Country Summary

Myanmar is heavily contaminated with landmines as a result of conflicts between the Myanmar Armed Forces (known as the Tatmadaw) and various non-state armed groups (NSAGs).

A provisional government was established in Myanmar after the military seized power in a coup on 1 February 2021 from the elected National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government. This severely impacted any potential implementation of mine action coordination activities. 

Mined areas are located along Myanmar’s borders with Bangladesh, China, India, and Thailand, while new mines continue to be laid by both the Myanmar Armed Forces and NSAGs. The full extent of contamination is unknown, but includes both factory-made and improvised mines.[1]

Myanmar has no national mine action authority, while international demining operators are not authorized to conduct clearance.[2] The Mine Action Area of Responsibility in Myanmar, led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), supports the coordination of risk education and victim assistance efforts.[3]

Recorded casualties due to mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Myanmar increased significantly in 2021 and 2022. Risk education efforts prioritized camps for internally displaced persons (IDP), villages with reports of widespread contamination, and active conflict zones.[4]

Assessing the Impact

Contamination

Landmine contamination

Myanmar lacks an accurate estimate of the extent of mine contamination. In 2022, for the first time, mine/ERW casualties occurred in every state and region of the country, except Naypyitaw. This is based on an annually-updated map of townships with credible reports of antipersonnel mine/ERW contamination and casualties, produced by the Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) in collaboration with the Monitor. In 2022, a total of 168 townships in Myanmar were reported to be contaminated, up from 147 in 2021 and 100 in 2020. This marked the first time that over half of all townships (330) were reported to have mine/ERW contamination.[5] 

Mines have been laid on a large scale throughout Myanmar. Reports indicate that the Myanmar Armed Forces have frequently emplaced landmines in villages, near homes, and around public buildings such as churches.[6] During 2022, reports indicated that antipersonnel mines were laid by the Tatmadaw to protect mobile phone towers, copper mines, and oil and gas pipelines.[7] 

Cluster munition remnants contamination

The Myanmar Armed Forces are reported by the Monitor to have used a domestically-produced cluster munition in attacks in several parts of the country during 2021–2023. The presence or extent of any cluster munition remnants contamination in Myanmar is not known.[8]

Other types of contamination 

ERW from past conflicts, including ordnance dating back to WWII, are reported to have caused casualties in Myanmar.[9] However, the extent of ERW contamination is not known.

Casualties

Myanmar has no official mechanism to collect data on mine/ERW casualties. Reports gathered from available sources are unlikely to reflect the full extent of incidents and casualties.

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Myanmar, for all time, is unknown. The Monitor has recorded a total of 6,174 casualties (1,059 killed, 4,994 injured, and 121 with an unknown survival outcome) between 2000 and the end of 2022.[10] 

5-year casualties total: 2018–2022

Casualties in 2022

Casualty demographics in 2022*

*For another 37 casualties recorded in 2022, both the age and sex was unknown.

Casualties by civilian status in 2022

Casualties by device type in 2022

Note: APM=antipersonnel mines; AVM=antivehicle mines; CMR=cluster munition remnants; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

UNICEF reporting on mine and ERW incidents in Myanmar, which is included in Monitor data, indicates that casualties continued to rise markedly in the country in 2023. During just the first four months of the year, a total of 388 casualties were reported by UNICEF. In 2022, UNICEF recorded 390 casualties, up significantly from 284 in 2021.[11]

Cluster munition casualties

During 2022, for the first time, casualties resulting directly from cluster munition attacks were recorded in Myanmar. The non-explosive remains of cluster bomb containers were found in Mindat township, Chin state, after an aerial attack by the Myanmar Armed Forces in July 2022 wounded 13 civilians.[12]

Coordination

Despite movement restrictions and access constraints affecting much of Myanmar, Mine Action Area of Responsibility coordination activities continued in 2022, with partners delivering risk education to affected communities. In April 2023, the Area of Responsibility collaborated with REACH on developing indicators to strengthen mine action planning, through the 2023 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment.[13] Most mine action coordination mechanisms in Myanmar have been suspended since the February 2021 military coup.

Addressing the Impact

Clearance

Highlights from 2022

No humanitarian mine clearance was undertaken in Myanmar during 2022. Localized clearance by the Tatmadaw was reported in Kayin state, while NSAGs have also conducted sporadic mine clearance in recent years.

Management and coordination

The Myanmar Armed Forces is responsible for mine clearance. Myanmar had explored options for establishing a national mine action authority from 2012 onward, but no such body had been created prior to the 2021 military coup. 

In 2012, Myanmar’s former military government established the Myanmar Mine Action Center (MMAC), within the Myanmar Peace Center. In 2013, the MMAC drafted national mine action standards with the support of international mine action operators working in the country. Yet after the November 2015 election brought the NLD to power, the MMAC was dissolved.[14] 

In 2019, Myanmar reported that it was working closely with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) and that plans were made to initiate the national legislation required to develop a national mine action authority.[15]

Legislation and standards

Myanmar does not have specific mine action legislation or national standards in place. National standards for clearance were reported to be in development as of October 2019,[16] but no update has been provided. International operators working in Myanmar have followed the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), in addition to their own standard operating procedures for risk education and victim assistance.[17]

Strategies and policies

As of the end of 2022, Myanmar had no clear humanitarian mine action strategy in place, while no international operators were authorized to conduct mine clearance in the country.

In January 2018, the secretary of the Union Joint Monitoring Committee, Colonel Wunna Aung, had stated that mine clearance could not begin prior to the building of mutual trust between the government and NSAGs.[18] In May 2017, Colonel Aung previously reported that the Tatmadaw would take the lead on landmine clearance, but that international technical and material support would be accepted.[19] 

Information management 

Myanmar does not have a national mine action database. Operators working in Myanmar retain their own survey results, in the absence of a neutral national entity to collate data on hazardous areas. The Mine Action Area of Responsibility has advocated for a centralized database on mine action. Amid the lack of clearance in Myanmar, improving information management in relation to risk education and victim assistance data collected by operators remains the priority.[20]

Gender and diversity 

The government in Myanmar prior to the 2021 coup had reportedly welcomed the incorporation of gender mainstreaming into mine action planning.[21] 

Clearance operators 

International humanitarian mine action operators started arriving in Myanmar in 2012, but were not authorized to conduct non-technical survey until 2015. Operators have not been permitted to conduct technical survey or clearance, by either the government or local authorities in ethnic minority areas. Sporadic clearance by the Tatmadaw and NSAGs was reported in 2019–2021.[22] In 2022, government forces in Lay Kay Kaw village in Myawaddy township, Kayin state, were reported to be conducting mine clearance.^[23]

Land release: antipersonnel landmine

No humanitarian mine clearance was undertaken in Myanmar during 2022.

In Kachin state, the Mine Action Area of Responsibility was working closely in early 2023 with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Danish Refugee Council, the HALO Trust, and Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to assess landmine contamination in areas where IDPs were returning.[24]

Land release: cluster munition remnants

No cluster munition remnants clearance was reported in Myanmar during 2022. 

Land release: other ordnance 

Release of land contaminated by ERW was not reported in Myanmar during 2022.

Risk education

Highlights from 2022

In response to the sharp rise in mine/ERW casualties during 2022, particularly in the southeast and northwest of Myanmar, the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group mainstreamed risk education activities across the entire cluster system. 

Risk education sessions prioritized active conflict areas, as well as IDP camps and villages with reports of widespread contamination.[25] UNICEF developed emergency risk education tools for Myanmar in 2022, including a mobile application designed to teach users how to stay safe from mine/ERW contamination. UNICEF also used social media to disseminate safety messages.[26]

In May 2023, Cyclone Mocha and the associated flooding led to an increased risk from shifting mines and ERW. UNICEF reported that around 60% of mine incidents that it recorded in May–June 2023 occurred in areas that were affected by cyclone.^[27] 

Management and coordination

Risk education is coordinated by the Mine Action Area of Responsibility, led by UNICEF. Risk education operators working in Myanmar liaised directly with local communities in 2022.

Ethnic minority groups living in remote border areas remained difficult to access amid ongoing restrictions on movement, particularly in NSAG-controlled areas. To better reach these groups, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have worked with local partners.[28]

Risk education operators

During 2022, at the governmental level, the Department of Rehabilitation, within the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, chaired the Mine Risk Education Working Group and was responsible for coordinating risk education activities. Risk education was provided in Kayin state by the Ministry of Education.

National risk education operators include the Committee of Internally Displaced Karen People, the Kachin Baptist Convention, Kachin Development Group, the Karen Development Network, the Karenni Social Welfare and Development Center, the Karen Teachers’ Working Group, the Local Development Network, the Myanmar Heart Development Organization (MHDO), the Myanmar Red Cross Society, Never End Tomorrow, the Nyein (Shalom) Foundation, the South Shan Youth Capacity Building Center, the Ta’ang Students and Youth Union, and Wunpawng Ninghtoi. It is not known if all of these groups implemented risk education activities in 2022.[29]

International risk education operators working in Myanmar include DanChurchAid (DCA), the Danish Refugee Council, the HALO Trust, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Johanniter International Assistance (JOIN), MAG, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), People in Need, and Relief International.[30]

Beneficiary data 

Beneficiary data in 2022[31]

Note: N/R=not reported.

In 2022, MAG reported delivering risk education to 98,359 individual beneficiaries. The Danish Refugee Council reached a total of 131,868 people in Myanmar, while HI reached 7,793 people. In addition, 57,302 beneficiaries received risk education at ICRC-run sessions in Myanmar.[32]

According to the UNICEF-led Mine Action Area of Responsibility, in 2022, more than 420,000 people received risk education messages in Myanmar. This represents an increase from 194,530 recipients in 2021 and 106,875 in 2020, despite ongoing operational challenges. This significant increase was primarily due to new delivery methods, including the use of social media platforms to disseminate safety messages and the introduction of a risk education mobile application.[33]

Target groups

In 2022, IDPs, returnees, and conflict-affected communities in Myanmar were significant target groups for risk education. IDPs, while often living in camps or host communities, were at risk when returning temporarily to their villages to check on livestock, farmland, and property. They were also at risk when engaging in livelihood activities in contaminated areas near IDP camps.^[34]

In many cases, locals lacked knowledge of unsafe areas due to an absence of warning signs and the recent nature of contamination.^[35] In forested and mountainous areas, people engaging in livelihood activities were key target groups.^[36] Men were at risk due to hunting and foraging for food in remote areas out of economic necessity. Risk education operators reported that reaching men was particularly challenging, as they were often absent from their villages during working hours.^[37] Reaching ethnic minority groups in border regions remained difficult due to restrictions on access, particularly in NSAG-controlled territories.^[38]

Children were at high risk from mines/ERW in conflict-affected areas, and in areas where IDPs had resettled or returned. In some IDP camps, there were not enough schoolteachers to support risk education provision, with most safety messages provided outside of school.^[39] Children with disabilities were especially hard to reach due to isolation and lack of appropriate materials.^[40]

Delivery methods

Due to the lack of permission for operators to conduct clearance, risk education is delivered as a standalone activity in Myanmar, though it has sometimes been integrated with non-technical survey. In areas impacted by ongoing conflict, risk education is delivered through local partner organizations. Risk education staff were required to be fluent in a number of local languages, while dialects and materials also reflect linguistic and cultural differences.[41] 

Face-to-face sessions, and the distribution of printed materials, remained the primary means of risk education delivery in Myanmar in 2022.[42] Risk education materials were being developed by HI to be inclusive of children and persons with disabilities, through use of simple language and accessible fonts and colors. Messages were also disseminated via radio broadcasts.[43]

HI has trained community risk education volunteers and partner organizations in Myanmar in disability awareness and inclusive livelihoods.[44] ICRC has trained risk education volunteers in NSAG-controlled areas to provide messages in conflict-affected villages and IDP camps.[45]

In risk education sessions, villagers are often encouraged by operators to report the presence of suspected mines and ERW to local authorities.[46]

Victim assistance

Highlights from 2022

In 2022, ongoing armed conflict in Myanmar increased the burden on healthcare services, while some health facilities were damaged or destroyed.[47] With mine/ERW casualties rising in 2022, capacity to meet the growing needs of survivors for medical care, rehabilitation services, socio-economic support, and psychological assistance remained inadequate, especially in rural areas.

Victim assistance providers

Governmental victim assistance operators in Myanmar include the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, the Ministry of Health and Sports, and the Ministry of Defense.

National and local operators include the Nu Daw Mya Yi Foundation in conjunction with Jaipur Foot India, the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People, the Karen Health and Welfare Department, the Karenni Health Workers Organization, Karuna Mission for Social Solidarity, and the Myanmar Physically Handicapped Association (MPHA).

International victim assistance operators in Myanmar include the Association for Aid and Relief Japan (AAR-Japan), Exceed Worldwide, HI, the ICRC in partnership with the Myanmar Red Cross Society, Leprosy Mission-Myanmar, World Education, and UNHCR.

Medical care and rehabilitation

Myanmar has few physicians trained in emergency medicine. Rural areas often lack emergency health workers and ambulance services, while healthcare centers in major cities lack adequate emergency response capacity. New legislation and arbitrary restrictions have impeded the work of voluntary aid groups, compromising support for mine/ERW victims in Myanmar.[48]

Rehabilitation services are often not available, particularly in rural areas. Physical rehabilitation centers cover only 10% of needs. Most centers are located in larger cities, with travel expenses prohibitive for mine/ERW victims living in rural areas.[49] Movement restrictions and the fear of violence have also prevented victims from seeking help in clinics and hospitals.

In 2022, the ICRC supported hospitals and health facilities, including those run by ethnic health organizations in Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan states.[50] Rehabilitation services at ICRC-supported centers were scaled-back amid ongoing conflict and insecurity, although it continued to support five physical rehabilitation centers in 2022. Psychological counseling and mental health support was available at only one ICRC-supported center.[51]

Assistive devices for mine/ERW victims were repaired in 2022 through mobile workshops, and by technicians working with local ICRC partner organizations.[52]

HI has continued to provide rehabilitation services including physiotherapy, assistive devices, and mental health and psychosocial support since the 2021 military coup.[53]

In 2023, it was reported that persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, living in IDP camps in Rakhine state lacked employment, food, and adequate healthcare services.^[54]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

ICRC provided accessible sports activities for mine/ERW victims in 2022.[55] World Education supported community-based inclusive development initiatives, to help people with disabilities in Myanmar “live independently and participate fully in society.”^[56] 

Legal frameworks or policies on disability inclusion

Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law (2015), persons with disabilities in Myanmar are entitled to formal equal rights and access to opportunities.^[57] While this legislation prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, in practice there is no meaningful enforcement and many persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims, still face discrimination.[58]