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Myanmar/Burma
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties[1]
Casualties in 2009
|
Casualties in 2009 |
262 (2008: 721) |
|
Casualties by outcome |
8 killed; 205 injured; 49 unknown (2008: 89 killed; 632 unknown) |
|
Casualties by device type |
187 antipersonnel mines; 75 unidentified mines |
In 2009, there were at least 262 new mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Myanmar based on state and independent media reports and information provided by NGOs and other organizations. Of the total, 259 casualties were civilians. There were insufficient details to distinguish trends. In 2008, at least 213 civilian casualties (30 killed and 183 injured) were identified through similar sources.
Due to the lack of systematic data collection and varying sources of annual data, reporting does not reflect the full extent of mine/ERW incidents and casualties in the country. In 2009 the UN noted that many casualties remained unreported.[2]
No demining accidents were reported in 2009. At least two civilian casualties were reported as having been killed during “atrocity” demining—the use of forced labor for mine clearance—in 2009.[3]
In 2009, four civilian casualties occurred in areas where refugees were being forced to return from Thailand to Myanmar.[4]
The reported number of mine/ERW casualties in 2009 was the lowest annual total since 2004.[5] However, due to limited available data, only three military casualties were identified in 2009 as compared to the 508 reported in 2008. Unprecedented levels of information on military casualties received in that year brought the total number of annual mine/ERW casualties to 721 (89 killed and 632 injured). Prior to 2008, no State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) reports of military casualties had been available.[6]
Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor has identified at least 2,587 (183 killed, 2,207 injured, and 197 unknown) casualties between 1999 and the end of 2009.
Victim Assistance
The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Myanmar is unknown, but at least 2,207 survivors have been identified since 1999.[7] No assessment of survivor needs has been carried out in Myanmar. The Ministry of Health does not record injuries due to mines/ERW separate from other traumatic injuries.[8]
Victim assistance coordination
Myanmar does not have a victim assistance program or strategy. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is responsible for disability issues and facilitates some socio-economic and rehabilitation services.[9] No inclusion of survivors in planning victim assistance activities was reported in 2009.
Service accessibility and effectiveness
Assistance to mine/ERW survivors and persons with disabilities in Myanmar was marginal due to many years of neglect of healthcare services by the ruling authorities. However physical rehabilitation, orthopedic surgery, and prosthetics were available to some mine/ERW survivors through rehabilitation centers in 2009, both within Myanmar and in Thailand near the border.[10]
Victim assistance activities in 2009[11]
|
Name of organization |
Type of organization |
Type of activity |
Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2009 |
|
Ministry of Health |
Government |
Prosthetic centers and two orthopedic hospitals |
Decline in prosthetics production |
|
Ministry of Defense |
Government |
Prosthetics provided through three centers |
Unknown |
|
Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement |
Government |
Socio-economic and rehabilitation services, vocational training school for adults with disabilities including mine/ERW survivors |
Statistics not publicly available |
|
ICRC/Myanmar Red Cross |
International/national organization |
Support to Hpa-an Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Centre and prosthetic outreach for remote areas |
Expanded outreach to new townships in eastern Bago (Pegu) division and Karenni (Kayah) state |
|
Association for Aid and Relief Japan (AAR Japan) |
International NGO |
Vocational training; community-based rehabilitation (CBR); referral system |
CBR program launched, including assistance for mine/ERW survivors |
|
Shwe Min Tha Foundation |
Local NGO |
Covered incidental medical care costs; transportation to medical centers and food distribution |
Some survivors who requested assistance did not receive support due to funding constraints |
|
The Back Pack Health Worker Teams (BPHWT)
|
Local NGO |
Mobile emergency medical service in eastern Myanmar |
Unchanged |
|
Karenni Health Workers Organization |
Community-based organization |
Provided prosthetics in Loikaw, Kayah (Karenni) state |
Unchanged |
|
The Free Burma Rangers (FBR)
|
Local NGO |
Medical care; trained and supported mobile medical teams |
No emergency assistance for mine/ERW casualties reported since May 2009 |
|
Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People |
Community-based organization |
Prosthetic production at the Kho Kay Prosthetic Clinic, Mutraw, Karen (Kayin) state |
Major upgrade of facilities in 2009, with DanChurchAid (DCA) support; increased production; trained new prosthetic outreach teams |
No changes to the quality of services provided by the government were reported. The New Light of Myanmar carried several reports of assistance to new mine/ERW casualties in 2009, although the type of assistance was not mentioned.[12] In 2009, government restrictions imposed on the ICRC prevented it from carrying out assistance activities for civilians in violence-affected areas along the Myanmar-Thailand border.[13] Some UN agencies and their field offices in Myanmar reportedly provided assistance to mine/ERW survivors on a case-by-case basis in 2009,[14] but statistics were not available.
The number of patients coming independently to access services at the Hpa-an Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Centre, located in the Myanmar’s most mine-affected area, was 10% higher than in 2008. This was due to the decreased availability of other prosthetic services. However in 2009, the center’s prosthetic output for mine/ERW survivors decreased by almost 20% from 2008.[15]
The government did not provide social protection for private sector workers who became disabled. However veterans with disabilities received benefits on a priority basis and non-military persons with permanent disabilities were also entitled to a benefit payment. There was little state funding for services to assist persons with disabilities. Myanmar had no laws to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities.[16]
As of June 2010, Myanmar had not signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Services in Thailand
In Thailand, assistance to mine/ERW survivors from Myanmar was primarily provided at clinics in refugee camps and public district hospitals in the border provinces with Myanmar.
Victim assistance activities on Thai-Myanmar Border for Myanmar nationals in 2009[17]
|
Name of organization |
Type of organization |
Type of activity |
Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2009 |
|
Prosthesis Foundation |
National NGO |
Free prosthetic devices |
Unchanged |
|
The Mae Tao Clinic |
Local NGO |
Prosthetics and rehabilitation services, trauma surgery and other health services |
Increased the number of people who received prostheses from 188 to 235; no new prosthetic technicians trained |
|
Shan Health Committee (SHC) |
Community-based organization |
Prosthetic services in Pang Ma Pha, Wieng Hang, Mae Fa Luang and Loi Kai Wan; and economic inclusion activities |
Increased beneficiaries though farming project |
|
Care Villa established by the Karen Handicap Welfare Association |
Community-based organization |
Assistance to 20 blind amputee mine/ERW survivors at Care Villa in Mae La refugee camp |
Unchanged |
|
Clear Path International |
International NGO |
Prosthetics, training, income generation assistance to existing projects in Thailand and Myanmar |
Increased support, and expansion of farm projects for survivors |
|
ICRC |
International organization |
Covers costs of hospitalization and surgery for war injured people from Myanmar in Thai hospitals |
Increased number of beneficiaries |
|
Handicap International Burmese Border Project |
International NGO |
Physiotherapy, prosthetics and accessibility to buildings and social inclusion activities |
Unchanged |
|
Thai hospitals |
Government |
Providing medical care to mine/ERW survivors from Myanmar and Cambodia |
Unchanged |
[1] Unless noted otherwise, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor casualty data is from media reports published by the New Light of Myanmar between 1 January and 31 December 2009; information from published and unpublished sources, provided by email from the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), 6 April 2010; email from BPHWT, 23 March 2010; email from FBR, 21 March 2010; and email from Jean-Jacques Bovay, Delegate, Chiang Mai Sub-delegation, ICRC, 4 February 2010.
[2] UN Security Council, “Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Myanmar,” S/2009/278, 1 June 2009, para. 38.
[3] The above incidents were taken from information compiled by the KHRG from both published reports and unpublished records and provided to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, 6 April 2010.
[4] These casualties continued in 2010, when in January a pregnant woman was injured by a mine in an area of return. See: “Unsafe return: Threats to human rights and security for refugees leaving Tha Song Yang District,” KHRG, 27 January 2010, khrg.org; and Human Rights Watch, “Thailand: Cease Intimidation of Karen Refugees,” Press release, 5 February 2010, www.hrw.org.
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 2009, p. 1,033.
[6] Ibid.
[7] This is based on 2,207 injured casualties between 1999 and 2009.
[8] UN Security Council, “Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Myanmar,” S/2009/278, 1 June 2009, para. 38.
[9] US Department of State, “2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Burma,” Washington, DC, 11 March 2010.
[10] Some service providers listed below include community-based organizations: for example, the Karen National Union-linked Karen Handicap Welfare Association; Karenni Health Workers Organization, the social arm of the Karenni People’s National Liberation Front; and the SHC, the social service arm of the Shan State Army-South and Restoration Council of Shan State.
[11] Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability, Country Profile for Myanmar, www.apcdproject.org; interview with Myat Thu Winn, Director, Shwe Min Tha Foundation, Yangon, 6 February 2009; email from BPHWT, 23 March 2010; FBR, “FBR Training Report - Graduation of New Ranger Teams,” 6 December, 2009, www.freeburmarangers.org; email from Sayako Nogiwa, Director, Myanmar Project, AAR Japan, 30 April 2010; and email from DCA, 10 June 2010.
[12] Based on the analysis of the reporting of 11 casualties in the New Light of Myanmar between 1 January and 31 December 2009.
[13] ICRC, “Annual Report 2009,” Geneva, May 2010, p. 209.
[14] Interview with survivor, Shan Prosthetic Center, Pang Ma Pha, Thailand, 6 March 2010.
[15] ICRC, “Annual Report 2009,” Geneva, May 2010, p. 210; and ICRC, “Annual Report 2008,” Geneva, May 2009, p. 193.
[16] US Department of State, “2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Burma,” Washington, DC, 11 March 2010
[17] Help without Frontiers (Helfen ohne Grenzen, HoG) also supported the SHC. Email from Melody Mociulski, South-East Asia Program Director, CPI, 26 March 2010; Alex Ellgee, “Landmine Victims Find Solace at Mae La,” Irrawaddy, 10 April 2010, www.irrawaddy.org; “The shame of Mae La refugee camp,” Bangkok Post, 15 February 2009, www.bangkokpost.com; “Where Once Was Only Darkness…,” Worldwide Impact Now, 12 February 2010, worldwideimpact.wordpress.com; email from Eh Thwa Bor, Administrative Officer, Mae Tao Clinic, 18 March 2009; interviews with Mae Tao Clinic staff, Mae Sot, 19 March 2010; email from Kiriti Ray, Thailand Site Coordinator and Burma Border Program Manager, Thailand-Cambodia Regional Programme, Handicap International, 19 February 2010; and email from Jean-Jacques Bovay, Chiang Mai Sub-delegation, ICRC, 4 February 2010. HoG also supported the SHC.
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