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Myanmar/Burma
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
Mines
Mines are believed to be concentrated on Myanmar’s borders with Bangladesh 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 33 townships in Chin, Kachin, Karen (Kayin), Karenni (Kayah), Mon, Rakhine, and Shan states, as well as in Pegu (Bago) and Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) divisions[1] suffer from some degree of mine contamination, primarily from antipersonnel mines. Karen (Kayin) state and Pegu (Bago) division are suspected to contain the heaviest mine contamination and have the highest number of recorded victims.
No estimate exists of the extent of contamination, but the Monitor identified suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) in the following townships: every township in Karenni (Kayah) state; every township in Karen (Kayin) state; Momauk township of Kachin state; Thanbyuzayat, Thaton, and Ye townships in Mon state; Kyaukkyi, Shwekyin, and Tantabin townships in Pegu (Bago) division; Maungdaw township in Rakhine state; Hsihseng, Langkho, Mongpan, Mawkmai, Namhsan and Tachileik townships in Shan state; and Bokpyin, Dawei, Tanintharyi, Thayetchaung and Yebyu townships of Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) division. The Monitor has subsequently identified previously unknown SHAs in townships on the Indian border of Chin state.[2]
Explosive remnants of war
Myanmar is also affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW), including mortars, grenades, artillery and ordnance used in World War II, but no information is available on the extent or location of such contamination.[3] There have been no reports of cluster munition remnants.
Mine Action Program
Despite a significant mine threat, Myanmar does not have a functioning national mine action program. In late 2009, the Protection working group of the UN mission in Myanmar, chaired by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), created a mines subgroup.[4] UNHCR initiated discussions with the government on the issue of mines, reportedly contacting the ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Social Welfare, and the Ministry for the Progress of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs.[5] The mine subgroup planned to focus on mine/ERW risk education (RE), identifying gaps in medical and rehabilitation support for survivors and exploring the feasibility of starting humanitarian mine clearance. As of 1 August 2011, the government had not agreed to the establishment of a national mine action program[6] and no meetings of the sub-working group had yet been convened.[7]
Mine clearance in 2010
Sporadic demining has been reported in recent years by the Tatmadaw, villagers, and ethnic minority organizations.
A child soldier in the Tatmadaw interviewed in 2010 said that all soldiers were trained to handle mines and that he witnessed an enemy mine being removed by a soldier in his unit in Mon State.[8]
In February 2010, the Free Burma Rangers (FBR)[9] reported undertaking mine clearance in villages near the border of Kyaukkyi and Hpapun townships, removing a small number of minimum-metal M14 antipersonnel mines on up to eight occasions each year.[10] The FBR include a course on mine identification and emergency clearance procedures for their relief teams. Mines encountered on their missions have either been removed by FBR personnel, who turn them over to anti-junta militia, or are removed by militia members.[11]
A Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) defector to the Karen National Union (KNU) who was interviewed by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) in July 2010 reported that the DKBA had policy of paying a THB500 (US$16) reward for each mine cleared by its soldiers in order to give villagers access to hillside lands and to assist returns from Thailand.[12]
In late December 2010, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) sent a soldier to clear mines that had been laid by the Tatmadaw on 25 December. The soldier cleared four M-14 mines before being injured by a fifth mine.[13] Two Karenni Army soldiers were killed on 2 April 2011 when a mine they had removed detonated, also fatally wounding a member of the FBR.[14]
“Atrocity” or forced labor demining[15]
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Quintana, cited reports that “civilians are forced by the military to clear brush in suspected mined areas or to serve as porters for the military in areas where there is a mine hazard. According to sources, civilians have been ordered to remove mines without training or protective equipment or to repair fences of mined areas, which have caused serious casualties.”[16] After a visit in August 2010, he reported meeting a victim of forced labor mine clearance.[17]
In early 2010, a Tatmadaw child soldier interviewed by an independent source said he witnessed his unit seize villagers in 2010 and march them in front of the unit in case of mines.[18]
The FBR has reported the following incidents. On 10 December 2010, a patrol of the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 299 seized a family near Maw Tu village, Dooplaya District, consisting of two women and four children and forced them to walk in front of the patrol, both in case of attack and because of the risk of mines.[19] In March 2011, FBR reported that villagers were forced to drive their vehicles on the road from Hkler Lah to Bu Hsa Hkee ahead of an Army convoy to detonate any mines. The same day, 140 men and women from Klaw Mee Der area were forced to carry food along the road from Pa Leh Wah to Klaw Mee Der and act as human minesweepers by Infantry Battalion (IB) 102. Previously, on 11 Feb 2011, five men from Play Hsa Lo were forced to carry loads and act as minesweepers between Play Hsa Lo and Tha Pyin Nuint by IB 102.[20]
The KHRG said it had received reports of the following incidents in 2010:
· A convict was injured by a mine while forced to porter for the Tatmadaw in January 2010.[21]
· A villager from Ma Lay Ler village tract, Dweh Loh Township, Papun District, was forced to clear mines in January 2010 by the commander of IB 96 after the unit suffered mine injuries.[22]
· A villager from Lu Thaw township forced to work as a porter for the Tatmadaw stepped on a mine as he escaped on 9 January. He said he was told by the military that they were afraid to use vehicles on the road because of mines so they used humans.[23]
· In February 2010, a convict porter with Tatmadaw LIBs 707 and 708 stated that he was forced by the military to clear mines without tools or walk in front of the military column in suspected mined areas near Papun.[24]
· Villagers from five villages in Meh Gklaw village tract, Bu Tho Township, Papun District, claimed that in March 2010 they were required by Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 340 to clear brush from a track that had been regularly mined by the KNLA, DKBA and Tatmadaw.[25]
· Former prisoners who escaped from being used as porters by the Tatmadaw IB 212 in January 2011 stated that they were forced to look for mines ahead of military columns using a stick with prongs that looked like a pitchfork. They stated that all porters in their column were required to do this work.[26]
In January 2011, the KNU published the testimony of convict porter Aye Min who said he had witnessed three porters step on mines prior to his escape. He said the convicts were used as porters by Battalion 208 under command of LIB 22.[27] In May 2011, the KNU stated that in the first four months of 2011, 1,220 villagers from five districts of Karen state had been seized for use as human mine sweepers or human shields.[28]
A Buddhist Karen resident of Poe Thweki village in southeast Hpapun township said he was forced by the commander of DKBA units 666 and 999 to lay mines in the frontline with the DKBA soldiers for an unspecified period until he escaped in May 2009.[29]
Other Risk Reduction Measures
RE is inadequate and often non-existent in areas with reported casualties. Very limited activities are carried out in Karen (Kayin) state by the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People, in Karenni (Kayah) state by the Karenni Social Welfare and Development Centre, in Shan state by the Lahu Development Union, and in Chin State by the Chin Peoples Action Committee. Throughout 2010 these groups reportedly made presentations in 130 communities reaching about 6400 people. There are no government-run RE activities, although in 2009 it was reported that “beware mines” signs had been placed by authorities in some parts of the country.[30]
[1] Myanmar/Burma is divided up into both states and divisions, which are virtually identical sub-state level administrative districts. States are the “home area” of ethnic groups, and are always named after one; other areas which are not seen as the home area of a specific ethnic group are called divisions. The military junta ruling the country changed the name from Burma to Myanmar. Many ethnic groups within the country and a number of states still prefer to use the name Burma. Internal state and division names are given in their common form, or with the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) designation in parentheses, for example, Karenni (Kayah) state.
[2] Survey conducted by the Monitor in February 2009–May 2010. Data sources included casualty information, sightings of mine warnings, and reports of use by NGOs and other organizations, as well as interviews with field staff and armed forces’ personnel. The survey included casualty data from January 2007 through June 2010 and data from other informants from January 2008 through June 2010.
[3] Mann Thar Lay, “Mandalay workers uncover WWII bomb,” Myanmar Times, Vol. 23, No. 455, 26 January–1 February 2009, www.mmtimes.com; and additional information provided to the Monitor by NGOs requesting anonymity, 9 June 2010.
[4] UNHCR Protection Working Group sub-group on landmines meeting notes, Yangon, 23 February 2010.
[5] Geneva Call, “Humanitarian Impact of Landmines in Burma/Myanmar,” Geneva, 2011, p.16.
[6] The Parliament elected in November 2010 first met in January 2011. The Parliament did not discuss mine action or issue directives to Ministries to pursue mine action programs and no ministry provided information to Parliament on the extent of the mine problem within the country.
[7] UN Humanitarian Partners Meeting Schedule, January − August 2011, www.themimu.info.
[8] Information provided to the Monitor on condition of anonymity. Yangon, 2 March 2011.
[9] The FBR describes itself as a “multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement.” FBR, “FBR Statement,” www.freeburmarangers.org.
[10] FBR, “FBR Report: Families Flee as Attacks Continue; Photo Essay,” 26 February 2010, www.freeburmarangers.org.
[11] FBR, “FBR Training Report: Graduation of New Ranger Teams in Southern Karen State,” Karen State, Burma 15 September 2010, www.freeburmarangers.org.
[12] Unpublished information provided to the Monitor by KHRG, 12 April 2011. Average exchange rate for 2010: US$1=THB31.7. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 6 January 2011.
[13] FBR, “FBR REPORT: Landmines, Victims and Flooding from Burma Army Dam Project Displaces Multiple Communities,” 17 January 2011, www.freeburmarangers.org.
[14] FBR, “FBR REPORT: FBR Karenni Team Member Dies,” 8 April 2011, www.freeburmarangers.org.
[15] The term “atrocity demining” is used by the Monitor to describe forced passage of civilians over mined areas or the forced use of civilians to clear mines without appropriate training or equipment. “Atrocity demining” is sometimes referred to in human rights reports as “human mine sweeping.”
[16] UNGA, “Progress report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,” UN doc. A/HRC/13/48, 10 March 2010, para. 74, www2.ohchr.org.
[17] UNGA, “Progress report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,” UN doc. A/65/368, 15 September 2010, para. 57.
[18] Information provided to the Monitor by a source requesting anonymity, Yangon, 2 March 2011.
[19] FBR, “Second Raw report: Family used as human shields as the Burma Army continues to displace villagers in Central Karen State, Burma,” 31 December 2010, www.freeburmarangers.org.
[20] FBR, “Burma Army Kills Two Men and Submits Hundreds to Forced Labor as it Increases Activity in Toungoo District,” 3 March 2011, www.freeburmarangers.org.
[21] “KHRG Photo Gallery 2010,” 15 June 2010, www.khrg.org.
[22] “Southwestern Papun District: Transitions to DKBA control along the Bilin River,” 18 August 2010, www.khrg.org.
[23] Unpublished information provided to the Monitor by KHRG, 12 April 2011.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] KHRG, “Three former convict porters confirm serious human rights abuses in the current conflict in Dooplaya District,” Update No. 52, Appendix, 8 February 2011, www.khrg.org
[27] “Five SPDC porters escape,” Karen Information Centre News, Vol. 15, No. 1, 21 January 2011, www.kicnews.org (in Burmese and Karen languages)
[28] “Statement on the Use of Karen Civilians for Forced Labor and as Human Shield by Burma Army,” KNU, 26 May 2011, www.karennationalunion.net.
[29] Email from FBR, 16 March 2010.
[30] Interviews during Monitor field mission, Yangon, 2–6 February 2009.
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