Myanmar_Burma

Mine Action

Last updated: 18 November 2019

20-Year Summary

Treaty ratification status

Management and coordination

Mine Action management and coordination
Victim assistance planning and coordination

Impact and contamination

Contamination
Casualties

Casualties in 2018—details

Addressing the impact

Mine Action

Operators and service providers / implementers
Mine Action Program

Management
Strategic planning
Legislation and standards
Operators

Land release

Survey
Clearance
Deminer safety

Mine/ERW risk education

Victim Assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities
Laws and policies
Major Developments

Medical care and rehabilitation
Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

20-Year Summary

The Union of the Republic of Myanmar is heavily mine-affected as a result of conflicts between the Tatmadaw (government forces) and numerous non-state armed groups (NSAGs) affiliated with ethnic minorities. Armed conflict has occurred since the country’s independence in 1948. Mined areas are located in areas of Myanmar adjacent to its borders with Bangladesh, China, India, and Thailand. New mines continue to be laid by the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed groups. The extent of contamination in Myanmar is unknown, but includes improvised mines and mines produced in state-owned factories. Contamination impedes the return of refugees and internally displaced people. A trend of increasing landmine casualty numbers in recent years is reported by national stakeholders.

A Mine Action Center was created under the previous administration but was dissolved with the change of government in 2016. As of September 2019, the government has not announced a clear strategy on mine action or established a coordination structure. The Tatmadaw has undertaken some mine clearance, but operations are not systematic or recorded. Humanitarian Mine Action operators began arriving in Myanmar in 2012, but as yet are not permitted to clear mines.

In October 2019, Myanmar announced it was finalizing National Mine Action Standards for systematic mine clearance. Myanmar is also working with other countries in the region through the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM)-Plus Expert’s Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action under the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center.

For a decade, from 1999 through 2009, assistance to mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors and persons with disabilities in Myanmar was marginal due to many years of neglect of healthcare services by the ruling authority. Myanmar authorities did have a national victim assistance program or strategy. Awareness of the need for victim assistance in Myanmar increased significantly since around 2012, initially as a result of activities by NGOs. In 2013, under an agreement with the government of Myanmar the ICRC started to support government-run rehabilitation centers, which had been operating without external support since 2007.

Since 2014, the number of victim assistance service providers has increased significantly, now with over a dozen organizations, including government departments, the UN, international and local NGOs, and community-based organizations involved in efforts. Specific victim assistance centers were developed and prosthetic services built and improved, including through enhanced mobile services. Localized availability of community-based rehabilitation and vocational training also increased. Coordination improved with the introduction of the National Victim Assistance Technical Group as a sub-working group under the Mine Risk Working Group (MRWG). However, overall, essential services remain scarce, particularly for many people in remote rural areas.

Treaty Ratification Status

Mine Ban Treaty

  • State not party

Other conventions

  • Not party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)
  • Not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
  • State Party to the Convention on the Rights of Persosn with Disabilities

 

Management and Coordination

Mine Action management and coordination

Mine action coordination

National mine action management actors

  • The Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) state that they are responsible for mine clearance within the country.
  • The Mine Risk Working Group (MRWG), comprised of ministries, international and national organizations, and four state-level coordination agencies, takes the lead on risk education and victim assistance.

UN Agencies

UNICEF
UNHCR

Mine action legislation

None

Mine action strategic and operational plans

No current strategy on mine action

Mine action standards

In process of finalizing the Myanmar National Mine Action Standard for clearance in October 2019.

International operators currently follow International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).

 

Survivor assistance planning and coordination

Victim assistance coordination

Government focal point

Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement, Department of Social Welfare and Persons with Disabilities

Coordination mechanisms

The Department of Rehabilitation in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement and UNICEF continued to co-chair the MRWG, which is responsible for victim assistance and other mine action pillars.

The National Victim Assistance Technical Group, coordinated by Humanity & Inclusion (HI), gathers national and international victim assistance actors under the umbrella of the MRWG.

Victim assistance plan

None

The development of the national strategic plan for the rights of persons with disabilities is being developed under the leadership of a working committee with the support of eight subcommittees, headed by the key social departments and with the participation of representatives from government, Organizations of People with Disabilities (DPOs), and other NGOs. In April 2019, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement held a planning meeting and drafted a national strategy in accordance with Myanmar’s obligations under the CRPD.[1]

Disability sector integration

A representative of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement reported that Myanmar was taking an integrated approach towards victim assistance, based on the CRPD, in its national disability law and national social protection strategy.[2]

Survivor inclusion and participation

No direct representation of mine/ERW victims, but survivors belong to broader DPOs that participate in various coordination roles.

Although landmines and armed violence increase the numbers of people with disabilities, they tend not to be among those people consulted by policy- and decision-makers.[3]

 

Impact and Contamination

Contamination

Extent of contamination

Landmines

Unknown. (Includes improvised mines.)

New mine contamination in 2018 & 2019.

Other ERW contamination

Extent unknown.

 

Some 84 townships (out of a total of 325) in 10 states and regions, are believed to suffer from some degree of mine contamination; primarily antipersonnel mines.[4] During the past year, contamination has increased in Rakhine state and in the north of the country. Shan state and Kachin state are considered to be heavily contaminated. Previously, Karen (Kayin) state and Pegu (Bago) division in the south of the country were among those with the heaviest mine contamination and the highest number of recorded victims.[5]

A UN Fact-Finding Mission reported in September 2018 that “despite the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in October 2015, which committed all parties to end the use of landmines and cooperate on mine-clearance operations, new landmines continue to be laid.”[6] It cited credible reports that the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed groups had laid landmines and reported, “Tatmadaw soldiers lay landmines in villages they have attacked or after civilians have fled, or on roads frequently used by civilians.”[7] New contamination occurred in 2018 and 2019 in central Rakhine state, in several townships previously unknown to suffer any contamination by landmines. Other accounts of new contamination due to continuing use by Myanmar military forces and NSAGs in Myanmar were reported throughout 2018 and the first half of 2019. (See Myanmar’s Mine Ban profile for further details.)

No formal estimate exists of the extent of landmine contamination in Myanmar but credible reports of mine contamination, casualties, or suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) have been reported in the following states and townships:

  • Kayah state: all seven townships;
  • Kayin state: all seven townships;
  • Kachin state: Bhamo, Chipwi, Hpakant, Injangyang, Mansi, Mogaung, Mohnyin, Momauk, Myitkyina, Shwegu, Sumprabum, Tanai, Tsawlaw, and Waingmaw;
  • Mon state: Bilin, Kyaikto, Mawlamyine, Thanbyuzayat, Thaton, and Ye;
  • Bago region: Kyaukkyi, Shwekyin, Tantabin, and Taungoo;
  • Rakhine state: Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung;
  • Shan state: Hopong, Hsenwi, Hsihseng, Hsipaw, Konkyan, Kutkai, Kyethi, Kyaukme, Langkho, Lashio, Laukkaing, Lawksawk, Loilen, Manton, Mawkmai, Mongmit, Mongshu, Mongpan, Mongton, Monghpyak, Mongyai, Muse, Namhsan Tachileik, Namtu, Nanhkan, Nawnghkio, Pangsang, Tangyan, and Ywangan;
  • Tanintharyi region: Bokpyin, Dawei, Myiek, Tanintharyi, Thayetchaung, and Yebyu;
  • Chin state: Paletwa;
  • Sagaing region: Indaw.

Some contamination is by mines produced in state-owned factories. KaPaSa (Defense Products Industries of Myanmar) produce at least five types of antipersonnel landmines, including domestic versions of PMN and POMZ and M-14 type mines. (See section on Production in the Ban Policy profile for more details.)

Landmine contamination in Myanmar is frequently cited as a barrier to the return of refugees and internally displaced people. In Kachin State, internally displaced people identified landmines as one of the three top obstacles to return to their areas of origin according to the May 2018 Durable Peace Programme Consortium report.[8] In early 2019, the government of Myanmar produced a draft national strategy outlining its intention to close all internally displaced people camps within the country; yet its strategy document makes no mention of the need to clear mines.[9] However, in January 2019, the military removed landmines from Nam San Yang a village in Kachin state to allow the return of people displaced by previous armed conflict.[10]

Myanmar is also affected by ERW, including mortars, grenades, artillery, and air-dropped bombs. Periodic reports appear of discovered ordnance dating to World War II.[11] New ERW contamination has been reported related to armed conflict in late 2018 and early 2019 in Kachin state.[12]

Casualties

Casualties

All known casualties by end 2018

The total number of casualties in Myanmar is unknown. The Monitor has recorded 4,623 mine/ERW casualties (616 killed; 3,889 injured; 118 unknown) through the end of 2018.

Casualties in 2018[13]

Annual total

430

Increase from
202 in 2017

Survival outcome

Killed 79; injured 351

Device type causing casualties

141 antipersonnel mines/improvised antipersonnel mine (victim-activated improvised explosive devices, IEDs); 1 antivehicle mine; 72 ERW; 216 undifferentiated mines/ERW

Age and gender

At least 331 male; including 47 boys

At least 85 female: including 6 girls

 

Casualties in 2018—details

In 2018, there were at least 430 mine/ERW casualties in Myanmar based on information provided by NGOs, UN agencies, the ICRC and other organizations, as well as by state and independent media reports.

Various media reporting indicated a trend of increasing casualty numbers in recent years. In August 2019, the Department of Rehabilitation in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement stated that the number of landmine casualties in Myanmar is increasing yearly: “According to the records of the [ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center, or ARMAC] member countries, social media, and concerned organizations in rural areas, the number of mine casualties has increased yearly. Also, we’ve seen that the rate of disability is increasing.”[14] On 4 April 2019, Myanmar media stated that although many incidents still go unreported, the MRWG recorded mine/ERW casualties increased from 176 in 2017 to 276 in 2018.[15] Differences in the total casualty count between annual figures are attributable to the fact that the MRWG seeks to have a general figure available in the best possible time to inform its activities. The Landmine Monitor compiles its data over a longer time frame and can be considered an amended/updated figure when released nearer the end of the following year. Neither tally can be considered comprehensive, but each provide the best-known information primarily drawn from public sources in light of the lack of any official data.

Although the presence of a number of mine action actors and coverage of victim assistance programs increased, no national systematic collection of casualty data occurred. Due to the lack of an official data collection mechanism, the absence of any basic reporting format or means of sharing data, and the varying sources of annual data available to the Monitor, reporting is believed not to reflect the full extent of mine/ERW incidents and casualties in the country.

A study in 2018 found that many internally displaced person with disabilities in NSAG-controlled areas appeared have impairments due to landmines and conflict-related violence. However, in government-controlled area, “most” of the persons with disabilities reported that their disabilities were congenital or due to accidents. The study proposed that this may be due to “perceptions that stepping on a landmine can incur charges for ‘destruction of government property’, adding further problems for [persons with disabilities]. This acts as an incentive for landmine victims to blame traffic or other accidents for their disabilities, potentially distorting numbers.”[16]

The number of military and other combatant casualties remains unknown, but is believed to be substantial. A Ministry of Defense official stated to the Monitor that landmines were the chief cause of death and injury for the Tatmadaw over any other cause, however he said that if he revealed the figure “it would give a psychological weapon to our enemies.”[17] Past reporting by the Monitor has indicated that there are a significant number of military casualties, but such military records remain unavailable to the public.[18]

The total number of casualties in Myanmar is unknown. The Monitor has recorded annual casualty figures of 4,623 (616 killed; 3,889 injured; 118 unknown) between 2000 and the end of 2018.

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Mine Action

Landmine clearance

The Tatmadaw is conducting some mine clearance but operations currently use unknown standards.

Progress

Landmines

Myanmar is part of the ADMM-Plus Expert’s Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action under the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center.

No mine clearance is permitted by NGOs. Limited non-technical survey has been permitted since 2016.

 

Operators and service providers/implementers

Operators and service providers

Current operators

Clearance:

  • Tatmadaw engineers

Non-technical survey:

  • Danish Demining Group (DDG)
  • Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
  • The HALO Trust

Risk education[19]

National:

  • The Committee of Internally Displaced Karen People and the Karen Teachers Working Group
  • Karen Development Network
  • The Karenni Social Welfare and Development Center
  • Local Development Network
  • Ta’ang Students and Youth Union
  • Nyein (Shalom) Foundation
  • Wunpawng Ninghtoi
  • Myanmar Heart Development Organization

Non-State Armed Groups

  • Democratic Karen Benevolent Army

International NGOs:

  • DanChurchAid (DCA)-Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)
  • Danish Refugee Council (DRC)-Danish Demining Group (DDG)
  • HALO Trust
  • Humanity & Inclusion (HI, formerly Handicap International)
  • Johanniter International Assistance (JOIN)
  • Mines Advisory Group (MAG)

Red Cross:

  • International Committee of the Red Cross
  • Myanmar Red Cross Society

 

Mine action program

Management

Myanmar’s previous administration created a Mine Action Center under the former Myanmar Peace Center in 2013, but it was never fully staffed and the government said concluding a National Ceasefire Agreement with non-state actors was a precondition for proceeding to survey and clearance.[20] Mine Action Standards for Myanmar were drafted, but never became operational. With the change of government in 2016, the Mine Action Center was dissolved. The new government made negotiations for a peace accord its priority, at which several participants emphasized the threat of mines and the need for mine clearance.[21] A May 2016 national youth conference also called on the army and ethnic armed groups to remove landmines.[22] Several civil society groups also called for mine clearance in recent years (see Myanmar’s Mine Ban Policy profile).

The Department of Social Work (DSW) leads the MRWG, co-chaired with UNICEF, which is comprised of 10 ministries, 41 international and national organizations, and four state-level coordination agencies (in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, and Shan states).[23] The group meets quarterly in the capital, Naypyidaw, and focuses on risk education with a sub-working group on victim assistance.

Strategic planning

As of September 2019, the government has not announced a clear strategy on mine action or established any structure to coordinate it. Previously, in January 2018, Union Joint Monitoring Committee (JMU-C) Secretary, Colonel Wunna Aung, stated that mine clearance could not begin prior to the building of mutual trust between the government and ethnic armed groups.[24] In May 2017, Colonel Aung stated that the Tatmadaw would take the lead on landmine clearance and that international technological and material support would be accepted.[25] In August 2017, Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, held talks with New Zealand’s ambassador regarding assistance between the two countries militaries and mine clearance operations.[26]

Legislation and standards

In October 2019, Myanmar stated that it is in the process of finalizing its National Mine Action Standard for the conduct of systematic mine clearance. Myanmar is working with countries in the region through ADMM-Plus Expert’s Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action under the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center.[27]

Operators

International demining organizations started to arrive in Myanmar in 2012, but operations were not started until later.

In 2018 and early 2019, six international demining organizations had offices in Yangon and some provincial locations: DCA, DDG, HALO Trust, HI, MAG, and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA). These international NGOs conducted risk education and community liaison activities, and community mapping of hazardous areas in some locations.

Since Myanmar does not have national mine action legislation or standards, demining organizations have followed IMAS and their own standard operating procedures. Currently all mine action actors retain their own survey results in the absence of a neutral national entity to store hazardous area data, which remains sensitive in view of the continuing conflict.

Land release

Survey

The Tatmadaw has created its own warning signs and fenced some known mined areas, however it is not known how systematic such activates are.[28]

In December 2018, the Monitor and the UN Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) produced a country map of townships with SHAs and an infographic on the impact of landmine use in Myanmar.[29]

Some international mine action actors were authorized to conduct non-technical survey in some locations beginning in 2016. Non-technical survey by MAG, DDG, DCA, and Halo Trust continued in 2018 and 2019. They have so far been unable to carry out surveys across an entire state (province), which would enable them to determine a baseline level of contamination. Signage or fencing of SHAs found during non-technical survey remains a sensitive topic and subject to approval by local authorities.

Clearance

In July 2019, a representative of the Ministry of Defense stated to the Landmine Monitor that the Tatmadaw is clearing mines because it is their duty. “We do not do it for others, or for any international organization or group, therefore there is no need for us to report to anyone our mine clearance.” The minister stated that military personnel are sent to the frontlines for five to six months, after which they are sent to military schools, where among other things, they learn to clear mines. He emphasized that all military personnel have the skill to clear landmines. “We clear mines around the villages, and the villagers thank us for saving them from the mines planted by the Ethnic Armed Organizations.” In 2018, there was little conflict and the Tatmadaw could move freely due to the ceasefire and carry out more demining activities.[30] In October 2019, Myanmar stated the military together with ethnic armed organizations under the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), had engaged in humanitarian demining in Kayin state, and that since 2011 more than 36,000 landmines and ERW were cleared.[31] State media report military clearance during the armed conflict periodically.[32]

Humanitarian mine action organizations have not been permitted to conduct clearance by either the government or ethnic authorities, and this remains the case as of October 2019.

Deminer safety

Military training in landmine safety caused 11 casualties in May 2019. It was reported that an incident took place during training organized to teach police officers in Mandalay region about landmine safety, detection, and the different types of mines. A media report stated that as a part of the training, a police sergeant was supposed to step on a sample M14 plastic landmine while other trainees disarmed the landmine and save him. Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun, secretary and spokesperson of the military’s Tatmadaw True News Information Team, stated that the training was conducted by a technician from the military. He said, “We heard that the trainer mistakenly brought a real landmine with the training sample landmines and that a trainee stepped on it and it exploded. Normally, real landmines and samples are differentiated by color, however there can be mistakes. We are doing further investigations on this incident.”[33]

Mine/ERW risk education

As of August 2019, at least nine organizations implemented 13 risk education projects, in Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, and Shan states, and eastern Bago region, Mon state, and Tanintharyi region.

Mine/ERW risk education actors[34]

Location

National NGO

International NGO

Chin state

Karuna Myanmar Social Services

DCA

Eastern Bago region

Committee of Internally Displaced Karen People, Karen Teachers Working Group, Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association

DCA-CM, DCA-NCA, HI

Kachin state

Wunpawng Ninghtoi

DRC-DDG, MAG, HALO

Kayah state

Karenni Social Welfare and Development Center

DCA-CM, DCA-NCA, DRC-DDG, MAG

Kayin state

Committee of Internally Displaced Karen People, Karen Teachers Working Group, Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association

DCA-CM, DCA-NCA, HI, MAG, HALO

Mon state

Committee of Internally Displaced Karen People, Karen Teachers Working Group

DCA-CM

Northern Shan state

Ta’ang Students and Youth Union, Kachin Baptist Convention, Wunpawng Ninghtoi, Myanmar Heart Development Organization, Center for Rural Education and Development

HALO, DRC-DDG, DCA-CM, DCA-NCA, MAG

Southern Shan state

 

MAG, DCA-CM

Tanintharyi region

The Karen Teachers Working Group

MAG

 

In addition, UNICEF supported risk education in Shan, Mon, Kayin, and Kachin state and Eastern Bago region. The UNHCR supported risk education in Thanintharyi region, and Kayin, state. The Department of Education is listed as providing mine risk education in Kayin state.[35] The Myanmar Red Cross Society, together with the ICRC, is also conducting risk education.[36]

Victim Assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities

Name of organization

Type of activity

Government

Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement

Socio-economic and rehabilitation services; vocational training school for adults with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors

Ministry of Health and Sports

Prosthetic centers and two orthopedic hospitals

Ministry of Defense

Prosthetics provided through three centers

National

Peace Myanmar Aid Foundation

Mobile prosthetic delivery

Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People

Prosthetic production at the Kho Kay Prosthetic Clinic, Mutraw, Karen (Kayin) state

Karen Health and Welfare Department (KDHW)

Medical first-aid assistance and amputative surgeries

Karenni Health Workers Organization

Prosthetics in Loikaw, Kayah (Karenni) state

Karuna Mission Social Solidarity (KMSS Network)

First aid and immediate assistance

Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association (MPHA)

Disability rights advocacy, production of assistive devices; encouraging economic inclusion through employment

International

Association for Aid and Relief Japan (AAR Japan)

Vocational training; community-based rehabilitation; referral system; survivor rights/advocacy

Exceed Worldwide

Operates the prosthetic workshop at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Yangon; financially supports Myanmar School of Prosthetics & Orthotics and a prosthetic workshop in Mandalay

Leprosy Mission–Myanmar

Rehabilitation and prosthetics

DDG/DRC

Direct assistance in the form of medical and rehabilitative care and referrals for mine/ERW survivors in Kachin state

HI

Community-level data collection, mapping of services and barriers, assessment, referral, psychosocial support, socio-economic inclusion, repairs of mobility devices; coordination of assistance and advocacy on survivors/victims’ needs; capacity-building of the MPHA, supporting Victim Assistance Centers

World Education

Physical rehabilitation; economic inclusion; access to medical and vocational funds; coordination of assistance and advocacy on survivors/victims’ needs

ICRC/Myanmar Red Cross Society

Support to four rehabilitation centers: one under the MRCS in Hpa-An and three centers under the Ministry of Health and Sports in Mandalay, Myitkyina and Kyaing Tong; prosthetic outreach for remote areas

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Discretionary funds for financial assistance to cover medical costs of war victims/landmine survivors and rehabilitation, including transport; economic inclusion through livelihood program

 

Laws and policies

In July 2018, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Rescue and Resettlement released the publication of the long-awaited rules regulations for the Disability Rights Law that was enacted in June 2015.[37]

In 2017 and again in 2019, the Myanmar government announced to the media that it would be disbursing a monthly allowance to persons with disabilities in nine townships in four states as a pilot program with a view to eventual nationwide coverage.[38] In 2014, Myanmar launched a National Social Protection Strategic Plan through the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement to provide an allowance to all persons certified with a disability.[39]

Military veterans with disabilities received benefits on a priority basis, usually a civil service job at equivalent pay. Official assistance to non-military persons with disabilities in principle included two-thirds of pay for up to one year for a temporary disability and a tax-free stipend for permanent disability. The amount of the additional medical pension for veterans with permanent disabilities is determined by an injury severity scale of the Ministry of Defense. There are believed to be dozens of army-built community settlements where disabled veterans and their families receive free housing. However, ordinary soldiers with disabilities often located in remote areas lacked job opportunities and ways of finding extra income.[40]

Major developments

Medical care and rehabilitation

Traumatic injuries are the main cause of illness and the third-highest cause of death in Myanmar. There are few physicians trained in emergency medicine, and they are generally not located in rural areas, which also lack a nationwide ambulance service able to care for patients on the way to a medical facility. Medical facilities in the three major cities lack emergency response capacity: Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw (the capital) have only one emergency room in each city.[41]

Access to rehabilitation services is often not available to persons with disabilities in Myanmar, especially those living in rural areas. Existing physical rehabilitation centers cover only 10% of the country’s needs. Most centers are in the larger cities and travel expenses are prohibitive.[42]

Since 2017, HI has been leading a partnership with Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) and provides support both in government- and non-government-controlled areas in Kachin state in response to a component of conflict sensitivity in the southeast.[43] The KDHW, which is the health department of the Karen National Union (KNU), reported that a medic’s training course was provided to health workers, but more trained medics were needed to provide healthcare service in KNU-controlled areas.[44]

In Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states, the ICRC supported health centers and satellite posts, including facilities in areas controlled by armed groups.[45] Hospitals and other health facilities in Rakhine, including mobile health units, provided healthcare for internally displaced persons and other violence-affected people with ICRC support.[46] The ICRC continued supporting five physical rehabilitation centers and included physical rehabilitation in its Rakhine humanitarian response.[47]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

Most mine/ERW survivors have had to abandon their traditional professions, making vocational training and other alternative livelihood solutions necessary.[48] DRC-DDG provided livelihood interventions to assist conflict-affected and mine/ERW-impacted communities as well as mine/ERW victims with skills-development training in business, and agriculture-oriented support.[49]

AAR Japan continued to provide vocational training for persons with disabilities at its center in Yangon.[50] In August 2018, the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business and AAR Japan, held a multi-stakeholder meeting with the support of Department of Rehabilitation, Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement to obtain feedback on a draft handbook on employment of persons with disabilities.[51]

HI ran the United States-funded, Humanitarian Mine Action in Burma: Inclusive Socio-economic Development and Human Security for All project in three townships in Kayin state and East Bago regions in southeast Myanmar in partnership with the Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association (MPHA).[52]

The ICRC and/or the National Society provided material assistance for people affected by conflict and other violence in Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan states. The ICRC faced restrictions in providing cash income support to violence-affected households in northern Rakhine and adjusted by distributing household essentials and agricultural input.[53]

In 2018, World Education increased the capacity of the local disability self-help groups to work with local and state-level actors to increase the involvement of persons with disabilities in the peace process and their participation in decision-making and policy development. It coordinated two forums on disability and peace in Kayah and Bago. It also provided livelihoods support, medical assistance to mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities with the support of the Grapes for Humanity Global Foundation.[54] World Education supported self-help groups across Bago region and Kayah state. It compiled, translated, printed, and distributed service provider directories in Kayah and Mon states.[55]

According to UNICEF reporting, 87% of children with disabilities did not visit a doctor and 20% said they were bullied at school.[56]



[1]Myanmar drafts national strategy for disabled,” Xinhua, 4 April 2019.

[2] Presentation by Dr San San Aye, Deputy Director General of the Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief, and Resettlement, Meeting of National Mine Action Programme Directors, Geneva, 17 February 2015.

[3] International Alert Myanmar, “Conflict impacts on gender and masculinities expectations on people with disabilities in Kachin state: A rapid assessment,” Kachinland Research Centre (KRC), December 2018.

[4] Myanmar is divided into states and regions. States are the designated home areas of some of Myanmar’s larger ethnic groups. Other areas, which are not identified with a specific ethnic group, are administrative regions. The former military junta changed the name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989 and also changed the names of some states. Many ethnic groups within the country still prefer to use the name Burma. Internal state and division names are given in their common form or with the name adopted by the former military regime in parentheses.

[5] Research by Landmine Monitor. Data sources included casualty information, sightings of mine warnings, and reports by NGOs and other organizations of use, as well as interviews with field staff and armed forces personnel. The survey included casualty data from January 2007 through December 2018 and data from other informants from January 2008 through October 2019.

[6] UN, “Report of the Detailed Findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar,” A/HRC/39/CRP.2, 17 September 2017, p. 95.

[7] Ibid., p. 95.

[8] Durable Peace Programme Endline Report (Kachin, Myanmar, May 2018). The Durable Peace Programme is a consortium of seven local and international organizations serving the war affected population of Kachin state.

[9] The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Department of Disaster Management, “National Strategy on Closure of IDP Camps (Draft),” undated.

[10] Ye Mon,“An unhappy return for IDPs in Kachin State,” Frontier Myanmar, 22 August 2019.

[11] See, for example, “Unexploded WWII bombs discovered at central Myanmar sports ground,” Coconuts Yangon, 30 September 2015; and N. Thwin, “World War II ordnance kills three,” Democratic Voice of Burma, 20 March 2012

[12] See, for example, unexploded aerial bomb allegedly from armed conflict in Kachin state in May 2018. Free Burma Rangers, “Rangers Help Vulnerable Civilians in Kachin State,” 8 December 2018.

[13] Unless noted otherwise, Monitor casualty data for 2018 is from a combined dataset of published and unpublished sources.

[14] Myat Thura, “Official warns of rising landmine casualties,” Myanmar Times, 14 August 2019.

[16] International Alert, “Conflict impacts on gender and masculinities expectations on people with disabilities in Kachin state: A rapid assessment,” December 2018, pp. 14–15.

[17] Landmine Monitor meeting with Col. (rtd) Min Htike Hein, Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Minister of Defense, Ministry of Defense, Naypyitaw, 29 June 2018.

[18] See the 2009 edition of the Monitor report for Myanmar available on the Monitor website. Unprecedented levels of information on military casualties were received in 2008 from the State Peace and Development Council; 508 military casualties were identified. Information from this source has not been made available any other year.

[19] MIMU, “Myanmar, Who/What/Where, Mine Action,” 23 August 2019.

[20] Roger Fasth and Pascal Simon, “Mine Action in Myanmar,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 19.2, July 2015.

[21] See, for example: At the Union Peace Conference 21st Century Panglong, Daw Wint Wah Tun of the National League for Democracy said of her Shardaw township, Kayah state, “local people do not feel secure as landmine fields pose a threat to their way of life.” “Union Peace Conference—21st Century Panglong continues,” Global New Light of Myanmar, 2 September 2016.

[22] “Youth Empowerment: Myanmar’s young people want an active role in the running of their country,” Mizzima Weekly, 9 June 2016, p. 22.

[23] UNICEF, “Landmines and explosive remnants of war threaten children and communities across Myanmar,” 4 April 2018.

[24]Standard operating procedures for commanders drafted at JMC-U,” Global New Light of Myanmar, 20 January 2018. “Both sides are still discussing conducting workshops on mines. The NCA includes mine clearance work. But mutual trust needs to be created first so it is still under discussion and mine clearance cannot be implemented yet,” said Col. Aung.

[25] Ye Khaung Nyunt, “Second day of 10th Union Joint Monitoring Committee meeting in Yangon,” Global New Light of Myanmar, 5 May 2017.

[26] MNA, “Senior General meets New Zealand Ambassador,” Global New Light of Myanmar, 27 August 2017.

[27] Statement by Myanmar, UNGA First Committee, Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons, New York, 25 October 2019.

[28] Landmine Monitor interview with photojournalist accompanying Tatmadaw clearance engineers in Kayin state in August 2015. Signs were placed near a site of armed conflict between a DKBA splinter group and the Tatmadaw in Hlaing-Bwe township during reported clearance. Photographer provided a photograph of the signs to the Monitor, Yangon, 3 August 2018. He said the truck in which he traveled with the Tatmadaw had many of the mine warning signs. Also, in November 2018, in Eastern Bago region, after a mine incident near a school in Tha Pyay Nyunt village, some Tatmadaw soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 8/53 fenced the area where the explosion took place to make it inaccessible for the students. “KHRG Submission to Landmine Monitor,” September 2019, unpublished.

[29] “Townships with Suspected Landmine Contamination (1999–2017) and Casualties in Myanmar (Jan–Dec2017)” UN MIMU, 26 November 2018. Infographic provides an 11-year overview of data from the Landmine Monitor (2007–2017). The infographic was also available in Burmese language. MIMU reported to the Landmine Monitor that the landmine infographic has been one of their most requested products.

[30] Landmine Monitor meeting with U Min Htike Hein, Assistant Secretary, Union Minister Office for Defense, Ministry of Defence, Naypyitaw, 5 July 2019.

[31] Statement by Myanmar, UNGA First Committee, Thematic Discussion on Conventional Weapons, New York, 25 October 2019.

[32] See, for example, “Tatmadaw column captures AA member dead after landmine attack,” Global New Light of Myanmar, 11 May 2019, p. 11.

[34] MIMU, “Myanmar, Who/What/Where, Mine Action,” 23 August 2019.

[35] Ibid.

[36] ICRC, “Annual Report 2018,” p. 368.

[38] Monthly assistance payments of K16,000 to K30,000 depending on circumstances. A disabled child will get K16,000 per month and a disabled adult up to 64 years old will get K30,000. The project pilot areas are the East Dagon township of Yangon region, Pathein and Kangyi Taung townships of Ayeyarwaddy region, Monywa, Ayardaw and Chaung Oo townships of Sagaing region and Thaton and Paung townships of Mon state. See, “Pilot project to register disabled people for welfare,” The Myanmar Times, 1 February 2019; and Htoo Thant, “Government to start disability payments,” The Myanmar Times, 16 November 2017.

[39] The allowance will not be available until the rights of the persons with disabilities law is enacted and a certification process is established by the government. Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, “Myanmar National Social Protection Strategic Plan,” December 2014, p. 53.

[40] Gerard McCarthy, “Veterans’ Affairs in Myanmar’s Reform Process,” Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) Perspective Series, No. 78, 5 December 2018; and Htet Khaung Linn, “On society’s fringes, disabled Tatmadaw veterans languish in poverty,” Myanmar Now, 11 October 2016.

[41] Susan Becker, “Progress towards health systems strengthening in Myanmar,” Journal of Global Health Reports, Vol. 2, 30 March 2018.

[42] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programme (PRP), “Annual Report 2018,” Geneva, 2019, p. 45.

[43] HI, “Federal Information – Country Card: Myanmar,” September 2018.

[45] ICRC, “Annual Report 2017,” Geneva, 2018, p. 327.

[46] ICRC, “Annual Report 2018,” Geneva, 2019, p. 366.

[47] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2018,” Geneva, 2019, p. 45.

[49] DRC/DDG, “Factsheet Kayah State, 2018,” 2018.

[50] AAR Japan, “Annual Report 2018: April 2018-March 2019,” undated but 2019, p. 17.

[53] ICRC, “Annual Report 2018,”Geneva, 2019, p. 368.

[54] World Education, “Engaging Persons with Disabilities in the Peace Process in Myanmar,” 2018; and World Education, “Where We Work. Myanmar,” undated.

[55] Email from Khin Mar Aung, Director, World Education Myanmar, 25 October 2018.