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.
Brotherhood Alliance announces four-day ceasefire; India calls for release of nationals from cyber scams centers
/in NewsBrotherhood Alliance announces four-day ceasefire
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) announced Sunday that a temporary ceasefire was put in place in Lashio Township of northern Shan State, near the Burma-China border, during the Communist Party of China’s third plenum meeting, which ends July 18.
“The MNDAA set its ceasefire for four days but there were fighting in Lashio town on Sunday night,” said a Lashio resident. “The military has reached a situation where it is under the worst threat in history. We can say that the regime’s downfall will come soon,” said Kyaw Zaw, the National Unity Government (NUG) spokesperson.
The MNDAA added that it will retaliate against the military if it carries out any attacks against the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the MNDAA and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), over the next four days. The Brotherhood re-launched its offensive in northern Shan State on July 3 after signing a China-brokered ceasefire with the military on Jan. 11.
Thailand seizes shipments meant for drug production
Thailand’s 3 Plus News reported on Saturday that Thai authorities confiscated 90,000 kg of toluene, a chemical compound which can be used in drug production, at Laem Chabang port in Chonburi Province, located in eastern Thailand. It arrived in six shipping containers from Busan, South Korea on July 8.
“This chemical is very dangerous for mankind. These chemicals can destroy [families], so we have to step up to suppress it,” said an official from Thailand’s Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) at the Ministry of Justice.
According to Thai investigators, the six containers were ordered by a logistics company in Samut Sakhon Province, west of the capital Bangkok, and destined for Shan State via Mae Sot, Tak Province in western Thailand. Thai media reported that those 90 tons of toluene can produce four and a half tonnes of heroin, or 4,500 kilograms of methamphetamine, or 120 million yaba tablets, which is a mix of methamphetamine and caffeine.
India calls for release of nationals from cyber scams centers
India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar called for the release of Indian nationals trafficked to work at cyber scam centers in Burma during a meeting with the regime’s deputy prime minister, who is also the minister of foreign affairs, Than Swe on July 12.
Jaishankar “pressed strongly for the early return of Indians unlawfully detained” in Burma at the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, which was held in New Delhi July 11-12.
BIMSTEC is a regional organization established in 1997. It aims to connect countries around the Bay of Bengal to promote economic growth, trade, and cooperation in areas like transportation, energy and counter-terrorism. Than Swe met with Thailand’s new Foreign Affairs Minister Maris Sangiampongsa on July 11.
News by Region
KAREN—The Karen National Union (KNU) stated that 134 civilians have been killed and 439 injured in areas under its control since January. It added that over 2,000 human rights violations were committed by the military, including 96 arrests of civilians.
A total of 1,182 buildings, including 29 religious buildings, 14 schools and four healthcare facilities, were destroyed in airstrikes, artillery and landmine attacks. Over 1.2 million civilians have been displaced from their homes and are now Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) since the 2021 military coup.
MANDALAY—Madaya Township residents reported that the military carried out airstrikes on Kyauktada, Bokone, Htonepho villages and the Alpha cement factory on Sunday. The Madaya People’s Defense Force (PDF) claimed that six military outposts were abandoned as the troops were deployed along the Mandalay-Mogok Road, as well as at Mandalay Hill and other public areas.
SHAN—The TNLA announced that 54 civilians have been killed and 82 have been injured in northern Shan since fighting between it and the military began on June 25. It added that the military is conducting retaliatory airstrikes and artillery attacks on areas under its control and more than eight civilians have been killed and injured per day up to July 10.
The TNLA seized Nawnghkio Township after it captured the remaining military outpost there last Wednesday. Fighting continues between the TNLA and the military in Lashio and Kyaukme townships of northern Shan, as well as Mogok Township in Mandalay Region.
YANGON—Residents from Mandalay Region, as well as Arakan and Shan states have fled their homes and become IDPs due to the fighting between the military and resistance forces such as the Brotherhood Alliance, which includes the Arakan Army (AA), and have sought refuge in Yangon.
“The entire bus was full of people coming to Yangon, including children and elders. They said they are fleeing the fighting in northern Shan State and Mandalay as it is no longer safe there,” said a passenger traveling from Shan State to Yangon.
DVB News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (July 1 to 7, 2024)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from July 1 to 7, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, Rakhine State, and Shan State from July 1st to 7th. The Military Junta used the civilians as human shields and searched mines on Monywa-Mandalay Road. The Military’s ward and village Administrators asked for the money under the reason of Military Service Law. The Military’s Minister of Labor said that will stop the workers who go to foreign countries with visiting visas (PV) and working on July 6th.
Almost 30 civilians died, and nearly 20 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. 3 under-aged children died, and 4 were injured when the Military Junta committed abuses.
Infogram
Some 13,700 schools in Myanmar are closed due to civil war
/in NewsSchool buildings are often targeted by indiscriminate airstrikes or shelling from artillery.
More than a quarter – or about 13,700 – of Myanmar’s 48,753 public schools have been closed due to the country’s civil war, the military junta’s Ministry of Education said.
In western Chin state, which has seen fierce fighting since the 2021 military coup d’etat, only 38 schools out of some 1,500 are still open, according to figures released by the ministry.
In neighboring Sagaing region, where the coup triggered an insurgency by members of the majority Burman community in Myanmar’s heartland, more than 4,200 schools have been closed.
Junta troops often target civilian homes and other buildings – including schools – during or after ground battles with insurgents.
“Children have suffered a lot in education,” said U Htay, a resident of Ma Taw village in Sagaing’s Mingin township. “They have lost their dream. We see that their potential to become outstanding citizens is being destroyed.”
Most schools remain open in the commercial capital of Yangon and nearby Ayeyarwady region, the ministry said.
The shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, has opened more than 4,300 schools nationwide in areas controlled by insurgent forces. NUG was formed by pro-democracy politicians and allies following the coup.
But even those schools have been targeted by the junta’s indiscriminate airstrikes, the NUG’s deputy minister for education, Sai Khine Myo Tun, told Radio Free Asia.
Intense fighting in eastern Kayah state has also put students at risk. But the Karenni state Interim Executive Council has still opened more than 400 schools there since 2021, the council said.
RFA News
Renewed fighting drives 50,000 people from homes in northern Myanmar
/in NewsAn aid worker says that at least 15 residents near Lashio have been killed from artillery fire since July 3.
Some 50,000 people have fled their homes over the last five days amid renewed fighting around Lashio, the capital of northern Shan state, residents and relief workers told Radio Free Asia.
At least 15 civilians have been killed since July 3, when forces allied with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDA, began an offensive in the township around Lashio, which is home to the military junta’s Northeastern Military Command’s headquarters.
Battles have since taken place in Nam Tong, Man Hawng, Nam Ma Baw Da and Nawng Mun villages.
Most of the deaths happened in one area of Lashio township that was struck by artillery fire during the first day of fighting, an aid worker who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told Radio Free Asia. Several other residential areas have since been hit by artillery attacks.
“The artillery fire occurs frequently until now,” the aid worker said. “The residents have fled their homes in these areas.”
A heavy artillery shell that was dropped on another neighborhood on Sunday injured three Buddhist novices and two civilians, he said.
Residents of Lashio township have been heading south toward the city of Taunggyi, the capital of Shan state that is about 340 km (210 miles) away, one resident told RFA. Others aimed to look for shelter in the Mandalay region or in the commercial capital of Yangon, he said.
Lashio sits at the junction of a highway that connects mainland Myanmar to the Chinese border to the north.
Fighting between Lashio-based junta soldiers and insurgents resumedon June 25 after the collapse of a ceasefire brokered by Chinese officials in a series of meetings that began in January.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an ally of the MNDAA, announced the capture of 26 junta camps in the days following the end of the ceasefire.
The TNLA and other resistance forces in Mandalay have been attacking junta outposts in four townships in northern Shan state and Mandalay region.
RFA tried to contact MNDAA spokesperson Li Kya Win and the junta’s spokesperson for Shan state, Khun Thein Maung, for more details on the fighting, but neither of them answered the phone.
RFA News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (June 22 to 30, 2024)
/in HR SituationHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from June 22 to 30, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Tanintharyi Region, Rakhine State, and Shan State from June 22nd to 30th. When the Military Junta used drones and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Bago Region, and Shan State, a group of civilians died. The political prisoners from Insein Prison, Yangon Region, were relocated to Kyiaksagaw Prison, Bago Region. After the Military was forced to sell the rice at a set price, they arrested the rice merchants and factory owners within a week.
Over 80 civilians died, and almost 60 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. A civilian was injured by the landmine of the Military Junta Troop.
Infogram
Fleeing fighting in Rakhine, Rohingya pay to be smuggled to Bangladesh
/in NewsAuthorities, recently arrived refugees say clashes between Myanmar junta, rebels drove them across the border.
Rohingya are being brought into southeastern Bangladesh by smugglers as fighting between ethnic rebel groups and junta-aligned forces worsens next-door in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, said officials and border crossers interviewed by BenarNews.
Smugglers are targeting members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority who are trying to flee clashes between Myanmar’s junta and the Arakan Army, one of the most prominent militias, according to interviews with authorities and Rohingya who recently arrived at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar district.
Police said they had tightened security at the border, but conceded that more people had been crossing over from Myanmar in recent weeks.
“As the sound of explosions continued on the Myanmar side, I learned that a part of the Rohingyas are staying in different places on the bank of the Naf river on Myanmar’s side,” Teknaf Municipality Panel Mayor Mujibur Rahman told BenarNews.
Mohammad Yusuf, a Rohingya who recently traveled to Bangladesh from the Buthidaung area of Rakhine, said he stayed in the mountains for 40 days where he survived by eating leaves.
“There were 13 members of my family. But suddenly one day, a bomb exploded in my village, and then everyone ran away to save their lives. It is not known where the rest have gone,” he told BenarNews. “We, two brothers together, walked for three days in the hilly area and swam across the river. We were accompanied by seven other people from other villages on the journey.”
While Yusuf’s group traveled to Bangladesh, he said others worked with brokers to go to Indonesia or Malaysia.
“Families who have money are mainly trying to send young people [away from Myanmar] as youths become targets of both the Arakan Army and Myanmar military,” he said.
Authorities said smugglers – known as “brokers” locally – are active on both sides of the Naf, which marks the border between southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar.
The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said over 70,000 Rohingya were trapped in Rakhine as fighting rages.
Community leaders said brokers were collecting money from Rohingya to leave Myanmar, but did not release any details about recent crossings.
Mohammad Amir Zafar, who commands an Armed Police Battalion (APBn) in Bangladesh, said Rohingya who have been forced from their homes are willing to pay to get across the border.
“The brokers who are involved in this work will be brought to justice,” he told BenarNews.
Along with the APBn, members of the Bangladesh Coast Guard and Border Guard Bangladesh are stationed near the border to prevent infiltration.
Route to safety
Many Rohingya walked from their homes in Rakhine state to the Naf river, where brokers sat in boats waiting to collect fees to carry them across the river.
Mohammad Saje, who entered Bangladesh on June 28 ago and took shelter at a camp with a relative, said he and 12 others crossed the river during heavy rain.
“My home is at Buthidaung. Everything has been destroyed in the war there. My father was killed by a mortar shell attack,” he told BenarNews, adding that the Arakan Army entered his village and ordered everyone leave within an hour.
“After that, we left the area with some food. Sixty youths were caught by the Arakan Army – I don’t know what happened to them, adding, “I saw with my own eyes the scene of the killing of many young men on the way.”
Arriving near the river in Maungdaw, he and others took shelter for three days before paying 400,000 kyat (U.S. $190) each for a ride across the river.
Refugee camps in and around Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, seen as safe locations, are home to about 1 million Rohingya, including over 740,000 who have fled from Myanmar since a military crackdown in August 2017.
Not all who flee from Myanmar are safe. On June 22, a Rohingya identified as Md. Anwar lost a leg in a land-mine explosion along the border as he tried to cross over from the Myanmar side.
On Tuesday, a Rohingya was killed in a mine blast near the border after crossing into Bangladesh, officials said.
Cox’s Bazar police station officer-in-charge Saiful Islam said the man, identified as Mohammad Ayash and who was between the ages of 22 and 25, undertook the border crossing during heavy rain.
“He was brought to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital with injuries around 3 p.m. But the duty doctor said that he died before he was brought to the hospital,” Saiful Islam said.
RFA News