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
- Myanmar military regime enters year 5 in terminal decline
- Myanmar junta bombs Rohingya Muslim village killing 41, rescuers say
- Myanmar’s junta cuts filmmaker’s life sentence to 15 years as part of wider amnesty
- Close The Sky
- International condemnation of the escalating humanitarian crisis and rights violations in Myanmar
Deadly reprisals: regime steps up attacks on civilians in retaliation for conflict losses in northern Burma
/in ND-Burma Members' ReportsA new briefing paper released today by KWAT provides an update of human rights violations by the regime’s security forces in urban and rural areas of Kachin State and Muse District of northern Shan State during April and May, 2021.
Download full PDF version of report in [English]
Refugees in Kayah State suffering from food shortages
/in NewsThis picture taken on June 1, 2021 shows people taking refuge in a jungle area in Demoso, Kayah state, after they fled from conflict zones where fighting between the Myanmar military and members of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) took place as the country remains in turmoil after the February military coup. Photo: AFP
A member of a local refugee relief team told Mizzima that tens of thousands of refugees in Kayah State are currently facing food shortages.
Relief teams are sending food as far as they can reach but refugees West of Demawso, Daw Nga Kha Kone Thar 4 mile, Loi Nam Fa and Shan-Kayah border are out of reach for relief teams and are facing a lack of rice and provisions, there is also a high price and scarcity of commodities in the vicinity.
Due to military attacks against refugee camps in the eastern part of Demawso, Loi Yin and Moe Byel, refugees have been forced to flee to different places. In addition, the military burnt food left over from the camps when refugees fled according to an official.
Mizzima News
“Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Post-Coup” (June 7 -13) 2021
/in HR SituationStatement by the United Nations in Myanmar on the humanitarian situation in the south-east
/in News(Yangon): The United Nations in Myanmar is concerned about the rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Kayah State and other areas in southeastern Myanmar.
Recent violence in Kayah State, including indiscriminate attacks by security forces against civilian areas, has led to the internal displacement of an estimated 100,000 men, women and children. Many of them are currently seeking safety in host communities and forests across Kayah and southern parts of neighboring Shan state. This crisis could push people across international borders seeking safety, as already seen in other parts of the country.
The United Nations reiterates its earlier calls for all parties to urgently take the necessary measures and precautions to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, particularly protected objects such as medical units and personnel, and to adhere to the fundamental principles of distinction, necessity, proportionality and protection.
People fleeing and those remaining in locations affected by ongoing hostilities are in urgent need of food, water, shelter, fuel and access to healthcare. The United Nations and its partners have humanitarian supplies, including food, shelter materials and other basic relief items ready to be deployed to complement the local response, which has been immediate, but insufficient to address all needs, particularly for those persons in remote locations. Ongoing insecurity, travel restrictions imposed by security forces, and poor road conditions, however, are delaying the delivery of these supplies.
The United Nations calls on the security forces to allow safe passage of humanitarian supplies and personnel and to facilitate the direct provision of relief assistance by the UN and its partners to all those in need in Kayah, as well as other states and regions across the country where there are urgent humanitarian needs.
The United Nations reiterates the Secretary General’s call for a global ceasefire made in March 2020 and to join forces to respond to the growing risk of another outbreak of COVID-19 and other humanitarian and health challenges.
Myanmar UN
Junta raids spark new, lethal clashes in Yinmabin Township
/in NewsAn 18-year-old PDF member and a 20-year-old woman are killed in the fighting, and five regime soldiers are detained by the local resistance
Two locals were killed during renewed fighting between the local People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the regime military in Sagaing Region’s Yinmabin Township.
Following one of the clashes, the PDF detained five junta soldiers, according to a member of the local force.
At around 10am on Sunday, the military tried to raid the 800-household village of Si Hlaung, two miles from Yinmabin town, and were met by PDF resistance.
PDF member Yin Maung, 18, was killed in the battle that ensued. Five soldiers were apprehended by the locals and taken prisoner.
“The soldiers chased and shot at people and then they were separated from the other troops. The villagers surrounded them in a salt pit outside of the village. For now, we have detained them,” a PDF member told Myanmar Now, adding that the Myanmar military had not contacted them regarding the status of the soldiers.
The local PDF was stationed on a hill near Si Hlaung when the raid occurred. Heavy artillery fire from the army forced them to retreat.
“We retreated because our force was not as strong as theirs. When we retreated, one of us was shot,” the PDF member said, referring to Yin Maung. “He was hit twice by bullets. First, he was shot in the hand. Then, he was shot in the head while he was being carried away.”
He added that during the fighting in Si Hlaung, members of PDF chapters from nearby villages came to support them.
One day earlier on June 5, a 20-year-old woman was shot dead while fleeing on a motorcycle during a junta raid in Banbwe village, also in Yinmabin.
Fighting has been ongoing around Yinmabin since June 4. In addition to Si Hlaung and Banbwe, the army also recently raided the villages of Kansu, and Winkon.
As a result of the fighting, hundreds of residents in and around Si Hlaung have fled their homes. Two houses have reportedly been burned down.
In early April, villagers in the Yinmabin villages of Kapaing and Thabyayaye were among the first to resist the junta’s attacks by fighting back with traditional handmade guns.
Because of fighting in April and May, more than 10,000 civilians from Yinmabin and Kani townships have been forced to flee to other areas.
Myanmar Now
Roughly 800 soldiers have fled the military since the coup, says defector
/in NewsMost defectors now want to join the People’s Defence Force and fight against the regime, a former captain says
About 800 soldiers have left the military to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) since the February 1 coup, a former captain who is helping people to defect has told Myanmar Now.
Lin Htet Aung, 29, defected in late March and has since teamed up with more defectors to assist others in leaving the military. He served in the 528th Infantry Battalion under the Triangle Region Command in eastern Shan state.
About three quarters of those who have defected are ready to join the People’s Defense Force (PDF) to fight against the regime, he said. The rest would like to help the revolution in other ways but do not want to fight, he added.
Around 100 of the defectors had been serving as officers with ranks including major, captain, and lieutenant.
Some have travelled to border regions controlled by ethnic armed groups and are giving crash courses in combat to people who fled cities to take up arms against the junta.
Most defectors are from the navy and air force; soldiers from infantry regiments have found it more difficult to flee due to the fear of repercussions against their families.
“The main reason they can’t defect is because they’re performing frontline operations and are separated from their families,” said Lin Htet Aung.
“They don’t have access to our statements either, so that doesn’t help,” he added, referring to public pleas by defectors for other soldiers to join CDM.
Between 40 and 50 of those who have defected left their families behind in military housing, he said. “They don’t know what to do and they have no support. There’s no way for them to reach out to their families.”
Most of the defectors are aged between 2o and 35 and no one above the rank of major has defected.
“We don’t expect anything from those in higher ranks,” Lin Htet Aung said. “The higher up they are, the more scared they are of losing their positions.”
“If they defected this fight would be over quickly,” he added.
Lieutenant Htet Nay Bala, 24, defected on March 7. He said he fled the 269th Infantry Battalion in Chin State after the regime ordered attacks against peaceful protesters across the country.
“Instead of protecting the people after taking their taxes as salaries, this institution is committing all these atrocities. So I no longer want to be a part of it,” he said.
“Everyone felt their future being taken away when the coup happened,” he added. “As a youth who loves my country, I’ll continue with the revolution. There’s no turning back.”
Myanmar Now