ND Burma
ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
Recent Posts
- The Enlistment of Women: Gendered Impacts of Forced Conscriptionby the Military Junta
- The Enlistment of Women
- Myanmar junta kills 50 civilians in 3-day countrywide air raids
- During Myanmar’s new year celebration, 4,893 prisoners and 13 foreign prisoners granted amnesty
- 11 killed as Myanmar junta bombs Buddhist monasteries during new year festivities
The Enlistment of Women: Gendered Impacts of Forced Conscriptionby the Military Junta
/in Press Releases and StatementsThe Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma Releases New Briefing Paper,
The Enlistment of Women: Gendered Impacts of Forced Conscription
by the Military Junta
23 April 2025
Today, the Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) releases a new briefing paper titled, The Enlistment of Women: Gendered Impacts of Forced Conscription by the Military Junta. ND-Burma is alarmed by the regime’s actions to not only illegally and violently force young men to join the military but also to engage in recent activities that include the forced enlistment of women. Our latest research finds that women face immense risks in junta custody, and the dangerous attempts to make them fight on the battlefield present additional risks that undermine their safety and security.
Despite the Burmese military claiming that women would not be enlisted following the enactment of the People’s Military Service Law, registration for women between the ages of 18 and 27 began at the start of the year, prompting fears and uncertainty. The junta’s forced conscription is seen as the latest attempt to distract from their losses on the battlefield and the many soldiers who have defected from their ranks and battalions.
ND-Burma members are concerned about the safety and security of young women and girls. The gendered impacts of forced conscription have been catastrophic across various communities in Burma, where mothers, daughters, sisters and even pregnant women have been separated from their families to be enlisted. In Southeastern Burma, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) reported that women forced to serve under the junta have begun training in Kyaikto township, Mawlamyine. In the Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF), hundreds of women fled to liberation areas after the announcement of the fifth batch of recruitment.
Among the many human rights violations women face if forcibly conscripted include human trafficking, displacement, sexual exploitation, trauma and distress, sexual violence and others.
Additional insights from our members, notably women-led organizations such as the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, the Ta’ang Women’s Organization, and the Tavoyan Women’s Union, were contextualized through their documentation of crimes against women and young girls. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence collected by women-led civil society organizations, which makes clear that misogyny and violent behaviour are tolerated and excused by the military junta.
Moreover, it is abundantly clear that the forced conscription effort must be met with intervention by the international community to ensure that no lives are lost or harm is inflicted upon the men and women compelled to fight in a war brutally imposed by the Burmese Army.
Women have asserted that the future of Burma must include gender equality. These goals must be achieved simultaneously to ensure that all people, regardless of gender, are granted the same protections, freedoms, and fundamental rights. Women human rights defenders continue to advocate for gender equality and reliable justice pathways for victims of violence in Burma. They must be heard, and their calls must be transformed into policies and laws to protect all women.
For more information:
Nai Aue Mon
Signal: +66 86 1679 741
San Htoi
Signal: +66 64 9369 070
The Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) consists of 13 organisations representing a range of ethnic nationalities, women, and former political prisoners. Since 2004, ND-Burma member organisations have been documenting human rights abuses and fighting for justice for victims. The network has nine full members and four affiliate members.
The Enlistment of Women
/in Briefing Papers, ND-Burma's ReportsGendered Impacts of Forced Conscription
by the Military Junta
It has now been over four years since the military junta attempted a coup. During this time, there has been widespread resistance and stark opposition to the regime’s brutality. Despite the fact that the coup was unlawful, even according to the military-drafted constitution, the junta has continued to violate international norms and principles by launching violent attacks against the opposition. Ethnic communities, in particular, have been terrorized by the junta’s relentless gunfire in their villages and temporary shelters, even in the absence of armed actors.
More than 3.5 million people have been displaced since the failed coup. Children are being denied safe pathways to education, as schools are routinely bombed in aerial raids and bombardments. Families are struggling to find work to sustain their livelihoods due to the presence of military soldiers and landmines surrounding their homes and farms.
With dwindling access to food due to inflation and a lack of work opportunities, many who have been displaced have resorted to foraging and relying on local vegetation for sustenance.
The attacks by the Burmese Army are increasing as local people are being accused of harbouring soldiers from the armed resistance. Military checkpoints are also being frequently expanded and established in various parts of the country, especially along popular routes, where individuals are questioned, extorted, and often disappear.
Many of the men and women who are stopped and interrogated find themselves being forcibly enlisted as part of the junta’s unlawful conscription efforts.
The People’s Military Service Law mandates conscription but had not been enforced for over a decade. However, last year, the junta began implementing it for the first time since it was passed, requiring men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to enlist.
The timing of its enactment is indicative of the junta’s desperation amid its increasing losses on the battlefield. Reports from the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), suggest that conscripted individuals, often youths, are deployed to front-line battles and forced to fight under the threat of violence.2 Though the law has now been in effect for over a year, regulations of the People’s Military Service Law were only recently passed in January2025, with several updates made.
Myanmar junta kills 50 civilians in 3-day countrywide air raids
/in NewsThe exiled civilian government vowed to ‘punish’ the military regime for its violent crimes against the public.
Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese.
A three-day onslaught of junta-launched airstrikes across four major areas spanning much of Myanmar’s central plains killed 50 people and injured nearly 80, sources told Radio Free Asia.
Myanmar’s junta, which seized power in 2021, faces resistance from dozens of militias seeking autonomy. In response to insurgent attacks, the military has bombed villages suspected of sheltering rebels, often killing dozens of civilians.
In the latest assaults, the junta killed 20 people in Singu township’s Kyi Tauk Pauk village and Thabeikkyin township’s Leik Kya and Yae Htwet villages in Manadalay region between Friday and Sunday.
“A 500-pound bomb fell. Four men and two women were injured, only those who were middle-aged,” said a Kyi Tauk Pauk resident, declining to be named for security reasons, adding that three dormitories at the local school were destroyed when a junta plane attacked around 2 p.m. on Friday.
The airstrike on Leik Kya village killed 12 civilians, including one child, three women and eight men, and injured three others, said a member of a local Pyinoolwin militia under the arm of the exiled civilian National Unity Government, or NUG.
The plane came from Meiktila Air Base, on the border of Shan state and Mandalay region, dropping one 300-pound bomb and opening fire on the village, said a member of the militia, declining to be named for security reasons.
Similarly, Saturday afternoon’s attacks on Yae Htwet left 24 people dead and nearly 20 injured when two bombs struck the village, residents said, adding that the death toll is likely to rise as many people are critically injured.
Several young children were also killed in the attack, said one resident, declining to be named for security reasons.
‘Ceasefire’
The NUG announced on Monday it would take all actions necessary to punish military for its violent crimes against the public. Despite ceasefires declared by both the junta and NUG following the country’s March 28 earthquake that left thousands dead, struggles for territory, ending in junta bombings, have continued.
Other attacks also targeted villages across Rakhine state and Sagaing region. Both are considered to be hotbeds of insurgent activity under both NUG-led militias and the Arakan Army, which has captured 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships in its fight for self-determination.
Junta airstrikes on a residential ward of Rakhine’s Kyauktaw town, which remains under military control, on Saturday afternoon. killed two civilians and injured 20 others, including three children, residents said.
A junta plane attacked a monastery in Mon state’s Bilin township on Saturday morning during a religious ceremony. The airstrike killed 10-year-old monk Kaylatha, 60-year-old Ma Wai and 69-year-old Hla Myint, the rebel administration Karen National Union, which controls parts of Kayin and Mon states, announced on Sunday. Nine more civilians were injured.
In Sagaing region, two bombs dropped on a store in Thin Taw village on Sunday evening killed six family members, said one resident, who requested to remain unnamed for fear of reprisals.
“One bomb hit the store exactly and killed the whole family,” he said. “They were all just civilians, three men, three women, all dead.”
He listed the family members as 20-year-old Mi Thay; 30-year-old Min Min; Khin Ma, who was around 50 years old; and also Kyaw Min Kyi; Phone Maw; and a woman known as ‘Mrs. Saw,’ all identified without ages.
Two other men were injured in the attack, residents said.
In Myinmu township, junta forces bombed a camp for internally displaced people on Saturday morning, killing three civilians and injuring eight others, residents said, identifying them as displaced people including three-year-old Su Myat, 17-year-old May Zun Oo and 69-year-old Tin Maung.
Four others were injured including a five-year-old child, they said.
Junta spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun has not responded to RFA’s inquiries.
RFA News
During Myanmar’s new year celebration, 4,893 prisoners and 13 foreign prisoners granted amnesty
/in NewsMizzima
Marking the Myanmar New Year on 17 April, the Myanmar junta has announced a conditional amnesty for 4,893 prisoners across the country. Those released under this pardon will face reinstatement of their previous sentences if they reoffend. Additionally, one-sixth of the sentences of other inmates will be remitted.
The release was made under Section 401(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows conditional pardons. As part of the gesture, 13 foreign nationals are also being granted clemency and will be deported.
The move is seen by some observers as a political strategy ahead of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s scheduled meeting with ASEAN leaders. It is speculated that the release of certain political prisoners may be intended to curry favour and legitimacy at the regional summit.
Prisoners are set to be released starting this afternoon from various prisons and detention centres nationwide.
In a related development, several high-profile businessmen who were arrested in 2022 have been released ahead of the official amnesty announcement. Among them is Chit Khaing, chairman of Eden Group of Companies, who was released from Mandalay’s Obo Prison at around on 12 April. He had been serving a sentence related to alleged tax corruption involving the Tigyit coal power project.
He was detained in April 2022 along with former Union Ministers Ohn Win and Ohn Khaing, and Deputy Minister Dr. Tun Naing, all of whom had served under the previous National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
Also released is Zay Thiha on 12 April, son of Zaykabar Group owner Khin Shwe, from Insein Prison in Yangon. Several edible oil business owners were reportedly freed as well, though full details are yet to emerge.
11 killed as Myanmar junta bombs Buddhist monasteries during new year festivities
/in NewsThe airstrikes come despite a ceasefire and as people gather at religious sites during Thingyan celebrations.
UPDATED April 15, 2025, at 2:50 p.m. ET
Myanmar junta forces have unleashed a series of Burmese New Year airstrikes on Buddhist monasteries, killing 11 people during festive days when people traditionally visit religious sites to make merit.
The latest and deadliest attack came Tuesday, when six civilians were killed and at least 25 others, including 10 monks, were wounded at Kanni village monastery in Kawkareik Township, Kayin (Karen) State, residents of the village told RFA Burmese.
The wounded are being treated at Mawlamyine General Hospital, said one resident, who like other sources in this article did not want to be named for safety reasons. Mawlamyine is the capital of neighboring Mon State.
The resident added that casualties would have been higher if the bombing had happened earlier in the day when more people were congregating at the monastery. He said there has been fighting in the vicinity since Monday evening between junta forces and the Karen National Liberation Army, which controls Kanni village.
According to reporting by RFA, airstrikes from Saturday – the eve of Thingyan, as the Burmese New Year is known – until Tuesday have killed a total of 11 people, and injured 51 others in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Karen State and Rakhine State.
The attacks come despite a ceasefire declared by anti-junta and junta forces in the wake of a devastating March 28 earthquake in central Myanmar that killed more than 3,700 people.
During the pause, rebel forces have claimed gains in new territories, prompting retaliatory airstrikes from the military, often resulting in heavy civilian casualties. As well as being sites for religious homage, Buddhist monasteries often also serve as shelters for displaced people.
On Monday, in Sagaing region’s Kani township, a junta aerial attack around Monday 8 a.m hit a monastery where people were due to arrive for the holiday, one resident said.
“Of the novice monks in Tha Min Chan village, two died and two were critically injured,” the resident said.
“Because the bomb fell a bit early, it was only the monks in the monastery – those who came to make merit and perform duties for the monks had not arrived yet.”
Another woman was critically injured when bombs fell on a nearby village, the Kani resident added.
Separately, Indaw township, which was captured in part by the shadow National Unity Government’s militia, faced additional attacks around 11 a.m. on Monday, residents said. The attack injured two people.
On Sunday, junta attacks also hit monasteries in three townships in Sagaing region – Taze, Wuntho and Kawlin – killing one woman and injuring seven people, including a monk, according to the residents.
In a separate attack in Kyauktaw township, Rakhine state, three civilians were wounded: 10-year-old Chit Hnin Wai, 27-year-old Kyi Kyi Win and 34-year-old Oo Than May, the residents added.
In Mandalay region’s Natogyi township, airstrikes Monday targeting another monastery injured three more monks, including a child, residents told RFA.
In Thabeikkyin township, attacks on Sunday killed a man and a woman and injured eight others, said a member of the Pyinoolwin People’s Defense Force, one of the rebel groups.
“Around 10:21 p.m., they dropped four bombs on Chaung Gyi village that were around 200 or 300 pounds each,” he said.
RFA contacted Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Htun, the spokesman for the military council, about the airstrikes, but he did not answer his phone.
RFA News
Commend bravery, condemn betrayal
/in NewsLETTER | The Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) commends the extraordinary bravery of Malaysian rescue personnel, the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart), who undertook humanitarian missions in earthquake-stricken Sagaing Region, Myanmar.
Operating in areas plagued by insecurity and militarised repression, their courage and commitment to saving lives stand as a powerful act of regional solidarity and moral clarity.
Despite significant restrictions imposed by the military junta, their successful rescue efforts remind us of what true humanitarianism looks like.
However, while we applaud the selfless actions of these individuals, we are deeply alarmed and disappointed by the diplomatic trajectory taken by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is reportedly planning to meet with junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, under the pretext of humanitarian coordination.
Such an act risks legitimising a regime that continues to commit widespread atrocities – including indiscriminate aerial bombings, mass killings, and forced displacement – even during Myanmar’s traditional New Year.
Far from pursuing peace, the junta has intensified its war against the people. To meet with its chief architect, without consulting or including legitimate stakeholders from Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, would be nothing short of a betrayal.
This approach flagrantly disregards Asean’s own Five-Point Consensus, especially the first point, which calls for an immediate cessation of violence. Not only has this condition never been met, but the military junta has also openly defied it.
Yet, instead of accountability, we see gestures of recognition and dialogue that embolden the perpetrators and further isolate the democratic forces on the ground.
More troubling still is Asean’s apparent outsourcing of its regional responsibility – mandated by the United Nations and supported by the international community – to a private individual, former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Such actions are irresponsible and unethical. Myanmar’s crisis is not a business opportunity, nor can peace be brokered through personal relationships or economic self-interest. Thaksin’s history of close ties with Myanmar’s military elite makes his involvement all the more problematic and unacceptable.
A broad coalition of Myanmar’s legitimate democratic actors and ethnic resistance organisations – including the National Unity Government (NUG), Karen National Union (KNU), Chin National Front (CNF), and others – has strongly opposed this direction.
These groups have urged Asean and the international community to:
Malaysia’s current direction undermines decades of work for peace and justice in Myanmar. It also sends the wrong message to the people of Myanmar, other Asean nations, and those around the world who look to Malaysia as a moral and principled actor in regional affairs.
We urge Anwar and Aseam leaders to reassess this flawed and dangerous approach. Do not reward atrocity with diplomatic recognition. Do not hand over the fate of an entire nation to backroom deals and private interests.
Stand with the people of Myanmar, who continue to resist tyranny at tremendous cost. Their courage deserves more than token sympathy – it demands principled action.
Malaysiakini