Wednesday alongside armoured vehicles in Panghsang, the capital of the ethnic Wa, which borders China's Yunnan province.It was a show of force marking 30 years since Communist Wa rebels prodded Myanmar into a ceasefire leading to the establishment of special, semi-autonomous zone, marshalled by Bao Youxiang, chief of one of the world's largest non-state armies. This week the normally inscrutable Wa extended a rare invite to foreign media to their isolated territory to show off their military muscle and deliver a defiant message of self-sufficiency within Myanmar's borders..."
Source/publisher: "Bangkok Post" via AFP
Date of publication: 2019-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar’s Wa seek peace through strength
Topic: MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, BAO YOUXIANG
Sub-title: UWSA leader Bao Youxiang tells Asia Times in an exclusive interview why the world’s arguably largest and best-equipped non-state army is reluctant to lay down its guns
Topic: MYANMAR, UNITED WA STATE ARMY, NATIONAL CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT, BAO YOUXIANG
Description: "Columns of soldiers goose-stepped in perfect formation on a parade ground. Trucks towed heavy weaponry while armored fighting vehicles drove past a grandstand of observers. The ceremonial show of force along the Myanmar-Chinese border in mid-April was similar to military muscle-flexing in many places in the world. But this was no normal fighting force; it was the United Wa State Army (UWSA), arguably the largest and best-equipped non-state army worldwide. The ethnic Wa were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the founding of their own military force in what effectively amounts to a self-governing buffer state between Myanmar and China. Myanmar security authorities prevented foreign journalists from attending the celebrations at the UWSA’s Pangkham headquarters, which was attended by thousands of tribesman from both sides of the China-Myanmar border.
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
Date of publication: 2019-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Wa rebel group torpedoes Suu Kyi’s peace drive
Sub-title: Myanmar’s United Wa State Army, a militia long known for drug trafficking, has emerged as the core of resistance to the government’s peace plan
Description: "After nearly six years of fruitless peace talks in Myanmar, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the country’s largest and most heavily armed ethnic force, has asserted its until now dormant power over the process. Behind the UWSA looms China’s security services, a key but often unspoken actor in Myanmar’s northern ethnic wars. Together they have outmaneuvered and marginalized the Western governments, peace promotion outfits and think tanks that have been intimately involved in Myanmar’s peace process since it was first launched by then President Thein Sein in 2011 and since sustained by Aung San Suu Kyi’s nearly one-year-old elected National League for Democracy party-led government. Western government-sponsored seminars, workshops​ and “capacity-building” peace projects have been overshadowed in the past year by the UWSA’s more concrete and impactful initiatives. Those have included meetings held at its Panghsang headquarters​ in the autonomous area it controls near the Chinese border, where ethnic armed groups have agreed on common strategies to deal with Myanmar’s central, civil and military authorities. The UWSA has also impacted the battlefield by providing its ethnic allies with munitions to fight against the Myanmar army..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
Date of publication: 2017-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Large haul of stimulant tablets, marijuana seized in Myanmar's western state
Description: "Myanmar authorities seized large haul of narcotic drugs including 454,670 stimulant tablets and 4 kilograms of marijuana in Rakhine state, according to the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Saturday. Stimulant tablets worth over 909 million kyats (606,227 U.S. dollars) were confiscated from two houses in Maungtaw township late Friday. Three suspects were charged under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law while searching for one suspect who fled the scene was underway. Meanwhile, four kilograms of marijuana was confiscated at a highway bus station, along with a suspect in Ann township, Rakhine state on Thursday, the committee's release said. On the same day, 1,950 kilograms of caffeine worth 195 million kyats (130,000 U.S. dollars) were seized from two cars in Tachileik town, Shan state. Also, the anti-narcotic taskforce seized 39,900 stimulant tablets worth 79.8 million kyats (53,200 U.S. dollars) and 660 grams of heroin worth 66 million kyats (44,000 U.S. dollars) in Momauk township, Kachin state, said the Saturday's release..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua"
Date of publication: 2019-09-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: INGOs Cannot Reach Lahu Areas and the Needs of the Lahu People
Description: "Kyar Yin Shell is a 26-year-old young man from Kengtung, the ?dark and dirty? capital city of eastern Salween in the Shan State. While Kengtung has not seen civil war for over two decades, development is non-existent and electricity scarce. Kyar Yin Shell is Lahu, a little known ethnic group that lives scattered around the mountains of Burma, China, Laos, and Thailand. As most Lahu people, Kyar Yin Shell grew up in a village, but unlike many others he was lucky enough to go to school. As a teenager, hard-working Kyar Yin Shell had great hopes for his future until it all seems to end one day; wrong medical treatment left Kyar Yin Shell paralyzed. Kyar Yin Shell lost all hope for his future and like so many others in the Shan State, he became addicted to drugs. During those dark times, Kyar Yin Shell could never have known that he would not only survive and learn to live with his disability, but work actively for his people and travel overseas to represent his country. Kyar Yin Shell?s story shows how much life can surprise you. If you take the chance."...See the Alternate link for part 2.
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of publication: 2015-07-30
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Ta?ang (Palaung) Leader Tar Aik Bong: ?Without Proper Political Solutions, There Will Be No Lasting Peace?
Description: "Tar Aik Bong is a leader of the Ta?ang (Palaung) people, one of Burma?s ethnic nationalities that continues a daily struggle for survival in largely inaccessible areas in northern Shan State. He joined the Ta?ang liberation movement in 1987, and currently serves as Chairman of Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) and Head of the military commission of Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). TNLA is one of the few ethnic armies that continues to fight against the Burma army and vows not to lay down arms until equal rights and a lasting political solution is achieved. TNLA fights to ?obtain freedom for all Ta?ang nationals from oppression, to form Ta?ang autonomous regions that guarantee democracy and human rights, to oppose and fight against dictatorship and any form of racial discrimination, to attain national equality and self-determination and to establish a genuine Federal Union that guarantees Ta?ang autonomy and to eliminate cultivation, production, sale and use of narcotics.” Tar Aik Bong is also a member of the ethnic alliance United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) council and Foreign Affairs Department. In an exclusive interview with Burma Link, Tar Aik Bong talks about the causes and current situation of the Ta?ang conflict, the role of the UNFC, and the brutal tactics that the Burmese military uses against Ta?ang civilians in order to cut the opposition movement. Tar Aik Bong also discusses the Burmese military?s instrumental role in the epidemic drug usage in Ta?ang areas, and TNLA?s plan to eradicate the drugs."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of publication: 2014-11-11
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Ta?ang (Palaung) Leader?s Message to the International Community: ?Come and See the Real Picture in Our Areas?
Description: "The Ta?ang, also known as Palaung, are one of Burma?s myriad ethnic groups who have been fighting for basic human rights and autonomy for decades. Despite the international enthusiasm over Burma?s reform process, the reality in Burma?s ethnic borderlands remains dire, and the Burmese military continues its brutal offensive against ethnic civilians. Tar Aik Bong joined the Ta?ang struggle in 1987, and is now the Chairperson of the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), the Head of military commission of the Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), as well as a member of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) council and Foreign Affairs Department. The PSLF/TNLA is one of the few prominent ethnic armed groups yet to sign a ceasefire with the Burmese government. The following is Tar Aik Bong?s message to the international community."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: We Are Not Rebels? We Fight for Democracy: Ta?ang (TNLA) Soldiers
Description: "Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the armed wing of Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), is one of the ethnic resistance armed organisations that vows not to lay down arms until there is a guarantee of political negotiations. Burma Link spoke with two TNLA soldiers, Mai and Mai Main, who were sent by their leaders to study human rights and politics in Mae Sot, so that they could go back to Ta?ang land and educate other soldiers. These two soldiers studied in Mae Sot for a year, and believed it is their responsibility to go back to Burma to educate others and safeguard their people?s rights. In this interview, they share their story on how and why they became involved with the TNLA and why the Ta?ang people so strongly support their army. Mai and Mai Main, aged 23 and 26, are now back in the battle fields of northern Shan State." ..."END NOTE: Although TNLA is a member of the ethnic alliance United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the government has tried to exclude the group from the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) talks. TNLA is an ally of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and fights alongside the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in northern Shan State, to obtain freedom and to establish a genuine federal union. TNLA also fights to eliminate cultivation, production, sale and use of drugs in their traditional lands. Read more."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of publication: 2015-07-13
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: THE STATE OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE: TRENDS IN SHAN
Description: Executive Summary: "The State of Local Governance: Trends in Shan - UNDP Myanmar 2015 This report aims to map the state of affairs and the evolution as witnessed over the past years with regards to governance reforms and service delivery, in particular for the sectors education, health and water supply, in Shan State. It provides a historical background to contextualise the present governance situation in Shan, which differs from all other Regions and States; it provides information on the various recent elections in the State; it seeks transparency of the State budget, and, against this background, it pays particular attention to the perceptions of citizens? regarding the changes they have witnessed. It finally tries to make the link between good local governance and the quality of service delivery, whereby it looks at aspects of decision-making powers in relation to budget discretion, the availability of budget envelopes, oversight and accountability. Shan State takes a special place amongst the fourteen Regions and States in the country as, in terms of area the biggest of all, covering almost 25% of the entire nation, and in terms of population by far the biggest of all States. Arguably, Shan State has the largest ethnic diversity amongst its population of all fourteen Regions and States. Related to this diversity - its location and the physical features of the terrain making it perfect for a natural border zone - Shan State has played an important role in the history of Myanmar. As far as the most recent history is concerned, this starts with the special position that was negotiated in the Panglong agreement, where Shan State was given the right to exit the Union after a period of 10 years if it would prefer to do so (and which it did not do). As much as the recent serious flaring up of fighting (early February 2015) in the Laukkaing area illustrates that peace and stability cannot yet be taken for granted, the earlier open conflicts in Shan State, which were as much based on economic interest as ethnic differences, seemed to have already for some time reached a situation of agreed status quo, amongst others reflected by the number of Self-Administered Areas as enshrined in the Constitution of 2008, and which are described as part of the local governance set-up in this report. Shan State is distinctly different (and also more complicated), as compared to most other Regions and States, but the mapping of local governance and service delivery also found a number of similarities with the findings in other areas. Overall, in Shan State, as in all other Regions and States, people clearly acknowledge the improvements in service delivery, notably for road infrastructure, education, health and, although to a lesser extent, water supply. People mentioned access to safe drinking water as the largest challenge in service delivery and people also asked for enhanced investments in this sector. As in other Regions and States,* people in Shan ask for more information from government, whilst they bestow (also in terms of information flow) a pivotal role on the indirectly elected Ward and Village Tract Administrators (W/VTAs), whom they consider more and more as a local development change agent. To support this process and to be able honouring the expectations of W/VTAs as ?intermediary? between the people and the township administrations, some dedicated capacity development activities may be indicated, both addressing the W/VTAs as well as the township administrations."
Source/publisher: UNDP Myanmar
Date of publication: 2014-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.95 MB
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Title: Mong La: Burma?s City of Lights
Description: "Cosmopolitan, garish and connected to the outside world via Internet and mobile phones, visitors to Mong La wonder if they are really in Burma anymore... For a while it seems like a road to nowhere. Only army checkpoints and small clusters of huts indicate some life. Then, quite suddenly, the view widens into a valley and the road changes from dirt to tar. At dusk the city ahead looks like a space shuttle that descended upon earth. Abundant neon lights line the buildings. Along a wide avenue, street lamps flash like fireworks. This is Mong La, the capital of Special Region Number Four in eastern Shan State. One wonders if this is still Burma. "Yuan," demands an old woman selling water when she is given kyat. A Chinese employee in the hotel hands over the key without the form filling and other paperwork so typical of the bureaucratic control elsewhere in the country. A condom in the basket of toiletries suggests there are other freedoms to be enjoyed too..."
Creator/author: Joan Williams
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 11, No. 1
Date of publication: 2003-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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