Casualties[1]

Casualties Overview

In 2010, there were at least 274 new mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Myanmar, based on state and independent media reports and information provided by NGOs and other organizations. Of the 2010 total, 154 casualties were civilians and 21 were military. The civil status for 99 other casualties is not known. At least 10 casualties were children (nine boys; one girl) and 15 casualties were adult women.[2] As in the past, the data contained insufficient details to distinguish trends.

Most mines causing casualties were recorded as antipersonnel mines. However it has been reported by local risk education providers that most mines laid by the state military are factory made, while most mines laid by some non-state armed groups (NSAGs) are victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs). People involved in mine and IED incidents are often not able to distinguish between these types of victim-activated explosive items and the type is not recorded.[3]

Past reporting by the Monitor has indicated that there are a significant number of military casualties recorded, but that such records are not generally available to the public.[4] In January 2011, a child soldier with the Tat Ma Daw (Myanmar Army) Light Infantry Battalion 202, interviewed by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), reported that over 200 soldiers were killed by mines and firearms during local fighting north of Myawaddy in November–December 2010.[5]

The 2010 total represented a similar number of casualties to the 262 which were identified for 2009 through similar reporting sources.[6] However, due to the lack of systematic data collection and varying sources of annual data, reporting does not reflect the full extent of mine/ERW incidents and casualties in the country. The actual number of casualties is known to be much higher. The US Department of State reported that there were up to 600 mine casualties (100 killed; 500 injured) in Myanmar during 2010.[7] This estimate is closer to the 721 mine/ERW casualties reported by the Monitor for Myanmar in 2008 (89 killed; 632 injured), when data on military casualties was available.[8]

The total number of casualties in Myanmar is unknown. The Monitor has identified 2,861 (219 killed; 2,445 injured; 197 unknown) casualties between 1999 and the end of 2010.

At least two elephants were injured by mines during 2010 and through to September 2011. Elephants injured by mines that were transported to the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation in Thailand received care at its hospital. The elephant hospital reported receiving 14 elephants injured by mines since 1997, however many more are believed to have died in the forest or were not transported to the hospital for treatment by their owners. Most elephants injured by mines are those used in the illegal cross-border timber trade.[9]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Myanmar is unknown, but at least 2,445 survivors have been identified since 1999.[10]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No assessment of survivor needs has been carried out in Myanmar. The Ministry of Health does not record injuries due to mines/ERW separate from other traumatic injuries.[11]

Victim assistance coordination

Myanmar does not have a victim assistance program or strategy. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is responsible for disability issues and facilitates some socio-economic and rehabilitation services.[12] No inclusion of survivors in planning victim assistance activities was reported in 2010.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Assistance to mine/ERW survivors and persons with disabilities in Myanmar continued to be marginal due to many years of neglect of healthcare services by the ruling authorities. However physical rehabilitation, orthopedic surgery, and prosthetics were available to some mine/ERW survivors through rehabilitation centers in 2010, both within Myanmar and in Thailand near the border.[13]

Victim assistance activities in 2010[14]

No changes to the quality of services provided by the government were reported.

The New Light of Myanmar published an increasing number of reports of mine casualties within the country in 2010. Some reports mention assistance to new mine/ERW casualties and in some cases their hospitalization, although details of the types of assistance provided were not mentioned.[15] In 2010, continued government restrictions imposed on the ICRC prevented it from carrying out assistance activities for civilians in violence-affected areas along the Myanmar-Thailand border.[16] UNHCR provided MMK100,000 (US$100 at the street exchange rate) one-time financial assistance to mine victims and other conflict-related amputees and families of survivors from February until October 2010. The program was under review in early 2011 and scheduled to recommence during the year.[17] The number of patients coming to access services at the Hpa-an Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center, located in Myanmar’s most mine-affected area, decreased for the second year in a row. In 2010, the center’s prosthetic output for mine/ERW survivors decreased by almost 20% from 2009.[18] The Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) increased production of prosthetic limbs from its Kho Kay Prosthetic clinic, located in Karen state.[19]

The government did not provide social protection for private sector workers who became disabled. However veterans with disabilities received benefits on a priority basis and non-military persons with permanent disabilities were also entitled to a benefit payment. There was little state funding for services to assist persons with disabilities. Myanmar had no laws to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities.[20]

As of 1 October 2011, Myanmar had not signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Services in Thailand

In Thailand, assistance to mine/ERW survivors from Myanmar was primarily provided at clinics in refugee camps and public district hospitals in the border provinces with Myanmar. Most services continued at similar levels to the previous year. However, fewer conflict-injured patients, including mine/ERW survivors from Myanmar, received treatment at Thai hospitals with ICRC support than in 2009.

Victim assistance activities on Thai-Myanmar Border and in Thailand for Myanmar nationals in 2010[21]