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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

Myanmar/Burma[1] is heavily mine-affected as a result of conflicts between the Tatmadaw (national armed forces) and numerous non-state armed groups (NSAGs) affiliated with ethnic minorities. Armed conflict in border regions has persisted since Myanmar’s independence in 1948.

A provisional government was established in Myanmar after the Tatmadaw took control of the country in a military coup on 1 February 2021. Parliamentarians elected in November 2020 formed a counter government, the National Unity Government, which currently holds Myanmar’s seat at the United Nations (UN). This impacted the implementation of mine action coordination and operations in Myanmar in 2021.

Mined areas are located adjacent to the borders with Bangladesh, China, India, and Thailand. New mines continue to be laid by both the Tatmadaw and NSAGs. The full extent of contamination in Myanmar is unknown, but it includes improvised landmines and mines produced in state-owned factories. Contamination impedes the return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). A trend of increasing mine casualties in recent years has been reported by national stakeholders.

In February 2020, a national level meeting was held in Naypyidaw to discuss the formation of a national mine action authority and a national mine action center, which would be established under the oversight of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement (MoSWRR). The military has undertaken some mine clearance, but operations are not systematic or recorded. Humanitarian mine action operators began arriving in Myanmar from 2012, but are not permitted to clear mines. In January 2020, the mine action sector gained permission to deploy technical teams to commence marking and fencing operations in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS),[2] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic little progress was made.

In 2020, Myanmar saw a decrease in the number of organizations undertaking humanitarian mine action projects. In August 2019, 16 organizations reported 21 mine action projects taking place across 85 townships. By February 2020, this had decreased to 13 organizations reporting 13 mine action projects across 77 townships.[3] In May 2021, a total of only seven organizations reported mine action projects taking place in Myanmar.[4]

In 2020, risk education was coordinated by the Mine Risk Working Group (MRWG), led by the Department of Rehabilitation and co-chaired with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). State level coordination was also organized in conflict areas including Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, and northern Shan State. Risk education focused on conflict-affected communities in ethnic territories, and particularly targeted IDPs and refugees.

For a decade, from 1999–2009, assistance to mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors and persons with disabilities in Myanmar was marginal, due to the neglect of healthcare services by governing authorities. Myanmar’s authorities did not have a national victim assistance program or strategy. Awareness of the need for victim assistance increased significantly from around 2012, initially as a result of activities by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) established a permanent presence in Myanmar in 1986, and since the early 1990s has provided financial and technical support to physical rehabilitation programs.[5]

Between 2014 and 2020, the number of victim assistance service providers in Myanmar increased significantly. More than a dozen organizations—including government departments, the United Nations (UN), international and local NGOs, and community-based organizations—were involved in efforts. Victim assistance centers were built, while provision of prosthetics services improved, including via enhanced mobile services. Local availability of community-based rehabilitation and vocational training also increased. Victim assistance coordination improved after the introduction of the National Victim Assistance Technical Group (NVATG) as a sub-working group under the MRWG. Yet essential services remain scarce, particularly for people living in remote rural areas.

Treaty Status

Treaty status overview

Management and Coordination

Mine action management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination overview

Coordination and management

Myanmar’s former military government created a Mine Action Center under the former Myanmar Peace Center in 2013, but it was never fully staffed. Concluding a national ceasefire agreement with NSAGs was a government precondition for proceeding to survey and clearance.[6] With the change of government after the November 2015 election, the Mine Action Center was dissolved. The new NLD-led government made peace negotiations a priority, and several participants in the peace process emphasized the threat of mines and the need for clearance.[7]

In October 2019, Myanmar hosted an international workshop attended by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and the Norwegian Presidency to the Mine Ban Treaty, to discuss the establishment of a national mine action authority to lead and manage a mine action program in Myanmar.[8]

In February 2020, a national level meeting was held in Naypyidaw to discuss the formation of a national mine action authority and a mine action center under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement (MoSWRR). Participants at the meeting also discussed the Ministry of Defense establishing state and regional level mine clearing groups.[9]

It is unclear what progress, if any, has been made following the military coup in February 2021. Coordination mechanisms with the Department of Rehabilitation were reported to be suspended.

Strategic planning

As of August 2020, the pre-coup government had not announced a clear strategy on mine action.

In January 2018, the secretary of the Union Joint Monitoring Committee (JMU-C), Colonel Wunna Aung, had stated that mine clearance could not begin prior to the building of mutual trust between the government and NSAGs.[10] In May 2017, Colonel Aung stated that the Tatmadaw would take the lead on landmine clearance, but that international technological and material support would be accepted.[11]

In August 2017, the Commander-in-Chief of the Tatmadaw, General Min Aung Hlaing, held talks with New Zealand’s ambassador regarding assistance between the two states’ militaries and mine clearance operations.[12] The Embassy of New Zealand in Myanmar has since funded a mine action coordinator, whose primary role is to improve the effectiveness of the sector until a national mine action authority is established. The initiative was reported to be successful in providing a focus for developing procedures.[13]

Legislation and standards

In October 2019, Myanmar stated that it was in the process of finalizing its National Mine Action Standard for the conduct of systematic mine clearance. Myanmar was working with countries in the region via the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus Expert Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action, under the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC).[14]

Previously, in 2013, a technical working group comprised of government representatives from the former Myanmar Peace Center, and humanitarian actors, completed work on a draft national mine action strategy and national mine action standards, which were never approved by the government.

International demining organizations in Myanmar have followed IMAS, in addition to their own standard operating procedures.

Information management

Mine action actors in Myanmar retain their own survey results in the absence of a neutral national entity to store data on hazardous areas, which remains sensitive in view of continuing conflict.

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview

Coordination

The Department of Rehabilitation, under MoSWRR, leads the MRWG as co-chair with UNICEF.[15] Formed in April 2012, the MRWG was comprised of 10 ministries, 41 international and national organizations, and four decentralized working groups in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, and northern Shan states.. In 2019, MoSWRR endorsed a decision to open a new state-level MRWG in Rakhine State, but at the end of 2020 this was still pending.[16]

The MRWG normally meets three times each year but met only once during 2020, in December, amid restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] However, a virtual meeting was held with the four state-level MRWGs, while a national online meeting was held in October 2020.[18] The MRWG also conducted training workshops on risk education in Myanmar’s states and regions in collaboration with UN agencies, and with international and national NGOs.[19]

In 2021, humanitarian mine action operators in Myanmar continued to coordinate risk education activities online, via monthly and quarterly virtual meetings.

Strategies

A MRWG Strategic Workplan for risk education in 2020–2021 was in place, which also included objectives for victim assistance.[20]

Information management

There is no comprehensive mine/ERW victim surveillance system in Myanmar. The MRWG provides mine/ERW incident data every quarter, with data collected through UNICEF, MoSWRR networks, the databases of mine action operators, the General Administration Department, and the police.[21] However, data is far from complete and many mine/ERW incidents in Myanmar remain unreported, due to the lack of a national accident surveillance system and limited healthcare facilities in remote areas.[22] The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as the lead for mine action, also keeps a database which all mine action organizations in Myanmar contribute to.[23]

A workshop in Naypyidaw in 2019 initiated a discussion on the collection of victim data, advocacy efforts, and developing a national standardized system.[24] In 2021, the Department of Rehabilitation reported that there had been improvements to the system in 2020, but no details were provided.[25]

National standards and guidelines

In 2019, operators in the mine action sector in Myanmar were invited to help the government draft national risk education standards.[26] As of August 2021, these had not been finalized.

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[27]

Coordination

Humanity & Inclusion (HI) facilitated Victim Assistance Sub-Technical Group (VATG) meetings, which in 2020 were held three times at the national level: in person in March, and virtually in May and November. At the state level, meetings were held in northern Shan (7 July), Kayin (12 August), and Kachin (10 September).[28]

Organizations representing persons with disabilities, including the Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association (MPHA) and the Myanmar Federation of Persons with Disabilities (MFPD), took part in VATG meetings in 2020.

Laws and policies

In June 2015, Myanmar enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law.[29] In July 2018, MoSWRR published the rules and regulations that applied under the 2015 law.[30]

In July 2019, Myanmar passed a Child Rights Law, to align national policies and regulatory frameworks with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Myanmar ratified in 1991.[31] The law includes sections on victim assistance and protection against landmine incidents.

In 2014, Myanmar launched a National Social Protection Strategic Plan, through MoSWRR, to provide an allowance to all persons certified with a disability.[32] In 2017, and again in 2019, the government announced to the media that it would be disbursing a monthly allowance to persons with disabilities in nine townships across four states, as a pilot program with a view to eventual nationwide coverage.[33] At a national level meeting in Naypyidaw in February 2020 to discuss the formation of a national mine action authority, it was reported that MoSWRR would provide MMK200,000 (US$110) and prosthetic limbs, if needed, for each victim of landmine explosions.[34] Between September 2019 and August 2020, the fund was budgeted for 600 victims.[35] In 2020, the Department of Rehabilitation reported that since the 2017–2018 financial year, 648 mine victims had received payments, amounting to a total of MMK129,600,000 (US$70,000).[36]

However, while the victim assistance fund was easy for people to access in government-controlled areas, it was less clear how accessible it was to people living in areas controlled by NSAGs.

A disability certification and registration process was being rolled out by MoSWRR in 2020, and was piloted in two states under the Department of Rehabilitation. Persons with disabilities were to be registered through a nationwide system to receive a disability card, which includes classification based on the severity of their disability. This will likely enable better identification of persons with disabilities, greater advocacy for their rights, and future provision of social protection funds.[37]

Strategies

Under Myanmar’s pre-coup government, a national strategic plan on the rights of persons with disabilities was being developed by a working committee, with the support of eight subcommittees which included representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities and other NGOs.

In April 2019, MoSWRR held a planning meeting and drafted a national strategy in relation to Myanmar’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

In 2019, the ICRC, together with the World Health Organization (WHO), worked with the Ministry of Health to develop a draft strategic plan on strengthening the national rehabilitation sector.[38] The work of a steering committee set up to implement this plan and develop a national referral system was delayed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[39] The steering committee convened virtual meetings towards the end of 2020 to discuss expanding local access to assistive technology and producing online training materials for the referral system personnel, who were set to come from the Ministry of Health, local NGOs, and the Red Cross Society.[40]

National standards and guidelines

In 2020, the Victim Assistance IMAS was introduced in a national level VATG meeting by HI and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), and the standard was translated into Burmese.[41] HI also introduced the VA Standard at national level at the MRWG.[42]

Impact

Contamination

Myanmar is contaminated with landmines—including improvised mines—and ERW, as a legacy of decades of internal armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and NSAGs in ethnic minority areas. Myanmar is not known to be contaminated with cluster munition remnants.

Landmine contamination

Some 97 of Myanmar’s 325 townships—across 12 states and regions—are believed to suffer from some degree of landmine contamination, primarily in the form of antipersonnel mines.[43]

No formal estimate exists of the extent of mine contamination in Myanmar, though credible reports of mine contamination, casualties, and confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) or suspected hazardous areas (SHAs), have been reported in the states of Chin, Kayah, Kayin, Kachin, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan; and in the administrative regions of Bago, Magway, Sagaing, and Tanintharyi.[44]

Shan and Kachin states are considered heavily contaminated. Previously, Kayin state and the Bago region were among those with the heaviest mine contamination and highest number of victims.[45]

Some contamination is from mines produced by state-owned factories. Ka Pa Sa (Defense Products Industries) produced at least five types of antipersonnel landmines, including domestic versions of PMN, POMZ, and M-14 type mines. NSAGs in Myanmar are also known to construct improvised mines (see Myanmar Mine Ban Policy profile).

ERW contamination

Myanmar is also affected by ERW, including mortars, grenades, artillery, and air-dropped bombs. Periodic reports in Myanmar suggest the presence of ordnance dating from World War II.[46] ERW contamination has also been reported in relation to armed conflict during late 2018 and early 2019 in Kachin state,[47] and due to conflict in 2020 in Rakhine state.

Casualties

Casualties overview

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; IED=improvised explosive device.

Casualties in 2020

In 2020, there were at least 280 mine/ERW casualties in Myanmar, based on information provided by NGOs, UN agencies, and other organizations, as well as by state and independent media reports. Although this marked a decrease from the annual casualty total for 2019, the number of fatalities increased significantly to 195 in 2020 from 89 in 2019 the previous year. The majority of casualties (175) were caused by antipersonnel mines.

Most casualties in 2020 (147) were recorded in Rakhine state, followed by Shan state (72). Kachin state had 21 recorded casualties, while Kayin state had 15 recorded casualties. The total number of casualties in Rakhine state represented an increase from 2019, when the state had 119 casualties. In Shan and Kachin states, casualties decreased in 2020, from 149 and 51 respectively in 2019.

Despite the presence of a number of mine action actors, and though coverage of victim assistance increased, no national systematic casualty data collection occurred. Due to the lack of an official data collection mechanism, the absence of a 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 Myanmar.

Media reporting indicates a trend of increasing annual casualties in recent years. In August 2019, the Department of Rehabilitation, within MoSWRR, stated that the number of landmine casualties in Myanmar was increasing each year.[48] On 4 April 2019, the MRWG reported that although many incidents still go unreported, annual casualties increased from 176 in 2017, to 276 in 2018.[49] The Department of Rehabilitation reported 200 casualties from 112 incidents from January–September 2020, with women and children accounting for 48% of the casualties.[50] Differences in the casualty figures provided by the MRWG and the Monitor are attributable to the fact that the MRWG seeks to have a figure available in a shorter timeframe, to inform its activities. The Monitor compiles its data over a longer period and its estimates can be considered an amended figure when released at the end of the following calendar year. Neither tally is comprehensive, but provide the best-known estimates from public sources in light of the lack of official data.

A 2018 study found that many IDPs with disabilities living in NSAG-controlled areas appeared to have impairments due to mines and conflict-related violence. However, in government-controlled areas, “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.”[51]

The number of Tatmadaw and NSAG casualties due to mines/ERW remains unknown, but is likely substantial. A Ministry of Defense official told the Monitor that landmines were the chief cause of death and injury for Tatmadaw troops, yet added that if he revealed the figure “it would give a psychological weapon to our enemies.”[52] Past Monitor reporting indicates that there have been a significant number of military casualties, but military records remain unavailable to the public.[53]

The total number of casualties in Myanmar, for all time, is unknown. The Monitor recorded a total of 5,261 mine/ERW casualties (900 killed, 4,243 injured, 118 unknown survival outcome) between 2000 and the end of 2020.

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Clearance operators

International demining organizations started arriving in Myanmar in 2012, but were not authorized to conduct non-technical survey operations until around 2015. In 2020, six international demining operators had offices in Yangon and some in regional locations: DanChurchAid (DCA), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the HALO Trust, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), Mines Advisory Group (MAG), and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).

In November 2019, Bangladesh offered mine action assistance to Myanmar, at the Fourth Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty.[54]

Land release

Survey

In July 2020, the Monitor and the Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) produced a country map showing townships with SHAs, and an infographic on the impact of landmine use in Myanmar.[55]

From 2016, several international mine action operators were authorized to conduct non-technical survey in specific locations in Myanmar. Non-technical survey by DCA, DRC, the HALO Trust, and MAG took place in 2018 and 2019, although operators were unable to carry out survey across an entire state, leaving them unable to determine a baseline level of contamination.

In January 2020, mine action operators gained permission to deploy technical teams to commence marking and fencing operations, in accordance with IMAS.[56] The Department of Rehabilitation asked the mine action sector to prioritize technical survey, marking, and fencing of areas identified for returns and resettlement of IDPs in Kachin state.[57] However, in 2020, restrictions on travel and gatherings amid COVID-19 led to delays, and prevented non-technical survey from taking place.[58]

In 2020, DRC planned to commence non-technical survey in Kachin state and northern Shan state, but was unable to conduct training for staff. Training is now planned for late 2021, with operations to commence in early 2022. Community mapping exercises were conducted in 31 villages in 2020 and early 2021, to identify non-technical survey tasks in potentially contaminated villages.[59]

The HALO Trust undertook non-technical survey in early 2020, but suspended activities in March 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Before the suspension, the HALO Trust identified five CHAs in northern Shan state (totaling 419,009m²) and four SHAs in Kayin state (totaling 6,058m²). One CHA in northern Shan state and six CHAs in Kayin state were marked. The HALO Trust resumed operations in March 2021 with four teams across Kayin and Shan states, though as of August 2021 operations were suspended again due to further COVID-19 restrictions.[60]

In 2020, MAG conducted non-technical survey in the Tanintharyi region, in three areas (Nyaung Pin Kwin village, Pyigyimandaing village tract, and Rar Hpu village), and in Loikaw township in Kayah state. The surveys were conducted in January–March and September 2020, identifying four SHAs totaling 9,321m². No marking was conducted in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. As of the end of August 2021, MAG had been unable to conduct further non-technical survey.[61]

HI did not conduct non-technical survey in 2019 or in early 2020, but planned to start survey from September 2020.[62] NPA was unable to undertake non-technical survey in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[63] DCA did not conduct non-technical survey in 2020, and focused on risk education and victim assistance.[64]

Some farmers in the Bago region have marked mine contaminated areas discovered while farming, in an attempt to warn people from entering those areas.[65]

Clearance

Humanitarian mine action operators have not been permitted to conduct clearance by either the government or authorities in ethnic minority areas, and this remained the case in 2020. The Tatmadaw have conducted some mine clearance, but the operations are to unknown standards. The amount of land cleared, and the number of antipersonnel mines destroyed, has not been reported.

In January 2019, the Tatmadaw announced localized mine clearance in advance of the resettlement of families in Nam San Yang village, in Kachin State’s Wiangmaw township.[66] In November 2019, an assessment by a Kachin-based NGO found that households with registration certificates had their household compounds cleared with a bulldozer.[67] In March 2020, villagers in Nam San Yang complained that mines remained a threat in the area.[68] In July 2020, the Tatmadaw returned, and removed mines from 100 acres of farmland.[69] In August 2020, Tatmadaw spokesperson Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun told a journalist that the Nam San Yang return had been a success and that the military planned to expand its IDP return activities, and would assist with transportation and mine clearance.[70] In December 2020, it was reported that clearance in Ta Pyae Yan and Kyauk Sa Khan villages, in Waingmaw township, was undertaken ahead of the return of 2,000 villagers.[71]

In March and August 2020, limited clearance was also reported in Lajaryan and Dotphoneyan, in Kachin state, in coordination with the Kachin Humanitarian Concern Committee (KHCC).

In January 2020, the Tatmadaw closed an IDP camp in Myebon township, Rakhine state, to clear landmines in the area. A statement, reportedly issued by the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services, said the military had asked camp residents to leave to prevent them from being injured by mines, and that troops had deactivated a mine 20 meters from the camp. Camp officials stated that the military then torched temporary shelters at the camp, causing about 400 of the 500 people living there to flee in fear.[72] It is not known if further mine clearance occurred at the site.

Armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and an NSAG, the Arakan Army, in Rakhine state has led to thousands of IDPs since 2018. Since November 2020, an informal ceasefire has been observed. Mine clearance work was reported in February 2021 in the townships of Rakhine state where IDPs were expected to return home. Mine clearance has taken place along the Ann-Sittwe highway and in some villages in Rathedaung township. As of 19 February 2021, there were 13,445 IDPs seeking to return to their homes from IDP camps in Ann, Buthidaung, and Sittwe townships.[73]

On 31 March 2021, the Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Dr Thet Thet Khine, at a Committee on Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development meeting in Naypyidaw, said emphasis was being placed on clearing landmines to resettle IDPs to their native villages in Rakhine state.[74] However, clearance was not systematic and not all townships were included in the plans.[75] In March 2021, it was reported that the military and the Arakan Army were negotiating to clear mines from mountains and forests where conflict had previously occurred.[76]

A national humanitarian group, the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), run a course on mine identification and emergency clearance procedures, in annual training programs for relief teams.[77] Landmines encountered on their missions are either removed by FBR personnel, who then turn them over to NSAGs from ethnic minority communities, or are removed directly by the local NSAGs.

Deminer safety

In January 2020, the battalion commander of Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion 708 was killed while attempting to remove an antivehicle mine laid by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Hpapun township, Kayin state.[78]

Mine action was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the changing political situation and civil unrest in Myanmar following the February 2021 coup. Mine action activities were impacted by restricted communications, a shutdown of essential services such as banks, travel restrictions, and local lockdowns. Increased safety and security measures were put in place by operators.

Risk education

Risk education operators[79]

Note: IDP=internally displaced person; NGO=non-governmental organization.

Beneficiary numbers

Risk education beneficiaries in 2020[80]

Note: N/A=not applicable.

The Department of Rehabilitation recorded a total of 109,180 risk education beneficiaries in 2020 (21,082 boys; 24,891 girls; 26,705 men; and 36,502 women), although the data was not collected according to Standard Beneficiary Definitions.[81] The total represents a decrease from the reported 280,000 people reached in Myanmar in 2019.[82] The beneficiary totals in the table above represent only some of the operators providing risk education in Myanmar.

More than 11,600 people received training in risk education through training of trainers programs in Myanmar in 2020. HI trained 52 people, the HALO Trust trained 10,646 people, while UNICEF trained 988 professionals (teachers, social workers, and NGO staff) to provide risk education.[83]

ICRC reported reaching 160 direct beneficiaries with risk education in 2020, of which 112 were persons with disabilities.[84] HI reported reaching five persons with disabilities, while UNICEF reached 656 children with disabilities.[85]

As of August 2020, at least seven organizations reported implementing risk education across 82 townships, 293 village tracts/towns, 945 villages/wards, and in 23 IDP camps. Operators providing risk education were mostly concentrated in Kachin state, Shan state, Kayin state, Mon state, the Bago region, Kayah state, Rakhine state, and the Tanintharyi region.[86]

Implementation

Target groups

IDPs, returnees, and conflict-affected populations were a significant target group for risk education in Myanmar. While displaced in camps or host communities, they also returned to their villages of origin to check on livestock, property, and farmland. HI reported that IDPs sought income and livelihood activities outside of IDP camps in areas controlled by NSAGs in Kachin state.[87] People often relied on livelihood activities in forested and mountainous areas which remained contaminated.[88] In many cases, there was a lack of information on safe and unsafe areas due to an absence of warning signs and limited local knowledge of newly contaminated areas.[89]

Children were at risk from mines/ERW, particularly in return and resettlement areas and in conflict affected areas. In some IDP camps, there were not enough schoolteachers to support the provision of risk education, particularly in remote areas, and most risk education for children took place outside of school.[90] Children with disabilities were hard to reach, as they were often not visible in communities or had difficulty understanding materials.[91]

Men were at risk from mines/ERW due to livelihood activities, such as hunting and foraging for food in remote areas far from their homes. These activities were often conducted out of economic necessity. Reaching men for risk education was reported to be challenging, as they were often out of their villages during scheduled working hours of risk education teams.[92] MAG provided risk education at night and at weekends in an effort to better reach men.[93]

Reaching remote areas and some ethnic minority groups in Myanmar remained difficult due to access restrictions, particularly in NSAG-controlled areas. International NGOs worked with local partners to better reach remote communities. Risk education staff were required to be fluent in a number of local languages, while dialects and materials also had to reflect linguistic and cultural differences.[94] HI developed radio messages in the Kachin language to reach communities there.[95]

Delivery methods

Risk education is delivered as a standalone activity in Myanmar due to the lack of permission for operators to conduct clearance, although it is sometimes integrated with non-technical survey. In areas impacted by ongoing conflict, risk education is delivered through local partner organizations.

In 2016, a common Mine Risk Education Toolkit was field-tested, before being approved by the government in 2017. DCA and UNICEF also developed an app in 2017 as part of the toolkit, which was jointly developed by DCA, UNICEF, and the MRWG, with support from MoSWRR.[96] The Mine Risk Education Toolkit was reviewed and revised by UNICEF in 2019–2020.[97]

Face-to-face sessions remained the primary means of delivering risk education in Myanmar, along with the distribution of printed materials.[98] Risk education materials were being developed by HI to be inclusive of persons with disabilities, including children, through the use of plain and simple language, accessible fonts and colors, and the dissemination of messages via radio broadcasts.[99]

In 2020, MAG was contracted by the Durable Peace Programme—funded by the European Union (EU)—to deliver training of trainers programs and capacity support in Kachin and northern Shan states, to help 14 NGOs integrate risk education into their humanitarian work. The partner agencies co-designed risk education activities based on their capacities, with MAG staff providing training, support with planning and materials, and quality assurance.[100]

While schoolteachers received risk education training in some areas of Myanmar, risk education was not integrated into the national curriculum. However, ICRC reported in 2021 that a process was underway to integrate risk education into the school curriculum.[101]

HI began implementing a risk education project in IDP camps, in both government-controlled and NSAG-controlled areas of Kachin state in 2020. This included a training of trainers program for schoolteachers, in partnership with the Kachin Baptist Convention and People in Need.[102] ICRC and the Myanmar Red Cross Society provided risk education training to schoolteachers and other government staff.[103]

HI trained community risk education volunteers and partner organizations in disability awareness and inclusive livelihoods.[104] ICRC trained risk education volunteers from communities in NSAG-controlled areas to provide risk education in IDP camps and conflict-affected villages.[105]

Villagers were encouraged by operators to report mines/ERW to local authorities.[106]

Major developments in 2020

In January 2020, the HALO Trust provided training to staff of the Rakhine Ethnic Congress in risk education and first-aid, enabling them to pass on their knowledge to conflict-affected communities in Rakhine state.[107]

In 2020, amid restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, operators used television and social media sites, such as Facebook, to provide risk education messages.[108] NPA provided some remote and digital risk education, but planned to resume face-to-face sessions in 2021.[109] HI delivered risk education through three radio stations (Bhamo Diocese, Lashio Diocese, and Myitkyina Diocese) and three social media platforms (Facebook, WeChat, and Viber).[110] DRC developed online risk education sessions, available on platforms including Facebook, Messenger, Skype, and Viber.[111] ICRC provided risk education messages through radio stations, television, and a news agency.[112]

In August 2020, the HALO Trust began to provide modified risk education sessions in households receiving delivery of hygiene materials.[113]

HI was unable to fully deliver on one of its risk education projects in communities due to the access restrictions imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[114]

Several emergency risk education sessions were held in northern Shan state in 2020, in response to displacement amid armed conflict.[115]

Marking

The Tatmadaw has produced warning signs and fenced some known mined areas in Myanmar, but it is not known to what extent this marking is systematic.[116]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance operators[117]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Major developments

Needs assessment

In May 2020, HI conducted a survey—mainly by telephone interview—of persons with disabilities and the impacts of COVID-19. Priorities identified by the survey included COVID-19 prevention awareness, distribution of food and non-food items (including hygiene materials), distribution of items to enable communication (such as phone cards), and access to safe rehabilitation services. The Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association is to lead on implementing these priorities.[118]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Traumatic injuries are the main cause of ill health and the third-highest cause of death in Myanmar. Myanmar has few physicians trained in emergency medicine and they are generally not located in rural areas, which lack ambulance services to care for mine/ERW survivors on the way to hospital. Health centers in Myanmar’s three major cities lack adequate emergency response capacity—with Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and Yangon having only one emergency room each.[119]

Rehabilitation services are often not available to persons with disabilities in Myanmar, especially those living in rural areas. Existing physical rehabilitation centers cover only 10% of needs. Most centers are in larger cities, and travel expenses are prohibitive.[120]

The provision of and access to medical care and rehabilitation was further limited by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Mine victims found it difficult to get treatment in hospital due to the increase in COVID-19 patients. Often only outpatients were accepted, with appointments having to be made in advance.[121]

Following the coup in February 2021, Myanmar’s healthcare system was reported to have largely collapsed as health workers and teachers joined the country’s civil disobedience movement and/or were persecuted by the military regime. More than 250 attacks on healthcare workers or facilities in Myanmar were documented in the six months after the military coup.[122] Movement restrictions and fear of violence prevented people from seeking help in emergency clinics and hospitals.

In 2020, physical rehabilitation centers in Myanmar were supported by ICRC and HI, while one victim assistance center was supported by the Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association.[123]

ICRC supported nine physical rehabilitation projects, with five centers receiving ICRC support on a regular basis. A total of 298 mine/ERW survivors in Myanmar received physical rehabilitation services in 2020.[124] In February 2020, the government approved the opening of a prosthetics and orthotics workshop in Buthidaung township, Rakhine state, which also ran a mobile workshop to repair assistive devices and had a network of roving technicians to assist people in remote areas. Two rehabilitation centers were provided with raw materials for producing prosthetic feet, though access constraints prevented ICRC from providing similar assistance to a third center.[125]

The COVID-19 pandemic affected rehabilitation services, and all of the ICRC-supported facilities in Myanmar had to suspend their services for several months in 2020.[126]

Since 2017, HI has partnered the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW)—a body within the Karen National Union (KNU)—to provide support in both government-controlled and NSAG-controlled areas of Kachin state.[127] In 2019, HI increased its support for medical care, using a social fund.[128] In 2020, HI continued to support the delivery of rehabilitation services in Kachin and Kayin states, and in the Bago region.[129]

As of May 2020, the Prosthetics Department of the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot—a Thai town on the border with Myanmar—which had previously provided prosthetics to people from Myanmar, ceased operations. A handover was planned to KDHW, and the clinic moved its equipment to a KDHW-run clinic in Klo Yaw Lay village, in Hpapun township, Kayin state. Mae Tao Clinic prosthetic technicians provided six months of training to six health workers from KDHW, the Pa-Oh Health Working Committee, and the Committee for Health and Development Network. Handover plans were postponed in 2020 due to travel restrictions and the closure of the Myanmar-Thailand border amid the COVID-19 pandemic, although the plan was to be reviewed in 2021.[130]

The World Education Community-Focused Rehabilitation Services project aimed to improve access and opportunities for victims of conflict and people with disabilities in Kachin state. The project intends to pilot the Community-Based Inclusive Development Demonstration Model in Myanmar. The model was developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Okard Project, and implemented by World Education Laos. In November 2020, World Education Myanmar supported its partner, the Kachin Baptist Convention, to conduct a needs assessment in participating communities.[131]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

Most mine/ERW survivors in Myanmar have had to abandon their traditional professions, making vocational training and alternative livelihood support necessary.[132]

The Association for Aid and Relief-Japan (AAR-Japan) continued to provide vocational training for persons with disabilities at its center in Yangon.[133]

Since 2018, HI ran a project in partnership with the Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association to improve socio-economic conditions for mine/ERW victims, via livelihood services in the Bago region and Kayin state, funded by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[134] In 2020, HI supported two beneficiaries to attend skills training; while in 2021, three beneficiaries attended a vocational training center. Cash grants were provided to 78 people for income-generation activities in 2020. HI trained mine/ERW survivors in peer-to-peer counselling in the Bago region, and also in Kachin and Kayin states.[135]

In 2020, ICRC funding enabled one rehabilitation center to hire and train a new staff member, and to provide training to two physiotherapists in mental health and psychosocial support.[136]

ICRC also organized an online workshop in 2020 for players, coaches, and other members of the wheelchair basketball program of the National Paralympic Committee.[137]

World Education Myanmar supported self-help groups in Kayah state for persons with disabilities and their family members, enabling activities such as income-generation, saving, and lending.[138]