Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]

In December 2013, Myanmar stated that its participation as an observer in the treaty’s Meetings of States Parties “clearly reflects our keen interest in the present and future work of the convention.”[2]

Previously, in July 2012, Minister of Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin stated that Myanmar was considering accession to the Mine Ban Treaty and it was reported that the government was no longer using landmines.[3] But in November 2012 at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit President Thein Sein acknowledged that Myanmar is not a party to the treaty, stating, “I believe that for defence purpose, we need to use landmines in order to safeguard the life and property of people and self-defence.”[4]

No parliamentary party has introduced legislation to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty, but disability rights legislation introduced in June 2014 references the rights of landmine victims.[5]

Despite not joining, Myanmar has participated in several Meetings of States Parties of the Mine Ban Treaty as an observer, including in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2006, and in 2003. It first participated in intersessional meetings of the treaty in Geneva in May 2013 and again in April 2014. Myanmar has not participated in any of the treaty’s review conferences, including the Third Review Conference held in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014.

Myanmar was one of 19 countries that abstained from voting on UNGA Resolution 68/30 on 5 December 2013, which called for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. Myanmar has consistently abstained on similar annual resolutions since 1997.

In April 2014, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar again called on the government of Myanmar to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty and noted that the, “use of landmines has decreased significantly, although there has been limited progress in mine surveying and clearance, marking or fencing.”[6] In April 2013, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted that more than 450,000 refugees and internally displaced people can't return home in northern and southeastern states until landmines are cleared.[7] In May 2013, the UN Secretary-General released his third report on children and armed conflict in Myanmar, which documented child casualties from landmines.[8]

At the Third Review Conference, there were several calls for Myanmar to accede to the treaty, including by Belgium and France.[9]

In May 2013, the government for the first time accepted a high-level ICBL delegation that met with President’s Minister U Aung Min, with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and with the Myanmar Peace Centre. In November 2013, the Halt Mine Use in Burma/Myanmar campaign held a press conference in Yangon to launch the Landmine Monitor 2013 country report on Myanmar.[10] The campaign distributed 2,000 copies of the Burmese-language translation of the 2013 Myanmar country report. Myanmar Campaign to Ban Landmines held two campaign-building and strategy workshops for its members in January and July 2014.[11] A delegation from the Taiwan Campaign to Ban Landmines/Eden International organized a week of capacity-building activities for Myanmar campaigners in August 2014.[12]

Use

Since the publication of its first report in 1999, Landmine Monitor has documented the use of antipersonnel mines by government forces and by NSAGs in many parts of the country. Information collected by the Monitor indicates that in the second half of 2013 and first half of 2014 there was a continued, but lower level of new mine use by rebel or government forces. There were a few credible allegations of mine use by the Tatmadaw (the Myanmar Armed Forces) in Kachin and Rakhine states. Reports of mine use by opposition NSAGs have diminished in the reporting period, with the only incidents of new use emerging from Kachin and Karen states.

Government forces

In Kachin state, Tatmadaw units were said to be laying mines in their armed conflict with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).[13] In April 2014, the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), which works in KIA areas, stated that a landmine laid by the Tatmadaw sometime between November 2013 and February 2014 had killed a woman at Tan Tada, Mansi Township.[14]

In June 2013, a Bangladesh news outlet published a report that the Tatmadaw had planted landmines within 70 yards of the border, along pillars 39 and 40, and 100 yards of the border, along  pillars 37 and 38. A Bangladeshi army representative accused Myanmar of violating its border agreement with Bangladesh, reportedly stating, “When we raise the issue [mine use] with the Myanmar authorities, they don’t want to take any note of it.”[15] Previously, the Monitor reported allegations of mine use in February 2013 on a different section of Myanmar’s shared border with Bangladesh.[16] The Monitor has not been able to verify these allegations.

Previously, Border Guard Forces (BGF) were reported to sporadically use antipersonnel mines in their areas of operations. BGF and People’s Militia Force (PMF) are militias under the control of the Army and may be comprised of local conscripts or of various former insurgent organizations.[17] BGF maintain the force structures and areas of operation they had previously as an armed group. It is not clear how often, or to what extent, BGF units are operating under Tatmadaw instructions or are acting independently. In May 2014, FBR encountered a PMF camp near Nar Yong Village in southern Shan state that it said had a mined perimeter.[18]

Use by non-state armed groups[19]

No armed group has renounced antipersonnel mine use during the peace dialogues, which have taken place since late 2011. In the past, a few armed groups and former armed groups unilaterally renounced the use of antipersonnel mines by signing the Deed of Commitment administered by the Swiss NGO Geneva Call.[20]

Since 2011 when the government announced its intention to seek peace agreements with armed groups, it has held multiple meetings with almost every ethnic armed group in the country and the need to end landmine use and ensure clearance has been mentioned in several meetings.[21] However, a halt on new mine use has not been formally adopted by any side as part of a ceasefire, as of 1 October 2014. An official in the Myanmar Peace Center, the government body responsible for negotiations with all groups, stated that some armed groups believed landmines provided them with protection from government forces. He said as long as both parties lack confidence in each other, mine clearance would be difficult to carry out.[22]

At least four NSAGs were reported to have laid mines in Landmine Monitor’s previous reporting period and none of those groups have publicly or privately renounced further use. But since mid-2013, there have been no specific allegations of new mine use by any NSAG within the country.

Previously, mine warfare by the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/KIA) and the use of mines in conflicts between different NSAGs in Karen state were reported. In March 2013, two Tatmadaw soldiers were killed and four injured when one reportedly stepped on a landmine while patrolling a pipeline in Namtu township in northern Shan state. It is not known which group laid the mine.[23] In February 2013, four Tatmadaw soldiers were injured, reportedly by a mine laid by the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North in Tangyan township in northern Shan state.[24] In January 2013, a villager reportedly stepped on a landmine in Kaukriek township which was allegedly laid by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).[25]

The ongoing conflict in southern Kachin and northern Shan states have caused people to flee and landmine incidents and unexploded ordnance have been reported in Maing Khaung (Mansi township), Lwegel, and Namhkam from fighting in late 2013 and early 2014. Some internally displaced persons (IDPs) reported that paths to their villages are now believed to have been mined during or after clashes in April 2014 and/or late 2013.[26]

On 1 June 2013, a villager in Karen state stepped on a mine at Chauck Kway on a path between two Tatmadaw army camps, Ket Pe army camp and Pa Dah army camp. Due to regular use of the path, the mine was believed to have been recently laid, however since both the KNLA and Tatmadaw are active in the area it was not known who was responsible.[27] Landmine Monitor is not in a position to verify either report.

Production, stockpiling, and transfer

Myanmar Defense Products Industries (Ka Pa Sa), a state enterprise at Ngyaung Chay Dauk in western Pegu (Bago) division, has produced fragmentation and blast antipersonnel mines, including ones with low metal content.[28] Authorities in Myanmar have not provided any information on the types of mines it produces or the quantities of stockpiled antipersonnel mines it possesses. The Monitor has previously reported that, in addition to domestic production, Myanmar has obtained and used antipersonnel mines of Chinese, Indian, Italian, Soviet, and United States manufacture, as well as some mines whose origin has not been identified.[29] Myanmar is not known to have exported antipersonnel mines.[30]

Non-state armed group production, transfer, and stockpiling

The KIO, KNLA, DKBA, Karenni Army, and the United Wa State Army have produced blast and fragmentation mines. Some also make Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines, mines with antihandling fuzes, and explosive booby-traps. All units of the KNLA are reportedly able to manufacture and deploy bounding mines after training by a foreign technician.[31] Armed groups in Myanmar have previously acquired mines by removing mines laid by others, seizing Tatmadaw stocks, and obtaining mines from the clandestine arms market.[32] The majority of armed organizations within the country are now involved in negotiations on a nationwide ceasefire. However, they have not disarmed and some still possess antipersonnel mines.[33]

 

Policy

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]

Myanmar has never made a public statement detailing its position on joining the convention, but it has expressed concern at the humanitarian impact of the weapons on several occasions.[2] At the UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2013, Myanmar repeated its description made the previous year of cluster munitions and antipersonnel landmines as “the main causes of maiming, killing and terrorizing innocent civilian populations.”[3] In 2009, a government official informed a regional conference on cluster munitions that Myanmar “criticizes the use of such weapons with indiscriminate area effect and which can cause humanitarian consequences.”[4]

Myanmar attended one regional meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Xieng Khouang, Lao PDR in October 2008).

Myanmar has engaged in a few meetings related to the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2008, including a regional conference on cluster munitions in Bali, Indonesia in November 2009. It participated as an observer in the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 and the Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012. Myanmar attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva once, in April 2013.

Myanmar is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In November 2009 Myanmar stated, “We do not use cluster munitions, develop, produce, otherwise acquire, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, nor assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited under this Convention.”[5]

Myanmar has produced and reportedly used a cluster adaptor design similar to a modern cluster munition. There are indications that Myanmar government forces used a cluster adaptor mounted with six explosive bombs, which separate from the rack when dropped from the air, similar to a modern cluster munition in the conflict with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin state in the north of the country in late 2012 and early 2013.

The KIA claimed that the Myanmar army units stationed at Gangdau Yang used cluster munitions against KIA forces in a 26 January 2013 attack at Hka Ya Bum, “a hill top of strategic significance” five miles west of the town of Laiza in southern Kachin state.[6] On 19 April 2013, the Deputy Secretary of the Kachin National Council provided photographs to the CMC showing an unknown type of air-dropped bomb that it said “confirmed that the World War-Two era 20 pound fragmentation bombs were used during the airstrikes in the KIA’s strategic outposts between 14 December 2012 and 08 January 2013 by the Myanmar Air Force.” According to the Kachin National Council “this type has never been used in Burma’s civil war before.”[7]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has received a separate set of photos showing what appear to be the same remnants being carried in a vehicle at a location not known to be the scene of the attack.[8] HRW confirmed airstrikes and shelling on Laiza by Myanmar forces in December 2012 and January 2013.[9] The government of Myanmar later admitted to shelling and bombing Laiza.[10]

The “cluster adapter” and 20-pound fragmentation bombs shown in the photographs appear to meet the definition of a cluster munition as provided by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[11]

 

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Mines are believed to be concentrated along parts of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar’s borders with Bangladesh, China, and Thailand, but are a particular threat in eastern parts of the country as a result of decades of post-independence struggles for autonomy by ethnic minorities. Some 50 townships in Kachin, Kayin (Karen), Kayah (Karenni), Mon, Rakhine, and Shan states, as well as in Bago (Pegu) and Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) regions, suffer from some degree of mine contamination, primarily from antipersonnel mines.[1] Karen (Kayin) state and Pegu (Bago) division are suspected to contain the heaviest mine contamination and have the highest number of recorded victims. The Monitor has also received reports of previously unknown suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) in townships on the Indian border of Chin state and in the Sagaing region.[2]

No estimate exists of the extent of contamination, but the Monitor identified SHAs in the following divisions and townships:

·         Karenni state: all seven townships;

·         Karen state: all seven townships;

·         Kachin state: Chipwi, Mansi, Mogaung,Momauk, Myitkyina, Tsawlaw, and Waingmaw;

·         Mon state: Bilin, Kyaikto, Mawlamyine, Thanbyuzayat, Thaton, and Ye;

·         Pegu division: Kyaukkyi, Shwekyin, Tantabin, and Taungoo;

·         Rakhine state: Maungdaw;

·         Shan state: Hopong, Hsihseng, Langkho, Loilen, Mawkmai, Mongpan, Mongton, Monghpyak, Namhsan Tachileik, Namtu, Nanhkan, Yaksawk, and Ywangan;

·         Tenasserim division: Bokpyin, Dawei, Tanintharyi, Thayetchaung, and Yebyu; and

·         Chin state.

In May 2012, international mine clearance operator Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) conducted a three-day assessment of Kuyak Kyi in Bago Division to support the resettlement of communities displaced by conflict. The assessment confirmed that areas considered for resettlement were mine-affected but NPA did not receive subsequent authorization to conduct a more detailed survey of the area.[3]

In 2013, humanitarian mine action teams[4] of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) documented 67 dangerous areas in eastern Bago region and Kayin and Mon states, including 35 reports verifying earlier survey findings as well as 32 new surveys. Some 74% of the dangerous areas were contaminated by antipersonnel mines, 18% by unexploded ordnance (UXO), and the balance by antivehicle mines.[5]

During 2013, the Border Consortium with the assistance of 11 community-based organizations surveyed 209 villages in 22 townships in southern Shan, Mon, Kayin, and Kayah states, and the eastern Bago and Thanintharyi regions, receiving information about the presence of mines in 48% of the villages surveyed.[6]

Explosive remnants of war

Myanmar is also affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW), including mortars, grenades, artillery, and ordnance dating back to World War II, but the location or full extent of such contamination is not known.[7]

Mine Action Program

In 2011, Myanmar agreed in principle to the creation of a Myanmar Mine Action Center under the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) and agreed to hire five staff to work on mine action, however as of the start of 2014, no further action to establish it had been made. The MPC is led by the Minister of the Office of the President, U Aung Min, and is responsible for coordinating negotiation and implementing peace agreements with Myanmar’s ethnic minorities. The MPC has since made clear that the mine action centre will not be functional prior to the signing of the National Ceasefire Agreement currently under negotiation between the Government and a coalition of ethnic armed groups.

In 2013, a technical working group comprised of government representatives from the MPC and humanitarian actors completed work on a draft national mine action strategy and on national mine action standards. As of October 2014, the strategy and standards had not received government approval and reportedly remained under consideration by the MPC.[8]

International demining organizations, including Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (APOPO), DanChurchAid (DCA), Danish Demining Group (DDG), Foundation Suisse Deminage (FSD), HALO Trust, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), and NPA, have opened offices in Yangon over the past two years. As of October 2014 none had received authorization to conduct humanitarian mine clearance.[9]

Minister U Aung Min told the Monitor in May 2012 that mine clearance is a government priority, but said the peace negotiations and agreements between the government and ethnic minorities need to be firmly established before mine clearance can begin.[10] As of October 2014 dialogue on a nationwide ceasefire continued.[11]

No decision has yet been taken on which authorities will oversee mine clearance in ethnic minority areas. A January draft of proposals by ethnic armed groups for the nationwide ceasefire agreement specified that the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed groups would remove mines jointly.[12]

Mine action in 2013−2014

No mine clearance by accredited humanitarian demining organizations has occurred in Myanmar. Sporadic and unregulated mine removal has been reported in recent years by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s army), villagers, and ethnic minority organizations.

NPA, in agreement with the government and the New Mon State Party, conducted three non-technical surveys in Mon and Kayin states in 2014. The first two surveys covered eight villages in Ye township, Mon state (7 January–5 February); nine villages in Mudon and Thanbyuzayat townships, Mon state, and 10 villages in Kawkareit township, Kayin state (24 April–21 May). A third survey, started on 24 July and still under way in September 2014, focused on 43 villages in Ye township, Mon state. The surveys did not identify any mined areas. NPA was informed there were mined areas close to some of the surveyed villages, but was not allowed access to them. The survey team recorded seven landmine incidents that occurred at least 10 years earlier.[13]

No information on demining by the Tatmadaw was available. In June 2014 in Hlaingbwe township, villagers reported that a former Tatmadaw military base continued to be contaminated by blast and fragmentation mines although, before leaving, soldiers said the area had been cleared.[14] In northern Hpapun district of Kayin state, Tatmadaw units reportedly spread salt in fields near four villages in April 2013 in order to attract animals that would detonate mines in the area. Some 20 to 30 animals reportedly died as a result.[15]

Among actions taken in ethnic minority areas, the United Committee of Karen Armed Groups—comprised of the local commands of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) Karen National Union (KNU), and Karen Border Guard Force (BGF)—reportedly removed some mines in the Myaing Gyi Ngu area of Hlaingbwe Township, Kaying state in July and August 2013 but no details of the mines or clearance operation were available. One DKBA soldier was reportedly injured during mine removal.[16] The KNU announced in July 2013 that it had instructed its brigades and local authorities in areas it controls to conduct demining.

The Free Burma Rangers (FBR) include a course on mine identification and emergency clearance procedures in annual training programs for new relief teams.[17] Mines encountered on their missions have either been removed by FBR personnel, who turn them over to anti-government militias, or are removed by militia members.

A national working group on mine risk education was established in 2012 under the Ministry of Social Welfare, with the participation of different ministries and by UN agencies and NGOs. It meets quarterly with about 30 organizations and agencies taking part. As of April 2014, mine risk education was being provided by nine organizations in 16 townships and reaching 110 villages.[18] In addition, five community-based organizations (CBOs) in ethnic areas undertook MRE in Kayin and Kayah state.[19] In October 2013, national NGO Myanmar Aid Foundation provided mine risk education in four villages in Shwegyin, in eastern Bago under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Welfare.[20]

In February 2013, DCA conducted a Knowledge Attitude and Practice Survey on the Impact of Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War with technical advice from UNICEF in 30 randomly selected villages in Kayah, Kayin, and Mon states, and the Bago and Thanintharyi regions. As of October 2014, the survey final report had not been released. According to preliminary findings provided in June 2014, 53% of respondents knew of areas near their village or ward with explosive devices and 47% stated that these devices are a problem in everyday life.[21]

 

Casualties

Casualties Overview

In 2013, there were at least 101 new mine/ERW casualties in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, based on information provided by NGOs and other organizations, as well as by state and independent media reports.[1] Of the 2013 total, 64 casualties were civilians and 19 were military personnel.[2] The majority of casualties were men, but at least seven casualties were boys, eight were women, and three were girls.[3]

For the second year in a row, the number of casualties recorded by the Monitor was lower than previous years. The 2013 total represents a significant continued decrease in total annual casualties compared to the 381 from 2011, and only slightly less than the 106 casualties identified in 2012 through similar reporting sources. The Monitor casualty data for Myanmar represents an aggregation of available sources.[4] However, due to the lack of official systematic data collection and the varying sources of annual data available to the Monitor, reporting is believed not to reflect the full extent of mine/ERW incidents and casualties in the country. As in the past, the data contained insufficient details to distinguish trends or to ensure that the details for all casualties were correctly recorded by the source. The actual number of casualties is likely to be much higher.[5]

Past reporting by the Monitor has indicated that there are a significant number of military casualties recorded, but such records are not generally available to the public.[6]

In 2013, mines/ERW remained a source of concern in an estimated 10 out of 14 regions/states.[7] Most mines causing casualties were recorded as antipersonnel mines. It has been reported by local risk education providers that victim-activated IEDs or “craft” antipersonnel mines are among the mine types causing casualties. People involved in mine and IED incidents are often not able to distinguish between these types of victim-activated explosive items, so the type is not recorded.[8]

The total number of casualties in Myanmar is unknown. The Monitor reported annual casualty data of 3,450 mine/ERW casualties (348 killed; 2,898 injured; 204 unknown) between 1999 and the end of 2013.

In addition to human casualties, village livestock, elephants, and wildlife are also affected by landmines in Myanmar. Most elephants killed and injured by mines are those used in the illegal cross-border timber trade. In February 2013, an elephant was injured by a mine laid near the border with Bangladesh.[9]

Victim Assistance

At least 2,898 survivors have been identified by the Monitor since 1999. However, this is a fraction of the actual figure, estimated to exceed 40,000.[10]

Victim Assistance in 2013

In 2013, there was an increase in rehabilitation and economic inclusion services available to survivors within Myanmar.

Under an agreement with the government of Myanmar, the ICRC supported government-run rehabilitation centers. The centers had been operating without external support since 2007.

More actors were involved in delivering, planning, and organizing all aspects of victim assistance.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2012, DanChurchAid (DCA) conducted research and an in-depth situational analysis, collected baseline data, and made recommendations for future programming to assist survivors and their families in the areas of health and rehabilitation, training, and other potential activities in victim assistance. DCA had previously carried out a casualty and victim assistance survey and a suspected mined area survey in localities that were recognized as the most contaminated in Myanmar.[11] In 2013, no new initiatives were implemented to assess the needs of mine/ERW victims in Myanmar.

The Ministry of Health does not disaggregate injuries due to mines/ERW incidents from other traumatic injuries.[12]

Victim assistance coordination

There was no government victim assistance coordination mechanism in 2013.

There was greater awareness of the need for victim assistance. In January 2013, member of parliament Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the Myanmar parliamentary Rule of Law, Stability, and Peace Committee, was reported to have stated publically that she would work to ensure landmine survivors received vocational training and prosthetic devices, demonstrating an increasing awareness on the part of the government to address the issue of victim assistance.[13]

The Department of Social Welfare, within the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, is responsible for community-based rehabilitation and for carrying out social welfare services through preventive, protective, and rehabilitative measures.[14] Several institutions were involved in physical rehabilitation; the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defense, and the Myanmar Red Cross Society played an important role in the provision of mobility aids, especially prosthetics and orthotics.[15] The Disability Working Group, assembled to coordinate and implement the National Plan of Action for Persons with Disabilities 2010–2012, stopped meeting after only a few meetings because the various organizations involved chose to run their programs independently.[16]

To follow up the round-table seminar on prosthetics and orthotics organized in 2012 by the ICRC in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, the ICRC had bilateral meetings with the Department of Social Welfare in 2013 to discuss the creation of an official coordination body.[17]

No inclusion of survivors in victim assistance planning or activities was reported in 2013.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[18]

Emergency and continuing medical care

In rural Myanmar, most villages lack basic healthcare. Patients travel hours, and in some hilly regions nearly an entire day, to reach hospitals or clinics. Due to a lack of healthcare services, people in rural areas may rely on treatment from untrained health workers, or  rely on local, traditional remedies.[19]

In 2013, the ICRC supported the second amputation surgery seminar for twenty-five junior surgeons working in remote stations of southeastern Myanmar. The training also focused on the most appropriate surgical techniques allowing for optimal use of a prosthetic device.[20]

During decades of conflict in Myanmar, ethnic communities and organizations developed their own health provision structures, which continued to be the main providers of healthcare in the mine-affected and remote areas. In recognition that those networks needed to continue to function until the adequate convergence of state and national health systems, the Health Convergence Core Group (HCCG) was formed in May 2012. The HCCG aimed to prepare existing community-based health networks inside Myanmar for future work with government health agencies and other international, national, and local actors.[21]

The HCCG is composed of four ethnic health organizations and four community-based health organizations: Burma Medical Association, Back Pack Health Worker Teams, Karen Department of Health and Welfare, Karenni Mobile Health Committee, Mae Tao Clinic, Mon National Health Committee, National Health and Education Committee, and the Shan Health Committee.[22]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

As most rehabilitation centers are located in major cities and travel costs are high, people with disabilities, especially those living in rural areas, often face tremendous difficulties in order to access services.[23]

In 2013, the ICRC offered the Ministry of Health assistance to develop two Physical Rehabilitation Centers in Myitkyina (Kachin State) and in Kyaing Tong (Eastern Shan State) to address the high demand of the services users in those regions affected by the conflicts. The Ministry of Health approved the construction of Myitkyina PRC in 2014 and then Kyaing Tong PRC in 2015.[24] In 2007, ICRC support of Ministry of Health and Ministry of Defense rehabilitation centers had been suspended due to restrictions imposed on its operations.[25]

In 2013, the ICRC continued to support the Hpa-an Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Centre (HORC), run jointly by the Myanmar Red Cross Society and the ICRC, and to support three centers managed by the Ministry of Health located in Yangon, Mandalay, and Yenanthar enabling people living in remote areas to have access to services. The ICRC increased support to the Myanmar Red Cross Society’s Outreach Prosthetic Programme for areas covered by the HORC as well as for Upper and Central Myanmar. This program enabled persons living in remote areas to have access to services free of charge, including prosthetic and orthopedic devices, lodging, transport, and medical assistance if necessary.[26] In 2013, the ICRC supported the construction and refurbishment the HORC’s foot production units, which allowed them to create 3,842 prosthetic feet for their patients.[27] Expansion of the outreach activities at the HORC, and an increase in the production of prostheses at the center, resulted in a 25% increase in the number of prostheses produced in 2013 over 2012.[28] In 2013, 44% of prostheses were for mine/ERW survivors (761 of 1,741).[29]

In 2013, the ICRC also prioritized admission for child amputees at the HORC during the school summer-holiday season through a program designed to facilitate access for children without disrupting their studies; the number of child admissions increased by 20% (61 in 2012 compared to 49 in 2011).[30]

In December 2013, in agreement with the Ministry of Health the ICRC handed over the its role in supporting the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Yangon to the NGO Exceed Worldwide. The organization also financially supported the Myanmar School of Prosthetics & Orthotics, which is being built on the campus of the University of Medical Technology in Yangon.

The Myanmar Disabled Person’s Organization (MDPO) produces prosthetics at a small workshop in its office in Yangon. Recipients must pay for their prosthetic or find a donor; however, MDPO provides a few prosthetics at no charge to the very poor.[31] DCA operates a mobile prosthetic-limb clinic that assists landmine survivors who have little or no access to similar services offered elsewhere in the country.[32] In July 2014, Peace Myanmar Aid Foundation ran a mobile prosthetics workshop which provided 53 prosthetics to mine victims from 22 villages in Shwegyin in eastern Bago Region.[33]

No psychological or psychosocial services available to mine/ERW survivors were reported in 2013.

Economic and social inclusion

A lack of understanding about persons with disabilities as well as poor infrastructural accessibility make it difficult for persons with disabilities to attend school or find employment. The Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) Japan Vocational Training Center for Persons with Disabilities provides training in tailoring, hairstyling, and computers free of charge. Most trainees are persons with disabilities due to polio or they are landmine survivors. The center supports graduates to achieve economic independence, gain employment, open their own shops, or become teachers at the center.[34]

Within a limited geographical scope, the First Myanmar Basic Disability Survey 2008–2009, endorsed by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, indicated that 1,276,000 people in Myanmar (2.32% of the population) live with some form of disability. The survey further found that 85% of persons with disabilities were unemployed and their level of education was considerably below the national average.[35]

Disabled veterans can apply for housing in specially built settlements. A settlement of disabled former soldiers, visited by the Monitor in May 2013, was located on an all-weather road outside Taungoo and had water and electricity. Transport to schools for children was provided. From the settlement, former military personnel could contact a local military officer and request transport to the local hospital, if needed. Former soldiers also could obtain free intercity transport on public buses and were provided with replacement prosthetics as needed at no cost. Those disabled military personnel that did not apply for housing in the special settlement were eligible for a one-time grant of 500,000 kyat (US$590). All disabled military personnel are eligible for a small pension.[36]

Laws and policies

There are no laws specifically prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to healthcare, or in the provision of other state services; the government does not provide ample protections for these persons. In 2013, there were few official resources to assist persons with disabilities.[37] Furthermore, persons with disabilities reported societal stigma and discrimination,[38] as well as abuse from civilian and government officials.[39]

In June 2014, activists requested that landmine victims be included within the draft disability law being discussed in parliament.[40] The upper house of parliament approved a proposal for a disability rights law in September 2011. The proposal was drafted following recommendations developed by Leprosy Mission International and the Ministry of Social Welfare in May 2011.[41] It was reported that the draft law gave preferential treatment to disabled military veterans over civilians with disabilities, including giving priority to providing jobs to military personnel.[42] As of September 2014, the law had not yet been approved.

Military veterans with disabilities received benefits on a priority basis, usually a civil service job at equivalent pay. Official assistance to non-military persons with disabilities in principle included two-thirds of pay for up to one year for a temporary disability and a tax-free stipend for permanent disability; however, the government did not provide job protection for private sector workers who became disabled. In March 2013, the government enacted a law designed to assist the families of deceased and injured military personnel.[43]

On 7 December 2011, Myanmar acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The convention entered into force on 6 January 2012.

Victim assistance for Myanmar citizens in Thailand

Landmine survivors from Myanmar who go to Thailand to seek asylum can receive medical care and rehabilitation in refugee camps as well as in public district hospitals in the Thai-Myanmar border provinces.[44]

However, throughout 2013 and into 2014 the availability of this assistance in the Thai border camps was becoming increasingly uncertain. Political reforms in Myanmar resulted in discussions around the possibility of refugees being returned, leading to a reduction in financial assistance by some donors to NGOs in order to focus on activities within Myanmar.[45] Furthermore, in July 2014 Thailand’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) “reached an agreement with the commander-in-chief of Burma’s military to repatriate the 120,000 refugees accommodated in the nine refugee camps on the Thai Burma border.”[46] This change of situation, including the shift in funding priorities, was reported to be premature, and the UNHCR has said conditions in south-eastern Myanmar where the refugees come from are not yet fully conducive to organized returns. This includes the absence of a permanent ceasefire, the presence of mine fields, and lack of critical infrastructure in some areas.[47]

 

In 2012, six donors contributed US$8.5 million to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar for mine action, an increase from $674,368 in 2011.[1] Of the $8.5 million, almost $2 million from Denmark, Norway, and the United States (US) was for victim assistance.

Despite the high level of funding, a variety of factors have delayed the start of survey and clearance operations. The government has not yet approved a landmine law, and non-state armed groups have restricted access to mined areas. Additionally, an overall lack of trust in the peace process amongst all groups has made agreements difficult to conclude.[2] As an illustration of the situation, according to The Economist, “the mine-action centre is just a rather dilapidated building without staff or offices.”[3]

International contributions: 2012[4]

Summary of contributions: 2008–2012[5]