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 National Organizing Committee for ACSC/APF ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum 2024
- Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 1 to 7, 2024)
- Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar
- Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw
- Myanmar junta airstrikes kill dozens, including prisoners, rebels say
Dozens of Rohingya killed in 5 months of renewed fighting in western Myanmar
/in NewsThe attacks have left an already traumatized community in constant fear for their lives.
Junta airstrikes and artillery bombardments in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state have killed 79 Rohingya Muslims and injured 127 more since ethnic Arakan Army rebels ended a ceasefire with the military in November, according to data compiled by RFA Burmese.
Some 1 million Rohingya refugees have been living across the border in Bangladesh since 2017, when they were driven out of Myanmar by a military clearance operation.
Another 630,000 living within Myanmar are designated stateless by the United Nations, including those who languish in camps and are restricted from moving freely in Rakhine state.
The killings since the Nov. 13 start of the conflict in Rakhine state have further traumatized the Rohingya community and left them fearing for their lives when airplanes appear overhead, they told RFA.
An investigation by RFA found that at least 79 Rohingyas were killed and 127 injured by junta bombardment in Rakhine state as of Monday. They include 27 dead and 43 injured in Minbya township, 24 and 45 in Buthidaung, 17 and 17 in Kyauktaw, four and 17 in Mrauk-U, and seven and five in Sittwe.
At least two mass casualty incidents occurred over the same period.
On March 18, an airstrike on Minbya’s Thar Dar village killed 22 Rohingya and injured 29, according to residents. In January, junta artillery strikes on Buthidaung’s Hpon Nyo Leik village killed 12 and injured 32, sources in the region told RFA.
‘We’re just victims’
A Rohingya resident of Thar Dar village called the mass killing in March “heartbreaking” and questioned why members of his ethnic group are being caught up in the conflict.
“We [Rohingyas] don’t want to take over the country and we aren’t attacking [the military],” he said, adding that the Rohingya simply want to live their lives in peace. “We’re just victims of conflict [between two other groups].”
Restrictions on the Rohingya’s movement make it difficult for members of the community to earn an adequate income. Few have the means to relocate amid the fighting in Rakhine.
A Rohingya from Kyauktaw’s Let Saung Kauk village, where junta bombardment killed six people in February, called the military’s fighter jets “messengers of death” for his community.
“We live in fear that the junta will drop bombs and cry when we hear fighter jets,” he said. “We don’t know whether to flee or stay here and die.”
Attacks on civilians and forced recruitment
Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist, said that the junta targets civilians in response to attacks by the Arakan Army, or AA.
“The armed conflict in Rakhine state is between the AA and the army, but the junta responds not only by attacking the AA, but also civilians,” he said. “The military always commits massacres. They burn down villages. Civilians, including Rohingyas, are suffering great losses in the conflicts.”
Myanmar’s military is desperate for new recruits after suffering devastating losses on the battlefield to the AA in Rakhine state. Since November, the military has surrendered Pauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myay Pon, Ponnagyun, Ramree and Rathedaung townships in the state, as well as Paletwa township in neighboring Chin state.
Residents say the military has forcibly recruited more than 1,000 Rohingyas in Buthidaung, Sittwe, Maungtaw and Kyauktaw townships for military service, and has forced Rohingyas to hold public protests against the AA.
Attempts to contact junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun for comment on RFA’s findings went unanswered Monday.
RFA’s investigation also found that junta artillery fire, airstrikes, landmines and small weapons fire killed some 187 civilians and injured 531 others in the four months since the start of the conflict in Rakhine state.
RFA News
Myanmar’s War-Displaced Face Health Crisis as Donor Funds Dry Up
/in NewsInternally displaced people (IDPs) in central Myanmar are facing malnutrition and other health problems as assistance from donors both in Myanmar and abroad dwindles, according to IDP support groups.
Huge numbers of civilians in Magwe and Sagaing have been displaced. The situation became acute in 2022 when the junta and its allied militia ramped up arson attacks and airstrikes on villages in these regions, which are anti-regime resistance strongholds. Myanmar junta troops and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia frequently conduct raids in the regions, torching villages and killing civilians. Furthermore, whenever the soldiers face shortages of food, they loot civilians’ property. Therefore, the villagers do not dare return home and have been sheltering in forests and along riverbanks, or fleeing to towns in safer areas, according to the volunteers.
Ko Nay Min Khant, a representative of the Shwebo Township support group, said IDPs in Wetlet Township needed food and medicine. The group is a charity organization supporting IDPs in some townships in Sagaing and Mandalay regions.
The group provided medical treatment to IDPs in four villages in Wetlet Township, Inn Daung, Thae Boat Gyi, Yoar Thit and Shane Makar villages on March 8 and 9. Around 400 civilians were treated by the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) health workers but the mission had to be halted due a shortage of medicines, Ko Nay Min Khant said.
Ko Nay Min Khant, a representative of the Shwebo Township support group, said IDPs in Wetlet Township needed food and medicine. The group is a charity organization supporting IDPs in some townships in Sagaing and Mandalay regions.
The group provided medical treatment to IDPs in four villages in Wetlet Township, Inn Daung, Thae Boat Gyi, Yoar Thit and Shane Makar villages on March 8 and 9. Around 400 civilians were treated by the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) health workers but the mission had to be halted due a shortage of medicines, Ko Nay Min Khant said.
“We agreed to provide field treatment in other villages but we have run out of medicine,” Ko Nay Min Khant told The Irrawaddy.
As it’s now summer in Myanmar, villagers are suffering illnesses due to the severe hot weather, as the region is in the country’s dry zone and living conditions are poor. They live in small huts covered by tarpaulin and straw. The health condition of children and elderly IDPs in Wetlet Township has deteriorated since last year, he said.
“The number of malnourished people is increasing,” Ko Nay Min Khant told The Irrawaddy.
In Wetlet Township, more than 2,000 people have been displaced in the last seven months. Last year, the group distributed food to the IDPs as well as such necessities as bamboo, tarpaulin and clothes, but they haven’t been able to deliver such items this year due to a lack of donations.
“Some elderly people asked us for food when we went there to provide field treatment. They are living in small huts in hot weather in a situation where there is not enough food,” Ko Nay Min Khant said of the IDPs in Wetlet Township.
In Sagaing, over 1.1 million people have been displaced by fighting and junta military activity including clearance operations, airstrikes, arson and ambush attacks, and many townships are under attack for months at a time, according to a report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in March. In Sagaing, food and other essential relief items are needed for more than 55,000 IDPs in numerous townships including Indaw, Katha, Mawleik, Myaung, Tamu, Tigyaing, Ye-U and Yinmarbin, UNOCHA reported.
However, the volunteers said that thousands of IDPs in other townships also need assistance, adding that they are totally reliant on donations from people at home and abroad.
The People’s Administration bodies of the National Unity Government support IDPs but are not able to cover all their needs, said a representative of Pale Township People’s Administration.
“The IDPs are facing a shortage of food, and their health is deteriorating after sheltering in the forest for a long time,” he told The Irrawaddy.
The volunteers are also struggling to cope with a situation in which the number of IDPs is increasing while donors are decreasing, said a representative of the volunteer group We Love Myaing of Magwe Region. The Myanmar military and Pyu Saw Htee militia members frequently raid villages in Myaing Township.
A representative of We Love Myaing told The Irrawaddy the group is often overwhelmed by the sheer number of civilians fleeing junta raids.
“We sometimes have to borrow money from friends to help them,” the volunteer said.
Irrawaddy News
Thailand’s first aid convoy arrives in Myanmar
/in NewsThe foreign ministry is sending aid to 20,000 residents of war-torn Kayin state.
Updated March 25, 2024, 09:08 a.m. ET.
Thailand’s government started aid deliveries to Myanmar on Monday along a newly developed humanitarian corridor to assist civilians affected by fighting.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Thai and Myanmar Red Cross Societies, sent aid in an eight-truck convoy across Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge No. 2.
Four thousand packages were delivered to three villages in Kayin state, namely Na Bu in Kawkareik district, and Thar Ma Nya and Paingkyon in Hpa-An district.
The aid will benefit around 20,000 people in towns selected in the pilot project for their acute need, according to Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow.
“We hope very much to see peace in Myanmar, internal issues certainly will be resolved by Myanmar themselves,” Sihasak said at the aid ceremony in Mae Sot. “We want every side, all sides, to overcome their differences so that we can be led to reconciliation and peace in the near future.”
Sihasak previously expressed hope that the aid initiative could help open the way for dialogue between the civilian National Unity Government, ethnic armed organizations and the junta, which seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup d’état.
However, he declined to comment Monday on which groups controlled the territory to which aid would be delivered.
“I don’t want to look at the issue as to which area is controlled by which side, let’s talk about the people who are affected. If there is an area where there is a need, then we have to take a look.” he said. “We are ready to work with everyone, as long as the focus is the people receiving the humanitarian aid.”
Renewed fighting fuels need
Some non-junta stakeholders have criticized the limited scope of the assistance. However, a resurgence in fighting has increased the number of people in need of aid, whatever the amount.
After the anti-junta Karen National Liberation Army launched an assault on military camps in Myanmar’s Myawaddy township on March 7, civilians were left displaced and in need of both food and medicine, according to a spokesperson for the Karen Department of Health and Welfare, declining to be named for security reasons.
As many as 30 people were critically injured during battles, and at least three have died from serious injuries in southern Myawaddy and Kawkareik townships. Nearly 3,000 new internally displaced people have been identified since March 7, but the number is likely higher, the spokesperson said.
She added that many of them are suffering from diarrhea and fever because they are drinking river water due to the heat.
Skirmishes and humanitarian issues are also increasingly affecting Thailand’s border. Large numbers of migrants fleeing conscription laws enacted by the junta fled through Thai borders, the largest number being arrested in Tak province in February.
On Tuesday, 40 junta soldiers fled into Thailand’s Umphang district, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of Mae Sot, according to the Karen Information Center.The week-long battle with the Karen National Liberation Army caused Thailand to close its border crossing near Paing Ka Hlaing village in Kayin state.
Engaging all parties?
Despite the foreign affairs ministry’s claims to engage all parties, some stakeholders don’t feel an adequate effort has been made.
Aid would be handed off to community leaders and the district authority in recipient villages, Sihasak said.
But the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Humanitarian Assistance, along with ethnic armed groups, has drafted an alternative proposal that it said would make Thailand’s aid delivery plan more effective. It proposed instead to work with local organizations to reach areas controlled by ethnic armed groups.
However, the National Unity Government – a shadow government formed by members of the civil administration ousted in the coup – says there has been no direct communication from Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the plan, proposed ahead of a seminar in Bangkok earlier this month on the situation in Myanmar.
“For effective delivery of such aid to the most needy people, close cooperation with EROs [ethnic resistance organizations] and NUG [National Unity Government] will be of paramount importance,” said Win Myat Aye, the minister of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management.
“Given Thailand’s status as a pivotal neighboring country to Myanmar, coordinated and collaborative efforts with NUG and EROs are imperative to resolve the ongoing crisis through diplomatic channels.”
Thai authorities have reached out to one or two ethnic armed groups, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the situation. He declined to name them.
The Karen National Union, running parts of Kayin state, declined to comment on whether Thailand had discussed the delivery with them.
Lalita Hanwong, a historian at Kasetsart University and advisor to the Thai government on national security issues, said the humanitarian corridor was a positive development.
“I believe that the security sector and the Thai government have thoroughly considered this matter,” she told BenarNews. “What Thailand should do next is to initiate negotiations with minorities, especially those in areas bordering Thailand, to ensure sustainable assistance.
“Thailand’s long-term plan should prepare for various scenarios that could arise with Myanmar, such as fragmentation into multiple groups like the Shan, Karen, and Mon.”
RFA News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (March 15 to 21, 2024)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Mar 15 to 21, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Shan State, Kayin State, Kachin State, Rakhine State, and Chin State from March 15th to 21st. The head of the Prison who works under the Military threatened and tortured the political prisoners at Daik-U Prison from the Bago Region, Insein Prison from Yangon Region, Gangaw Police Station from Magway Region, and Magway Prison. Military Junta and village administrators are forcing civilians of the full age to get Military Service, blackmailing, and arresting by using various ways.
Over 60 civilians died, and over 60 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. 3 underaged children died, and 6 were injured when the Military Junta committed abuses. The military Junta forced Rohingyas to protest the Arakan Army-AA.
Infogram
Myanmar junta returns bodies of Rohingya conscripts to families
/in NewsPolice claim they stepped on landmines, while escaping forced training.
The bodies of seven conscripts forced to join Myanmar’s junta army were returned to their families, residents told Radio Free Asia on Friday. The recruits were members of the Rohingya community, which has been frequently persecuted by the military for its heritage and Islamic faith.
A resident who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons said police told families of the dead they had died while trying to run away.
“Seven bodies were brought in a police truck,” he said. “When the family members asked the people who sent the bodies [how they died], they were told the men were running away during training and were killed by landmines.”
Five of the deceased are from Thea Chaung Let Tha Mar Kone village, one is from Thet Kay Pyin village and another is from Thea Chaung village, according to residents.
“The bodies have no limbs, but I don’t know whether they have bullet wounds or not,” he said.
Military training is being administered to the Rohingya recruits at the junta army’s Regional Command Headquarters based in Sittwe.
Other villages reported bodies of Rohingya members of the community have also been returned in a similar manner, but RFA has not been able to verify these claims. Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson Hla Thein did not respond to enquiries about how the men died.
Since Myanmar’s conscription laws were announced by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 10, troops nationwide have attempted to press-gang large numbers into the dwindling military.
The People’s Military Service Law requires men and women aged 18 to 35 to serve in the junta’s armed forces for two years. Many young people have rejected the call to duty by hiding, fleeing the country and protesting.
In Bago region, mass arrests of young people have sparked fears they may be used to bolster the military. But further west in Rakhine state, the Rohingya victims of the 2017 genocide have faced harsher recruitment methods with the junta threatening to kill them if they refuse to serve.
Since February, village administrators have recruited Rohingya living in Rakhine state’s capital of Sittwe for junta-led military training. Administrators have forced between 20 and 30 people per village and many more from internally placed persons camps to join the training, residents said.
Threatened and beaten, the methods have drawn at least 1,000 Rohingya from Sittwe, Buthidaung, Kyaukpyu and Maungdaw townships in Rakhine state into the army, according to one activist requesting anonymity for safety reasons. One video published on March 10 showed Rohingya trainees under army command.
The junta-controlled Myanma Alinn Daily newspaper denied Muslims were being targeted for recruitment in Rakhine state in a Feb. 28 article.
An Arakan Army statement issued on Wednesday alleged junta troops intentionally sent Rohingya to areas with heavy fighting. The group claimed to have also found and published photos of Rohingya soldiers’ bodies in junta bases it later captured in Rathedaung earlier this week.
RFA News
More Than 30 Civilians Killed by Myanmar Junta in Sagaing: Volunteers
/in NewsMore than 30 civilians have been killed in fighting between Myanmar’s junta and resistance groups since February 20 in Kale Township, Sagaing Region, according to volunteers.
Junta shelling caused most of the fatalities with others killed in drone strikes and shooting, a volunteer said.
“The regime deliberately shelled civilian targets and residential areas. Some were shot dead in Kale town,” he said.
Around 15 people were killed in junta shooting and shelling since resistance forces announced that they were stepping up their offensive in Kale on February 27.
Residents from Kale and neighboring Khaikam town in Chin State have since fled their homes.
Bomb shelters are vital for survival, said a volunteer helping displaced people.
“There is repeated regime shelling and airstrikes so people need bomb shelters and to prepare escape routes,” he said.
More than 50,000 Kale residents have been displaced and many urgently need food, medicine and clothes, according to volunteers.
A member of Voice of Kalay, an anti-regime group in Kale, said: “There has been heavy fighting across the township. We hear gunfire every night and more residents are being displaced.”
On March 16, resistance forces attacked Aung Myin Thar and Kyaung Taik villages in the north of the township where more than 140 junta soldiers and allied Pyu Saw Htee militia members were based. The regime used air support but both villages fell.
Around 20 junta troops and two resistance fighters were killed and two Pyu Saw Htee leaders were captured, according to resistance forces.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
Approximately 30 Pyu Saw Htee members and their relatives in Kyaung Taik were mistakenly killed by junta shelling and airstrikes on March 16, according to resistance forces.
A member of Kale Township People’s Defense Team told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that both villages had fallen.
The villages had been used as bases to shell and raid surrounding villages.
“Everyone who died in Kyaung Taik was Pyu Saw Htee. Some escaped to the military’s regional operations command,” said the Voice of Kalay member.
Junta troops deployed in Kale Technological University to the south of Kale are reportedly bombarding surrounding villages and torching houses.
A military analyst said: “The resistance offensive in Kale has become more systematic. The junta is losing territory and it may use Kale residents as human shields. People should leave when they can.”
Irrawaddy News