Thematic Briefing: Armed conflict in Paletwa, southern Chin State

By Chin Human Rights Organization • June 15, 2015

Summary

Since March, CHRO has documented serious human rights abuses by both the Burma Army and the Arakan Army, and violations of international humanitarian law. Armed conflict between the two sides in Paletwa, southern Chin State, forced a whole community of Khumi Chin indigenous people to flee, resulting in more than 350 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

In early March, CHRO documented two cases of child soldier recruitment and one of forced recruitment in the Paletwa area of southern Chin State by a Warrant Officer from Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion 20, based in Sittwe, Arakan State. Local people also reported an increase in troop movement in the Paletwa area.

On 28 March, fighting broke out between non‐ceasefire ethnic armed group the Arakan Army and the Burma Army in Pyin So village, near the border with Bangladesh in Paletwa township in southern Chin State, destroying homes and forcing all the villagers to flee. 16 indigenous Khumi Chin men from Pyin So village were detained by the Arakan Army on two separate occasions. 6 of them were ill‐treated in detention, and 10 of them forced to porter for the Arakan Army, up to the border with Bangladesh. A Burma Army Captain was killed in the firefight, and Arakan Army soldiers also ordered Pyin So villagers to bury his dead body. One man has disappeared from Pyin So village, and is believed to have been abducted by the Arakan Army for portering or guiding, or may have been killed by the Arakan Army. Both the Burma Army and the Arakan Army have reportedly laid landmines around the village.

More than 350 IDPs are taking refuge in Laung Tin village, Paletwa township, and urgently need humanitarian assistance. They do not have enough food supplies to last for the rest of the month, with monsoon season fast approaching. The local Burma Army Commander, Paletwa Township Administrator, and Chin State Minister for Forestry and Mining have subjected the IDPs to pressure to return back to Pyin So, even though it is not safe for them to do so. These actions breach international standards on the treatment of displaced persons, including those provided by the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

Read the full briefing paper here

Read the full briefing paper in Burmese here

စာတမ္းျမန္မာဘာသာကို ဤေနရာတြင္ ေဒါင္းလုပ္ရယူႏိုင္ပါသည္။