Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports

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Description: Our Policies: "The Burmese military dictatorship spreads lies and misinformation about the KNU. We don?t recruit child soldiers, we don?t attack civilians and we are not trying to break up Burma. Read the truth about our policies here..."...Objectives: "The KNU Mission Statement is to establish a genuine Federal Union in cooperation with all the Karen and all the ethnic peoples in the country for harmony, peace, stability and prosperity for all. Read more here..."...Our Fallen Heroes: "Many brave Karen have given their lives in our struggle for freeedom. Find out more about them here..."...Our Leaders: "KNU leaders are democratically elected. Find out more here..."...Structure: "The KNU has a democratic structure, with regular elections. We also provide local services and administration in Karen State. Find out more about our structure and our democracy here..."...KNU History: "The Karen National Union is the leading political organisation representing the aspirations of the Karen people. The KNU was founded in 1947, its predecessor organisations date back to 1881..."
Source/publisher: Karen National Union
Date of entry/update: 2011-03-28
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "On March 4th, the Burma Army began the largest and most coordinated deployment of troops into Karen State?s Mutraw (Hpapun) district since 2008. More than 1,500 Burma Army troops have now crossed into Karen National Union (KNU) controlled areas of Mutraw?s Luthaw township, breaching the terms of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and provoking multiple clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army?s (KNLA) 5th Brigade. Troops serving under the Burma Army?s Southern Command have indiscriminately targeted civilians while more than 2,400 villagers have been forced to flee their land and homes. The majority of those displaced by the Burma Army?s current operations had only recently returned to rebuild their villages, farms, and livelihoods following decades of widespread armed conflict. On April 5th, Burma Army troops shot and killed 42-yr-old Saw O Moo in the Ler Mu Plaw area of northwestern Luthaw. Saw O Moo was a local villager and Indigenous Karen leader. At the time of his death he was travelling home from a community meeting to coordinate humanitarian assistance for villagers displaced by the Burma Army?s military operations...."
Source/publisher: Kesan
2018-04-02
Date of entry/update: 2018-10-29
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description: Home | About us | Departments | Peace Process | Statements | Human Rights | Karen Unity | Contact...Departments: Agriculture Department; Alliance Affairs Department; Breeding & Fishery Department; Defense Department; Education & Culture Department; Finance & Revenue Department; Foreign Affairs Department; Forestry Department; Health & Welfare Department; Interior & Religious Department; Organising & Information Department; Justice Department; Mining Department; Transportation & Communication Department.
Source/publisher: Karen National Union (KNU)
Date of entry/update: 2013-09-22
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Introduction This Field Report presents and analyses information collected by KHRG field researchers and covers the period between July and December 2021.[1] The reporting period was marked by increased armed conflict and attacks, which spread to locations in KHRG’s operational area that had reported little to no fighting or shelling during the initial five months following the February 1st 2021 military coup[2]. It was also marked by an increase in human rights violations, including forced labour, the use of human shields, torture, killings, theft and looting, and the planting of landmines. Burma (Myanmar)[3] is party to several human rights treaties and is bound by principles of customary international human rights law prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of life; torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and arbitrary deprivation of liberty. During the current reporting period, KHRG documented multiple cases of forced labour and the use of civilians as human shields. In most cases, villagers were forced to serve as both porters and human shields as State Administration Council (SAC)[4] and Border Guard Force (BGF)[5] troops engaged in troop rotation and the transport of rations and ammunition between army camps in areas controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU)[6]. Both forced labour and the use of human shields constitute violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and other human rights conventions. In many cases, these acts have been combined with other rights violations like beatings or torture, the deprivation of food and water, and various threats, including threat to life. In Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District, villagers living between Lay Kay and Yoh Klah army camps were subjected to repeated demands for forced labour and ‘navigation’ over the course of several months. In particular, skirmishes and ambush by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[7], due to SAC and BGF trespass while travelling between their camps, systematically led SAC and BGF troops to round up any villagers they found along the way to protect themselves from further attack. At times, skirmishes and ambushes took place while villagers were forced to porter or navigate, putting them in grave danger. Villagers also experienced looting and other security threats as SAC and BGF soldiers camped in or near their villages while traveling between their army camps. A surge of armed conflict and attacks, including airstrikes, took place in the Lay Kay Kaw area of Dooplaya District in December 2021 after SAC and BGF troops entered the area and conducted raids and arrests while searching for Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)[8] participants and People’s Defence Force (PDF)[9] members. Established at the time of the earlier ceasefire agreements to welcome back former refugees and IDPs to their country, Lay Kay Kaw New Town was supposed to serve as the symbol of a new era of peace and unity. Instead, the former refugees and IDPs who live there found themselves fleeing once again for their lives as fighting erupted throughout the area. Over 10,000 people were displaced in just over a week. Possibilities for seeking refuge in Thailand remain extremely limited. Most displaced villagers were either pushed back by Thai authorities or forced to set up temporary encampments along the river. Mu Traw (Hpapun) District had been the target of major offensives, including airstrikes, during the first five months of the coup. Although there were no further airstrikes in Mu Traw District from July to December 2021, most parts of the district continued to experience heavy conflict and military activities. In some areas, fighting and shelling took place on a near daily basis during the current reporting period, thus many villagers continue to face displacement. Those who have remained in their villages have endured repeated threats by SAC soldiers, including battalion commanders, who seek to punish civilians for the activities of the KNLA. Such acts are in clear violation of international humanitarian law, which forbids reprisals against civilian persons and objects. Fighting continued in Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District, leading to some displacement. While no fighting or shelling was reported for Taw Oo (Toungoo), Mergui-Tavoy and Hpa-an districts prior to July 2021, during the current reporting period, KHRG documented the emergence of fighting in both Taw Oo and Mergui-Tavoy districts. In the case of Mergui-Tavoy District, the fighting occurred between the SAC and a local group of PDF fighters. Military activity, like troop rotation and reinforcement, sending rations and ammunition, and patrolling, continued to increase throughout all districts, except Hpa-an District (for which KHRG received no reports). These activities often included or took place alongside other activities, such as the increased use of checkpoints, direct threats against local villagers, arbitrary arrests, and opening fire while in villages, that led to heightened insecurity for local villagers. Theft and looting, particularly of food items, crops and livestock, became more systematic as the presence of SAC soldiers in rural areas, including KNU territory, spread. Most of the theft and looting during the current reporting period occurred while SAC and BGF troops passed through villages or were temporarily camped in the area. Theft and looting have often taken place after villagers have been forced to flee their homes, and in some cases have been combined with the destruction of property. Looting and the destruction of property are prohibited under various components of international humanitarian law, including Additional Protocol II (Article 14) concerning the protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, like foodstuffs, crops and livestock.[10] Other serious human rights violations like torture and killings took place during the current reporting period. As the SAC continued to target anyone seen as opposing the military regime, it undertook violence against civilians while searching for people whom they suspected of having an affiliation with the PDF and CDM. On multiple occasions, SAC soldiers tortured and beat local civilians following bomb explosions in the area. SAC soldiers intentionally shot at civilians, killing three. In one of the killing cases, local villagers believe the victim was also tortured by the SAC prior to being killed. Landmine contamination and the planting of new landmines continued to be a serious problem, with landmines being placed in civilian areas, along transportation routes and near critical infrastructure, as well as in areas that villagers depend on for their livelihood. Two deaths and injury to eight villagers, including one child, were reported for the current reporting period. All reported incidents took place in Mu Traw District. Villagers were often not made aware of the landmine contamination in their area. KHRG also received reports of time bomb explosions. In July 2021, Burma was hit with a third wave of COVID-19 infections, this time reaching rural areas in KHRG’s operational area. Often whole villages reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, but due to lack of testing facilities, there was no way to confirm that all of these were positive COVID-19 cases. However, in Mergui-Tavoy District, where the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) actively engaged in testing, positive cases were found in every township of the district. The spread of the virus has been particularly worrisome in situations of displacement with reports of the virus spreading among groups who have displaced, since many are unaware that they are infected. Displaced villagers may also find themselves crowded together in hiding places, making the likelihood of infection greater. Access to healthcare services in general continued to be an issue due to restrictions on movement, brought about both by efforts to contain the spread of the virus and by increased military activities and armed conflict. Access to education also continued to be an issue due to widespread school closures tied to the spread of COVID-19, the CDM and refusals by students to attend SAC-run schools since the military takeover. Most Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[11] schools remained open and experienced increased enrolments as students who previously attended government schools sought to continue their studies in KECD schools. The additional enrolments have placed heavy strain on KECD schools, and some have begun requiring parents to pay educational fees or rice (for the teachers) to keep the schools running. The livelihood situation of villagers has grown more critical. Villagers reported being unable to work on their farms or plantations or travel to access work as day labourers. A number of factors have prevented villagers from carrying out their regular livelihood activities: displacement, conflict, ongoing military activity, landmine contamination, travel restrictions tied to COVID-19, increased checkpoints and security concerns while traveling, and fears of being apprehended to serve as forced porters or human shields. Many villagers are also now facing severe food insecurity as a result..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
2022-03-30
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-31
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Sub-title: Karen State: 7 Killed and 4 Injured by Burmese Military Heavy Artillery
Description: "Seven people were killed and four injured when the Burmese military fired heavy artillery at Klaw Day Village, Mae Klaw village tract, Bu Tho Township in Mu Traw District, Kawtholei, (Karen State) on 5th March. Among those killed are three children, all girls, aged 2, 5 and 14. A 3 year-old boy and a 17 year old girl were among those injured. A pregnant woman was also killed. The Burmese military knew the location of the village and that it was a civilian village. They deliberately targeted the village. This is a war crime and a crime against humanity. The attack came at 7.20pm, a time when the Burmese military know people are likely to be in their homes. The Burmese military have been using long range heavy artillery based in Papun to attack civilians in Mu Traw. Those killed are: 1. Naw Htoo Paw (5 yrs old) 2. Saw Day Poe ( 19yrs old) 3. Saw Kay (40 yrs old) 4. Naw Paw Wah (32 yrs old) 5. Naw Eh Moo (22 yrs old) 6. Naw Tin Ne La Win (14 yrs old) 7.Naw Ta Lu (2 yrs old) Those injured are: 1. Saw Nyut Htoo(28 yrs old) 2. Naw Kri Hser (28 yrs old) 3 Naw S'baw (17 yrs old) 4. Saw kyaw Bi (3 yrs old) The Burmese military attacks and kills our people using weapons bought internationally and which are paid for in part by international companies doing business with the military. The Karen Peace Support Network calls for increased pressure on countries involved in supplying arms and equipment to the Burmese military, including on Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, India and Singapore. The Karen Peace Support Network calls for targeted economic sanctions to be imposed at a much faster rate to cut the revenue to the military. Companies in business with the Burmese military are complicit in the international crimes being committed against us. The Karen Peace Support Network calls for sanctions on the supply of aviation fuel to Burma. The majority of displaced people in Karen State are displaced by airstrikes or the threat of airstrikes, creating a humanitarian crisis. The Burmese military are using drones to identify targets such a villages and IDP camps, which they later attack using airstrikes or heavy artillery..."
Source/publisher: Karen Peace Support Network
2022-03-06
Date of entry/update: 2022-03-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Background: An airstrike struck a displacement camp sheltering hundreds of people in Myanmar’s Kayah State yesterday reportedly killing at least three people, including two children. Fighting has intensified in southeastern Kayah and Kayin states since December. Some 162,000 people, including women and children, remain displaced in the two states after fleeing their homes since May 2021. More than 650 houses, monasteries, churches and schools have reportedly been burnt or destroyed in Kayah State alone. “We are deeply worried about the new wave of violence and fighting targeting civilians in southeast Myanmar. We condemn yesterday’s airstrike which affected hundreds of people. These were communities that had already been forced to flee their homes because of violence, and sheltered at the displacement site in search of protection and safety. This indiscriminate targeting and killing of civilians must end. “The fighting is causing death, more displacement and disrupting access to critical services and humanitarian aid. The de facto authorities are responsible under International Humanitarian Law to protect civilians, and we call on them to do their duty.”..."
Source/publisher: Norwegian Refugee Council
2022-01-18
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-18
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Description: "1. The KNU in Lay Kay Kaw, Dooplaya District has, on humanitarian grounds, offered temporary shelter and protection to politicians, activists, and non-violent protesters, who have fled from the military council's killing and torture of those holding different political opinions. 2. Recent armed clashes that took place on 15th December are a result of self-defense response by the KNU against Myanmar military council's arrest of individuals temporary sheltering at Lay Kay Kaw, destructions of their homes, and deployment of military forces against the KNU troops. 3. We thank the Thai government and Thai people for providing temporary shelter for 3,000 displaced people in accordance with humanitarian principles. We also would like to thank the Thai government for allowing additional 2,000 displaced people who fled more armed clashes that took place on December 19, 2021 to cross the borderline and hope that Thai authorities will arrange proper accommodations for these people. 4. We urge all Karen living outside of Burma, citizens of Burma, domestic and international organizations to provide food, medicine, and temporary shelter toward people fleeing the war. 5. KNU further requests the international community to take the following immediate actions a. We urge the Thai government to allow international organizations to meet and assist war victims and displaced peoples. b. There is a high possibility that Lay Kay Kaw will be attacked by the military council's airstrike and will cause serious damages and destructions on unarmed civilians, which is a severe violation of human rights. We urge the United Nations to identify the 'No Fly Zone' by calling an emergency meeting with the UN Security Council, and international community. c. We ask the military council to withdraw its troops to save its already damaged reputation. d. We encourage the officers and commanders from the military council to join with the people in order to save Burma from falling into a 'Failed State'. e. KNU declares that the military's withdrawal from politics, and the building a genuine federal democratic union are the only solutions to end over 70 years' long civil war..."
Source/publisher: Karen National Union
2021-12-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: " At least 2,500 people including hundreds of children have fled a flare-up in fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic minority rebels and have taken refuge across the border in Thailand, Thai authorities and an aid group said. Those displaced had poured into the Thai town of Mae Sot after fighting in the past few days between the Karen National Union (KNU) and Myanmar's army, Somchai Kitcharoenrungroj, deputy governor of western Tak province, told a news conference. Myanmar was plunged into turmoil when the military ousted a civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, triggering protests in cities and sporadic clashes in the countryside between anti-junta militia and the army. There has also been intensified fighting at times between the army and ethnic minority insurgents in border areas, like the KNU, Myanmar's oldest rebel force. Somchai put the number of displaced on the Thai side of the border at 2,503. Ye Min, an official at the Aid Alliance Committee, a Thai-based Myanmar migrants group, said that total included 545 children. "We are providing food assistance working together with Thai authorities," Ye Min said by telephone, adding most of the displaced were from Lay Kay Kaw and other villages. The KNU has been seeking self-determination in a region of about 1.6 million people. The KNU said in a social media post said four Myanmar soldiers were killed and four wounded during the fighting on Wednesday. A report by Public Voice Television, which is backed by Myanmar's shadow government, posted photographs it said showed seized weapons and eight captured members of the Myanmar security forces. It said 18 government soldiers had been killed. Reuters could not independently verify the claims and a spokesman for Myanmar's military junta did not answer a call seeking comment. Tak provincial authorities said there was a clash between the army and the KNU on Thursday about 500 metres (550 yards) from the Thai border. It said a shell had fallen on the Thai side of the border though had not caused harm or damage, and Thai forces had intensified patrols in the area..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-12-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Last week in East and Southeast Asia, Myanmar military forces clashed with the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA) in Kayin state. Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) barred the head of the Myanmar military regime from attending the ASEAN summit beginning on 26 October, instead offering an invite to a non-political representative. In Indonesia, state forces shot a Papuan miner during an eviction operation at a mining site. North Korea test-fired a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). In South Korea, workers affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held mass rallies across the country to demand better work conditions. Lastly, in Taiwan, a series of rallies were reported ahead of a vote to recall a legislator on 23 October. In Myanmar, clashes between the Myanmar military and the KNU/KNLA broke out in Kawkareik and Kyainseikgyi townships in northern Kayin state last week. On 20 October, military forces reportedly pushed into KNU-controlled territory in Kyainseikgyi township, prompting the firefight. The clash came as military sources confirmed reports that additional troops had been deployed to northern Kayin state to counter the KNU/KNLA, which the regime has accused of providing military training to People’s Defense Force (PDF) members (Karen News, 18 October 2021). Meanwhile, ASEAN announced on 16 October that the regime chief, Min Aung Hlaing, would not be invited to attend the ASEAN summit starting on 26 October. ASEAN cites a lack of cooperation from the regime in taking action on the agreed points in the Five-Point Consensus reached between them in April (RFA, 19 October 2021). The Five-Point Consensus calls for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, constructive dialogue among all stakeholders, the appointment of an ASEAN special envoy, the provision of humanitarian assistance, and a visit by the envoy to Myanmar. The decision marks a rare move by the bloc, known for its united decision-making, non-interference, and engagement (Reuters, 26 October 2021). The regime has since responded sharply to the decision, asserting its right to a ministerial representative at the summit according to the ASEAN charter. The regime vows to pursue “due processes under the ASEAN Charter and the Protocol to the ASEAN Charter on Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in resolving the differences on Myanmar’s representation at the ASEAN Meetings” (RFA, 25 October 2021)..."
Source/publisher: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
2021-10-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "မြန်မာအစိုးရ အဆက်ဆက်သည် ပြည်နယ်အသီးသီးနှင့် ပြည်နယ်သားများအပေါ် လွှမ်းမိုးချုပ်ကိုင်ခြင်းဖြင့် ၎င်းတို့အာဏာတည်မြဲရန် ကြိုးစားခဲ့ကြသည်။ ၎င်းတို့၏ ကြိုးစားမှုများသည် ဗမာ့ တပ်မတော်နှင့် ကေအဲန်ယူ – ကရင်အမျိုးသားအစည်းအရုံး ကဲ့သို့သော တိုင်းရင်းသား လက်နက်ကိုင် အဖွဲ့စည်းများအကြား ပဋိပက္ခများသာ အမြစ်တွယ်၊ ဆက်လက်ဖြစ်ပေါ်ခဲ့သည်။ အကျိုးဆက်အားဖြင့် လက်နက်ကိုင်အဖွဲ့စည်း အဖွဲ့၀င်များနှင့် စစ်ရှောင် ဒုက္ခသည်များသည် ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံသို့ ထွက်ပြေးခိုလှုံခဲ့ရသည်။ ၁၉၈၀ နှင့် ၁၉၉၀ နှောင်းပိုင်း နှစ်များတွင် ထိုင်းနှင့် မြန်မာ နယ်စပ်တလျှောက်တွင် ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်း ၄၀ ကျော် ရှိခဲ့သည် (Kasetsisi 2001; Trichote 2004; Vaddhanaphuti and Sitthikriengkrai 2016) ။ အစပိုင်းတွင် ထိုင်း အာဏာပိုင်များသည် ဒုက္ခသည်များအား လူသားချင်းစာနာ ထောက်ထား မှုဆိုင်ရာ ပံ့ပိုးမှုများ၊ ယာယီ ခိုလှုံခွင့်များပေးခဲ့သည်။ သို့သော် ၁၉၉၀ နှောင်းပိုင်းကာလများတွင် ယာယီ ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းများကို ဗမာ့ တပ်မတော်မှ မကြာခဏ တိုက်ခိုက်သည့်အတွက် ထိုင်းအာဏာပိုင်များက ၎င်းတို့ စီမံရ လွယ်ကူစေရန် ဒုက္ခသည်များကို ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းကြီးများထဲသို့ ရောနှော စုပေါင်းထားခဲ့သည်။ ယခုဆိုလျှင် ထိုင်းနယ်စပ် ခရိုင်လေးခု ဖြစ်သည့် တတ်၊ မယ်ဟောင်ဆောင်၊ ကဥ္စနပုရီ၊ ရာဇပုရီ တို့ရှိ ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်း ကိုးခုသာလျှင် အကူညီများ ရရှိတော့သည်။ လက်ရှိတွင် ထိုင်း-မြန်မာ နယ်စပ်တွင် ဒုက္ခသည်‌ပေါင်း ကိုး‌ထောင်ကျော် ရှိပြီး အများစုမှာ ကရင် ဒုက္ခသည်များ ဖြစ်ကြသည်။ အများစုမှာ ဒုက္ခသည်အဖြစ် ခိုလှုံ နေရသည်မှာ ဆယ်စုနှစ် သုံးခုစာ ရှိပြီ ဖြစ်သည်။ ဒုက္ခသည်များအပေါ် ကမ္ဘာ၏ အာရုံစိုက်အလေးထားမှုသည် ၂၀၁၁ ခုနှစ်မှစ၍ လျော့ပါး ပျောက်ကွယ် လာပြီး ဒုက္ခသည်များ၏ အနာဂတ်မှာလည်း မသေချာမရေရာ ဖြစ်လာသည်။ ‌ထိုင်း-မြန်မာ နယ်စပ်ရှိ အိုးအိမ် စွန့်ခွါတိမ်းရှောင်ရသူ ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် လုံခြုံစိတ်ချရသည့်၊ လက်တွေ့ အလုပ်ဖြစ်နိုင်မည့် နည်းလမ်း အဖြေ များ ပေးရန်ဆိုလျှင် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုဆိုင်ရာ အဖွဲ့စည်းများအနေဖြင့် ဒုက္ခသည်များ၏ အသံနှင့် အမြင်များကို ထည့်သွင်းစဥ်းစားရမည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ စာရေးသူ ကိုယ်တိုင်သည် ထိုင်း-မြန်မာ နယ်စပ် တွင် ကြီးပြင်းလာသည့် ကရင်တယောက်ဖြစ်သည့်အလျောက် ဒုက္ခသည်အရေးကိစ္စသည် စာရေးသူအတွက် ရင်ဘတ်ချင်းနီးစပ်သည့် အလွန်အရေးကြီးကိစ္စ တခုဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ကျွန်တော်သည် တတ်ခရိုင် မဲဆောက်မြို့ တွင် အခြေ စိုက်သည့် Partners Relief and Development Foundation နှင့်အတူ၊ ဒုက္ခသည်များနှင့်အတူ အလုပ် လုပ် နေသည် မှာ သုံးနှစ်မျှရှိပြီ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ မဲဆောက်ရှိ ဒုက္ခသည်များသည် ကျွန်တော်တို့နှင့်ရင်းနှီးကြပြီး သူတို့နှင့်ပြောဆိုဆက်ဆံရသည်မှာ ကျွန်တော့် နေ့စဥ်ဘ၀၏ တစိတ်တပိုင်းဖြစ်လို့နေသည်။ ကျွန်တော့် ဇာတိမြေသို့ ကားစီးပြန်သည့် အခါများတွင် ကရင် ဒုက္ခသည်များနှင့် တွေ့ဆုံသည်။ သူတို့နှင့်စကားပြောရသည်ကို ကျွန်တော်နှစ်ခြိုက်သည်။ သို့ဖြစ်၍လည်း ကရင်ဒုက္ခသည် အများစုနှင့် ကျွန်တော် ရင်းနှီးလာခြင်း ဖြစ်သည်။ ဒုက္ခသည်သူငယ်ချင်းတယောက်ဆိုလျှင် ကျွန်တော်အလုပ်လုပ်သည့် ဖောင်ဒေးရှင်းတွင် လုပ်ကိုင်သည်။ ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းမှ နေရပ်မြန်မာပြည်သို့ ပြန်ရန် သို့မဟုတ် စား၀တ်နေရေးအတွက် အလုပ်လုပ်ရန်အတွက် ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းမှ ထွက်ခွာသွားသူများထက်၊ အခြားဘေးကင်းရာသို့ ပြောင်းရွှေ့ ခိုလှုံရန် သို့မဟုတ် အကူညီ အထောက်ပံ့များ ပိုမိုရရှိလာရန် ဒုက္ခသည် စခန်းတွင် စောင့်ဆိုင်းသူများ ရှိနေသည့်အပေါ် ကျွန်တော်နားမလည်နိုင် ဖြစ်လာသည်။ ထိုနားမလည်မှုက ကျွန်တော့်အား ချင်းမိုင် (ဇင်းမယ်) တက္ကသိုလ်တွင် တိုင်းရင်းသား‌လူမျိုးရေးရာနှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေး ဘာသာရပ်ဖြင့် မဟာတန်း တက်ရောက်ရန် တွန်းအားဖြစ်စေခဲ့သည်။ တိုင်းရင်းသားလူမျိုးရေးရာလေ့လာမှု နှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေး စင်တာ (CESD) တွင် လေ့လာဆည်းပူးရသည့် အဓိက ပထမ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်မှာ ဒုက္ခသည်များဆိုင်ရာ မူဝါဒအပြောင်းလဲဖြစ်ပေါ်စေရေး တွန်းတိုက်ဆောင်ရွက်ရန် မဟုတ်ဘဲ ဒုက္ခသည်များ၏ ပြဿနာများ၊ ဘဝများ နှင့် အိပ်မက်များကို နက်နက်နဲနဲ နားလည်နိုင်ရန် လေ့လာလို ခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ နေရပ်စွန့်ခွါ ရွှေ့ပြောင်းမှုကို ဖြစ်ပေါ်စေသည့် အခြေနေ ဖြစ်တည်ပုံ အကြောင်းတရားများ နှင့် ပိုမိုကျယ်ပြန့်သောအင်အားစုများကို နားလည်ရန် ကျွန်တော်လပေါင်းများစွာ အချိန်ယူခဲ့ရသည်။ ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် အ‌ထောက်ကူဖြစ်မည့် ရလဒ်များကို ဖန်တီးရန်ဆိုလျှင် ရေရှည် အလုပ်ဖြစ်မည့်နည်းလမ်းများကို အဖြေရှာဖော်ထုတ်နေသည့် နိုင်ငံတကာ အဖွဲ့စည်းများအနေဖြင့် ဒုက္ခသည် များ၏ အသံကို နားထောင်ရန် လိုအပ်သည်ဟု ကျွန်တော်နားလည်လာခဲ့သည်။ နေရာသစ်များတွင် ဘဝ တလျှောက်လုံး အခြေချ နေထိုင်ရမည့် ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် အဆိုပါကိစ္စရပ်နှင့်ပတ်သတ်၍ အနဲဆုံး မည်သို့ ဖြစ်သင့်သည် ဆိုသည့် ရွေးချယ်စရာ ပေးသင့်ပါသည်။ ရေရှည်အလုပ်ဖြစ်မည့် နည်းလမ်းအဖြေများ? ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းများသည် ယာယီအတွက် ရည်ရွယ်သော်လည်း ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် ရေရှည်အလုပ် ဖြစ်မည့် နည်းလမ်းများ လိုအပ်ပါသည်။ အထူးသဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတကာရန်ပုံငွေများ လျော့ပါး ပျောက်ကွယ် သွား နိုင်သည့်အတွက် ကူညီဖြေရှင်းမည့်နည်းလမ်းများသည် ၎င်းတို့အတွက် ရေရှည်အလုပ်ဖြစ်မည့် နည်းလမ်း မျိုးဖြစ်ရန် လိုအပ်သည်။ ဒုက္ခသည် စခန်းများပိတ်သိမ်း နိုင်ရန်မျှော်လင့်ချက်ဖြင့် ထိုင်း-မြန်မာ နယ်စပ်မှ ဒုက္ခသည်များအပါအဝင် ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် ဒုက္ခသည်ဆိုင်ရာ ကုလသမဂ္ဂမဟာမင်းကြီးရုံး (UNHCR) မှ ထုတ်ဖော် ထားသည့် နည်းလမ်း အဖြေ သုံးခုမှာ အခြားဘေးကင်းရာအရပ်သို့ ရွှေ့ပြောင်း အခြေချနေထိုင် ခြင်း၊ မိမိနေထိုင်သည့် ဒေသရှိ လူမှုအသိုက်၀န်းများနှင့် ပေါင်းစည်းနေထိုင်ခြင်း နှင့် မိမိဆန္ဒအလျောက် နေရပ်ပြန်ခြင်း တို့ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ဒုက္ခသည်များအနေဖြင့် မိမိတို့၏ မူလနိုင်ငံသို့ ပြန်ရန်မဖြစ်နိုင်သည့်အခါတွင် ပထမ နည်းလမ်းအဖြေ ဖြစ်သည့် အခြားဘေးကင်းရာအရပ်သို့ ရွှေ့ပြောင်း အခြေချနေထိုင်ခြင်းအား စဥ်းစားသည်။ ရွှေ့ပြောင်း အခြေချ နေထိုင်ခြင်းသည် ဒုက္ခသည်များအနေဖြင့် အခြားနိုင်ငံတခုတွင် ပိုမိုတည်ငြိမ်သည့် ဘဝ တခု ရှာဖွေနိုင်ရန် အထောက်ကူပေးသည်။ ၂၀၀၅ ခုနှစ်တွင် အမေရိကန်အစိုးရသည် ထိုင်း-မြန်မာ နယ်စပ်မှ ဒုက္ခသည်များအား လက်ခံရန် သဘောတူခဲ့သည်။ သို့သော် ၂၀၁၄ ခုနှစ်တွင် အဆိုပါနည်းလမ်းသည် ရပ်တန့် သွားခဲ့သည်။ ယနေ့တွင် အမေရိကန်၏ ‌ရွှေ့ပြောင်းအခြေချ နေထိုင်ရေး အစီစဥ်တွင် အမည်စာရင်း ပေးသွင်း ထားပြီး ပြောင်းရွှေ့ရန် စောင့်ဆိုင်းနေသည့် ဒုက္ခသည်များ ရှိနေသေးသည်။ အချို့ ဒုက္ခသည်များသည် အဆိုပါအစီစဥ် တနေ့ ပြန်လည်စတင်မည်အထင်ဖြင့် ဆက်လက်စောင့်ဆိုင်းနေကြသည်။ မိမိတို့နေထိုင်ရာအရပ်ဒေသရှိ လူမှုအသိုက်၀န်းတွင် ‌ပေါင်းစည်းနေထိုင်ခြင်းဖြစ်သည့် ဒုတိယ နည်းလမ်းတွင် ဒုက္ခသည်များသည် ၎င်းတို့ ခိုလှုံရာ ပထမ နိုင်ငံတွင် ဘဝတခု အပြည့်အဝ တည်ဆောက်နိုင်ရန် လိုအပ်သည့် ဘာသာစကားနှင့် အခြား ကျွမ်းကျင်မှုများအတွက် အကူညီများရရှိသည်။ သို့သော်လည်း ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံသည် ၁၉၅၁ ခုနှစ် ဒုက္ခသည်ဆိုင်ရာညီလာခံ အဖွဲ့၀င်နိုင်ငံ မဟုတ်သည့်အတွက် ဒေသတွင်း‌ပေါင်းစည်းရေးသည် လက်တွေ့တွင် မဖြစ်နိုင်ပေ။ သို့သော်လည်း အချို့ ဒုက္ခသည်များမှာ မိမိနည်းလမ်းဖြင့် ဒေသခံများနှင့် ပေါင်းစည်းနေထိုင် နိုင်ရန် ကြိုးစားကြသည်။ ‌ဒေသခံလူမှုအသိုင်း၀ိုင်းနှင့် ဆက်ဆံရေးတည်ဆောက်နိုင်ရန် ထိုင်းကျောင်းများ သို့ မိမိတို့၏သားသမီးများစေလွှတ်ခြင်းမျိုးရှိသကဲ့သို့ အချို့ကိစ္စရပ်များတွင် ဒုက္ခသည် များသည် ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံသားများနှင့် လက်ထက်ကြသည်လည်း ရှိသည်။ တတိယနည်းလမ်းသည် မိမိတို့သဘောဆန္ဒအလျောက် မိမိ၏မူလနိုင်ငံ နေရပ်သို့ပြန်ခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ လက်ရှိတွင် ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံရှိ ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် တခုတည်း‌သော တရား၀င်လုပ်ဆောင်နိုင်သော နည်းလမ်းတခုလည်းဖြစ်သည်။ အချို့ ဒုက္ခသည်များအနေဖြင့် ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံတွင် ၎င်းတို့၏ စား၀တ်နေရေး အခြေနေ ယိုယွင်းဆိုးရွားမည်ကို စိုးရိမ်မှုများရှိပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသို့ အမှန်တကယ် ပြန်ချင်စိတ်ရှိသော်လည်း အချို့မှာ ၎င်းတို့သဘော ဆန္ဒမပါဘဲ “မိမိတို့ဆန္ဒအလျောက်” ဟုဆိုကာ အတင်းကျပ်ပြန်ရန် စေခိုင်းခံရခြင်း မျိုးရှိသည်။ အဘယ်ကြောင့်ဆိုသော် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ မဟာမင်းကြီးရုံး၏ နေရပ်ပြန်ရေးဆိုသည်မှာ အစိုးရထိန်းချုပ်ထားသော ဒေသများသို့ ပြန်ပို့ခြင်းဖြစ်ပြီး ဒုက္ခသည်အများစု၏ နေအိမ်များမှာ ကေအဲန်ယူ ထိန်းချုပ်နယ်မြေများတွင် ရှိသောကြောင့် အဆိုပါနည်းလမ်းကို လက်မခံလိုခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ မြန်မာသို့ နေရပ်ပြန်ရေးမှာ အလွန်ရှုပ်ထွေးသော ပြဿနာဖြစ်ပြီး ဒုက္ခသည်အချို့ကသာလျှင် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ မဟာမင်းကြီးရုံး ၏ နေရပ်ပြန်ပို့ရေး နည်းလမ်းဖြင့် ပြန်ကြသည်။ အချို့ဒုက္ခသည်များမှာ ကေအဲန်ယူ ထိန်းချုပ်နယ် မြေများသို့ ပြန်ရန် ရွေးချယ်သော်လည်း အဆိုပါလမ်းကြောင်းမှာလည်း စိန်ခေါ်မှုများ သောလမ်းကြောင်းဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကျွန်တော်လင်းပါမည်။ ကျွန်တော်သုတေသနလုပ်စဥ်တွင် နယ်စပ်ဒေသရှိ ရွာအတော်များများသို့ ခရီးထွက်ခွင့်ရခဲ့သကဲ့သို့ ကရင်ပြည်နယ်ရှိ ကေအဲန်ယူ ထိန်းချုပ်နယ်မြေသို့ ပြန်ရန် ရွေးချယ်ခဲ့သည့် ဒုက္ခသည်များစွာနှင့် လည်း တွေ့ခွင့်ရခဲ့သည်။ အများစု ပြန်ကြသည့် အကြောင်းရင်းသည် ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းများမှတဆင့် ၎င်းတို့ထံပေးပို့သည့် အကူညီများ လျော့ကျသွားခြင်းကြောင့်ဖြစ်သည်။ ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံ၏ မူဝါဒ စည်းမျဥ်းစည်းကမ်းများအရ ဒုက္ခသည်များသည် ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းမှ တရားဝင်ထွက်ခွာ၍ မရပေ။ ၎င်းတို့အနေဖြင့် အကူညီများ တောင်းခံရန်နှင့် ပိုလွတ်လပ်စွာ လှုပ်ရှားသွားလာခွင့် တောင်းခံရန် တရား၀င် လမ်းကြောင်းများမရှိဘဲ နှုတ်ဆိတ်နေရသည်။ သို့ ဖြစ်၍ ရန်ပုံငွေ အရေအတွက်နှင့် ရန်ပုံငွေပေးသည့် အမျိုးအစားများ လျော့နည်းလာသည့်အခါ ၎င်းတို့အပေါ် တိုက်ရိုက်သက်ရောက်စေသည်။ ကျွန်တော့် အင်တာဗျူးတွင် ဖြေဆိုခဲ့သူအချို့က ရန်ပုံငွေလျော့ကျခြင်းကြောင့် ၎င်းတို့လိုအပ်သည့် အခြေခံ လိုအပ်ချက်လေးမျိုးဖြစ်သော အဝတ်အစား၊ စားနပ်ရိက္ခာ၊ နေရာထိုင်ခင်းနှင့် ဆေးဝါးများ မရရှိကြောင်း ပြောဆိုကြသည်။ နေရပ်ပြန်ရေးနှင့်ပတ်သတ်၍ ဒုက္ခသည်များ မည်သို့စဥ်းစားသနည်း ကရင်ဒုက္ခသည်တဦးဖြစ်သူ နော်ဆူပိုး (အမည်လွှဲ) သည် မကြာမီက မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင်း အစိုးရ ထိန်းချုပ် သည့် နေရာတခုမဟုတ်သည့် ဒေသသို့ ပြန်ရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ခဲ့သည် ။ သူမသည် ကေအဲန်ယူ ထိန်းချုပ်နေရာသို့ သွားရန် ရွေးချယ်ခဲ့သည်။ ကျွန်တော့် သီးစစ် စာတမ်းအတွက် ဒေတာ အချက်လက်များ ကောက်ယူနေစဥ်က သူမနှင့် သူမ၏ မိသားစုတို့နှင့်အတူ နေ့လည်စာစားရန် ဖိတ်ကြားပြီးနောက် သူမ၏ စခန်းမှထွက်ခွာသည့် အတွေ့ အကြုံကို ပြောပြခဲ့သည်။ နော်ဆူပိုး ၏ ဝါးအိမ်လေးမှာ ရိုးရိုးရှင်းရှင်းဖြစ်သည်။ သူမ စကားပြောသည့်အခါ သမီးနှစ်ယောက်မှာ သူမ၏ အမျိုးသားဘေးတွင် ထိုင်နေသည်။ သူမသည် မူလအစက ကရင်အမျိုးသား လွတ်မြောက်ရေး တပ်မတော် (KNLA) တပ်မဟာ ၆ နယ်မြေမှ ဖြစ်သည်။ ၎င်းတို့ ရွာတွင် တိုက်ပွဲများ ဖြစ်ပွားသဖြင့် မိသားစုနှင့် အတူ ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံသို့ ဖြတ်ကျော်ဝင်ရောက်ခဲ့သည်။ ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းများတွင် ၁၅ နှစ်မျှ နေထိုင်ပြီးနောက် စခန်းသို့ ပို့သည့် စားနပ်ရိက္ခာအကူညီများ သိသိသာသာ လျော့နည်းလာခဲ့သည်။ နော်ဆူပိုးက “ကျွန်မတို့ ချက်ပြုတ်စားသောက်ဖို့ သစ်သား၊ ဝါး ရှာမရလို့ မီးတောင်မွှေးလို့မရခဲ့ဘူး။ ကျွန်မတို့နေ့စဥ်ဘဝက ဆင်းရဲမွဲတေမှုတွေနဲ့ ရင်ဆိုင်ရတယ်။ ထင်းခြောက်ရှာဖို့လေးကို ကျွန်မတို့ စခန်းကနေ ပုန်းလျှိုးကွယ်လျှိုး ထွက်ခဲ့ရတယ်။ ဒါကြောင့် ကျွန်မ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံကို ပြန်ဖို့ဆုံးဖြတ်ခဲ့တာ” ဟု ကျွန်တော့်ကို ပြောပြပါသည်။ အသက်အများကြီးပိုကြီးသည့် ဦးလေး တီးဝါး (အမည်လွှဲ) က အချို့ ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် ကေအဲန်ယူ ထိန်းချုပ်ရာ နယ်မြေသို့ ပြန်ရန် ဘာကြောင့်ပိုလိုလားသည် ဆိုသည့် သူ့အမြင်ကိုပြောပြသည်။ ကေအဲန်ယူထိန်းချုပ် နယ်မြေရှိ ဝမှီးအေး (အမည်လွှဲ) ရွာတွင် ကျွန်တော်သူ့ကိုတွေ့ခဲ့သည်။ ထိုနေ့က ထိပ်ထူတဲ့ နေ့တနေ့ဖြစ်ပြီး အဖေ့ဆိုင်ကယ်အဟောင်းကို စီးလာခဲ့သည့်အတွက် ပြိုမလို မဲမှောင်ညှို့မှိုင်း နေသည့် ကောင်းကင်ကို ကျွန်တော်အကဲခတ် မောင်းနှင်လာခဲ့သည်။ လမ်းတလျှောက်တွင် လယ်သမားများ ပြောင်းမျိုးစေ့ချနေကြပြီး အညိုရောင်ကမ္ဘာမြေကြီးမှ ချောကလက်ကဲ့သို့ ပေါ်ထွက်လာသည့် မြင်ကွင်းအား ကြည့်ရင်း ကျွန်တော့် မျက်နှာပေါ် ရိုက်ခတ်လာသည့်လေကို သဘောကျနေခဲ့သည်။ ဝမှီးအေးရွာသို့ ကျွန်တော်ရောက်သည့်အခါ ဦးလေး တီး၀ါးနှင့် မတွေ့ခင် လူအများကြီးနှင့် ကျွန်တော် စကားလက်ဆုံကျသည်။ ၎င်းတို့ ကေအဲန်ယူ နယ်မြေတွင် နေထိုင်ရန် ရွေးချယ်ခဲ့သည်မှာ တပ်မတော်၏ သိမ်းပိုက်မှုများစွာ ကြုံတွေ့ခဲ့ ရသောကြောင့် ဖြစ်သည်။ ယနေ့ထိတိုင်တွေ့ကြုံနေရသေးသည်။ ၎င်းတို့သည် အာဏာပိုင်များအပေါ် သံသယရှိနေပြီး ၎င်းတို့၏ ရှုထောင့်မှာ “ကိုယ့်အခွင့်ရေး ရပိုင်ခွင့်အတွက် တိုက်တာကို ကိုယ့်အိမ်ကနေအတင်းကျပ် ဖယ်ထုတ်ခံရပြီး အဲ့လိုတိုက်ခိုက်ဖယ်ထုတ်ခဲ့တဲ့ သူတွေက မင်းပြန်လာလို့ ရပါတယ်လို့ တနေ့ပြောလာရင် မင်းယုံမလား။ မြန်မာ့နိုင်ငံရေးနဲ့ အခြေနေ တွေဟာ ပြောင်းလဲခဲ့ပြီလို့ ထင်ရတယ်၊ ဒါပေမယ့် အာဏာပိုင်အသစ်တွေကို မင်းယုံမလား” ဟူ၍ ဖြစ်သည်။ “မြန်မာအစိုးရက ဒုက္ခသည်တွေကို လက်ခံချင်တယ်လို့ ပြသဖို့ ကြိုးစားနေပေမယ့် သူတို့ကို ငါတို့ ယုံကြည်လိုက်လို့ မဖြစ်ဘူး” ဟု ဦးလေး တီးဝါးက ဘွင်းဘွင်းပဲ ဆိုပါသည်။ “ဆိတ်ခေါင်းချိတ် ပြီး ဝက်သားရောင်းနေတာ” ဟု ပုံပမာခိုင်းနှိုင်း ပါသည်။ စျေးကြီးသည့် ဆိတ်သား ရောင်းနေဟန်ဖြင့် ဆိတ်ခေါင်းအား ဆိုင်ဦးခန်းတွင် ချိတ်ထားသော်လည်း အမှန်တကယ်မှာ ဝယ်သူများကို တ၀က်စျေး သာရှိသော စျေးပေါသည့် ဝက်သားများကို ဆိတ်သားစျေးဖြင့် လိမ်ညာ ရောင်းချနေခြင်းသာ ဖြစ်သည်ဟု သူဆိုလိုခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ ဦးလေးတီးဝါးအနေဖြင့် ကျန်ရှိသည့်သူ့ဘဝအား “မဖြုန်းတီး” လို၍ ဝမှီးအေးရွာသို့ ပြောင်းရွှေ့ရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ခဲ့ခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ သူသည် အသက်ကြီးလာပြီ ဖြစ်၍ နေထိုင်ရန် အချိန်သိပ်မကျန်တော့သည့် သူ့ အတွက် သူ့ဘဝအား ဒုက္ခပင်လယ်ဝေစေခဲ့သော၊ ဒဏ်ရာပေးခဲ့သော သူများကို မယုံကြည်တော့ဟု ပြောပြ သည်။ မြန်မာ အာဏာပိုင်များနှင့် ပတ်သတ်ရသည်မှာ အချိန်ဖြုန်းတီးခြင်းသာဖြစ်သည်။ “ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်း မှာထက်စာရင် ဒီနေရာကို ပိုလာချင်ကြတယ်။ ဒုက္ခသည်စခန်းမှာ အကူညီတွေလျော့၊ အလုပ်တွေလည်း ရှာမရဘဲ အခြေနေတွေက အရမ်းဆိုးနေတယ်။ ဦးလေးကအသက်ကြီးလာပြီလေ ၊ ဦးလေးဖျားရင် ဘယ်သူမှ ဦးစားပေး အလုပ်ပေး မှာမဟုတ်ဘူး” ဟု ဦးလေးတီးဝါးက ပြောသည်။ ဦးလေးတီးဝါး၏ အတွေ့ကြုံများက ဒုက္ခသည်များ၏ခံစားချက်များကို ၎င်းတို့၏စိတ်ဒဏ်ရာများ၊ မမေ့နိုင်စရာ မှတ်ဥာဏ်များက မည်မျှစိုးမိုးနေသည်ကို ပြသသည်။ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့ စစ်တပ်အာဏာသိမ်း မှုပြီး အခြေနေများကို ကြည့်ပါက တပ်မတော်နှင့် KNLA ကဲ့သို့သော တိုင်းရင်းသား လက်နက်ကိုင် အဖွဲ့များနှင့် တိုက်ပွဲများအတိုင်းတာတခုရှိနေသေးသည် ကိုတွေ့နိုင်သည်။ အဆိုပါအခြေနေက “ဒုက္ခသည်များ အမှန်တကယ် အိမ်ပြန်နိုင်ပြီလား” ဆိုသည့် မေးစရာဖြစ်လာသည်။ ထိုင်း-မြန်မာနယ်စပ်တွင် လူသားချင်းစာနာထောက်ထားမှုဆိုင်ရာ အကျပ်တည်းစတင်ကတည်းမှ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ မဟာမင်းကြီးရုံးနှင့် ထိုင်းအာဏာပိုင်တို့ အားပေးဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့သည့် အပေါ်မှမူချမှတ် ဆောင်ရွက်သည့် နည်းလမ်းများအား ပြန်လည်စဥ်းစားသုံးသပ်ရန်လိုပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ ဖြေရှင်းသည့် နည်းလမ်းများက ဒုက္ခသည်များ၏ အနာဂတ် ဘဝအပေါ်တိုက်ရိုက်သက်ရောက်မည် ဖြစ်သည်။ အာဏာပိုင်များအားလုံး မည်သည့်ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်မှ မချမှတ် မဆုံးဖြတ်ခင် ဒုက္ခသည်များ၏ အသံများနှင့် စိတ်ကူးများကို ထည့်သွင်း စဥ်းစား၍ ၎င်းတို့အတွက် အမှန်တကယ်အကျိုးရှိ ရေရှည်အထောက်ကူဖြစ်မည့် ဖြေရှင်းနည်းများကို ဖန်တီးဖော်ထုတ်ကြရန်လိုအပ်ပါသည်။ ကိုးကား Kasetsiri, C. (2001). Burma: History and Politics [ဗမာနိုင်ငံ – သမိုင်းနှင့်နိုင်ငံရေး]. The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Sciences and Humanities Textbooks Projects. Trichote, P. (2004). The Policy of Burma Repatriation from Thailand Research Project [ထိုင်းမှ ဗမာသို့ နေရပ်ပြန်ရေးမူဝါဒ သုတေသန စီမံကိန်း]. Institute of Asian Studies. Chulalongkorn University. Vaddhanaphuti, C. & Sitthikriengkrai, M. (2016). The Alternative of Policy to Solving the problem of refugees in temporary shelters [ယာယီခိုလှုံရာနေရာများရှိ ဒုက္ခသည်များ၏ ပြဿနာ အဖြေရှာ‌ ရေး အခြားမူဝါဒသစ်]. National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. Aryuwat Raruen သည် ချင်းမိုင်တက္ကသိုလ် (CMU) ၏ တိုင်းရင်းသားလူမျိုးရေးနှင့် ဖွံ့ ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေး အစီစဥ်မှ ပညာရေးဘွဲ့ရကျောင်းသားတဦးဖြစ်သည်။ သူသည် ဒုက္ခသည်များအရေး၊ တိုင်းရင်းသား လူမျိုးအရေး၊ ရွှေ့ပြောင်းနေထိုင်သူများ နှင့် နယ်စပ်ဒေသအရေးများကို စိတ်ဝင်စားသည်။ လက်ရှိတွင် သူသည် ထိုင်းနိုင်ငံ တတ်ခရိုင် မဲဆောက်မြို့ရှိ ဒုက္ခသည်များအတွက် ညှိနှိုင်းရေးမှုးအဖြစ်လည်းကောင်း ရွှေ့ပြောင်းနေထိုင်သူများအတွက် ကျောင်းတွက် ဆရာတဦး အဖြစ် လည်းကောင်း ဆောင်ရွက်နေသည်။ ယခုဆောင်းပါးသည် ယခုနှစ်ကုန်ပိုင်းတွင် ထုတ်ဝေမည့် Moving Around Myanmar: Migration In, From and Back [မြန်မာပြည်အနှံ့ ရွေ့လျားသွားလာခြင်း။ ။ မြန်မာပြည်ထဲ၊ မြန်မာပြည်မှ နှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သို့ ] (ချင်းမိုင်တက္ကသိုလ်မှ ပုံနှိပ်ထုတ်‌ဝေမှု) စာအုပ်တွင် သူပါ၀င်ရေးသားခဲ့သည့်အခန်း တခန်းပေါ် အခြေခံသည်။ ယခုပို့စ်အား လက်ဘက်ရည်ဝိုင်း ဘာသာပြန်အဖွဲ့မှ ပြန်ဆိုသည်။.."
Source/publisher: "Tea Circle" (Myanmar)
2021-09-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Ethnic-army commanders confess to Fortify Rights on massacre of 25 men, deny wrongdoing
Description: "International justice mechanisms should investigate the recent Karen National Defence Organization (KNDO)-led massacre of 25 unarmed men in Karen State, said Fortify Rights today. Two senior commanders of the KNDO—General Ner Dah Bo Mya and Lieutenant Saw Ba Wah—confessed to Fortify Rights that soldiers under their command and control detained and subsequently murdered 25 unarmed men in plainclothes on June 1, 2021. Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya denied any wrongdoing, claimed the victims were Myanmar Army “spies” and said his soldiers “had to finish them up, otherwise they try to run away during the fighting and then they [would] come back, and it would be very bad for us.” Senior leadership of the Karen National Union (KNU)—the political wing controlling the KNDO­—confirmed to Fortify Rights on August 11 that they would cooperate with international investigators and share evidence related to the KNDO massacre and other atrocity crimes, including Myanmar-Army-led atrocities. The KNU committed to provide evidence to international accountability mechanisms, which should include the United Nations-mandated Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM). The KNU is simultaneously conducting its own investigation of the extrajudicial killings committed by the KNDO. KNU leadership told Fortify Rights this marks the first time they have agreed to cooperate directly with international investigators and international justice mechanisms. “This was a massacre, and it should be investigated and prosecuted,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. “The KNU is setting an important example in transparency, cooperation, and commitment to share evidence of atrocities with international justice mechanisms.” On May 31, the KNDO detained 47 people—31 men, six women, and ten children—in Kanele (also referred to as Ka Ne Lay or K’Neh Lay) village in Myawaddy Township, Karen State near the Thailand border. On June 1, the KNDO massacred 25 of the detainees—all men—and between June 1 and 9, released the rest, including six men and all 16 women and children. Fortify Rights interviewed KNDO Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya, KNDO Lieutenant Saw Ba Wah, two KNU officials, a representative of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)—the KNU’s other armed branch—a member of Karen civil society, and independent analysts about the June 1 massacre. Fortify Rights also reviewed and analyzed a mobile-phone video and photographs and, on August 11, met senior leaders of the KNU. On June 11 and 12, the Myanmar junta reportedly discovered the bodies of the 25 men, some of whom reportedly had their hands tied behind their backs. Junta-run media Global New Light of Myanmar claimed the victims were engineers and road workers. During an English-language interview with Fortify Rights on July 12, KNDO commander Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya said: “The people who were killed were Burmese military intelligence, and they are working on the road constructions [sic], and they [would get] all the information and pass over the information to their outpost leader near the construction.” Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya told Fortify Rights the KNDO had been monitoring the men: [B]efore the arrest, we sent our intelligence, and also we know about the whole situation of what they [were] trying to do. Mostly, military engineer teams are mostly military intelligence. They are not supposed to do military construction in Karen State, especially in close to our military base camp, and they have drones. They have the equipment. They were spying on us every night before the arrest took place. When asked if the victims were armed, Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya said: “No, they didn’t have weapons, but they [are] always connected to the military outpost in Kanele.” Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya confirmed that his soldiers asked him what they should do with the 25 men that they had detained. He told Fortify Rights that he instructed the soldiers: “‘Do what you can. Whatever you can do, you know, over there.’” He later added: “We just told them whatever is suitable that you think, because we are not in the area. Whatever is suitable, then whatever is appropriate. I think they did the right thing.” “This is something [that] happens in a war zone,” he continued. “You have to understand this stuff [is] what happens in a war zone.” Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya added: It’s not normal to kill prisoners of war. We never kill prisoners of war—only the intelligence spy. The Burmese, also, when they arrest the intelligence and spies, they kill them right away . . . The same as the enemy, you know? When we capture them, we kill them. Even during the Second World War, when they capture spies, they kill them . . . Military spies, intelligence, and prisoners of war are totally different. You got to know about this stuff . . . And also, the incident happened during the fighting, not during the calm-like period. During the fighting, they were shelling at the same time. They were captured, but they would try to run away when the ground troops tried [to] move close to us. Twenty-five [men were killed]. They were buried, and then the Burmese took [them] out. The Burmese soldiers got into the area, [and] they took [them] out . . . They dug them out [of the graves]. Describing the tactics of his soldiers, Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya told Fortify Rights: “They didn’t kill them brutally. They shot and killed [them]. [They did] not hit them with a stick or anything. This is something that happens in a war zone. You have to understand.” Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya confirmed to Fortify Rights that KNDO Lieutenant Saw Ba Wah was the operations commander directing the forces who killed the 25 unarmed men. On July 27, with Karen to English-language interpretation and, at times, directly in English, Lt. Saw Ba Wah told Fortify Rights: Before we killed them, we asked them questions. We asked them questions and who they are and what they are doing . . . They responded [to] us [that] they are from the [Myanmar military] base . . . From, like, [the] general headquarters. They are not civilians. We got their rank. We got their uniform, the helmet, the rank, uniform, and remote control, drone remote control. Describing the killing in detail, Lt. Saw Ba Wah said: “We killed them in our farm or field and gathered them and left them in groups . . . [We did] not [kill them] one by one. We killed them all at the same time . . . We tied them. We tied them to their hands with rope.” When asked by Fortify Rights who gave the order to kill the men, Lt. Saw Ba Wah said he received orders from the KNU: I was in the headquarter office, and [the KNU] just told me: “You have to do it because you don’t have any other option. If you don’t [kill] them, then they will [kill] us, since [the Myanmar Army] are close to you. So, if you want, do it. There is no place and food to feed them.” Lt. Saw Ba Wah said that he received orders from the “captain of intelligence” at the KNU “to do what we must do,” and he provided Fortify Rights with the official’s name. According to Lt. Saw Ba Wah, the KNU is investigating that person and his role in the massacre and has yet to suspend him from his duties. His name is on file with Fortify Rights. In a public statement on June 16, the KNU committed to investigate the massacre, saying the KNU “follows the provisions of the Geneva Convention” and “will conduct an investigation to take action on this incident in accordance with KNU’s rules and regulations.” Throughout the months of August and July, Fortify Rights engaged KNU representatives about the investigation and killing. On August 11, Fortify Rights spoke with senior KNU Central Executive Committee officials who confirmed the organization’s readiness to cooperate with international accountability mechanisms on this case, as well as on other atrocity crimes, including Myanmar-Army-led atrocities. On July 16 and 30, Fortify Rights also spoke with the investigation commission of the KNU Central Executive Committee and on July 13 with a representative from the KNU’s foreign affairs office. On July 30, a lead member of the investigation commission of the KNU Central Executive Committee told Fortify Rights in a communication that the KNU is investigating the killings, adding: the “committee’s goal is [to] try to investigate the truth about what really happened. And then, we’ll report to the leaders [of the KNU].” Earlier, on June 30, a KNU representative spoke to Fortify Rights about the investigation, saying: “[W]e have a deep commitment to the [Geneva] Conventions. Even though [Myanmar military personnel] are our enemy, we should treat them as humans . . . We recognize and respect [international] humanitarian law.” On July 9, the KNU committee leading the investigation said it “suspended temporarily” the KNDO commanders Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya and Lt. Saw Ba Wah. On July 11, Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya released a statement rejecting the suspension. When asked about the KNU investigation, Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya told Fortify Rights: “We cannot comply [with the KNU investigation], because this [is] not the right approach . . . Because before these kinds of things happen, we should have [a] discussion.” On July 22, in a statement, the Karen Human Rights Group—a Karen-led human rights organization—said it “strongly condemns this mass killing” and called on the KNU to conduct an “impartial investigation.” On the same day, the Legal Aid Network—an independent organization based in Kachin State, Myanmar—published a five-page briefing, calling on all stakeholders including KNDO to “ensure respect for, and comply with, the Geneva Convention.” In June, junta-led media published the identities of those the KNDO had detained on May 31 in Kanele village. The list identified the names, ages, and home townships of the 25 victims of the massacre, aged 18 to 52, including also the six men and 16 women and children whom they released between June 1 and 9. Fortify Rights reviewed and translated the list into English. Since the February 1 attempted coup, the Myanmar junta air force has bombed and strafed KNU-controlled towns and villages, displacing more than 100,000 civilians in Karen State, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Armed conflict between the KNU and the Myanmar military began in 1949, making the situation in Karen State the world’s longest-running civil war. The Myanmar military has perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians in Karen State with impunity for decades. “There would be tremendous value in the KNU cooperating with international investigators to prosecute atrocities,” said Matthew Smith. “The KNU is in a position to help secure justice not only in the case of these recent killings but also regarding the Myanmar military’s crimes against Karen civilians over many years. We encouraged the KNU to do everything in its power to secure justice, and its leadership committed to do so.” In September 2018, the U.N. Human Rights Council established the IIMM to “collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011.” As Myanmar’s civil wars intensify, it is critical that all parties to the many armed conflicts are cognizant of their international legal obligations, said Fortify Rights. Human rights law and the laws of war protect against the summary execution of spies and unarmed combatants in situations of wartime detention. Common Article 3 of the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, which applies in situations of non-international armed conflict and to state and non-state actors alike, protects “members of armed forces who have laid down their arms” and those no longer playing an active part in the hostilities by reason of injury, detention, or other cause. International law also prohibits torture, murder, and mutilation. Violations of Common Article 3 constitute war crimes and therefore incur individual criminal responsibility under international humanitarian law. Moreover, under international law, those suspected of directly perpetrating war crimes, as well as their commanders and other superiors, can be held criminally responsible under various modes of liability. Customary international humanitarian law—i.e., the laws of war that bind all state and non-state actors engaged in armed conflicts—demands that commanders and other superiors are criminally responsible for war crimes committed by their subordinates. The International Committee of the Red Cross (“ICRC”), widely viewed as an authority on the content and interpretation of customary international humanitarian law, has confirmed that “State practice establishes this rule as a norm of customary international law applicable in both international and non-international armed conflicts.” According to the ICRC, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is one of the principal sources to inform this customary international legal obligation. Article 28 (a) of the Rome Statute establishes criminal liability for “a military commander or person effectively acting as a military commander” when international crimes take place “by forces under his or her effective command and control” or “as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such forces.” Further, a commander must have known or should have known about the crimes and “failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power” to prevent, repress, or report the crimes for criminal liability to be established. As Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya and Lt. Saw Ba Wah confessed, the KNDO detained and then killed-in-detention 25 men on June 1, 2021, whom they suspected of being Myanmar military spies. Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya and Lt. Saw Ba Wah confirmed that the victims were unarmed, in plainclothes, and detained by KNDO forces when they were summarily executed. Lt. Saw Ba Wah confirmed the KNDO summarily executed the victims simultaneously in an assemblage setting and with their hands tied. The acts described by Gen. Ner Dah Bo Mya and Lt. Saw Ba Wah amount to war crimes, said Fortify Rights. Individuals in the KNDO and KNU command structure implicated in these incidents should be identified, investigated, and prosecuted in line with international standards. On June 17, the U.N. in Myanmar said in a statement in relation to murders by the KNDO that those responsible for human rights violations should be “held accountable, including the perpetrators and their chain of command.” “The Myanmar military has perpetrated mass atrocity crimes for decades with impunity but that does not give any other party in the country the right to do the same,” said Matthew Smith. “Impunity must end wherever it rears its head.”..."
Source/publisher: "Fortify Rights"
2021-08-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-08-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "1. Indiscriminate shelling by SAC forces in Bilin Township:On April 4th 2021, Border Guard Force (BGF)[2] [and State Administration Council - SAC] soldiers[3] [from Lay Kay SAC army camp] indiscriminately fired mortar rounds at Lay Kay village, Lay Kay village, P’Ya Raw village tract,[4] Bilin Township, destroying one farm hut belonging to a local villager. Fortunately, the owner was not inside the hut on the night of the incident. [Another civilian building was also damaged.].....2. Fighting breaks out during a protest in support of the NUG in Thaton Township: On April 23rd 2021, at around 8 am, fighting broke out between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[5] and an unknown SAC unit from Thaton army camp. The incident happened on the highway between Thaton town and Yangon town, beside Kaung Kyet shop, Thaton Town, Thaton Township. On that day, local civilians were holding a protest in support of the National Unity Government (NUG)[6] under the protection of KNLA soldiers. However, fighting broke out after SAC soldiers arrived at the protest location.....3. Indiscriminate shelling by SAC forces in Bilin Township: On April 23rd 2021, the SAC Artillery Unit #314 based in Htee Hpoe Nya Lee Hkee army camp, near Kyaw T’Raw village, Shway Yaw Pya village tract, Bilin Township indiscriminately fired mortar rounds at nearby villages such as Ma Yan Gone, Mi Chyaung Aaing and Htee Nya Paw, among others. Since April 23rd 2021, Artillery Unit #314 has been regularly firing artillery rounds at local communities, especially those located in areas controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU).[7] These rounds are bigger and have a longer range than 120mm mortar rounds. The platform they are fired from must be moved by truck. The SAC artillery rounds landed in villages such as T’Rer Hkee, T’Rer Wah, Yo Poe and Htee Poo Wah [among others], T’Rer Hkee village tract. As a result of the SAC indiscriminate shelling, one Ma Yan Gone villager, Saw[8] T---, sustained a shrapnel injury to his leg. Many plantations local villagers rely on for their livelihoods have also been damaged, and no compensation was provided to their owners. Moreover, about 3,000 villagers from the areas affected have been fleeing their villages since April 27th. The only villagers who still remain in the area [hiding in the forest near their villages] are the villagers who do not have relatives in towns or in other places.....4. Villager killed in crossfire after being forced to transport SAC soldiers: On April 23rd 2021, an unidentified villager from Myaink Teh Su section, Kyeik Kaw Thein Seik town, died during a skirmish between the KNLA and SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[9] #406, Military Operations Command (MOC)[10] #8 [under the authority of Battalion Commander Kyaw Yaw Hla] beside the vehicle road near Chaw Bee Na and Kaw Ler villages, Kaw Ler village tract, Thaton Township. Before the incident, the victim was delivering bricks to Noh Htoe Day village, Maw Lay village tract. He encountered SAC LIB #406 soldiers from T’La Aww Poe Klah army camp on his way back from Noh Htoe Day village. The soldiers forced him to stop and to take them on his truck to an unknown location, so he could not refuse this order. Unfortunately, [the truck was ambushed by] KNLA [soldiers] along the way. The driver was killed during the ensuing skirmish. Some SAC soldiers were also killed, and others got injured. Local villagers think that these LIB #406 soldiers were on their way to help the SAC troops involved in the fighting in Thaton town [see Section 2].....5. BGF activities in Bilin Township: Most of the SAC military operations between Ta Paw army camp, Ta Paw village tract and Lay Kay army camps, P’Ya Raw village tract, Bilin Township are conducted by the BGF. [According to information received by KHRG, BGF soldiers make up around 90% of the SAC forces in the area.] Between April 27th and May 3rd 2021, BGF Battalion #1014 led by Bo[11] Tin Way and Battalion Commander Bo Maung Chit sent about 200 soldiers to Doo Tha Htoo District. Local villagers do not know where these soldiers are from and they claim that they were sent to relieve the troops based in Ta Paw and Lay Kay army camps. On April 29th 2021, fighting between the KNLA and BGF broke out when these BGF soldiers arrived at Baw Ta Pro village. The soldiers then crossed the Baw Naw Kloe River at Ha Ta Reh Place[12] and headed towards Ta Paw army camp, Ta Paw village tract, Bilin Township. They reached the camp on May 1st 2021. While staying at the camp, the BGF indiscriminately fired mortar rounds at nearby villages, destroying one farm hut belonging to a Ta Paw villager on May 1st 2021. The BGF troops spent the night at the camp before continuing their journey towards Lay Kay army camp on May 2nd. They always fired mortar rounds indiscriminately when arriving and leaving their camps to clear the road [and surrounding areas of KNLA soldiers]. On May 3rd and 4th 2021, the BGF in Lay Kay army camp fired mortar rounds at nearby villages. At least five of these rounds did not explode. One house was damaged and one villager sustained injuries as a result of the shelling. In addition, Saw Z---, a Lay Kay villager, also sustained a shrapnel injury on May 3rd and his car’s windows were damaged. In the afternoon of May 3rd 2021, BGF soldiers ordered Lay Kay villagers to provide four trucks for their soldiers’ return to Ta Paw army camp, but the villagers could only provide three trucks. [The truck owners had to drive the BGF soldiers back to Ta Paw army camp.] KHRG does not know whether these villagers received payment. Even though the truck owners were afraid and did not feel safe, they had to take the soldiers back to their camp nonetheless. Local civilians do not know where the BGF troops went after that. Some BGF soldiers who used to be based in Lay Kay army camp remained there after the new troops arrived, so villagers assume that the BGF sent reinforcements instead of just relieving their troops this time. According to a KHRG researcher, several skirmishes broke out while the BGF was sending more soldiers to relieve its troops based in the area because local villagers could hear gunfire every day. However, the KHRG researcher and local villagers could not tell whether it was the sound of fighting or indiscriminate shelling. The fighting paused after the BGF troops [that were relieved] returned to their area of origin in early May 2021. However, fighting is still on-going along the border between District 5 [Mu Traw] and District 1 [Doo Tha Htoo]. Moreover, from April 27th to May 18th 2021, SAC helicopters also conducted a couple of reconnaissance missions over Bilin and Thaton townships..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
2021-6-18
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Introduction: This situation update describes the Tatmadaw[2] activities in Lu Thaw Township, Mu Traw District between December 2020 and February 2021. It includes indiscriminate mortar shelling by Tatmadaw soldiers and displacement. In addition, this situation update highlights the situation of local villagers during the COVID-19 pandemic; and the living conditions displaced people face.....Protest: On December 30th 2020, 3,982 villagers from Lu Thaw Township held a protest to call on Tatmadaw soldiers to withdraw from the area. The protest was held in T--- village, Naw Yoh Hta village tract.[3] The protestors came from multiple village tracts: Hkay Poo, Naw Yoh Hta, Ler Muh Plaw and Saw Muh Plaw.....COVID-19 pandemic: COVID-19 travel restrictions have resulted in difficulties for the villagers, notably when it comes to travelling, trading and buying or selling [inability to buy food and other household items, to sell their harvest, etc.]. However, local authorities allowed villagers to travel to buy food three days a month. The travel restrictions were put in place to prevent COVID-19 from reaching the local villages. The most common diseases that affect local villagers are malaria, runny nose, bloating, stomachache, diarrhea, joint pain and age-related sight issues. Furthermore, medicine and food supplies are running out because of the travel restrictions.....Education: Many students were not able to attend school due to the COVID-19 pandemic [government schools were closed]. It was not easy for the students to move from [government] schools to [Karen Education and Culture Department - KECD][4] schools [some parents decided to enroll their children in KECD schools as they generally remained open throughout the pandemic]. There were not enough school materials and teachers in [KECD] schools [to accommodate these additional students]. It has also been difficult to hold meetings and communicate since the military coup[5] [because the junta has disrupted telecommunications].....Tatmadaw activities: On January 1st 2021, a group of Tatmadaw soldiers based in Lu Thaw Township, fired mortar rounds at villages and farming areas [KHRG was not able to establish the exact location]. Local villagers were concerned and afraid, which prompted them to flee from their villages. They thought this situation was unfair, as it made them understand that genuine peace had yet to be achieved. This shows that the political situation in our area is not clear [stable], and that nothing is guaranteed. These kinds of incidents threaten our security. Local villagers in Lu Thaw Township do not want this kind of situations to happen. They want the [Karen National Union - KNU][6] leaders to prevent any further conflict. There are more and more Tatmadaw soldiers in their army camps in Lu Thaw Township, and they patrol with their mortars. That makes life difficult for local villagers and threatens their security. It is really necessary that the leaders pressure the Tatmadaw soldiers to withdraw from their bases in Lu Thaw Township. The Tatmadaw is operating drones in Lu Thaw Township and spying on the localities there. They must put an end to these activities. Villagers need assistance from the leaders to prevent such things from happening..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
2021-06-18
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "In the aftermath of the November general election the intense fighting between the national armed forces (Tatmadaw) and the Arakan Army came to an unexpected halt. Since the February coup of the State Administration Council, the situation has remained delicately poised. Political sentiment is very high. But Rakhine nationalism is presently on a different cycle to political movements in other parts of the country. In this commentary Kyaw Lynn outlines why the coming months will remain a time of high tension and uncertainty in Arakan politics. When political analysts in Myanmar and beyond discuss the role of ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) in the struggle against the military coup in February, the Arakan Army (AA) becomes one of the key political forces in shaping their dialogue and perceptions. The AA, the military wing of the United League of Arakan (ULA), is the only armed group that can challenge the power of the national armed forces (Tatmadaw) on Myanmar’s western frontiers. This became especially evident during the 2018-20 period when the ULA-AA demonstrated its sharp resistance against the power of the centralised Myanmar state. Behind the ULA rise, there were three key features: popular support among the Rakhine population, well-trained soldiers, and a younger leadership that read the evolving mood and political situation in the country perceptively well. Since the February coup of the State Administration Council (SAC), the situation has begun to change. Many searching questions are being asked, a challenge that is facing communities in every part of the country. In particular, intense fighting between the Tatmadaw and AA came to an unexpected halt in the aftermath of the November general election when voting was cancelled in a majority of townships in Rakhine State (Arakan). As the history books will show, this cessation in hostilities was three months in advance of the military takeover, causing many people to question the political stand of the ULA in the current crisis. Indeed some have even accused the ULA-AA of cooperating with the military SAC in seeking to control civil society and pro-democracy political movements in Rakhine State and adjoining territories in Chin State. It is important to stress, then, that the crisis is hardly black and white, and there are many local complexities with their roots in Arakan politics and Myanmar history. From what many would regard as a “realist perspective” among local leaders, the present military coup represents more of a clash and division between the central powers among the ethnic Bamar-majority in the country: in this case, between the armed forces of the Tatmadaw and National League for Democracy (NLD). In the post-coup context, some analysts believe that the political instability in central Myanmar (Burma Proper) will provide greater leverage for the ULA-AA to advance its “Way of Rakhita” philosophy in order to achieve its “Arakan Dream”. Many cautions nevertheless remain, and it is incorrect to argue that the ULA-AA is simply practising a policy of isolationism and neutralism while it waits to see how the current crisis unfolds. The situation is highly fraught, with new challenges emerging every day. The present unilateral ceasefires are informal; AA soldiers are participating in fighting against the Tatmadaw with EAO allies in other parts of the country; and, at the same time, ULA leaders have refrained from participating in the National Unity Government (NUG), formed by NLD MPs-elect and other anti-SAC actors to challenge the legitimacy of the SAC. In a complex and fast-changing landscape, few of the political choices are easy. There is also a further reason to consider why the ULA-AA may wish to abstain from the current political turmoil: the membership of the electoral Arakan National Party (ANP), which has won a majority of votes in the past two elections, in the SAC. For the present, the ULA-AA leadership has not made any remark on this issue publicly. But for the majority Rakhine population this is a very controversial issue. First, the ANP’s membership in the military council is different from that of participation in – or cooperation with – a coalition government after a general election. This is because the votes that the public gave in the polls are taken away as a consequence of the military coup. Thus it is very difficult to say that the ANP is a member of the council with the mandate of the Rakhine State electorate. And second, it is clear that ANP participation in the military council will not imminently bring about the political autonomy and economic self-development that Arakan’s peoples have long desired. Instead, if the unilateral ceasefires break down and human rights violations recur due to a resumption of conflict, ANP membership of the SAC will be challenged by a majority among the Rakhine population. In short, ANP participation in the SAC will not reflect the will of the ULA-AA but also the Rakhine public and other nationality groups in the state. The situation is delicately poised. As in other parts of the country, the coming months will remain a time of high tension and uncertainty in Arakan politics. The Way of Rakhita and the Arakan Dream The “Way of Rakhita” means to complete the end-goal of the “Arakan Dream”. In linguistic terms, it is difficult to agree a common and exact definition on these two concepts. But the general understanding is that the way of Rakhita – the Arakanese way or action of the Arakanese – signifies the achievement of a long-held political vision in Arakan: the restoration of Arakan sovereignty that was taken away, by conquest, with the ending of the Mrauk-U era in the 18th century. Equally important, both the Way of Rakhita and Arakan Dream are intended to be more inclusive for all ethnic and religious groups in Arakan compared to a more conservative Rakhine tradition in which ethno-nationalism is regarded the key to political autonomy. It needs to be added, too, that the emergence of ULA-AA movement in Arakan politics has caused the political motivation of a majority of people in Rakhine State to move more decisively towards supporting the demand for an autonomous Arakan state. Various nationalist movements have emerged to try and restore the political status of Arakan since the fall of Arakan Kingdom. But, during the following decades, none of those movements was able to bring the hope of success to the general population. Now, however, after two years of an intensification in armed struggle, it is not just the political elites but the general population who have become more confident in their calls for autonomy in Arakan. Presently, the Arakan political movement has reached its most prominent peak. This was recognised by the ULA-AA leader Gen. Twan Mrat Naing on the 12th anniversary of the part’s founding on 10 April 2021: “If we are to speak the reality, it can be clearly seen that it is our generation which is fighting effectively with the strongest leadership and unity among revolutionary movements since the fall of Arakan sovereignty in 1784. From this situation, let us endeavour to improve and continuously fight to achieve the highest destination with the devotion of both mental and physical strength.” Following these remarks, Twan Mrat Naing moved on to the questions of state building and nation building in Arakan. It is therefore interesting to look at these issues in relation to the modern-day Rakhine State. In general, it is difficult to identify the territory of Arakan based upon the “white”, “brown” or “black” colour categorisations in line with government definitions.* But it is now commonly said that that the majority of areas in northern Rakhine State, apart from urban Sittwe, are now under the influence of the ULA-AA, and the de facto administrative mechanisms are regulated on the basis of ULA-AA policies. This marks a significant change in the political landscape during the past five years, raising many questions about the potential course of events in the territory. According to Professor Redie Bereketeab, head of the “Conflict and State Building in the Horn of Africa” project, state building includes three main elements: institutionalization, bureaucratization and democratization. In definition, institutionalization refers to the enforcement of state authority over society through specifically-created political structures and organisations. Bureaucratization is associated with a process leading to a system of rule by administrative office. And democratization denotes the construction of institutions of divided power, providing the processes by which a system of democratic governance is set in motion. Out of these three processes, the first two are the most prominent tasks that ULA-AA authorities have been building up during the past two years. These include setting out an Arakan Authority, a judiciary system, local administrative structures and divisions (which are different from Myanmar government settings), and regulating taxation, health, education and other social issues. In term of legitimacy, however, it is hard to define ULA-AA administration as the legal-rational authority because it is mixed with other important elements, including charismatic leadership, nationalism and military-political performance. As a result, to move on to the next stage of democratization, the ULA-AA – as a revolutionary movement – still has many limitations, both at the individual level and in the division of power among leadership structures. Another main area of Twan Mrat Naing’s speech concerned nation building. Although there is no common definition, nation building is mostly defined as the task of constructing or structuring a national identity, using the power of the state as well as the participation of civil society actors. As modern history shows, this is an especially pertinent issue in Rakhine State at present. In a multi-ethnic land such as Arakan, national identity needs to be “supra-ethnic”, based upon political values and principles rather than cultural ones. But this task has become much more complicated during the past decade, with the exodus of over a million Rohingya people into Bangladesh and the displacement in Tatmadaw operations of over 200,000 Rakhine, Chin, Mro and other peoples in Rakhine State and the Chin State borderlands. It is vital that all groups participate in the challenges creating a national identity and making decisions on the future of Arakan society. But, in these processes, much may depend on how ULA-AA administration is perceived in handling inter-ethnic relations in areas where it is the dominant authority. It will also be important to see how political and civil society organisations react among the different communities towards the objective of agreeing national goals through consensus and shared inter-communication. For the moment, the impartiality, decisiveness and results-oriented manner, in most cases, of the current ULA judiciary system has been generally welcomed within minority communities, including the Rohingya, where its authority reaches. At least, ULA administration is not regarded as worse than Myanmar government practices. Nevertheless Arakan nation building will need to move on from the present situation of peaceful coexistence to an ethnically harmonious society which enjoys and celebrates cultural diversity of all kinds. There is still a long way to go. In summary, to sustain legitimacy and authority in pursuit of the Arakan Dream, much will depend on how effectively the ULA can change its administrative structures from the culture of a revolutionary liberation movement to one of civic governance in which all citizens are treated on the basis of transparent and equitably-defined rules and regulations. The Nature of Arakan Politics In 21st century society, there are two main political pulling forces that have evolved from Arakan’s past. The first has developed since the fall of Mrauk-U and continued for over two hundred years. The ultimate goal of this political force is to build power-seeking structures and institutions, such as the creation of an independent and autonomous Arakan state, and the means to carry this out are the combined forces of nationalism and collectivism. In the modern era, this movement is mainly represented by the ULA-AA as well as some smaller political organisations among the Rakhine population. The second force, in contrast, is quite new, developing since the second half of 20th century. But currently, following ten years of democratization, manifestations of this trend are extensive and intensive. The ultimate aim of this force is to create power-restraining institutions in the creation of an Arakan society that embraces democratic accountability and the rule of law, and the means to achieve this is liberal individualism. This grouping is broader and generally expressed by civil society organisations and individual activists, reformers and scholars. It should be mentioned, though, that the two forces should not be regarded as distinct. ULA leaders have expressed the pro-democracy values of the second force, while political actors among the second group support the nationalist values of the first force. As a result, Arakan society is presently seen to be more united and organised than during previous governmental eras in modern history. At the same time, it needs to be qualified that the key audience for the second trend in Arakan politics are the younger generation, whereas the majority of the Arakan population are in favour of the more overt nationalism of the first force. From this, two conclusions can be drawn. The consolidation of liberal individualism will face limitations until its supporters achieve recognisable rights and influence on the political stage. And, looking to the current trends and principles in Arakan politics and society, the politics of realism will be more impactful than those of political liberalism. * “White” refers to government-controlled, “brown” to mixed areas, and “black” to those controlled by EAOs. Arakan was historically a territory of much greater size than the present-day Rakhine State. Since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, the Arakan Hill Tracts, where the ULA-AA is also active, have been included under the administration of what has become the modern-day Chin State. Kyaw Lynn is a post-graduate student mastering in Political Science at the University of Yangon. He is also a freelance political analyst in Yangon as well as one of the founders of the Institute for Peace and Governance..."
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Source/publisher: The Transnational Institute (TNI)
2021-06-10
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "SAC Chairman Min Aung Hlaing visited Karen State and had a meeting with SAC members at Hpa An on May 31st 2021. In that meeting, he mentioned the possibility of resuming the Hatgyi Hydropwer Dam project. Human Rights Group (KHRG) and the Karen Rivers Watch (KRW) stand alongside local communities in strong opposition to General Min Aung Hlaing’s recent announcement that the State Administrative Council (SAC) intends to push ahead with the construction of the Hatgyi hydropower mega-dam on the Salween River. This would be catastrophic for ethnic and Indigenous communities in the Salween River Basin. The Hatgyi dam is a planned 1,360 megawatt dam on the Salween River in Karen areas. More than 10 million people rely on the Salween River and the Hatgyi dam will have severe negative impacts on ecosystems in the area, along with people’s livelihoods, wellbeing, and cultural integrity. Human rights violations have already been linked to the planned project site, including forced labor, rape, and forced displacement of over 5,000 people. Much of this displacement is due to conflict between ethnic Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Myanmar military around the dam area. Conflict has broken out around the proposed site several times from 2014 - 2018. The dam has been met with strong opposition from communities, environmental organisations, and civil society. Local communities launched a powerful campaign against dams on the Salween River, which eventually led to the Hatgyi dam construction being put on hiatus, until now. Since the recent military coup, there has been intensified conflicts in ethnic areas across the country. In Karen territories alone, military airstrikes and ground artillery attacks have killed and injured dozens of people and displaced around 70,000. The SAC regime is looking to extract economic revenue from natural resources to fund their military activities and so are pushing ahead with mega-dam investment along the Salween River. This will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis in Karen State caused by the ongoing SAC military offensives. Due to the instability that followed the coup, people across the country are facing a multitude of hardships. Therefore, it is unacceptable that the SAC is trying to push for the hydropower dam project to generate more revenue to fund its military while civilians have no economic and physical security. It is more important than ever to demand the protection of the Salween River which is of great importance for ecology, indigenous culture, and livelihoods. Therefore, we make the following urgent demands: (1) The SAC military also known as Tatmadaw must immediately withdraw from Karen territories. They are committing atrocities against civilians whilst they invade Karen territories in order to establish military bases, and push ahead with investment projects such as dams, threatening and destroying local communities and the natural environment. (2) All planned controversial infrastructure development projects must be cancelled including the construction of mega-dams on rivers all across Myanmar, and including planned mega-dams and infrastructure projects along the Salween River. This is because rivers and lakes are an essential lifeline for our local people to live in peace. (3) The international community must oppose and sanction any and all sources of economic revenue going to the Myanmar military regime, including hydropower projects, and other investment projects. (4) All concerned actors, including state-owned and private companies that are commissioned to construct, or are otherwise investing in, the development and implementation of the Hatgyi hydropower dam project, must stop all plans and cooperation with regard to the construction of the dam. Contact persons: Saw Tha Phoe (KRW) - +95 978 263 9714 Saw Nanda Hsue (KHRG) - +66 811 297 564..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group
2021-06-11
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-11
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Description: "Dear friends, Thank you for all your love, prayers and help. Here in northern Karen State, there are over 40,000 people displaced by attacks of the Burma Army with daily mortar and machine-gun attacks; villagers’ farms and homes are hit and villagers continue to be hit. Saw Kit Mae, 32 years old, is one of the villagers wounded and he is now being treated at our clinic. Update: Lu Thaw township, Papun District On May 16 at 1530hrs, the Burma Army shelled from their base camp near Taw Mu Pler Mae into the Saw Mu Plaw area. The Burma Army unit Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 20 shot 15 rounds of mortars into the villagers’ fields, wounding Saw Ki Mae and forcing the villagers to stop their planting of rice and flee. On May 17, the Burma Army LIB 20, in Ler Mu Plaw, shot into Taw Mu Pler Mae Village area at 2215hrs and also into Ler Mu Plaw villagers’ rice fields. Seven rounds were fired at 2215hrs and at 2230hrs they shot one more mortar. On May 18 at 0800hrs the Burma Army shot mortars into Kaw Kyo Village as villagers fled. On May 19 at 1732hrs the Burma Army shot more mortars into the Ler Mu Plaw area. On May 22 at 0940hrs local time, the Burma Army shot eight mortar rounds down into Kaw Ter Der area at the civilians who were working their fields. Four landed in Ta Ner Shee Daw Ko Village area and four landed in Ker Ser Pa Village area. On May 23 at 1933hrs local time, Burma Army Infantry Battalion (IB) 19 fired seven 60mm mortars from their long barreled mortar from their base to Ko Ka Paw Village. The rounds landed close to civilian homes and a rubber garden. Six exploded and one did not. On May 24 at 1430hrs local time, 393 civilians left their homes because the Burma Army base in Ko Kaw Day fired mortars to Wah Kaw Hta Village area..... Update: Dwe Lo Township, Papun District: On May 18 at 1400hrs the Burma Army Military Operations Command (MOC) 8, LIB 407, occupied Ma Taw They and shot mortars into Thwa Ko Lo Village. Villagers who fled told us, “Because the Burma Army comes to stay in our village and more and more and shoot the mortars, it is more and more also difficult for us villagers to travel and to work on our farms. Now it is not easy for us. Now is the time to do the farm and plough the fields. We are now afraid we will not be able to plant rice.” On May 20, at 1500hrs local time, Burma forces and their proxies, the Border Guard Force (BGF), burned down three house from Ta Thoo Kee Village. The three houses belonged to (1) Saw La Ba, family of 8 people, 4 F, 4 M, (2) Naw Dah, family of 6 people, 4 F, 2 M, (3) Mae Way Day Mo, family of 2 people, 1 F, 1 M..... Update: Thaton District, Karen State: The Burma Air Force flies jets and helicopters regularly over the district and ground troops shell villages and fields. Ground attacks by the Burma Army continue as the Burma Army attempts to resupply and build up their camps. But there have been no airstrikes for over a week. There are weekly flights of jets and attack helicopters especially south of Papun in Thaton District. So far we and others have been able to get rice to families in need and are distributing tarps for shelter. Thank you and God bless you, The Free Burma Rangers..."
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
2021-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "ကြေညာချက် အမှတ် ( ၁၈/၂၀၂၁ ) ၁၃၈၂ ခုနှစ်၊ တပေါင်းလပြည့်ကျော် ၃ ရက် မတ်လ (၃၀)ရက်၊ ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်။ ============== ၁။ နိုင်ငံတော်၏ အချုပ်အခြာအာဏာကို လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် အနိုင်ကျင့်သိမ်းယူခဲ့သော စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့် ၎င်း၏ လက်ပါးစေ အကြမ်းဖက်သောင်းကျန်းသူများသည် နိုင်ငံအဝှမ်းရှိ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထု တစ်ရပ်လုံး ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ်စည်းစိမ်များကို နေ့စဉ်နှင့်အမျှ ဖျက်ဆီးနှောင့်ယှက်လျက်ရှိသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ လူမဆန်သော လုပ်ရပ်များကြောင့် ပြည်သူများသည် ကျေးလက်မြို့ ပြမကျန် ကြီးစွာသော ဆင်းရဲဒုက္ခရောက် နေကြရသည်။ ၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ကရင်အမျိုးသားအစည်းအရုံး (KNU)၊ ကချင်လွတ်မြောက်ရေးတပ်မတော် (KIA) အစရှိသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင်တော်လှန်ရေးအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၏ နယ်မြေများတွင်လည်း စစ်ဆင်ရေးများပြုလုပ်နေပြီး၊ အပြစ်မဲ့ပြည်သူများနေထိုင်သည့် ကျေးရွာများအား လေကြောင်း တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများ ပြုလုပ်နေခြင်းကြောင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားနယ်မြေများမှ အကာအကွယ်မဲ့ ပြည်သူများသည် အိုးအိမ်စွန့်ခွာ၍ တစ်ဖက် နိုင်ငံသို့ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။ ၃။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့် ၎င်း၏ လက်ပါးစေ အကြမ်းဖက်သောင်းကျန်းသူများသည် တိုင်းရင်းသား ဒေသများတွင် စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ဆယ်စုနှစ်များစွာကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ပြီး၊ ယခုတွင်လည်း သာလွန်အင်အား၊ လေ ကြောင်းအင်အားများဖြင့် အပြစ်မဲ့တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူများအား တိုက်ခိုက်နေသည့် လုပ်ရပ်များသည် လူသား ဆန်မှုကင်းမဲ့လျက်ရှိသည်။ ယင်းလုပ်ရပ်များကို ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီက အပြင်းထန် ဆုံး ရှုတ်ချသည်။ ၄။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားဒေသများရှိ ပြည်သူများ နှင့်တကွ နိုင်ငံတော်တစ်ဝှမ်းလုံးရှိ ပြည်သူများ၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ် စည်းစိမ်များအား အကာအကွယ်ပေးနိုင်ရေး နှင့် လူသား ချင်းစာနာမှုဆိုင်ရာ အထောက်အကူများ ရရှိနိုင်ရေး နည်းလမ်းမျိုးစုံအသုံးပြု၍ ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက် သွားမည်ဖြစ် ကြောင်း ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
2021-03-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Rupert Colville
Description: "More than 100 days after the coup in Myanmar, the military authorities are showing no sign of letting up in their brutal crackdown on opponents in a bid to consolidate their hold on power. At the same time, there is no weakening of the resolve of the civil disobedience movement and other facets of opposition to the coup leaders. As of 10 May, credible sources indicate that the security forces, using unnecessary, disproportionate and lethal force to suppress demonstrations and other forms of public participation, have killed at least 782 individuals since the coup on 1 February. While much of the world's attention has been on the number of peaceful protesters and bystanders killed by the security forces, the authorities continue to commit other gross human rights violations against the people of Myanmar. There are daily raids on private homes and offices, and more than 3,740 people are currently in detention. We are deeply alarmed that the whereabouts and fate of hundreds of these individuals are unknown. These are situations that may amount to enforced disappearances. Of those in custody, the vast majority have not been brought before a judge, while most of the 86 people prosecuted thus far have been tried in secret, with limited or no access to any form of legal counsel. Military tribunals and courts martial have been established in several townships in which martial law was declared. At least 25 individuals have received the death sentence to date – some 20 of whom were tried in absentia. Over the past month, the military leadership has issued over 1,561 arrest warrants targeting civil society activists, trade unionists, journalists, academics, public personalities and online voices, so driving the vast majority of them underground. To intensify pressure, the military authorities have resorted to taking relatives of wanted people into custody to force them to turn themselves in to the police. The military authorities are also stepping up their efforts to pressure civil servants back to work. In recent weeks, the coup leadership has dismissed, removed, or suspended more than 3,000 civil servants – nearly 70 per cent of those targeted have been women. Those suspended include 990 university professors, researchers and assistants who in the last few days have been suspended for failing to report to work. There are reports that up to 11,000 more educational workers were suspended on Monday. We are also deeply concerned about the situation of people fleeing persecution, especially human rights defenders and journalists. As the armed conflicts between the Tatmadaw and some of the ethnic armed organizations, particularly in Kachin and Kayin states, have intensified, people seeking protection are being forced to consider seeking safety outside the country. When they do so, they should receive such protection and support from Myanmar's neighbours. It is clear that there needs to be greater international involvement to prevent the human rights situation in Myanmar from deteriorating further. Despite the five-point plan agreed at the ASEAN leaders' meeting on 24 April, the Myanmar military leadership has shown no sign of abiding by it. We call on ASEAN to react quickly and to intensify its actions to ensure the military keeps to these commitments and to hold them accountable for failing to do so..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
2021-05-11
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-11
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Description: "It is saddening to see that it had resorted to armed conflict during a time of political change and that the Karen National Union (KNU) will be looking to seek solutions through dialogue, said the ethnic armed group's chief General Saw Mu Tu Say Poe on May 10, April 2021 via a statement. The statement and the signature of the KNU chief has been confirmed by other top level officers of the KNU. "Yes. It is his opinion for the peace of the union," said a top-brass member of the KNU. The statement urges the rest that are involved to follow the policies as indicated in the National Ceasefire Act (NCA). It also says that the KNU is a group that had, for years, working toward through taking up arms to achieve equality and betterment for the Karen people and that through political dialogues aimed at regional development and peace that it was able to sign on to the NCA. KNU, together with other ethnic armed groups, signed the NCA on October 15, 2015. There have been multiple battles between the Tatmadaw (military) and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), specifically the KNLA's Division 5. The KNLA is an armed organisation under the KNU and battles against the military had sent many locals in those areas to flee into Thailand..."
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
2021-05-10
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Burma military airstrikes continue, and schools and homes are being destroyed as Burma soldiers shoot villagers in northern Karen State, with over 25,000 people in hiding. One villager, Saw Paw Chit, 40 yrs, was shot to death on 29 April by Burma Army soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 407, Military Operations Command (MOC) 8, commanded by Maung Kyaw Sein Lin, in Ku Chi Village, south of Papun. Deadly airstrikes using rockets, bombs and strafing cannon began in Karen State on 27 March 2021 and continued to 1 April and then started again on 27 April to now, 3 May 2021. We walked to the hiding places of the villagers who fled the first strike and met Naw Mu Wah Paw carrying her son in the jungle. He had been wounded by shrapnel to his face and neck on 27 March as he sat on his father’s lap when the first rockets and bombs came. His father was killed and his mother carried him to our medics, who treated him and removed most of the shrapnel. His mother told the story: “The airstrikes came in at night. There were rockets and bombs. I was outside the house and my son was sitting on my husband’s lap inside the house. There was a huge explosion and I ran to the house as bombs fell. My husband was covered in blood and staggered down the stairs holding our son. He handed our son to me and then fell down and died. Now I am hiding in the jungle here with his father, mother and sister. I miss my husband so much and the airstrikes keep coming to now,” said Naw Mu Wah Paw. We prayed with her husband’s parents as his sister wept silently under a tarp. Map includes some Burma Army airstrikes, artillery strikes and troop movements from 27 March to 3 May..."
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "With Myanmar’s military coup now three months old, there are few corners of the Southeast Asian country that haven’t been affected by its aftermath. Hundreds of thousands have revolted against the military’s action nationwide, but the armed forces have responded forcefully by detaining thousands and leaving more than 750 dead, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma. But in recent weeks, with mass street demonstrations waning, the uprising has entered a new phase in old territory, throughout Myanmar’s ethnic minority-held states. In Myanmar’s Karen state, officially Kayin state, conflict isn’t new. Like others, the country’s third-largest ethnic group has endured severe conflict for more than seven decades, largely over ethnically based hostilities. Additionally, fighting against Myanmar’s Tatmadaw armed forces has also been a long battle, but today a resurgent military is forcing the Karen to further defend their territory. A month ago on March 31, according to a report by Singapore broadcaster CNA, the junta, officially the State Administration Council, announced a one-month cease-fire across Myanmar. But according to Dave Eubank, the director of the humanitarian service group Free Burma Rangers, which operates in Myanmar, that promise hasn’t been kept, as attacks from the military have continued. “The Burma army said there’s a cease-fire. There is no cease-fire there,” he told VOA this month. Decades of animosity: The Karen National Union (KNU) is a political organization that says it represents the Karen people, who have their own unique languages, customs and administrative system. Myanmar, then called Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948. Since then, the Karen have been in conflict with the central government over calls for independence and for a federal system to be implemented. Decades of animosity have endured between various ethnic groups, including the Karen, and the Bamar people, also called Burmans, the dominant ethnic group in Myanmar. But with the coup sparking huge anger throughout the country, there are signs that the military could eventually face a united opposition. The head of Foreign Affairs Department for the KNU, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, said it’s been a “dream” for all ethnic states within Myanmar to align, despite their differences, but he acknowledged it’s a complicated situation. “That is the future we dream for several years, but for it to come true, it’s very difficult,” he said. But for now, the spokesperson acknowledged that fighting back against the advancing military was a necessity. “According to our experience, there will be a way to support pressure to the government, the military way, and the political and social … all kinds of ways, with a need to push against the military," he said. "We need to push the military regime to the table for dialogue.” Padoh Saw Taw Nee said there had been more than “200 casualties” among the Karen as a result of “shelling with heavy weapons” from the military. “If you couldn’t tackle this issue very carefully, there will be kind of a civil war. ... There will be a lot of consequences to our country,” he added. Ground attacks within the Karen have been happening since the end of 2020, according to local reports.....Population fearful: Airstrikes and reconnaissance flights are instilling terror into the locals on the ground, inside sources have told VOA. Lieutenant Colonel Saw Kyi Kyaw of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council told VOA that the organization’s mission was to “make peace” but that it would fight back if necessary. “We will not attack anyone, but if Tatmadaw starts attacking us, we will fight back to defend ourselves,” he said. In recent days, the Karen took control of a military outpost near the Thai-Myanmar border, according to a Reuters report. But when VOA spoke earlier this month to Saw Thuebee of the Karen Peace Support Network, a civil society group supporting vulnerable communities in the region, he said the Karen already were facing a humanitarian crisis because of the thousands of internally displaced people. Saw Thuebee called on Myanmar’s neighbor to help those in need. “We are hoping and requesting [that] the Thailand government launch the materials across the border so that we can continue to provide humanitarian assistance" to internally displaced people, he said.....Widespread hunger: The United Nations said last week that “millions” faced hunger in the country amid the violence. Myanmar was under military rule for most of its modern history until 2011. In last November’s general elections, the military claimed unsubstantiated electoral fraud. On February 1, the military removed the National League for Democracy government. Leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained and have since been additionally charged. The armed forces have been deployed to suppress street protests, while martial law has been imposed across the country. The junta has implemented daily internet shutdowns for the sake of the country’s “stability.”
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "VOA" (Washington, D.C)
2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Fighting between Myanmar's military and armed ethnic groups is moving so close to the border it can be seen from Thailand. While a leader from the Karen National Liberation Army says their small victories against the junta can help the country-wide push for democracy, it comes at a cost to people living near the border..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "CNN" (USA)
2021-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-01
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Description: "Thousands of ethnic Karen villagers in Myanmar are poised to cross into Thailand if, as expected, fighting intensifies between the Myanmar army and Karen insurgents, joining those who have already escaped the turmoil that followed a Feb. 1 coup. Karen rebels and the Myanmar army have clashed near the Thai border in the weeks since Myanmar's generals ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, displacing villagers on both sides of the border. read more "People say the Burmese will come and shoot us, so we fled here," Chu Wah, a Karen villager who crossed over to Thailand with his family this week from the Ee Thu Hta displacement camp in Myanmar, told Reuters. "I had to flee across the river," Chu Wah said, referring to the Salween river that forms the border in the area. The Karen Peace Support Network says thousands of villagers are taking shelter on the Myanmar side of the Salween and they will flee to Thailand if the fighting escalates. "In coming days, more than 8,000 Karen along the Salween river will have to flee to Thailand. We hope that the Thai army will help them escape the war," the group said in a post on Facebook. Karen fighters on Tuesday overran an Myanmar army unit on the west bank of the Salween in a pre-dawn attack. The Karen said 13 soldiers and three of their fighters were killed. read more The Myanmar military responded with air strikes in several areas near the Thai border. Thai authorities say nearly 200 villagers have crossed into Thailand this week. Thailand has reinforced its forces and restricted access to the border. Hundreds of Thai villagers have also been displaced, moving from their homes close to the border, to deeper into Thai territory for safety. "The situation has escalated so we can't go back," said Warong Tisakul, 33, a Thai villager from Mae Sam Laep, a settlement, now abandoned, opposite the Myanmar army post attacked this week. “Security officials won’t let us, we can’t go back.”..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-04-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Ethnic minority Karen insurgents attacked a Myanmar army outpost near the Thai border on Tuesday in some of the most intense clashes since a military coup nearly three months ago threw the country into crisis. The Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar's oldest rebel force, said it had captured the army camp on the west bank of the Salween river, which forms the border with Thailand. The Myanmar military later hit back against the insurgents with air strikes, the KNU and Thai authorities said. The fighting took place as the junta, in a setback for diplomatic efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said it would "positively" consider the bloc's suggestions to end the turmoil in Myanmar but only when stability was restored. The ASEAN leaders said after meeting on the weekend with the junta chief that they had reached a consensus on steps to end violence and promote dialogue between the rival Myanmar sides. The outbreak of hostilities near the border shifted the focus of opposition to the junta away from the pro-democracy protests that have taken place in cities and towns across the country since the coup on Feb. 1. The military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, detained her and other civilian politicians, then cracked down with lethal force on anti-coup protesters. Security forces have killed more than 750 civilians in the demonstrations, an activist group says. The Karen and other ethnic minority forces based in frontier regions have supported the largely urban-based pro-democracy opponents of the junta......PRE-DAWN ATTACK: In Tuesday's fighting, villagers on the Thai side of the river said heavy gunfire started before dawn. Video posted on social media showed flames and smoke on the forested hillside and KNU forces had captured the outpost, the group's head of foreign affairs, Saw Taw Nee, told Reuters. The Myanmar military later mounted air strikes, Saw Taw Nee said. There was no word on casualties and 450 Thai villagers were moved away from the border to safety, the Thai military said. The Myanmar army made no comment. It has historically portrayed itself as the one institution that can keep together the ethnically diverse country of more than 53 million people. The KNU agreed to a ceasefire in 2012, ending its struggle for autonomy that began shortly after Myanmar’s independence from Britain in 1948. But its forces have clashed with the army since it seized power, ending a decade of democratic reforms that had also brought relative peace to Myanmar's borderlands. Fighting has also flared in the north and west, where the Irrawaddy news site reported 13 government soldiers were killed in clashes in Chin State over the past few days. About 24,000 people are sheltering in the jungle after being displaced in recent weeks by violence near the Thai border, including military air strikes, Karen groups say.....'CAREFUL CONSIDERATION': Elsewhere in Myanmar, there have been few reports of bloodshed since the weekend meeting between the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and Southeast Asian leaders to try to find a way out of the crisis. The junta, in its first official comment on the meeting, said it would give "careful consideration to constructive suggestions ... when the situation returns to stability". The suggestions would be "positively considered" if they facilitated the junta's own "roadmap", and "serves the interests of the country", it said in a statement. The junta did not refer to what ASEAN called a five-point consensus, issued at the end of the meeting, to end the violence and initiate talks. ASEAN's points included appointing an envoy to visit Myanmar for talks with all sides. But Min Aung Hlaing, in comments reported in state media, said: "The visits to Myanmar proposed by ASEAN will be considered after stabilising the country." U.N. Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews called on Min Aung Hlaing to make a commitment to live up to the ASEAN plan. "The people of Myanmar...need and deserve to know if it is your intention to honour this commitment," Andrews said in an open letter. Activists have criticised the plan, saying it helped to legitimise the junta and fell far short of their demands. In particular, it did not call for the release of Suu Kyi, 75, and other political prisoners. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group says more than 3,400 people have been detained for opposing the coup. Suu Kyi's party won a second term in November. The election commission said the vote was fair but the military said fraud at the polls had forced it to seize power. Protesters against the junta were out in several places on Tuesday including the main city of Yangon, where hundreds surged down a street in a “flash mob” march, images on social media showed..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Fighting erupted between the Burmese military and a separatist group in the southeast of Myanmar, close to the border with Thailand. The ethnic insurgents, the Karen National Union, captured and destroyed an army post as part of their campaign to reduce the military's presence in Karen state, where thousands of people have been displaced by a resurgence of fighting..."
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Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
2021-04-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar’s coup has brought war back to a remote Southeast Asian frontier after 25 years, sending a new generation of villagers in both Myanmar and Thailand running for their lives from bullets and bombs. Ethnic Karen insurgents and the Myanmar army have engaged in heavy clashes near the Thai border in the weeks since the Feb. 1 coup, when Myanmar’s generals ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi. The Karen and other autonomy-seeking ethnic minority forces based in frontier regions have supported the largely urban-based pro-democracy opponents of the junta, offering refuge to some, and tension with the military has boiled up into new fighting. Before dawn on Tuesday, Karen fighters attacked the Myanmar army's Thaw Leh Ta outpost on the west bank of the Salween River, which forms the border with Thailand as it cuts through steep, forested slopes on is way to the Bay of Bengal. "I've never heard gunfire like this, I've never seen people needing to flee like this," said Supart Nunongpan, 44, chief of the Thai village of Mae Sam Laep, a small river port of wooden houses and shops strung out along the Thai side of the Salween. The Myanmar army had held Thaw Leh Ta since 1995, the last time there was major fighting in the area when, after years of dry-season offensives, the Myanmar army captured the headquarters of the Karen National Union (KNU) guerrilla group, not far to the south. Divided and driven from most of its enclaves in eastern Myanmar, the KNU agreed to a ceasefire in 2012, ending an insurgency that began soon after Myanmar gained independence in 1948. Now war has resumed and the Myanmar military, equipped with more effective aircraft than it had 25 years ago, has launched repeated air strikes against KNU positions, sending some 15,000 villagers fleeing into the forest, with several thousand briefly seeking refuge on the Thai side of the border. Myanmar launched air strikes on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, with fighter jets and helicopters, Thai authorities on the border said. There was no word on casualties. About 100 villagers from Myanmar, most of them elderly, pregnant women or children, crossed to the Thai side on Wednesday to escape the air strikes, the Free Burma Rangers aid group said.....'STILL DANGEROUS': Hundreds of Thai villagers living too close to the border for comfort have also abandoned their homes and fled inland. One woman on the Thai side was wounded by a stray bullet on Tuesday, Thai authorities said. Thai villagers are sheltering in a school and a church in the settlement of Huay Kong Kad, a safe distance from the border. They think the fighting is far from over and it is only a matter of time before Myanmar's powerful military tries to take back the lost outposts. "I don't feel safe, it's still dangerous. I'm afraid of the air strikes," Amin, 40, another villager from Mae Sam Laep who goes by only one name, told Reuters. The Myanmar junta has not commented on the latest clashes but the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper blamed a rogue KNU brigade for the attacks, saying most of the KNU still backed the 2012 ceasefire. The head of foreign affairs for the KNU, Saw Taw Nee, rejected that as "nonsense", saying state media was trying to "divide and conquer". Thailand, which played host to more than 100,000 Karen refugees for decades, has said it wants to stay out of the latest surge of fighting but will provide humanitarian help if needed. For now, displaced Thai villagers wait. Several said they only dared slip back into Mae Sam Laep during the day to check on their homes, fearing more fighting at any time. “I’m afraid because we live on the border. The villagers are also afraid,” village head Supart said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Fresh clashes between Myanmar security forces and regional armed groups have displaced thousands across the country, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.
Description: "According to the Office, almost 50 clashes between the military and the Kachin Independence Army were reported in several places in Kachin state, including use of airstrikes by security forces as well as mortar shelling by both sides, displacing nearly 5,000 people and damaging several homes. “Around 800 people returned to their villages of origin within a few days and an estimated 4,000 people remain displaced in various sites, including in churches and monasteries”, OCHA said in a humanitarian bulletin. This was the first reported displacement in the country’s northernmost state since September 2018. Kachin had been hosting about 95,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in long-term camps since 2011. “Humanitarians and local host communities are doing their best to provide emergency assistance to the newly displaced people, despite the operational challenges and insecurity”, OCHA added. In neighboring Northern Shan state, escalating clashes since January forced about 10,900 people to flee their homes, of whom nearly 4,000 remain displaced, the Office added, noting that hostilities had also increased since February in Kayin and Bago states, displacing almost 40,000 people. About 3,000 people, mostly from Kayin, reportedly crossed the border into Thailand. The majority are said to have since returned. Funds needed for assistance Apart from the ongoing political strife in the aftermath of the military takeover on 1 February, nearly a million people across Myanmar, over two-thirds of them women and children, identified at the start of 2021, are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. UN and humanitarian partners launched a $276 million response plan to assist nearly 950,000 people through 2021. However, into the last week of April, only 12 per cent or $32 million of the amount needed has been received. Rising hunger and desperation There are also fears of a sharp rise in hunger and desperation across Myanmar due to the triple impact of pre-existing poverty, the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing political crisis. Estimates by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) indicate that up to 3.4 million people – particularly those in urban centres – would be hit by high levels of food insecurity over the next six months. Already, there are signs of families in and around Yangon being pushed to the edge, skipping meals, eating less nutritious food and going into debt, just to survive, the agency said last week, as it mounted a new food assistance programme to help the most vulnerable. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, warned that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, almost a third of the country’s children were living in poor households. “In the current crisis, the situation has worsened. UNICEF is working to support the most vulnerable children and families across Myanmar, ensuring their access to lifesaving services”, the agency said on Monday..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-04-28
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The military’s Thaw Le Hta outpost is across the Salween River from Mae Sam Laep, a strategic port on the Thai border that has been used to send aid to IDPs
Description: "The Karen National Union (KNU) announced on Tuesday morning that they had taken over a base belonging to the Myanmar military on the Thai border; hours later, the regime’s forces launched airstrikes against Karen villages in the area. Early on Tuesday morning, Brigade 5 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)– the armed wing of the KNU– seized and then destroyed the regime base in the Thaw Le Hta area of Karen State’s Mutraw District, known in Burmese as Hpapun. The base is located on the Salween River, opposite the Thai village of Mae Sam Laep in Mae Hong Son province. Around seven Myanmar soldiers were seen fleeing during the raid by Karen forces, the Karen Information Center reported. By around 1pm, the Myanmar army had launched airstrikes in near Dagwe village (Dagwin in Burmese), some 10 miles north of Thaw Le Hta, according to Padoh Mahn Mahn, the KNLA’s Brigade 5 spokesperson. “Bombing the area near villages is very concerning for the residents living there,” Padoh Mahn Mahn told Myanmar Now. There are also reports of Myanmar military airstrikes on the village of Bwa Der, also in Brigade 5. Further details about the air attacks, including those regarding casualties and the numeber of people displaced, were not available at the time of reporting. Mae Sam Laep is a strategic point along the Thai-Myanmar border regarding transportation and humanitarian aid delivery, with a river port from which supplies have been sent to internally displaced people (IDPs) in KNU-controlled areas. In response to the fighting at Thaw Le Hta on Tuesday, Thai authorities evacuated hundreds of Thai villagers from Mae Sam Laep and closed the port. Prior to the fighting on Tuesday, this stretch of the Thai-Myanmar border area along the Salween River had seen heightened military tension/ On April 23, Myanmar troops stationed across the river from another Thai village– Tha Hta Fung– fired “warning shots” above a civilian boat carrying Thai border patrol officers, the Bangkok Post reported. A Thai government official later described the incident as a “misunderstanding.” However, another KNLA Brigade 5 spokesperson, Saw Kler Doh, told the Karen Information Center that Tuesday’s attacks on Thaw Le Hta were carried out in response to regime troops shooting at boats along the Salween River. The offensive against the Thaw Le Hta military outpost marks the second time since the February 1 coup that the KNLA’s Brigade 5 has seized a junta base. On March 27, they took over the army’s stronghold at Thee Mu Hta, killing at least five soldiers and taking at last eight prisoners. The junta responded by launching airstrikes at the end of March at Karen villages in Mutraw District (Brigade 5) and in Brigade 3– in Hteepado, Nyaunglebin District, and Maetamat, Shwegyin Township, located in Bago Region. These air attacks killed an estimated 20 civilians, wounded more than 40, and displaced tens of thousands, according to the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a local relief organisation. Fighting between the KNU’s Brigade 1 and the regime’s armed forces also broke out in Thaton on the morning of April 23. One junta officer was reportedly killed in the fighting, but the number of total casualties could not be confirmed at the time of reporting. FBR estimated that there were 24,000 IDPs in the territories controlled by the KNU’s Brigades 1, 3, and 5 in mid-April. In and near the KNU’s Brigade 6 area– Dooplaya District, in Karen State– locals have reported that the junta’s troops have increased interrogation of and extortion of money from civilians on the roads. Regime soldiers in Dooplaya also violently cracked down on a motorcycle protest on April 24 at Three Pagodas Pass, near the Thai border..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2021-04-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Territorial Concerns in Karen and Mon States
Description: "The death, on 17 October, of a Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) soldier in a clash with troops from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) furthers highlights territorial concerns that need to be addressed within the peace process and also at a local level. According to reports, the KNLA attacked two MNLA bases in response to what Saw Edward, a spokesman for the KNLA at the Three Pagodas Pass, because,. . . the MNLA destroyed a Karen flag three days ago after his armed group [KNLA] put it up on the dividing line between Karen and Mon territory at Thee Ba Dot. 1Major Nai Aye Mann from the MNLA said the KNLA had put its flag in front of an MNLA base, so it was destroyed, but also asked why the KNLA also attacked another base at Ma Yang Chong if the dispute was just about the flag. The KNLA is the armed wing of the Karen National Union and the MNLA is the armed wing of the New Mon State Party. Both have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government and have had previous disputes in the past. It had been hoped that with both groups now signatories to the NCA such disputes could easily be negated, but such a belief belies the fact that the situation on the ground still remains tense. Somewhat bizarrely, it has been suggested that the KNLA action was undertaken in response to what has been described in the media as the arrest of seven DKBA-splinter group members.2 According to one report, the KNLA was unhappy that the MNLA arrested seven members of the group and seized 11 firearms in an attack on a base, which they said was inside Mon territory, although such a proposition is unlikely to be the case.3 The Mon State government had addressed the DKBA-splinter issue and asked that all members of the group, believed to have around thirty troops, be arrested as ‘insurgents’ according to a statement signed by Colonel Nay Htut Oo, the border and security and affairs minister in Mon State, The group’s intention is to profit politically from creating instability and disrupting the peace process,4 That said, a number of smaller armed ethnic militias, many of which are under Myanmar military control, each with their own vested interests, continue to operate in ethnic areas controlled by NCA-signatory groups further complicating the peace process. But perhaps, more worryingly, regardless of the reasoning for the recent clash, the fact remains that territorial claims, the most likely cause, have yet to be addressed. In an attempt to prevent further conflict, officers from the MNLA and KNLA met at the Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai border and verbally agreed to stop fighting. Major Nai Aye Mann from the MNLA said low-level officers on the ground could not resolve the territorial dispute and future meetings between the groups’ leaders would be needed to end the issue..."
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Source/publisher: Euro Burma Office
2019-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: anniversary, Ceasefire, chairman General Mutu Say Poe, Karen National Liberation Army, Karen National Union, Karen Revolution Day, KNLA, KNU, Military, nationwide ceasefire agreement, NCA, Peace Process, Peace talks, Political Dialogue, resistance, Tatmadaw, vice chairman Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win
Topic: anniversary, Ceasefire, chairman General Mutu Say Poe, Karen National Liberation Army, Karen National Union, Karen Revolution Day, KNLA, KNU, Military, nationwide ceasefire agreement, NCA, Peace Process, Peace talks, Political Dialogue, resistance, Tatmadaw, vice chairman Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win
Description: "The Karen revolutionary struggle is not over, as the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and the political dialogue it calls for have yet to be implemented, Karen National Union chairman General Mutu Say Poe said in an address to his fellow Karen to commemorate the annual Karen Revolution Day. Friday marked the 71st anniversary of the beginning of the ethnic Karen revolutionary movement in 1949 following the central government’s denunciation of the group as an unlawful organization after months of protests demanding equality for the Karen people. “Currently, we are still in the mode of revolutionary resistance,” the chairman said in his address on Friday, citing a lack of progress in the peace process. The Karen resistance movement has long demanded basic rights, equality and self-determination. The KNU is the most senior of Myanmar’s various ethnic armed groups, having resisted central government control for seven decades. Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, the vice chairman of the KNU, said the group had waged a 63-year campaign of armed resistance because previous governments had ignored its call to resolve the Karen people’s political demands peacefully, through political dialogue. He said the previous governments and junta had only agreed to discuss a ceasefire, not to hold political dialogue..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2020-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "IT'S a scenic drive of about 30 miles (48 kilometres) up through the hills from Taungoo to Thandaung Gyi, a former British hill station in Kayin State just over the border with Bago Region that is enjoying a revival as a tourist destination. The outskirts of Taungoo give way to palm and banana trees, betel nut plantations and paddy fields. The road is reduced to one-way traffic as it climbs through tea and coffee growing country to the little town. The British established Thandaung Gyi as a hill station in the 1850s. It is about 4,000 feet (1,220 metres) above sea level and its cool, clean air and attractive setting offering panoramic views has helped it to benefit, via a grassroots tourism initiative, from a “peace dividend” following the signing of a ceasefire between the Karen National Union and the government in January 2012, which suspended more than 60 years of hostilities. After the ceasefire, PeaceNexus, an NGO, with help from Germany’s Hanns Seidel Foundation, consulted the government, KNU and community members about a livelihoods-based initiative that could best support the peace process. The outcome was the creation by residents of the Thandaung Gyi Tourism Development Working Group, which has supported the establishment of about a dozen guesthouses offering bed and breakfast accommodation. Thandaung Gyi is the only community in Myanmar where residents have been permitted to provide bed and breakfast accommodation. We stayed at the I-Wish guesthouse, which was built in 1912 and has been run by the same Karen family for three generations. There are two large rooms at the front of the original building and simpler rooms in a new block at the back, all of which have hot showers. The service is friendly, the breakfast hearty and guests can enjoy outstanding views across a valley to the nearby Bayintnaung military training base. One of the biggest in Myanmar, it looks weirdly picturesque in the distance. I had travelled to Thandaung Gyi with my family to escape the first days of Thingyan in Yangon, before returning to the commercial capital for the finale. The other reason for the trip was to attend an event celebrating the life and death of a Karen princess and the sacred mountain connected to her violent demise. The annual celebrations were launched 24 years ago. During the long years of fighting between the KNU and the government, Thandaung Gyi was a secure Tatmadaw garrison town. There was much fear in the community then but after the ceasefire in 2012 a more relaxed atmosphere prevailed because of the improvement, if only superficial, in relations between the KNU, Tatmadaw and Thandaung Gyi Township administration..."
Creator/author: Ashley South
Source/publisher: Frontier Myanmar
2019-06-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The inaugural Salween Peace Park General Assembly was unlike any gathering that has occurred in Mutraw District, Karen State. From 3 to 5 April 2019, about 100 participants congregated in Day Bu Noh village for the event, including representatives of the district-level Karen National Union (KNU), leaders of Karen civil society organisations active in Mutraw, and two elected representatives from each of the 26 village tracts designated as part of the Peace Park area. I have heard the General Assembly described as a “congress” or a “parliament”. In some ways it is: the assembly is a forum for discussion, dialogue, and negotiation among leaders that act in the interests of the area’s 38,000 inhabitants. Yet instead of statesmen, the General Assembly puts experienced leaders from the KNU and civil society into dialogue with community members who are being recognised as active participants in district-wide negotiations about peace, self-determination, and natural resource management for the first time. By creating a space for leaders and community members to converse on equal footing, the Salween Peace Park tests a new approach to peace in the heart of war-torn Kawthoolei—the “Karen homeland” claimed by the KNU. I visited the Peace Park to witness the General Assembly as part of my PhD research on civil society, development, and governance in Karen areas. There are many aspects of the Peace Park that I do not feel equipped to write about—the indigenous ontology that guides its formation, for example, or its approach to natural resource governance, land issues, and wildlife conservation—even as these aspects are no less integral to the overall vision. Instead, I strive to map the Peace Park’s novel approach to governance and peacebuilding, a testament to my interest in how people relate to each another, and the profound changes that occur as a result..."
Creator/author: SHONA LOONG
Source/publisher: New Mandala
2019-05-27
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''This Short Update describes a skirmish that took place between the Tatmadaw and the KNLA in February 2019. It took place after three incidents of Tatmadaw soldiers firing artillery shells indiscriminately into civilian villages. The local communities have fled into the forest, and are afraid to return to their homes and plantations. In the first week of February, the Tatmadaw transported soldiers and rations to bases in Lu Thaw Township. On February 1st, 60 Tatmadaw soldiers from LIB #593 were sent to military camps in Sha Law Kyoh area, Hkay Poo village tract. They are still present in the area. On February 4th, at 6 PM, Tatmadaw soldiers transported food rations to their camp in the Sho Kyoh Daw Hkoh area, Saw Muh Plaw village tract. At 7:30 PM, KNLA soldiers led by Bo Pa Leh and a local home guard from Company #1 ambushed two military trucks transporting rations. The KNU prohibits Tatmadaw soldiers from entering into areas under their control without receiving prior permission. This incident was one of a series of skirmishes that occurred between the Tatmadaw and the KNLA in early February in Hpapun District. On February 5th, 2019, Tatmadaw soldiers transported food rations to their temporary army camp in Shoh Hpoh Kyoh area and transported food rations and 216 soldiers to their army bases in Wah Klay Tuh area. The increase in military activities is worrying local communities in Lu Thaw Township, who fear that the increase in troop rotations and food rations could indicate a return to violent conflict. These skirmishes occurred just a few weeks after the Tatmadaw fired artillery shells into civilian villages in Lu Thaw Township...''
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2019-02-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''On a misty January morning, several thousand ethnic Karen people gathered near a mountaintop at Law Khee Lar, a rural part of their home state in Myanmar near the Thailand border. Law Khee Lar is located in territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), a political organization with an armed wing that has been fighting against state forces for seven decades, in one of the world’s longest running civil wars. On this particular day, Karen people gathered to celebrate the 70th Karen Revolution Day, an annual commemoration of the beginning of the KNU’s Karen National Liberation Army’s (KNLA) long armed struggle for self-determination and rights...''
Creator/author: Oliver Slow
Source/publisher: Asia Times
2019-02-16
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''In 2016, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returned to their 11 villages in the lowland areas of Moo Township. They had been displaced since 1975, when they were forced to leave by Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion #48, commanded by Bo Min Thein. In 2012, the KNU and the Myanmar government signed a preliminary ceasefire agreement that provided for the right of IDPs to return to their lands. Community leaders went to IDP camps to establish how many of them would come back. However, fewer people returned than originally expected. Overall, only one-fourth of the IDPs went back to their lands. According to community leaders, this could be explained by the fact that returnees did not benefit from any kind of support, apart from the CIDKP digging wells and providing animal husbandry. In addition, there are no schools, hospitals and clinics in these areas. The closest clinic can only be reached through a bumpy road, and it is not easy to travel during the rainy season. Some IDPs are afraid to return because the Tatmadaw is still operating in the Hpapun area. Others also think that the political situation is not stable yet. Since their return, there are a lot of land dispute problems. Some returnees saw their livelihoods threatened when their family lands were usurped by richer villagers. These villagers took advantage of the fact that the rightful owners did not have official land ownership documents, and went to the Myanmar Land Administration Department to register the disputed lands in their names. The people who lost their lands are now experiencing serious economic difficulties, as they were deprived of their main source of income...''
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2019-01-30
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 319.07 KB
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Description: ''Units from the Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion #5, stationed in the Nat Ta Lin area in 2018, rotated with Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion #84. They placed landmines near Htee Hkuh area, where KNLA military units are stationed. [Article 5 of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement states that all signatories should cease the laying of mines. Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion #5 is in violation of the NCA.] Landmines continue to be a problem in Toungoo District. The NGO Committee of Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) is running a Mine Risks Education (MRE) program to help local communities avoid the dangers of landmines, supported by Danish Church Aid. The landmines are located in Buh Has Hkee area and Maw Hkee road, starting from Th’ay Hta to Pluh Mee Hkoh area. The landmines were laid by the Tatmadaw and the KNLA prior to the ceasefire. So far, demining has not started in this area...''
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 219.61 KB
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Description: ''The Karen National Union (KNU) has denied allegations by the Myanmar military that it is extorting money from civilians, and rejected the Army’s characterization of clashes between it and government troops as an effort to expand its area of control. Separately, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) issued its own rebuttal of the military’s recent claims against EAOs, saying it did not accept the terms of the military’s four-month truce. The Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) included its complaints against the KNU in a statement released Friday in which it accused ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) of burdening the public by continuing to recruit and extort civilians and expand their territories. In addition to the KNU, it mentioned all of the EAOs based in northeast Myanmar, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Ta’ang Nationalities Liberation Army, Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army North, Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army South and Pa-Oh National Liberation Organization. It accused them of destabilizing the region and violating the terms of the truce...''
Creator/author: Nyein Nyein
Source/publisher: The Irrawaddy
2019-01-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''This Situation Update describes events that occurred in Lu Thaw Township, Hpapun District, between March and May 2018.[1] Tatmadaw soldiers entered areas under KNU control in Lu Thaw Township with the intention of building a road. This led to skirmishes with the KNLA. The Tatmadaw occupied and fired mortars in several villages, which caused the displacement of 3,088 persons. This situation threatened the livelihood of local people, as well as their access to education, food and healthcare...''
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2019-01-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 97.03 KB
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Description: ''The Burma Army 44th Division, Battalion 2, under the command of Ko Ko Win, launched attacks against the Karen of Papun District, Karen State on 30 and 31 August and 1 September, displacing over 200 Karen people from Kan Nyi Now Village in Dwe Lo Township, Papun (Muthraw) District, Karen State, Burma. In the initial attack on 30 August, the Burma Army fired five rounds of 81 mm mortar into the village and hundreds of rounds of rifle and machine-gun fire. On 31 August they patrolled further out from the village, firing into the jungle. On 1 September, the Karen responded to halt the advance of the Burma Army and fighting continues as of this report. So far in the current attack, one Karen soldier has been wounded and the villagers are in hiding as the attacks continue. At the same time Burma Army troops of Battalion 1, commanded by Min Min Htun, also of the 44th Division, are attacking in the No Hta and Hte Mae K’La area. Casualties are unknown at this time...''
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
2018-09-01
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Following the Burma Army’s attacks against Karen villagers on Aug. 30, 31, and Sept. 1, the military spent the first half of September building up troops in southern Butho Township, Karen State. The Burma Army’s continued occupation, troop reinforcement and aggressive actions against civilians, in clear violation of the National Ceasefire Agreement, is preventing displaced villagers still in hiding from receiving aid. On those dates, Light Infantry Division (LID) 44 troops from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 2 advanced into Ka Yie Naw Village firing mortars and small arms weapons, causing 340 villagers to flee; these families remain displaced more than two weeks later..."
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
2018-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Since early 2018, Tatmadaw has extended the area under their control and trespassed into territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU). They built a military road without prior permission from KNU authority and local civilians. In this context, Tatmadaw soldiers murdered the indigenous defender Saw O Moo on April 5th 2018 when he was on his way back home after a meeting to coordinate humanitarian aid for internally displaced people (IDPs). The location of Saw O Moo?s body is unknown. His family has been unable to hold a funeral according to their animist tradition. Naw K--- is calling for peace. She urges the Tatmadaw to withdraw all of their troops from her area in order for her family and other local civilians to live in peace..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2018-09-28
Date of entry/update: 2018-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 179.01 KB
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Description: "This Incident Report describes the fighting that broke out between Tatmadaw and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on April 6th 2018 after Tatmadaw Light Infantry Division (LID) #22 trespassed the Karen National Union (KNU) controlled area. Armed LID #22 personnel entered Hm--- village right after the fighting took place and intimidated villagers by firing guns and making explicit oral threats. The village head was ordered to purchase a chicken for a Tatmadaw soldier. However, no remuneration was provided in return..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2018-09-28
Date of entry/update: 2018-10-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 255.1 KB
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Description: "This Incident Report describes how the Border Guard Forces (BGF) Battalion #1014 ordered civilians to serve as forced porters on the front line. When local villagers refused to serve as porters, they were asked to hand over 180,000 kyat (US $ 112) as payment from each village. This incident took place in October 2017, in a number of village tracts located Bu Tho Township and Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2018-09-28
Date of entry/update: 2018-10-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 396.94 KB
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Description: THE KAREN STRUGGLE IN BURMA: "At a critical stage in Asia?s least reported but long-running separatist war, Martin Smith assesses the most recent offensive of Burmese government troops against the Karen rebels, and speculates on a possible outcome and on the implications for other ethnic minority rebel forces in Burma."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Inside Asia" June-August 1985
1985-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2018-02-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 1.01 MB
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Description: "U Than Nyunt is a 57-year-old Karen refugee and the chief of a small rural village on the riverbanks of Moei. He grew up in a village near Belin in Mon State and was chosen to become the village chief during a time when Burmese military was employing Four Cuts policy. U Than Nyunt eventually couldn?t stand the military abuse anymore and fled to the Thailand-Burma border in 2003. He was again appointed the chief and led his villagers to build a thriving new village on the Burmese side of the border. Five years later, armed conflict forced them to abandon the village and flee across the river to Thailand. The villagers were scattered all over the border but U Than Nyunt was determined to bring them back together. He spent a year locating and collecting the villagers, finally able to bring them back to live in the same village. While U Than Nyunt speaks of their village on the Burmese side with great fondness and sorrow of a lost home, he doesn?t want to go back until there is genuine peace in the country."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "U Soe Myint is a 60-year-old Karen refugee who has struggled his whole life just to survive. Amidst deep-seated poverty, armed conflict and Burma Army abuse, U Soe Myint has had everything but an easy life. He had to work in a farm throughout his childhood, frequently hide from Burmese soldiers in the trees and the jungle in his adulthood, and finally flee to Thailand. U Soe Myint walked to Thailand through the jungle, knowing that he might step on a landmine any moment. For nearly 30 years, he was forced to live away from his wife and three children. While U Soe Myint was at last able to reunite with his family in Mae La refugee camp in 2006, his close family members are now scattered around the world, uncertain if they will ever be able to reunite. This is his story."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Shan Lay is a friendly, compassionate and dedicated young man from the Shan State who has sacrificed everything to fight for the freedom of his people. Growing up in the Shan State with a Karen mother, young Shan Lay was always interested in learning more about his Karen roots. But his mother didn?t speak the language and all he was taught at school was that ?Karen were rebels?. Somewhere deep inside, Shan Lay felt that there was more to the story. He witnessed firsthand the brutality of the government forces: Two of Shan Lay?s family members perished in the 8888 uprising, and when Shan Lay was a teenager, the Burmese military confiscated their family farm. Among other villagers, Shan Lay and his three childhood friends were forced out of their homes and left with nothing. A few years later, Shan Lay and his friends became freedom fighters on the Thailand-Burma border. Today, Shan Lay is the only one of them still alive. Despite the heartache, Shan Lay vows to never give up. Not until the country is free."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Noe Myint is a friendly and kind-hearted 46-year-old Karen man who grew up hiding in the jungle from Burmese military until fleeing to Thailand at the age of 12. Son of a soldier, Noe Myint joined the revolution in 1988 and has spent much of his adult life in the battlefield fighting alongside his school friends and his son. Out of his three children, two are still alive, one of them resettled in Australia and one living in Mae La refugee camp waiting to join her brother and other family in Australia. While their children are registered with the UNHCR, Noe Myint and his wife are not, and thus unable to reunite with their family in Australia. Read more to learn about the life of this soldier who has not only fought for revolution for over 20 years but also looked after a number of orphans who had no one else to turn to. Read more to learn about Noe Myint?s experiences with the UNHCR and resettlement, DKBA?s split from the KNU, Burma Army tactics, and refugee camp attacks. Find out why Noe Myint has great hopes for the future of Karen and how the international community can help the Karen and other ethnic people of Burma in their quest for peace and democracy."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Naw Woo doesn?t know her age exactly but she thinks that she is about 40 years old. She grew up in a small village in the Karen State, helping her parents make a living with hill-side plantations. Conditions were harsh and sometimes the villagers had little more to eat than rice with salt. Other times they had to substitute rice for bamboo shoot or anything else they could find in the jungle. The villagers also regularly fled from Burmese soldiers who came to their village with no warning, demanding porters and torturing and beating anyone who got caught running away from them. Naw Woo and other villagers lived in a constant state of fear, and many villagers lost their lives amidst fighting between Burmese and Karen soldiers. Eventually, Burmese soldiers burnt their whole village to the ground. This is her story of survival and hope."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Daw Hla Shin is a 70-year-old Karen woman from Win Tar Pan village in Bilin, Mon State. She grew up amidst Burmese Army abuse that only worsened after she married a Karen soldier. The villagers lived in constant fear of the Burmese soldiers, enduring torture, killings, and burnt homes and belongings. For Daw Hla Shin, things were even worse; the villagers tried to protect her but they were so afraid of the Burmese military that even her own parents refused to live with her, knowing the Burmese soldiers thought she was a spy for the Karen. She couldn?t even live in the village anymore. She had to stay away in the jungle. The villagers knew about that and they tried to protect her but there was not much they could do. Daw Hla Shin had nowhere to go. Having never attended school or had any connection to the outside world, Daw Hla Shin, nor her younger sister, had any idea that there would be any escape or that Thailand even existed. Both sisters lost their first husbands in battle against the Burma Army. What happened to them and where are they now? Read Daw Hla Shin?s story to find out more."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Mahn Robert Ba Zan is a former Karen freedom fighter and an advisor to the Karen Communities of Minnesota. He served in the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) for more than 30 years, following in the footsteps of his father Mahn Ba Zan, the first commander of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) and a former President of the Karen National Union (KNU). In 2000, Mahn Robert Ba Zan resettled to the United States of America with his family, changing his revolutionary tactics towards raising awareness and educating the Karen and other ethnics. In this interview, Mahn Robert Ba Zan talks about the ceasefire and car permits, ethnic unity, and how the international community can help the Karen in their quest for genuine peace and freedom."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Nerdah Bo Mya is a Major General and the Chief of Staff of the Karen National Defence Organization (KNDO), which was founded in 1947 to protect the Karen people and territory, and is under its mother organisation Karen National Union (KNU). Nerdah Bo Mya, 48, was born near Manerplaw—the former headquarters of the KNU as well as other ethnic nationalities and the pro?democracy movement—as the son of the late General Bo Mya who was the President of the KNU from 1976 to 2000. After being educated in Thailand and in the US, where Nerdah Bo Mya spent six years studying a Liberal Arts degree at a university in California, the young graduate turned away from a future in the US and soon returned to the Thailand-Burma border. For over 20 years, he has fought for ?freedom, democracy, and humanity,” against what is undoubtedly one of the most brutal military regimes in the world. This dedicated and empathetic ?rebel” leader emphasizes that it is not just the Karen people but a whole nation of 60 million people who are still suffering and need to be freed. Although the international community has enjoyed what some call a honeymoon with the Burmese government since the country started opening up in 2011, according to Nerdah Bo Mya, the government is still not showing signs of sincerity in peace talks nor genuine willingness to change. ?The government is playing the game,” he says, and the international community too often indirectly participating in ongoing atrocities. In this exclusive interview with Burma Link, Nerdah Bo Mya talks about the struggle, the current state of the ceasefire and the peace process, the role of the international community, and how to build a prosperous Burma for the future generations."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
2015-04-07
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This Field Report describes events occurring in Toungoo District between December 2013 and December 2014. During this period, KHRG mainly received reports from Thandaunggyi Township and surrounding areas. The report includes information submitted by KHRG community members on a range of human rights abuses and issues of importance to local communities including land confiscation, militarisation, fighting between armed groups, commercial activity carried out by military actors, violent abuse, access to education, access to healthcare, and development projects. • There have been ongoing cases of land confiscation at the hands of the Tatmadaw, for the purpose of building Burma/Myanmar government offices, establishing military target practice areas and increasingly, for plantations, commercial projects, and sale to private companies. • Militarisation in Toungoo District has continued, despite the 2012 preliminary ceasefire between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burma/Myanmar government, with the Tatmadaw rotating troops and replenishing their rations and ammunitions at camps in remote areas. • A local militia, the Thandaung Special Region Peace Group, have been engaged in several commercial activities, including running gambling areas, logging, and stone mining, in order to raise funds to support their operations. All of these activities have had a disruptive effect on villagers, in particular the school students. • The Burma/Myanmar government has invested in providing financial support for school students in standards one to four in Toungoo District, however this has not always been effective as in some cases the money does not reach the students. • There continues to be a lack of access to adequate healthcare in Toungoo District; the Burma/Myanmar government has only built clinics in the village tracts close to main roads, there is a shortage of properly trained healthcare workers and in the case of villagers with lower incomes, treatment is often too expensive. • Between April and June 2014 there was a meeting that was headed by the Mya Sein Yaung company, with representatives from ten villages, on the subject of the company?s Reducing Poverty project being implemented in Thandaunggyi Township."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2016-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2016-02-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 381.98 KB
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Description: "Education is intimately linked with the concept of identity and plays a key role in any nation-building process. In countries recovering from violent ethno-political conflicts, education can positively contribute to peace-building efforts, but it can also negatively affect peace, when it interacts with the conflict dynamics. Language of instruction, cultural relevance of the curriculum, teaching methods, teacher recruitment and placement - all play a role in how effectively education can contribute to peace-building. Overall, community acceptance of the education system is key to ensuring its conflict sensitivity. The Myanmar situation is particularly complex, as the government is not the only actor in education provision, with different schools widely present in the country, due to the long history of civil war. In Karen State, education services are delivered by ethnic armed groups, religious organizations, communities, as well as refugee camps and migrants schools along the Thai- Myanmar border. Successive Myanmar governments have focused their nationbuilding efforts on the culture of the dominant Burman Buddhist majority. In a country, with some 135 minority groups, this approach was often perceived as an attempt of forced assimilation of ethnic minorities into the majority culture. As part of their self-determination struggle, ethnic armed opposition groups developed and maintained their own education systems, which they perceived as key to preserving their group?s cultural identity. The KNU, the main Karen ethnic armed group, established the Karen Education Department (KED) to oversee education provision. The KED currently provides support to 1,430 schools, paying stipends to almost 7,911 teachers in areas under full or partial administration of Karen armed opposition groups. However, only one third of schools receiving KED support fall under its full administration, with the majority being mixed or government schools..."..... Contents: Acronyms and Glossary... Executive Summary... 1. Introduction: Defining Conflict Sensitivity in Education... 2. Objectives and Methodology... 3. Background: Conflict and Education in Myanmar: Origins of conflict in Myanmar; Conflict, identity and education ; Present situation... 4. Karen State: Socio-Political Context and Local Governance Structures... 5. Education Providers and Systems in Karen State: Typology of providers and administration; Myanmar government schools; Karen education system (KED); Community-based education and mixed schools; Faith-based education providers; Border-based education providers; Concluding remarks... 6. Expansion of Government Education Services in Karen State: Communities lose ownership of schools; Local teachers replaced by government teachers; Lack of consultation with local stakeholders; Teachers? difficulty to integrate into the local context; Concerns about the quality of education; Communities have to contribute to teachers? expenses; Concerns over expansion of government control in contested areas; Analysis: how do local stakeholders react to government expansion?... 7. Education Provision Outside of the Government System... Case Studies: 1. Taw Naw High School; 2. War Ler Mu School; 3. K?Paw Htaw High School; 4. Hto Lwi Wah High School; 5. Government Schools in Myang Gyi Ngu.. 8. Relevant Initiatives and Steps Forward... 9. Recommendations.
Creator/author: Polina Lenkova
Source/publisher: Thabyay Education Foundation
2015-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-01-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1 MB
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Description: "This News Bulletin describes the displacement of villagers in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District as a result of fighting that took place during July 2015 between Tatmadaw and Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) soldiers over control of a recently completed section of the Asian Highway. This information was provided by monk U T---, in whose monastery many of the displaced villagers sought refuge. This News Bulletin also lists several specific incidents of fighting and the implications of these incidents on the surrounding villages. As a result of the fighting, more than 1,000 villagers from more than five different villages in Kawkareik Township temporarily fled their homes and sought shelter at monasteries in Kawkareik Town. The schools in these villages were forced to close temporarily out of fears over the safety of the students, who were consequently unable to attend their lessons. The displaced villagers struggled to maintain their farms and plantations, as well as to look after their livestock during the fighting. The villagers slept at the monasteries throughout the night, as they were afraid that they would be ordered to porter for the Tatmadaw soldiers if they had stayed in their villages. On July 6th 2015, two villagers who were travelling on a path near to where Tatmadaw soldiers had taken up position for fighting were shot dead in Hlaingbwe Township, Hpa-an District, see more at ?Recent fighting between Tatmadaw and DKBA soldiers leads to killing and displacement of villagers in Hpa-an District, July 2015,” KHRG, August 2015. On July 7th 2015, a primary school building in Kawkareik Town was hit and damaged by a grenade reported to have been fired by two DKBA soldiers. However, no students or teachers were harmed as the incident took place at 7 am before the school had opened for the day.[1]..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2015-09-03
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format :
Size: 196 KB
Local URL:
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Description: "RANGOON — Fighting last week between the Burma Army and ethnic Karen rebels has brought casualties for both sides as a dispute over illegal taxation along the Asia Highway in Karen State remains unresolved. State media reported on Monday that four soldiers from the Democratic Karen Benevolence Army (DKBA) were killed and three others detained, and that ?some army officers from the Tatmadaw [Burma Armed Forces] sacrificed their lives for the country” in the course of nearly 40 clashes between the two sides..."
Creator/author: LAWI WENG
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
2015-07-13
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: General Ner Dah Bo Mya, the head of the Karen National Defence Organisation told Karen News that armed conflict this month in Burma is linked to plans to build hydropower dams on the Salween River. In an exclusive interview General Ner Dah explains to Karen News why he has placed his troops are on high alert. General Ner Dah said that fighting between the government?s militia, the Border guard Force and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) has sent warning signals to the Karen armed groups that the government is planning to reinforce it military in the region. ?The current situation that we have in our area right now is that we have to be alert because there are fighting between BGF and the DKBA. We have to be alert because we can see that the Burmese [army] are reinforcing their military in most of their base camps that are also close to our base camps.” General Ner Dah said that his organization is aware that the government intends to clamp down on any opposition to its plans to build ?development projects? in Karen State...
Source/publisher: Karen News
2014-10-24
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "A number of international governments, organisations and individuals try to squeeze the current situation of the Karen people into a narrow, restrictive and simplistic narrative that is usually framed like this. ?After more than sixty years of conflict, at last the Karen have peace. There has been a ceasefire for almost two years, the Karen National Union and government of Burma are in dialogue, development projects and aid are coming into Karen State to help the people, and finally refugees can return home.? If all this is true, why aren?t Karen people celebrating? As a nation, the Karen people have suffered so much. Generation after generation has grown up in fear, facing conflict, displacement and repression. Unknown millions have been forced from their homes, uncounted thousands have been killed, and there has been so much suffering. Surely if there is a real peace, we?d all be happy? Certainly for several communities in conflict zones the ceasefire makes a big difference. People are not being attacked as they were before, their villages destroyed, their lives taken, and the use of forced labour has fallen. However, even in these communities there is great caution. It?s a caution shared by most Karen people across Burma, in neighbouring Thailand, and those further abroad. International observers should be trying to understand exactly why people who have suffered so much from conflict and human rights abuses are not celebrating the current peace and reform process. If they fail to do so, they?ll fail to understand what is happening in Burma, and they will never see the lasting peace they claim they want to see in our country..."
Creator/author: Zoya Phan
Source/publisher: "Karen News"
2013-10-12
Date of entry/update: 2013-10-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Abstract: "This thesis investigates the themes and society of displaced Karen identity on the border between Burma and Thailand. The impact of the authoritarian military rule in Burma cannot be underestimated. The government exercises tremendous power to shape the social and economic environment. They determine whether a civil-society is prosperous and functions in an appropriate manner. Governments are also responsible for societal support and protection of all its populace. The population of Burma is essentially isolated from the global society through regime censorship and restrictions. The inter-linking spiral of humanitarian emergencies and continued to escalate, these include refugee, internally displaced people, the spread of preventable diseases and the illicit narcotic production. Recently, the Western governments had solidified their position towards the military junta resulting in a stalemate of diplomatic interaction, with ultimately the people of Burma being the victims of such actions. Current realities in the global sphere present the powerful Western Nations an opportunity for a change in perspective. US policy recommendations include a greater dialogue with the junta and the outcome of the election is seen as crucial to fostering better relation. It is imperative that long-essential reforms are undertaken if Burma if is to achieve lasting peace. The international community must develop coherent and focused policies towards Burma and make conflict resolution a priority. Humanitarian aid and displaced refugee support will play a vital role, and in the 21st Century regional dimensions must be addressed. The challenges of nation-state building must be made in conjunction with political, humanitarian, and economic issues."
Source/publisher: University of Manchester (thesis submitted in 2010)
2010-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 373.65 KB
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Description: In This Report: * Forced Labor in Doo Tha Htoo and Doo Pla Ya districts... * Burma Army makes improvements and additions to roads and camps in Karen State... * Villages in Toungoo district flooded after the construction of the Toe Bo Dam... * Flooding in Kler Lwee Htoo and Doo Pla Ya districts... * Improved relationship with Burma Army in Doo Pla Ya district
Source/publisher: Free Burma Rangers
2013-04-05
Date of entry/update: 2013-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 199.36 KB
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Description: "For more than 60 years, Karen rebels have been fighting a civil war against the government of Myanmar...In February 1949, members of the Karen ethnic minority launched an armed insurrection against Myanmar?s central government. In pictures: Sixty years of war. Over 60 years later, the conflict continues, with more than a dozen ethnic rebel groups waging war against the army in their fight for self-rule. Now, the war is entering a new and bloody stage. Myanmar is the only regime still regularly planting anti-personnel mines. But it is not only the army that uses them. Rebel groups also regularly use homemade landmines or mines seized from the military. As the conflict escalates, civilians are trapped in the middle of some of the worst fighting in decades. 101 East travels to Myanmar, home to the world?s longest running civil war."
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera (101 East)
2011-08-11
Date of entry/update: 2011-12-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Karen (English sub-titles)
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