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.
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Junta artillery destroys 400 homes, kills 5 in southern Myanmar
/in NewsMost residents had left the village to avoid getting caught up in armed conflict before the attack.
Junta artillery shelling in the southern part of Myanmar killed five people and burned down an estimated 400 homes, the first major attack in relatively peaceful Mon state since the February 2021 military coup d’état, residents said.
Naval vessels fired heavy weapons at Dhamma Tha village in Kyaikmaraw township from the Gyaing River on March 27-28, killing a 12-year-old child, two women and two others, according to the Mon State Federal Council, or MSFC, a political organization representing the people of the state.
More houses went up in flames after junta troops barred fire trucks from entering the area, destroying about one-third of the village’s more than 1,000 homes, residents said.
The village — the native home of the leader of an ethnic Mon armed resistance group that declared war against the junta in February — was the first community in the state to suffer significant damage in more than three years after the military toppled the elected government.
The Myanmar military’s power grab triggered a wave of resistance by insurgents and ethnic armed organizations across the country. In response, junta forces have targeted civilians, viewing them as a support base for armed resistance groups, resulting in thousands of deaths and mass displacements.
The junta attacked Dhamma Tha village, even though Nai Banyar Lel, deputy leader of the anti-junta New Mon State Party-Anti-Dictatorship group, or NMSP-AD, and his family do not live there, said Mi Su Ta, head of the MSFC’s Humanitarian and Relief Department.
“It was a very crazy and inhumane attack on the village,” he told Radio Free Asia. “It was also a terror attack on civilian targets.”
Residents said most people fled the village to avoid getting caught up in armed conflict before the deadly shelling occurred, and returned afterwards only to see houses they had built with money they earned from blue-collar jobs in Thailand and Malaysia in ashes.
More than 10,000 people who lost their homes fled to Mawlamyine, capital of Mon state and the country’s fourth-largest city with an estimated population of 438,000.
Suppressing ‘the revolutionary spirit’
Dhamma Tha village is close to Kawt Bein village police station in Kawkareik township of neighboring Kayin state, which was captured by the Karen National Liberation Army — an ethnic armed group that controls parts of Mon state — and joint revolutionary forces on March 25, and to Ta Ra Na village where junta troops are based.
NMSP-AD spokesman Nai Banya Mon said the military council retaliated against Mon resistance forces and Mon communities for their strong support of the seizure of Kawt Bein police station.
“It was concluded that the village was set on fire to suppress the revolutionary spirit of the Mon people, and the military might have considered this tactic to crack down on the resistance movement of the Mon people,” he said.
Area resistance groups said the junta has reinforced its troops so they don’t lose the Ta Ra Na village police station near Dhamma Tha village to resistance fighters.
The military council has not issued a statement about the shelling of the village.
RFA could not reach Aung Myat Kyaw Sein, Mon state’s natural resources minister and spokesman under the junta, for comment.
Junta forces, including pro-regime militias, burned about 79,000 civilian homes across Myanmar between February 2021 and December 2023, according to the independent research group Data for Myanmar.
RFA News
Myanmar Resistance Groups Hope For Aid Boost After Meeting With Top Biden Advisor
/in NewsSenior officers of two ethnic armed organizations allied with the civilian National Union Government (NUG) say they hope a meeting late last month with a key foreign policy advisor to US President Joseph Biden will result in the delivery of more humanitarian assistance to people affected by the escalating conflict in Myanmar.
Their statements follow a meeting late last month between leaders of the four ethnic armed organizations and US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet.
On March 29, Chollet wrote on the social media platform formally known as Twitter: “Met today with leaders of Burma’s ‘K3C’ ethnic group alliance on their extraordinary efforts to pursue a federal democracy in Burma.”
“We discussed steps for the international community to expand assistance to those in need and secure a better future for the people of Burma,” he said, referring to Myanmar by its previous name.
The K3C comprises four of the country’s oldest ethnic armed organizations: the Kachin Independence Organization, Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party and Chin National Front.
The coalition is politically aligned with the NUG and cooperates militarily with its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force.
The armed wings of the four ethnic groups have driven the junta’s military from large swathes of Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni (Kayah) and Mon states as well as Bago and Tanintharyi regions.
U Aung San Myint, a general secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party, told The Irrawaddy that representatives of the four groups discussed providing aid to those affected by escalating fighting between resistance groups and the junta’s military.
They agreed that Washington will provide humanitarian aid to refugees on Myanmar’s borders, U Aung San Myint said.
He also said the Washington will cooperate with ethnic armed groups battling junta troops to provide the aid.
“He [Chollet] told us they will continue to cooperate with us” U Aung San Myint said.
Chin National Front spokesperson Salai Htet Ni told the Irrawaddy on that Chollet was informed at the meeting that junta boss Min Aung Hlaing vowed again to eradicate ethnic armed organizations and the NUG.
Min Aung Hlaing pledged to do so in a speech marking the 79th Myanmar Armed Force Day on March 25.
Salai Htet Ni said he hoped the meeting with Chollet would lead to more help from Washington.
“Despite this being a regular meeting between us [K3C] and the US, we hope that the US will give special consideration [for our country] soon,” he said, explaining that the groups has had regular meetings with US officials.
The US government recently approved a US$ 121 million aid budget for the people of Myanmar under the US National Defense Authorization Act.
The aid will be directed to those affected by fighting and conflict and those who participate in the democracy movement.
Myanmar has been in crisis since the military ousted the democratically elected government on Feb. 1, 2021. The junta’s military has faced escalating attacks by ethnic armed organizations and PDFs nationwide since then and has lost control over much of the country.
Internationally, the junta is shunned, drawing support primarily from other pariah states.
Domestically, Myanmar is experiencing an escalating humanitarian catastrophe. About 2.8 million people have been displaced by fighting between resistance groups and regime forces since the coup, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday.
Irrawaddy News
Political Prisoners Beaten in Myanmar Junta Crackdown: Sources
/in NewsAt least 17 inmates, mostly political prisoners, were reportedly injured in a crackdown on unrest at Pyapon Prison in Ayeyarwady Region on Sunday.
Ko Thaik Tun Oo, a founder of the Political Prisoners Network, said sources reported that unrest started when a prison officer yelled and cursed at a political prisoner.
The prison authorities reportedly exaggerated the dispute, calling it a prison break, and called in soldiers and police officers who fired warning shots and beat prisoners.
Three inmates suffered serious injuries, including to the head, back and neck, Ko Thaik Tun Oo said. A prison officer was also reportedly injured.
“The prisoners are defenseless against armed junta personnel who tortured them,” he said.
Some media reports said the crackdown followed an escape attempt by two prisoners. But Ko Thaik Tun Oo said this was a junta lie to excuse the use of torture.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
The 17 injured prisoners were allegedly held in solitary confinement and are expected to face additional prison sentences.
Ko Thaik Tun Oo said police and soldiers remain inside the prison and security has been tightened.
More than 26,000 people have been detained since the 2021 coup, of which more than 20,000 remain behind bars, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Ko Bo Kyi of the AAPP in a recent article said prison conditions are deplorable while political prisoners have staged hunger strikes and endure repeated torture and sexual harassment.
“There is corruption everywhere, and political prisoners are at the bottom of this brutal food chain, exploited by guards and criminal inmates alike,” he said while calling for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Irrawaddy News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (March 22 to 31, 2024)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Mar 22 to 31, 2024
Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in the Sagaing Region, Tanintharyi Region, Rakhine State, Kayin State, Mon State, Chin State, and Shan State from March 22nd to 31st. The head of the Prison who works under the Military threatened and tortured the political prisoners at Monywa Police station in Sagaing Region and Pyapon Prison from Ayeyarwady Region, one died and over 18 were injured in this incident. Military Junta Troop relocated the prisoners from Ann Prison, Rakhine State to Insein Prison and also from Buthidaung Prison to Sittwe Prison. The Military Junta also arrested the youths from Yangon Region and Ayeyarwady Region and Rohingyas from Rakhine state for Military Service.
Almost 20 civilians died, and almost 70 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. 3 underaged children died, and 2 were injured when the Military Junta committed abuses. 2 civilians also died and 1 was injured by the land mines of Military Junta.
Infogram
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