Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of individual ethnic groups
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Attacks, killings and the food crisis in Toungoo District |
| Date of publication: | | 01 August 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | "SPDC troops have continued to target internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Toungoo District. Civilians continue be killed or injured by the attacks while many of the survivors flee their homes and take shelter in forest hiding sites. Some who have moved into SPDC forced relocation sites continue to secretly return to their villages to cultivate their crops, constantly risking punishment or execution by troops patrolling the areas. The SPDC's repeated disruption of regular planting cycles has created a food crisis in Toungoo, further endangering the IDPs living there. This report examines the abuses in Toungoo District from April to June 2008..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2008-F9) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (880 KB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2008/khrg08f9.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 November 2009 |
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| Title: | | Villagers risk arrest and execution to harvest their crops |
| Date of publication: | | 04 December 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | "The months of November and December which follow the annual cessation of the rainy season mark the traditional harvest time for the agrarian communities of Karen State when villagers must venture out into their fields in order to reap their ripe paddy crops. Across large areas of Toungoo District, however, where the SPDC lacks a consolidated hold on the civilian population, this time of year has become especially perilous as the Army enforces sweeping movement restrictions backed up by a shoot on sight policy in order to eradicate the entire civilian presence in areas outside its control and restrict the population to military-controlled villages and relocation sites where they can be more easily exploited for labour, money, food and other supplies. Displaced communities in hiding thus risk potential arrest and execution by venturing out into the relatively open area of their hill side agricultural fields where they are more easily spotted by SPDC troops who regularly patrol the area. Yet, because of the Army's persistent attacks against covert farm fields, food stores and displaced communities in hiding these villagers confront a severe food shortage which has increased pressure on them to tend to their covert fields despite the risks. As a consequence some villagers have already lost their lives; having been shot by SPDC soldiers while attempting to tend their crops and address their community's rising food insecurity..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2007-F11) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (817 MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2007/khrg07f11.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 07 November 2009 |
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Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Living Ghosts - The spiraling repression of the Karenni population under the Burmese military junta |
| Date of publication: | | March 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | Executive Summary: "The people of Karenni State are living ghosts. Their daily survival is an
achievement; however, it also signifies their further descent into poverty and a
spiralling system of repression. Whilst this report documents the deteriorating
situation in Karenni State over the past six years, this is nothing new for the
ethnically diverse population of this geographically small area. They have been
living in a protracted conflict zone for over 50 years with no respite from decades
of low-intensity conflict and frequent human rights abuses. All the while both
State and Non-State actors have marginalised the grassroots communities’ voices,
contributing to the militarisation of their communities and societies.
Burmese soldiers oppress Karenni villagers on a daily basis. Villagers are isolated
from members of their own communities, and other ethnic groups; they report
daily to local Burmese troops about Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP)
troop movements and other activities in their areas; community members spy on
one another, reporting back to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC);
and they are punished by the SPDC in retaliation for the actions of the KNPP. All
of these strategies create an environment of fear and mistrust between ethnic
groups, communities, and even family members. These tactics successfully
oppress the villagers, as they are too fearful and busy to think beyond daily survival.
Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that villagers face oppression not
only from the Burmese army, but also ceasefire groups and the KNPP. Soldiers
from both the KNPP and ceasefire groups physically maltreat villagers and
undermine their livelihoods. While these occurrences are certainly less frequent
and less severe than similar acts by the SPDC, they still oppress the civilian
population and undermine their ability and capacity to survive.
Additionally the presence of many different actors has resulted in the militarisation
of Karenni State. Thousands of landmines have been indiscriminately planted
throughout the state, without adequate mapping or markings to minimise civilian
causalities. The SPDC, ceasefire groups and the KNPP all recruit and have
child soldiers in their armies. The Burmese army has the largest number of child
soldiers anywhere in the world, and approximately 20 per cent of the KNPP’s
troops are under 18 (the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces
under Burma’s national law). The increased militarisation of Karenni State has
resulted in increases in human rights abuses.
However villagers are staging their own non-violent resistance movement. They
have developed and implemented a number of early warning systems and
household and village-wide risk management strategies so as to minimise the
impact of the SPDC and other armed groups violence and abuses. These
resistance strategies have become the biggest threat to local and regional
authorities; consequently the villagers are increasingly becoming the targets of
hostilities from the Burmese army.
Most people in Karenni State rely on agriculture as their primary source of income
and are living a subsistence existence. Despite the villagers’ best efforts to secure
their livelihoods, their ability and capacity to do so is constantly undermined by
the SPDC and, to a lesser extent, ceasefire groups and the KNPP via crop
procurement, forced production of dry season crops, arbitrary taxation and fines,
theft and destruction of property and food, forced labour and land confiscation.
This is further exacerbated by the drought that has been occurring in Karenni
State for the past decade, which affects crop yields. When coupled with
skyrocketing commodity prices, villagers’ ability to ebb out a living is further eroded
– to the point of impossibility in some cases.
The abject poverty in Karenni State prevents villagers from accessing basic health
and education services. Whilst the SPDC claims to provide free health care and
education, in reality this does not occur. Health and education services provided
by the state are extremely expensive and are well-below international standards.
As a result, for most people education and medical treatment becomes a luxury
they simply cannot afford.
As a result of poverty some villagers are turning to illegal activities in order to
survive - mainly poppy production. In Karenni State there are two areas where
villagers are growing poppies with the permission of ceasefire groups. Farmers
can earn a significantly higher monetary return on their poppy yields than for
other crops using the same quantity of land. Poppy growers can earn up to
300,000 Kyat per 1.5 kilogram package of raw opium they produce (a 1.5 kilogram
package of raw opium can be produced in four months). A teacher supported by
the SPDC would have to work for 60 months in order to earn the same amount.
Additionally amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) are being produced in Karenni
State. Three factories producing ATS in Karenni State have been identified, again
in areas controlled by ceasefire groups; however as it is difficult to distinguish
between factories and ordinary dwellings it is possible that there are many other
ATS factories in Karenni State that have not been identified. Each factory can
produce between 250,000 and 300,000 pills per month. From the three known
factories in Karenni State between 9 million and 10.8 million ATS pills are being
produced and released into the international drug market each year.
Today over a quarter of the population in Karenni State have been forced from
their homes as a direct result of the actions of the Burmese military junta. Between
70 and 80 per cent of those displaced are women and children. Displacement
has increased 42 per cent since 2002 and represents eight per cent of the total
population in Karenni State. Karenni State has the highest level of displacement
to population ratio in all of eastern Burma. When similar comparisons are made
to the five countries with the largest displaced populations in the world (Sudan,
Colombia, Uganda, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo) the percentage
of displaced persons in Karenni State is alarmingly higher. Over 12 per cent of
Sudan’s population is displaced – less than half that of Karenni State.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Burma receive very little assistance,
if any at all, primarily due to the policies of the SPDC, which severely restrict
humanitarian agencies accessing these vulnerable populations. The SPDC
deems IDPs as enemies of the state and implements a shoot on sight policy,
which includes children and the elderly. IDPs are vulnerable to human rights
abuses, exploitation and violence from the
SPDC, as well as food shortages and have
severely limited access to education and
health care services.
The most pressing need of the people and
the IDP population is physical security. Most
people have the capacity to earn a livelihood
mitigating food shortages, to educate their
children, establish a medical clinic and
develop their communities; however, they
lack the security necessary to do so. There
are humanitarian organisations working in
Karenni State, including local community
based organisations (CBOs), nongovernmental
organisations (NGOs) and
international agencies such as the United
Nations Development Programme. Despite
this presence the humanitarian situation in
Karenni State continues to deteriorate and
people are finding themselves slipping further and further into the poverty abyss
– with no foreseeable escape.
The impacts from the situation in Karenni State are not confined to the State’s
boundaries - they spill over into other states and divisions in Burma and also
across international borders, especially into Thailand. These spill over effects
include, but are not limited to: the mass exodus of people from Burma to
neighbouring countries as refugees and migrant workers; illegal trafficking of
drugs and people and associated health concerns, especially HIV/AIDS.
These non-traditional security threats impinge on Burma’s neighbours
economies and social welfare systems, affecting regional stability and security.
The situation in Karenni State cannot be rectified without genuinely addressing
Burma’s complex issues, including ethnic chauvinism, in a participatory
manner, which engages the whole nation’s citizenry. Only when these issues
are truly addressed may the people of Karenni State find peace and start living
life for the future, and not as living ghosts." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Burma Issues |
| Format/size: | | pdf (666K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmaissues.org/En/reports/livingghosts.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 05 April 2008 |
|
| Title: | | Conflict and Displacement in Karenni: the Need for Considered Responses |
| Date of publication: | | May 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | Click on the on the html link above to go to a neater, paginated table of contents or on the pdf links below to go straight to the document ....
PDF File 1: Cover and Contents.
PDF File 2: Boundaries; Climate; Physical Features; Population; Ethnic Groups in Karenni; Gender Roles in Karenni; Agriculture, Land Distribution and Patterns of Recourse; Resources; Water; Communication, Trade and Transport Conflict in Karenni; A History of Conflict; The Pre-Colonial Period; The Colonial Period; Independence in Burma and the Outbreak of Civil War in the Karenni States; State and Non-State Actors including Armed Groups and Political Parties; The Role of the Tatmadaw; The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP); The Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front (KNPLF); The Shan State Nationalities Liberation Organisation (SSNLO); The Kayan New Land Party (KNLP; The NDF and CPB Alliances and their Impact in Karenni; War in the Villages; The Formation of Splinter Groups in the 1990s; The Economics of War; The Relationship between Financing the War and Exploitation of Natural Resources; The Course of the War; Cease-fires.... PDF file 3: Conflict-Induced Displacements in Karenni -- Defining Population Movements; Conflict Induced Displacement; Displacement in 1996; Displacements by Township; Relocation Policy; Services in Relocation Sites; Smaller Relocation Sites and so-called Gathering Villages; Displacement into Shan State; Displacement as a Passing Phenomenon; Displacement, Resettlement and Transition; Women outside Relocation Sites. Development Induced Displacement -- Displacements in Loikaw City; Confiscation of Land by the Tatmadaw; Displacement as a Result of Resource Scarcity; Food Scarcity; Water Shortages; Voluntary Migrations. Health and education needs and responses: Health Policy; Health Services; Health Status of the Population; Communicable Diseases; Nutrition; Reproductive and Womens Health; Landmine Casualties; Iodine Deficiency and Goitre; Vitamin A Deficiency; Water and Sanitation; Responses to Health Needs; Education Policy; Educational Services and Coverage; Traditional Attitudes to Education; Educational Services in Karenni; Responses to Educational Needs; Responses from the Thai-Burma border; Responses by International Humanitarian Agencies from Inside Burma. Appendices: A Comparison of Populations in Relocation Sites in Karenni; Refugee Arrivals at the Thai Border; Displacements by Township; Examples of Population Movements. |
| Author/creator: | | Vicky Bamforth, Steven Lanjouw, Graham Mortimer |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Burma Ethnic Research Group (BERG) |
| Format/size: | | 3 pdf files: (1) Cover and Contents (472K); (2) Text-pp1-47 (782K); 3 Text pp48-128 (1300K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Considered_responses-1.pdf
http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Considered_responses-2.pdf
http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Considered_responses-3.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Forced Relocation and Human Rights Abuses in Karenni State, Burma |
| Date of publication: | | May 1997 |
| Description/subject: | | This report documents human rights violations carried out by troops from the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) against Karenni people in Karenni (Kayah) State in eastern Burma. Information regarding human rights abuses in the area has come from interviews with Karenni refugees who have fled into Thailand, and with officials from the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP). ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS:
forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration,
forced to move, displaced |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | ABSDF |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Update on Karenni Forced Relocations |
| Date of publication: | | 05 March 1997 |
| Description/subject: | | Between April and July 1996, SLORC ordered at least 182 villages in Karenni (Kayah) State, with an estimated total population of 25-30,000 people, to move to various relocation sites. The primary intention of SLORC was to cut off all possibility of civilian support for the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP); SLORC broke a ceasefire agreement to attack the KNPP in June 1995. The villages affected cover at least half the entire geographic area of Karenni. Some villages were marched at gunpoint to relocation sites without warning, but most were issued written orders to move within just 7 days or be 'considered as enemies', i.e. shot on sight without question. [For details see "Forced Relocation in Karenni", KHRG #96-24, 15/7/96.] ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced
relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #97-01) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Karenni (Kayah) State: Update on Relocations (Information Update) (#97-U2) |
| Date of publication: | | 12 February 1997 |
| Description/subject: | | Between April and July 1996, SLORC ordered at least 183 villages in Karenni State, with an estimated total population of 25-30,000 people, to move to various relocation sites. The primary intention of SLORC was to cut off all possibility of civilian support for the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP); SLORC had broken a ceasefire agreement to attack the KNPP in June 1995. The villages affected cover at least half the entire geographic area of Karenni. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic (KHRG #97-01) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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| Title: | | Forced Relocation in Karenni |
| Date of publication: | | 15 July 1996 |
| Description/subject: | | "Throughout June and July 1996, the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma has conducted a mass forced relocation campaign covering more than half of the geographic area of Karenni and affecting at least 183 villages so far with an estimated total population of 25-30,000. The first orders to move came as early as April in Baw La Keh (sometimes spelled Bawlake) area on the Pon River. However, the biggest wave of relocations began on 1 June, when an order was issued to all 98 villages between the Pon and Salween Rivers to move to relocation sites beside SLORC Army camps at Shadaw and Ywathit... "
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports (KHRG #96-24) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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| Title: | | Mass Forced Relocations in Shan and Karenni (Kayah) States |
| Date of publication: | | 16 June 1996 |
| Description/subject: | | "SLORC is currently using mass forced relocation campaigns as a method to try to eliminate all civilian support for opposition forces. In December 1995 and January 1996, about 100 Karen villages comprising all the hill villages in eastern Papun District were ordered to move to military sites in order to cut off any civilian support for Karen forces by completely removing the rural civilian population of the whole area. Includes list of relocated villages..." ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG _#96-U3) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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| Title: | | SLORC Activities in Ler Ba Ko Village |
| Date of publication: | | 31 December 1992 |
| Description/subject: | | "Testimony by a refugee from central Karenni (Kayah) State and List of Villages Relocated in March 1992."
"(Northwest Karenni State) List of 76 villages relocated in March 1992. Deemawso and Pruso Townships March, July 92. Karenni men, women: Rape; forced labour incl. portering and work on the Loikaw-Aung Ban railway -- 91); extortion; forced relocation; religious intolerance (the villages were Christian)..."
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Supplementary Report on Karenni State |
| Date of publication: | | 15 November 1992 |
| Description/subject: | | "March 92 Karenni men, women, children: Forced relocation; killing; inhuman treatment (beating, deprivation of food and medicine -- especially hard on children); conditions in the relocation camp; forced labour (Aung Ban-Loikaw railway) incl. women and children; torture; extortion; economic difficulties caused by the SLORC occupation -- people scattered in the forest; economic oppression..."
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced, Kayah |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Karenni State: Forced Relocation, Concentration Camps, and Slavery |
| Date of publication: | | 10 August 1992 |
| Description/subject: | | "March-July 92. Karenni men, women, children: Looting; rape; forced portering; killings; disappearances; forced relocation of more than 20,000 people in 76 villages (see Orders, 12 June 92). Description of conditions in a relocation camp (particularly bad for children); internal displacement; religious intolerance (destroying churches and pressure to convert to Buddhism); pillaging; inhuman treatment(deprivation of food and medicine); forced labour on Aung Ban-Loikaw railway; inhuman treatment during forced labour and arbitrary detention; torture.Including slavery under the United Nations Development Program..."
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Statements by Karenni Refugees |
| Date of publication: | | 12 June 1992 |
| Description/subject: | | "Statement by Karenni refugees fleeing a SLORC ultimatum to all villagers in a large part of the State where the Karenni opposition is strong to leave their villages or die. Their statements describe some of the SLORC army’s activities in civilian villages of western Karenni..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Regional & Thematic Reports |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
| Title: | | The SLORC's "Leave Or Die" Ultimatum to Karenni Villagers |
| Date of publication: | | 12 June 1992 |
| Description/subject: | | "Direct translations of stamped and signed orders posted by the SLORC in villages throughout western Karenni State in late March of this year. The large areas affected are in the "brown" or "black" areas (those not firmly under SLORC control, where the KNPP opposition is active)..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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Internal displacement/forced migration of Mon villagers
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Hardship of displaced families in the rural area |
| Date of publication: | | 31 October 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | "...The population displacement’ is a forgotten problem in Burma. While many people are talking negotiation’ and national reconciliation’, but there is no real solution how to stop the displacement in the country. It is also a serious issue which is necessary to consider.
However, the population displacement always relates to war, and so that it is needed to stop war if we want to stop the population displacement problems" |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Women and Child Rights Project (Southern Burma) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.rehmonnya.org/allwcrp_detail.php?id=17
http://www.rehmonnya.org/allwcrp_detail.php?id=18 |
| Date of entry/update: | | 06 April 2004 |
|
| Title: | | No Land to Farm |
| Date of publication: | | 30 September 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | "...In the last four years, the Burmese army based in Mon State has confiscated thousands acres of farmland. The farmers whose land had been confiscated were not given any compensation. They have no opportunity to take legal actions against the army. As a result, many farmers who lost their lands left to Thailand to seek employment. Those who stayed in villages and towns became landless and jobless..." Land confiscation by the Burmese military - description, analysis and case studies. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Foundatuion of Monland (HURFOM) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 18 June 2004 |
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Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingya villagers
Individual Documents
| Title: | | The Rohingya: Forced Migration and Statelessness |
| Date of publication: | | 28 February 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | "Forced Migration in the South Asian Region:
Displacement, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution"
Paper submitted for publication in a book edited by Omprakash Mishra on "Forced Migration in South Asian Region", Centre for Refugee studies Jadavpur University, Calcutta and Brookings Institution Project on Internal Displacement.
"In the eyes of the media and the general public, whether in Bangladesh or further afield, the situation of the Rohingya from Burma[ii] is usually referred to as a ?refugee problem?. Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has born the brunt of two mass exoduses, each of more then 200,000 people, placing them among the largest in Asia. Each of these massive outflows of refugees was followed by mass repatriation to Burma. Repatriation has been considered the preferred solution to the refugee crisis. However, this has not proved a durable solution, since the influx of Rohingyas over international borders has never ceased. And it is unlikely that it will stop, so long as the root causes of this unprecedented exodus are not effectively remedied. The international community has often focussed its attention on the deplorable conditions in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, rather than on the root causes of the problem, namely the denial of legal status and other basic human rights to the Rohingya in Burma. This approach doubtless stems from the practical difficulty of confronting an intractable military regime which refuses to recognise the Rohingya as citizens of Burma, and of working out solutions acceptable to all parties involved. The actual plight and continuous exodus of the Rohingya people has been rendered invisible. Though they continue to cross international borders, they are also denied the right of asylum, being labelled ?economic migrants?. The international community has preferred to ignore the extent of this massive forced migration, which has affected not only Bangladesh, but also other countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, etc..." |
| Author/creator: | | Chris Lewa |
| Language: | | English |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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