Myanmar
UNHCR ‘not involved’ in discussions on Bangladesh-Myanmar pilot project on Rohingya repatriation
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has said conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are currently “not conducive” to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees.
“UNHCR’s position on returns of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar remains unchanged,” said the UN agency sharing its assessment.
The UN agency said it is aware of the visit of a Myanmar delegation to Bangladesh to meet with a group of Rohingya refugees — on a bilateral pilot project between the two countries on possible repatriation.
“UNHCR is not involved in these discussions,” it said in a statement on Bangladesh, Myanmar pilot project on Rohingya returns. The statement was shared by the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific on Sunday (March 19, 2023) night.
Read More: OIC members must share responsibility for sustainable solution to Rohingya crisis: Momen
At the same time, the UNHCR reiterated that every refugee has a right to return to their home country based on an informed choice, but that no refugee should be forced to do so.
Bangladesh has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to voluntary and sustainable repatriation since the onset of the crisis, it said.
In support of efforts to preserve the right to return, UNHCR considers consultation of and dialogue with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by all parties in relation to the conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine State as important to enable refugees to make an informed choice about return and build confidence amongst the community.
“This is particularly important as many refugees have reiterated that they do hope to go home to Myanmar as soon as conditions allow,” UNHCR said.
Read More: FM calls on global community to raise their voices to ensure safe return of Rohingyas
Following the events of August 2017, UNHCR has also consistently encouraged Myanmar to expeditiously verify the previous residence in Myanmar of refugees in Bangladesh, as part of efforts to lift any administrative obstacles to return when the refugees decide to do so.
“UNHCR therefore supports efforts that could lead to the verification of all refugees and pave the way for eventual return. This most recently included providing logistical support to members of the Myanmar delegation to cross into Bangladesh for the technical verification process,” said the UN agency.
UNHCR said it will continue to work with Bangladesh and Myanmar to ensure that Rohingya refugees maintain the right to return when they choose to do so, based on a fully informed and voluntary decision.
UNHCR will also support efforts to create conditions that would be conducive to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
Read More: US announces $26m more in assistance for Rohingyas, host communities
In Bangladesh, UNHCR will continue to support building the skills and capacities of the refugees to facilitate their eventual return and sustainable reintegration in Myanmar.
The 2023 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis in Bangladesh was recently launched and UNHCR calls upon the international community’s continued robust support for this appeal which is currently 10 percent funded.
OIC members must share responsibility for sustainable solution to Rohingya crisis: Momen
Bangladesh has said the OIC member states must share collective responsibility to ensure safe and dignified return of the most persecuted community– the Rohingyas to their homeland, Myanmar.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen made the call during the open-ended meeting of the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations against the Rohingyas, held on March 17 in Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on the margin of the 49th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers.
During the meeting, the Gambian Foreign Minister updated the status of the case filed by the Gambia against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice to hold Myanmar accountable for the Human Rights Violation against the Rohingyas.
The status on the voluntary contribution by the member states and the summary of the fund requirements to continue the case were presented, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.
Momen reiterated the importance of repatriation of the Rohingyas to avoid transnational socio-economic catastrophe, especially derailment of thousands of juveniles and youths with uncertain future.
While thanking the Gambia and the OIC and for the kind support for the legal action, he shaded light on the importance of ensuring the momentum of the case to provide justice to Rohingyas.
He also called for burden sharing from the member states by contributing voluntarily to the legal expenses of the case.
The meeting was attended among others by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Gambia.
Read more: Bangladesh seeks OIC’s help to continue Rohingya genocide case
The Foreign Minister also had bilateral meetings with his counterpart of Cameroon and Mauritania.
Both countries expressed their appreciation on the rapid and consistent economic progress of Bangladesh and hoped that scopes of bilateral cooperation in agriculture, fisheries, trade, education and collaboration in various sectors would take place.
He also had courtesy meeting with the United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Middle East, Asia and Pacific.
Momen led the Bangladesh delegation to the 49th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held in Nouakchott, Mauritania from 16-17 March 2023.
Commonwealth foreign ministers urge Myanmar to comply with 'Provisional Measures' by ICJ
Foreign ministers at the 22nd Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM), held in London, have called upon Myanmar to comply with the "Provisional Measures’ by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
"The world must not forget that it was Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's extraordinary courage, compassion and humanitarian decision to open up border and heart to more than 750,000 Rohingyas in 2017 that saved the world from witnessing a human catastrophe," said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam at the meeting.
Highlighting the serious ramifications of the prolonged stay of 1.2 million Rohingyas for Bangladesh and the region, Shahriar said the earliest repatriation of all forcibly displaced Rohingyas back to their ancestral homeland in Rakhine in safety and dignity remains Bangladesh's compelling priority.
He lauded the Gambia for pursuing the ICJ case on the question of Myanmar's accountability and commended Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK for joining the Gambia's side, said the Bangladesh High Commission in London on Friday.
Amid declining foreign attention and assistance, Canada called on the Commonwealth nations to continue their support for the cause of Rohingyas until they can return to their rightful homes in Myanmar.
The Gambia appreciated the "outstanding generosity" of Hasina for continued hosting of Rohingyas and urged more Commonwealth countries to join their side in the ICJ case, highlighting the importance of accountability and repatriation issues for a sustainable solution to this protracted crisis.
The UK stressed the sustainable return of Rohingyas while the Commonwealth nations expressed solidarity with Bangladesh.
Army, resistance trade accusations over Myanmar killings
Myanmar’s military government has denied reports of a new mass killing of civilians by its troops, instead blaming pro-democracy resistance groups for the deaths of more than 20 people, including three Buddhist monks and a woman.
Members of armed resistance groups opposed to the military government have said the bodies of 22 people were found late Saturday in the compound of the Buddhist monastery in Nam Nein village, in the southern part of Shan State in eastern Myanmar. They blamed the army for the deaths.
No independent witnesses have emerged. The military government's tight restrictions on travel and information make it virtually impossible to verify details of such incidents.
Also Read: Social media companies must stand up to Myanmar junta's online terror campaign: UN experts
The village is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the capital, Naypyitaw. The area is part of the Self-Administered Zone of the Pa-O ethnic minority. It is governed by the Pa-O National Organization, or PNO, which is allied with the military government. Other Pa-O support the resistance.
Reports of the killings came about a week after accusations that troops earlier this month rampaged through several villages in western Myanmar, carrying out rapes and beheadings and killing at least 17 people.
Critics of the military say there is strong evidence that the army has repeatedly carried out war crimes since seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Opposition to military rule has turned into what some U.N. experts have described as a civil war.
Earlier this month, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk accused the ruling generals of implementing “a scorched earth policy in an attempt to stamp out opposition.”
Anti-government resistance groups and villagers who had fled Nam Nein earlier but kept in touch by phone with the monastery said about 30 people had been sheltering in its main building since fighting in the area escalated last month.
Exactly what happened Saturday morning is unclear, but the aftermath was documented in photos and video.
Those released on social media by the anti-government Karenni Nationalities Defense Force showed monks and other men with apparent bullet wounds lying near and against the wall of the monastery’s main building. They also show pools of blood and bullet holes dotting the wall.
The Pa-O area is next to Kayah State, where the Karenni, an ethnic minority fighting against the government, are dominant.
A local leader of the Karenni guerrillas who took the photos said that his group’s snipers in the surrounding area had used their rifle scopes to watch about 100 soldiers firing their guns and torching houses as they entered the village Saturday morning.
He said the snipers were unable to watch more, because they had to withdraw when coming under fire from government aircraft.
The Karenni guerrilla, who asked not to be identified because of fear of reprisals by the military, acknowledged that his forces had not witnessed the killings, but had only seen the bodies when they entered the village late Saturday and took photos. He strongly denied the resistance forces had been responsible for the killings, as had been alleged by the army and its supporters.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s ruling military council, said the violence was initiated by the resistance forces who ambushed army troops and members of an associated militia force, and then entered the village where fighting continued.
He described the resistance forces, the Karenni National Progressive Party — an ethnic minority militia battling the army — and their allies in the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force and People’s Defense Force, as “terrorist groups” that had been posing threats to the area since early this month.
The Karenni have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy. The People’s Defense Forces were formed by the pro-democracy movement after the 2021 military takeover, and are allied with groups such as the Karenni.
“When (the) terrorist groups violently opened fire, it was seen that some villagers were killed and injured,” the military's spokesperson said in an interview published Tuesday in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
Zaw Min Tun said that the army had only counterattacked against the three resistance groups, and reports that soldiers were responsible for killing villagers were misinformation.
A 45-year-old Nam Nain resident who left the village in late February because of fighting told The Associated Press that he had been in daily touch by phone with the monastery’s presiding monk, who refused his entreaties to leave.
“The monk called me at 8 a.m. on Saturday. He said ‘They are entering into the village. I can hear the sounds of gunshots and artillery,’ and he suddenly hung up the phone,” said the villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared being punished by the authorities,
“He couldn’t say which groups entered. So it is not clear who killed the people,” the villager said Monday. He added that the monk, who was his nephew, and two of his brothers-in-law, were among those killed.
A village elder who also left Nam Nein in late February told AP that all those killed in the monastery compound were civilians who had stayed to help look after the monks.
“More than 20 people who were killed in the monastery were just our villagers. They are not the PDF members, not soldiers and members of PNO,” said the villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared being punished by both the authorities and local pro-democracy forces.
He said he also was told over the phone by the presiding monk about troops entering the village on Saturday morning, but didn't know if they were from the army or the guerrillas.
Manny Maung, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, speculated that the village's relative proximity to the country's capital might have caused the military to act to deter guerrilla activity in the area.
“It’s impossible for independent verifiers or independent researchers to go in. But it has the classic hallmarks of military atrocities," she said. “I think that if we don’t get the opportunity to go in now, we’re likely never to know who the actual perpetrators were.”
US announces $26m more in assistance for Rohingyas, host communities
The United States has announced around USD 26 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the region, for those in Myanmar affected by the ongoing violence, and for the communities hosting refugees from the country.
“With this new funding, our total assistance for those affected by the Rakhine State and Rohingya crisis has reached nearly $2.1 billion since August of 2017, when over 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to safety in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,” US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said in a regular media briefing in Washington.
This new funding would allow USA’s humanitarian partners to continue providing lifesaving assistance to affected communities on both sides of the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, including nearly 980,000 Rohingya refugees hosted by Bangladesh, some 740,000 of whom arrived in the months following August 2017 when they were forced to flee genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and other horrific atrocities and abuses perpetrated by Myanmar’s military in Rakhine State, he said.
Also Read: Rohingya repatriation top priority in JRP 2023, US$ 876m sought
This funding will also provide assistance to nearly 540,000 Bangladeshi host community members and to others affected by ongoing violence in Myanmar.
The United States appreciated the generosity of the Government of Bangladesh and other nations and the hospitality of the Bangladeshi people in hosting Rohingya refugees, especially now that “we are in the sixth year of this protracted crisis,” he added.
“We remain committed to working towards durable solutions to the crisis, and we’ll continue to partner with the Government of Bangladesh, the Rohingya community, host communities, and people inside Burma to ensure a coordinated and well-supported response to this humanitarian crisis,” Ned Price said.
The international community, he said, must remain steadfast in their commitment to alleviating the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people, including through the Rohingya crisis response.
Also Read: JRP 2023 launched: IOM in $125m appeal for Rohingyas, hosts.
Rohingya repatriation top priority in JRP 2023, US$ 876m sought
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam has called for robust international efforts to expedite repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh to their homeland Myanmar.
With its limited resources and inadequate external support Bangladesh has to continue the humanitarian operation until the repatriation process for over one million Rohingyas is complete.
In this context, the State Minister urged the international community to contribute generously to the humanitarian aid fund for them.
He made the appeal while addressing the launching of Joint Response Plan (JRP) 2023 for Rohingyas in Geneva on March 7.
Also Read: JRP 2023 launched: IOM in $125m appeal for Rohingyas, hosts
The State Minister also requested all humanitarian partners to prioritize sectors covering the basic necessities like food, health, site management and shelter, etc. in their assistance.
Recalling that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had opened the borders of Bangladesh to save the lives of Rohingyas back in 2016 and 2017 despite its serious ramification on the economy, environment, security, and socio-political stability of Bangladesh, State Minister Alam briefed the audience of Bangladesh’s numerous efforts, including development of Bhasan Char with its own resources to improve the living standards of the Rohingyas, ensure their education, and skills development opportunities.
Mentioning that Bangladesh is the largest donor, spending around 1.69 billion USD last year for the massive humanitarian operations for Rohingyas, ensuring safety and security in and around camps, restoration of the environment, and mitigation of sufferings of the Rohingyas and the host community, State Minister Alam warned that the impasse over commencing return of the Rohingyas to their home country might affect the security and stability of the entire region and jeopardize development initiatives.
Repatriation has been mentioned as the top priority in JRP 2023.
Also Read: UNHCR, partners seek $876m for Rohingyas facing uncertainty, Bangladeshi hosts
Under JRP 2023 an amount of USD 876 million has been sought and a chapter on Bhasan Char has been added.
The State Minister recalled that 62.7% of the pledged amount under JRP 2022 was funded and it was quite challenging to meet the needs of the growing Rohingya population and mitigate the sufferings of the host community in Bangladesh with the received donation.
He also said that the Ukraine War and other multiple crises have worsened the funding crisis for Rohingyas.
The State Minister expressed concern over the disinformation or biased projection of the government’s efforts to arrange education, skill development initiatives and even improve the security situation for the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
Read More: US announces $26m more in assistance for Rohingyas, host communities
He also remarked that uncertainty to commence repatriation is often being used as a domestic political tool by opposition parties in Bangladesh, projecting it as a failure of the present government.
The State Minister urged all to check the ground reality prevailing in Bangladesh and talk to the government before relying on those “concocted stories”.
Co-sponsored by the UNHCR and IOM, the JRP for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis was attended by ambassadors/permanent representatives of member states of the UN, representatives of NGO, INGOs, media, academician, and officials of UN bodies.
Appreciating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s generosity in allowing Rohingyas to take shelter in Bangladesh and various efforts of Bangladesh including education for forcibly displaced Rohingyas, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Director General of the International Organization for Migration also called upon the international community to provide increased humanitarian assistance for the Rohingyas in their dire need.
Read More: Rohingya crisis not forgotten: EU high representative
They also acknowledged that repatriation is key to resolving the Rohingya crisis and Myanmar has to demonstrate political will to that end.
The EU, US, Norway, Switzerland, Australia and some other donor countries announced their respective contributions for the Rohingyas for 2023 in the JRP event.
The State Minister also met with High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at the UN Office in Geneva and briefed him of the efforts made by the government under the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina to promote and protect human rights of all. He reiterated the government’s commitment to consistent engagement with the UN human rights mechanisms.
The State Minister briefed the High Commissioner about Rohingya camp situations in Cox’s Bazar and the newly built Bhasan Char shelter.
Read More: BURMA Act: Military support to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar 'may undermine' Bangladesh’s security
He emphasized burden sharing by the international community and its stronger commitment to their right to return and to ensuring justice and accountability for them.
High Commissioner Volker Turk applauded Bangladesh’s outstanding advancements in socio-economic arena, and its engagement with UN mechanisms. He praised Bangladesh’s humanitarian leadership in sheltering Rohingyas and efforts to advance world peace.
Quad voices deep concern at "deteriorating situation" in Myanmar
Quad countries have strongly emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, stability, and prosperity and expressed their deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Myanmar.
"In this regard, we emphasize the need for complete cessation of violence, the release of all those arbitrarily detained, resolution of issues through dialogue, unhindered humanitarian access, and transition to an inclusive, federal democratic system in Myanmar," account to a joint statement released by the Secretary of State of the United States and the Foreign Ministers of the governments of Australia, India, and Japan on the occasion of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting held in New Delhi.
Towards this, they reaffirm their consistent support to the ASEAN-led efforts, including the work of the ASEAN Chair and Office of the Special Envoy, and called for the full implementation of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus.
"We also encourage the international community to work together in a pragmatic and constructive way towards resolving the crisis in Myanmar," the joint statement issued by the US Department of State on Friday night after the Quad Ministerial Meeting.
The Foreign Ministers of Australia, India and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United States of America met in New Delhi, India on March 3 for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
They will work closely to align and complement the Quad’s agenda with Japan’s Presidency of the G7, India’s Presidency of the G20, and the United States’ APEC host year in 2023, according to the joint statement.
"We will continue to meet regularly to deliver concrete benefits and serve as a force for good, deepening practical and positive cooperation for the benefit of the Indo-Pacific region," it reads.
The meeting reaffirmed the Quad’s "steadfast commitment" to supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive and resilient.
Read more: Quad FMs, wary of China’s might, push Indo-Pacific option
"We strongly support the principles of freedom, rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes without resorting to threat or use of force and freedom of navigation and overflight, and oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo, all of which are essential to the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," they said.
They underscored the importance of achieving SDGs in a "comprehensive manner" without prioritizing a narrow set of such goals, and reaffirmed that the UN has a central role in supporting countries in its implementation.
They recognized that peace and security in the maritime domain underpins the development and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific, and reiterated the importance of respect for sovereignty, consistent with international law.
The Quad members are determined to "deepen engagement" with regional partners, including through information-sharing, capacity-building and technical assistance, to strengthen maritime domain awareness; to counter illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; to enhance their capability to protect and develop offshore resources, consistent with UNCLOS; to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight; and to promote the safety and security of sea lines of communication.
They wwelcome the announcement of the first class of Quad Fellows, who will begin their academic pursuits in the United States in August 2023.
The next Quad Leaders’ Summit being hosted by Australia will be held this year.
BURMA Act: Military support to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar 'may undermine' Bangladesh’s security
Brig Gen (Retd) M. Sakhawat Hussain today (February 22, 2023) said that using a liberal interpretation of the non-lethal assistance clause may allow the United States to provide military support to the various ethnic armed organizations (EAO) in Myanmar which “may undermine” Bangladesh’s security as these groups have some ties to the same separatist factions operating in the country.
He made the remarks while addressing at a colloquium on Impacts of “BURMA Act” on Bangladesh-Myanmar bordering region.
Minister of Health and Education, National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar Professor Zaw Wai Soe today expressed gratitude for the passing of the BURMA Act and for US support.
He, however, reiterated that it does not rely on any one single superpower, rather believes in a multilateral response to be the ideal way to address the current conflict.
Also Read: US to refrain from anything that might contribute to further violence in Myanmar: FS
NUG officially recognizes the Rohingya as an ethnic group of Myanmar and is in favour of peaceful and full repatriation of Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
It has been two years since the military coup in Myanmar, and there is no peace in sight.
Late last December, the United States passed the BURMA Act, a comprehensive law designed to simultaneously sanction Myanmar’s military junta while providing support to the country’s numerous democratic forces.
In view of these changes, the Center for Peace Studies (CPS) of the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) at North South University hosted the colloquium.
Read More: Japan, UNFPA join hands to provide $3.7 million assistance to Rihingyas in Bhasan Char, host communities in Noakhali
Moderated by Dr Sk. Tawfique M. Haque, Director of SIPG, the seminar was addressed by SIPG Senior Fellow and former Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Dr M. Sakhawat Hussain; Sufiur Rahman, Bangladesh’s ambassador to Switzerland and the permanent representative to the UN; former Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque; and Dr Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau, Assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Sociology of NSU.
Mohammad Sufiur Rahman highlighted the emergence of the Arakan Army as a key player in the conflict and emphasized how reaching a resolution on the Rohingya issue between Bangladesh and Myanmar cannot be achieved without taking the Arakan Army’s interests into account.
Shahidul Haque discussed ASEAN’s role in the conflict and pointed to its repeated shortcomings in addressing the conflict in Myanmar, drawing particular attention to its negligence in understanding the plight of the numerous ethnic minorities in the country.
Dr Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau, underscored the geopolitical and strategic importance of the Rakhine State to regional powers such as India and China, both for its vast reserves of hydrocarbons as well as its location as a key area for connectivity projects that links India to its northeast region and reinforces China’s Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) respectively.
Read More: Reduction in WFP assistance could drive up crimes, radicalization in Rohingya camps: ARSPH
The event was also attended by experts and practitioners of geopolitics, representatives from international agencies, government officials, researchers, journalists, faculty members and students of NSU.
‘I just want my legs back’: Myanmar landmine casualties soar
The 3-year-old boy had taken only two steps from his mother’s lap when a deafening explosion rang out. The blast caught the woman in the face, blurring her vision. She forced her eyes open and searched for her son around the busy jetty where they’d been waiting for a ferry, near their small village in south-central Myanmar.
Through the smoke, she spotted him. His small body lay on the ground, his feet and legs mangled with flesh peeled away, shattered bones exposed.
“He was crying and telling me that it hurt so much,” she said. “He didn’t know what just happened.”
But she did.
___
The woman’s son had detonated a landmine, an explosive device designed to mutilate or destroy whatever comes into its path.
Landmines have been banned for decades by most countries, since the United Nations Mine Ban Treaty was adopted in 1997. But in Myanmar, which is not party to the treaty, the use of mines has soared since the military seized power from the democratically elected government in February 2021 and armed resistance has skyrocketed.
Also Read: US sanctions Myanmar officials, military-affiliated 'cronies' ahead of coup anniversary
Landmines are planted by all sides of the bloody conflict in Myanmar, and they’re responsible for surging civilian casualties, including an alarming number of children as victims, according to an AP analysis based on data and reports from nonprofit and humanitarian organizations, interviews with civilian victims, families, local aid workers, military defectors and monitoring groups.
In 2022, figures from the U.N. show, civilian casualties from landmine and unexploded ordnance spiked by nearly 40%. Experts say this and other official tallies are vastly undercounted, largely due to difficulties monitoring and reporting during the conflict.
Despite incomplete numbers, experts agree that the increase in Myanmar is the largest ever recorded.
Virtually no area is immune to the threat. Over the past two years, mine contamination has spread to every state and region except for the capital city, Naypyitaw, according to Landmine Monitor, a group that tracks global landmine use.
The military also uses civilians as human shields, a practice widespread in the country for decades but raising alarms with increasing mine incidents. AP’s analysis found the military, known as the Tatmadaw, forced people to walk ahead of troops to detonate potential landmines in their path, protecting their own troops.
According to local and international human rights groups, the Tatmadaw has mined homes, villages, walking paths, church compounds, farms, cellphone towers and a Chinese-backed oil and gas pipeline and copper mine.
The Myanmar military, which has acknowledged mine use in the past, did not respond to a list of questions AP sent to their official spokesperson’s email.
Even when the fighting moves on, the landmines don’t. The mines left behind can indiscriminately maim or kill those who happen upon them for years after hostilities have ended.
It raises the specter of casualties for years to come. In countries including Egypt and Cambodia, people continue to die from millions of mines left behind long after conflicts has ended.
___
“Leaving an activated mine like this is the same as releasing a monster,” said a 26-year-old military defector who worked as a combat engineer platoon commander in Myanmar. “Mines don’t have friends or enemies. Even a gun only shoots in the direction it’s pointed.”
Like most who were interviewed by AP, the defector spoke on condition of anonymity to protect himself and his family from military retaliation. Many in Myanmar who speak with reporters can face detainment or violence.
Landmines and unexploded ordnance have been a persistent issue in Myanmar for more than four decades. The problem has grown exponentially since the military takeover, with heavier use of landmines in more parts of the country, said Kim Warren, a U.N. landmine specialist who’s monitored issues in Myanmar.
In 2022, 390 people were victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Myanmar, more than a 37% increase from 2021, according to figures compiled by UNICEF. Overall, 102 people were killed and 288 were wounded, with children making up some 34% of the victims, compared with 26% in 2021.
Still, Warren said, incidents are underreported. She cited the lack of a robust information management system, the sensitivities around reporting conflict-related data, and difficulties getting care for victims.
Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, Landmine Monitor’s Myanmar expert, said his group counts only casualties it can confirm with confidence.
“We’ve always been undercounting,” he said. “How many more? Double? Almost certainly. Triple? Could be.”
Experts concede the total number of casualties may seem small, with Myanmar’s population of about 56 million, but say the rapid increase is distressing nonetheless, given the underreported cases, the destructive nature of mines and their use amid the decades-long conflict.
Experts are particularly concerned about children victims, like the boy who triggered the mine at the jetty. Many are unaware of how lethal landmines and unexploded munitions are; some pick them up and play with them.
Most children are no longer in school amid the conflict, leading to more unsupervised time. Violence has also forced more than 1.2 million people from their homes, according to the U.N., so children and others frequently move around in unfamiliar areas.
Many civilian victims encounter landmines during daily routines — just going about their days until life changes forever.
___
In March 2021, two teenage cousins were working on a small family-run plot in Shan state. They had just left to dig for sweet potatoes when the father of one of the boys heard a blast from his home. He rushed to help, but he was too late. They’d been killed instantly. They’d triggered a mine.
The father, 47, tears up when he returns to the fields, where he found tattered clothes and mangled bodies.
“But it’s my family’s business, so I have to come to the farm to make a living,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect himself and his relatives.
On the other side of the country, in western Chin state, a 20-year-old farmer was returning home from weeding a rice paddy field on a sunny May day when he triggered a mine buried on a path he’d walked many times before.
“The explosion engulfed me, and my entire surroundings were clouded in smoke. I thought I was dying,” he told AP on condition of anonymity, out of fear for his safety. “I could see bones. The right leg was completely destroyed up to the ankle. My whole body was hot as if it was on fire and my skin was black.”
During his 18-day stay in the hospital, his right leg was amputated about four inches below the knee.
Many victims and families won’t know who was responsible for the blasts — the Tatmadaw or anti-military groups — as all sides of the conflict use mines.
A member of a militia that operates in Sagaing said his group has removed nearly 100 mines thought to be planted by the military and plans to reuse them to augment its arsenal of homemade devices.
“A mine is an indispensable weapon to attack the enemy,” said the member, who spoke by phone on condition of anonymity over the sensitive information and fear the military would retaliate against his family.
It’s a common practice: Militias and armed groups announcing they’ve demined areas where they operate, only to reuse the weapons.
“They just move the mines to a new location,” Moser-Puangsuwan said. “And that is not what we call demining.”
The militia member said villagers are warned of mine locations and civilians are rarely harmed. But Moser-Puangsuwan and other experts said it’s just not possible to prevent civilian casualties.
“They’re using an indiscriminate weapon,” Moser-Puangsuwan said. “Once it’s out there, it will kill or injure the next person who comes across it, whether they’re the enemy, whether they’re one of the soldiers on your side, or whether they are civilians.”
One man in Myanmar’s western Chin state described how soldiers took him, his pregnant wife and their 5-year-old daughter captive, making them and 10 other civilians to walk ahead, beating them with rifles if they refused.
The civilians moved slowly ahead through the suspected minefield, expecting with each step to trigger a blast, while a firefight between an anti-government militia and the soldiers broke out, he said.
“I thought: ‘Today is the day I die,’” said the man, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. They later escaped, with no mines detonated during their march.
Landmine Monitor documented similar incidents in other states, calling it a “grave violation of international humanitarian and human rights law” in its most recent report.
Myanmar and Russia were the only states with documented new use of mines in 2022, according to Landmine Monitor, though Human Rights Watch in January alleged Ukraine also used antipersonnel mines when Russian forces occupied the city of Izium. Non-state armed groups have also been confirmed to be using them in at least five countries in 2022, including anti-government forces in Myanmar.
Myanmar and Russia are among countries that aren’t signatories to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, along with China, North and South Korea, and the United States.
Landmine Monitor also confirmed the military has been increasingly mining infrastructure such as mobile phone towers and power lines to deter attacks. Military-planted mines also are protecting at least two major Chinese-backed projects — a copper mine in Sagaing and a pipeline pumping station in northeastern Shan state that is part of China’s Belt and Road initiative, Moser-Puangsuwan said.
“We are not aware of the situation you mentioned,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in a fax to AP. “The cooperation project between China and Myanmar is in line with the common interests of both sides and has brought tangible benefits to the people of Myanmar.”
It made no reference to any of those who had been maimed.
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For those who survive a blast, health care is difficult to access. Many areas are remote, with limited road infrastructure or access to medical facilities. Staffing is low; health workers are often forced to go into hiding or leave Myanmar over participation in anti-military protests. Few victims can afford prosthetics and rehabilitation.
At the jetty, the explosion that maimed the 3-year-old boy set off a frantic search for help, with his mother traveling dozens of kilometers across rural countryside by motorbike and boat.
A small clinic on the other side of the river gave basic first aid and morphine for pain. A larger rural clinic bandaged wounds and provided a blood transfusion. It wasn’t until the pair got to the main hospital in the regional capital that doctors were able to amputate both of the boy’s legs — the right below the knee and the left just below his hip.
The hospital bill was more than six times the family’s monthly income of 400,000 Myanmar Kyat ($190).
For months, the boy used a wheelchair. He would stare out the window of their small wooden home, watching friends play. “I just want my legs back,” he’d say.
In November, he was admitted to an orthopedic rehabilitation center. The Red Cross paid for quality prosthetic limbs and taught him to use them.
Now 4, the boy is back home and can move around on his own, allowing his mother to go back to work in the bean fields.
He speaks frequently about the blast, but his mother isn’t sure he’ll ever process what happened. And the family will never be the same.
“Maybe he still doesn’t understand,” she said. “He is still young.”
US to refrain from anything that might contribute to further violence in Myanmar: FS
The United States has assured Bangladesh that the implementation of the Burma Act will not contribute to any violence which is “not desired at all” in the region.
The US side mentioned about the Burma Act during Counselor of the US Department of State Derek Chollet’s just-concluded visit though there has been no specific proposal from the US side to Bangladesh.
“We said there are issues to look into so that there is no further instability. They (US side) assured us that their efforts will be there to (help Myanmar) return to democratic process,” said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen while responding to a specific question.
Briefing reporters at the Foreign Service Academy on Wednesday evening, he said there was no proposal from the US side regarding the Burma Act.
Counselor Chollet has emphasized continued US support to Bangladesh in addressing Rohingya issues.
Overall, the Burma Act requires little change in US policy in Myanmar. However, it does give the Biden administration the discretionary authority to make major changes, if it wishes to do so.
Read more: Dhaka, Delhi to hold foreign secretary-level talks in Dhaka Wednesday
In addition, the Burma Act should also be viewed as an indication that Congress thinks that the Biden administration should take a more active role in supporting the pro-democracy forces in Myanmar in their efforts to overthrow the SAC and establish a democratic government in the country, according to Michael F. Martin, an adjunct fellow (non-resident) with the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
On the Rohingya issue, Counselor Chollet said they are continuously working and trying to help Bangladesh, which is hosting over 1 million Rohingyas, and also trying to deal with the root cause of the crisis in Myanmar.