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Military Confrontation or Political Dialogue: Consequences of the Kokang Crisis for Peace and Democracy in Myanmar
The renewed violence in the Kokang region of the northern Shan state in February 2015 has had serious repercussions for efforts to solve ethnic conflict in Burma/Myanmar and end the decades-old civil war. The fighting started when troops led by the veteran Kokang leader Pheung Kya-shin (Peng Jiasheng) resurfaced in the Kokang region and attacked government and army positions after an interval of nearly six years […]
• • •Human Rights are Called Universal for a Reason – In English and Burmese
For many years in Burma, a person carrying a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights risked arrest and even jail. Underground human rights networks distributed copies and organised discussions on the articles it contained […]
• • •KWO Six Months Summary of Human Rights Violations in Karen State: January to June 2015
The Karen Women’s Organization (“KWO”) collected information regarding continuing serious human rights abuses perpetrated by the Burma Army in all seven districts in Karen State from January to June 2015. Our data demonstrates that the Burma Army has taken advantage of the preliminary ceasefire to continue to commit serious human rights abuses, perpetrate direct attacks on civilians and expand its presence in Karen State […]
• • •Kachin State Natural Resources Development Discussion Paper
This policy discussion paper is based on our experiences and findings of our community research over the last ten years, documenting the impacts of centralized mega development projects on peoples across Kachin state. We did this research together with local communities, including in Hukawng, Hpakant, Putao, Chibwe, Tangphre as well as others. This paper also draws on experiences and solutions from other countries where there has been conflict over natural resources. We hope this paper will contribute to the debate over political solutions to allow the future generations of Kachin state to benefit from its natural resources […]
‘With Only Our Voices, What Can We Do?’: Land Confiscation and Local Response in Southeast Myanmar
ORCHID HOTEL, YANGON – Three years after the 2012 preliminary ceasefire negotiations between the Myanmar government and the Karen National Union (KNU), reported instances of land confiscation continue to increase in southeast Myanmar. In the 2015 report, ‘With only our voices, what can we do?’, KHRG highlights four main land use types which lead to land confiscation, including infrastructure projects, natural resource extraction, commercial agriculture projects, and military activities. Based on testimony from local villagers, the Myanmar government; domestic corporate actors; and Tatmadaw and Karen ethnic armed groups (EAGs) are all identified as being complicit in the confiscation of land from local communities in southeast Myanmar. However, local villagers report using a variety of strategies to prevent and mitigate the impacts of land confiscation, such as reaching out to civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media, negotiating with actors involved in projects, and lobbying both the Myanmar government and Karen EAGs […]
Stateless At Sea: The Moken of Burma and Thailand
The 25-page report, “Stateless at Sea: The Moken of Burma and Thailand,” describes in words and photographs serious violations of the rights of the Moken by state authorities – particularly the Burmese navy – including extortion, bribery, arbitrary arrest, and confiscation of property. Human Rights Watch also examines tightening immigration and maritime conservation laws that threaten their freedom of movement and traditional lifestyle. Most Moken are stateless, making them extremely vulnerable to human rights abuse and depriving them of access to medical care, education, and employment opportunities.
Burma 2014 Human Rights Report
Burma’s parliamentary government is headed by President Thein Sein. In 2012 the country held largely transparent and inclusive by-elections in which the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, chaired by Aung San Suu Kyi, won 43 of 45 contested seats of a total 664 seats in the legislature. Constitutional provisions grant one-quarter of all national and one-third of all regional and state parliamentary seats to active-duty military appointees and provide that the military indefinitely assume power over all branches of the government should the president declare a national state of emergency. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) continued to hold an overwhelming majority of the seats in the national parliament and state and regional assemblies, and active-duty military officers continued to wield authority at many levels of government. There is no civilian control of the military; police forces also report to the military through the minister of home affairs […]
• • •The Intersection of HADR and the Rohingya Refugee Crisis
Now that Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to provide temporary refuge for Rohingya refugees, the recent humanitarian crisis is moving toward a longer term relief and resettlement operation. But the sequence of events leading up to the short-term relief operation demonstrated serious limitations in how regional actors respond to politically sensitive humanitarian challenges. The actions and words of Burma and the other ASEAN countries, as well as those of the United States, are important indicators of the current state of multilateral organizations, international law, and the support of human dignity. Most notably, the Rohingya refugee crisis should be used to shift the debate on the future of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercises between the United States and its allies […]
• • •At Your Own Risk: Reprisals against Critics of World Bank Financed Projects
Beginning in February 2015, 40-50 residents of Durgapur village in northern India, mostly women, sat in protest for more than a month. A state-owned company called the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Ltd. (THDC) was developing a hydroelectric power project near their community and some villagers believed that tunneling for the project endangered their homes and the overall well-being of their community […]
Major Conflict Ongoing in Northern Burma – Reported Military Actions by the Burma Army in Kachin and Northern Shan States April/May 2015
Despite talks of a ceasefire, heavy and escalating fighting has been occurring throughout Northern Burma in the last two months. This report is a summary of this fighting; a more detailed daily analysis of events is available on request. Because this report uses only FBR reports and not those of other sources, it does not represent a totality of events; actual totals may be much higher […]
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