Summary

Non-signatory Myanmar has expressed interest in the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but has not taken any steps to join it. Myanmar last participated in a meeting of the convention in 2013. It abstained from voting on a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.

Myanmar has stated that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions.

Policy

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]

After Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, took control of the country in a military coup on 1 February 2021, it formed a provisional government headed by the State Administration Council, chaired by Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. Parliamentarians elected prior to the coup in November 2020 formed a National Unity Government (NUG) in exile in April 2021, which holds Myanmar’s seat at the UN.[2]

Myanmar has expressed interest in the convention, but has not taken any steps to accede to it. Previously, in November 2019, Myanmar reiterated that it cannot join the convention until there is a nationwide peace agreement with non-state armed groups (NSAGs).[3] According to Myanmar, the convention aims to “prevent the indiscriminate use” of cluster munitions, which can lead to “vulnerability and serious humanitarian impact.”[4]

Myanmar participated in a regional meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in October 2008. It also attended a regional conference on the convention held in Bali, Indonesia in November 2009.

Myanmar has participated as an observer at several meetings of the convention, most recently the Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021. This was its first participation in a meeting of the convention since 2013.[5] Myanmar has also attended regional workshops on the convention, including a virtual meeting for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) military officials convened by the Philippines in July 2020.[6]

In December 2021, Myanmar abstained from voting on a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urged states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[7] Myanmar has abstained from voting on the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Myanmar is not a party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Myanmar told a regional meeting in 2009 that, “we do not use cluster munitions, develop, produce, otherwise acquire, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, nor assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited under this Convention.”[8]

Myanmar has denied using cluster munitions. In 2015, it said “cluster munitions were never used in…operations” by the Tatmadaw.[9]

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an NSAG operating in northeast Myanmar, alleged that the Tatmadaw used an old weapon that is similar in design to a modern cluster munition near the town of Laiza, in Kachin state, on 26 January 2013.[10] The “adapter” and 20-pound fragmentation bombs shown in photographs reviewed by Human Rights Watch (HRW) may meet the definition of a cluster munition under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[11]

Myanmar possesses 122mm Type-81, Type-90B, and M1985 240mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers, but it is not known whether these include versions with submunition payloads.[12]

Jump to a specific section of the chapter:

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]

Policy

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]

Following the military coup on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar Armed Forces created a provisional government, which has since struggled for recognition.[2] In April 2021, parliamentarians who had been elected in November 2020 formed an oppositional National Unity Government (NUG) from exile.[3] Myanmar did not take any steps during 2021 or the first half of 2022 to accede to the treaty.

Prior to the coup, Myanmar officials had expressed interest in the Mine Ban Treaty and welcomed its humanitarian provisions.[4] Myanmar often stated that it was studying the treaty with a view to joining in the future.[5] In November 2020, Myanmar stated that it “attentively” follows the work of the treaty, which it said plays “an important role in ending the human suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel land mines.”[6]

Myanmar did not participate in the 1996–1997 Ottawa Process that created the Mine Ban Treaty.

Since then, it has participated as an observer at several meetings of the treaty, including the Fourth Review Conference in Oslo in November 2019.[7] Most recently, representatives from Myanmar’s army-led government, the State Administration Council (SAC), attended the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties held virtually in November 2021, and the intersessional meetings held in Geneva in June 2022.

The NUG continues to hold Myanmar’s seat at the United Nations (UN) in New York. In December 2021, Myanmar abstained from voting on United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 76/26, which promoted the universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. Myanmar has abstained from voting on the annual UNGA resolution supporting the treaty since 1997.[8]

In December 2021, Mine-Free Myanmar held a press conference in Bangkok to launch Landmine Monitor 2021.[9] For the first time since 2010, a military censorship decree prevented the campaign from publishing within the country the Monitor’s annual country report on Myanmar.[10] During 2021, the UN’s Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU) produced an updated map of the country’s mine-affected areas and infographics showing the impact of landmines.[11]

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

State-owned enterprise Myanmar Defense Products Industries, known as Ka Pa Sa, produces at least five types of antipersonnel landmine: MM1, MM2, MM3, MM5, and MM6.[12]

Non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in Myanmar often publish photographs showing antipersonnel landmines produced by the state and held by frontline Myanmar Armed Forces units for use. For example, in May 2021, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Arakan National Council (ANC) displayed MM2 antipersonnel mines obtained after their forces seized a Myanmar Armed Forces military base in Kayin state.[13] In August 2021, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) displayed MM5 and MM6 antipersonnel mines captured after fighting with the Myanmar Armed Forces in eastern Muse township.[14] In November 2019, a NSAG in northern Shan state published photographs showing MM2 antipersonnel mines made by Myanmar Defense Products Industries with markings indicating that the mines were manufactured in 2018.[15]

Myanmar is not known to have exported antipersonnel landmines.[16] Myanmar previously imported or otherwise acquired and used antipersonnel mines manufactured in China, India, Italy, Russia or the former Soviet Union, and the United States (US).[17]

There is no publicly available information on the types or quantities of antipersonnel landmines stockpiled by the Myanmar Armed Forces.

Production, transfer, and stockpiling by non-state armed groups

Various NSAGs in Myanmar have produced improvised blast and fragmentation antipersonnel mines, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the KNLA, and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA). Victim-activated explosive devices are comprehensively prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty, regardless of whether they were manufactured in a factory or improvised from locally available materials. Some NSAGs in Myanmar have also produced Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines and antivehicle mines equipped with antihandling devices.

NSAGs in Myanmar continued to produce improvised antipersonnel mines in 2021–2022.[18] These groups have also acquired landmines by removing them from mined areas and obtaining them on the clandestine arms market.[19]

In 2022, NSAGs also seized or captured antipersonnel mines from the Myanmar Armed Forces. The Monitor has seen photographs of mines captured in 2022 by the Arakan Army, the KIA, the Karenni Army, the KNLA, the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), and several People’s Defense Force (PDF) groups in Shan, Kayin, and Kayah states, and in the Sagaing and Tanintharyi regions.[20]

Use

The Monitor has documented extensive use of antipersonnel landmines by the Myanmar Armed Forces, and by various NSAGs operating in Myanmar, since the first annual Landmine Monitor report was published in 1999.

New use by Myanmar Armed Forces

Myanmar’s Armed Forces have extensively used antipersonnel mines since the military coup in February 2021. This activity marks a significant increase in new use, including use around infrastructure such as mobile phone towers, extractive enterprises, and energy pipelines.

Photographs reviewed by the Monitor indicate that antipersonnel landmines manufactured by Myanmar were captured from the Myanmar Armed Forces by NSAGs every month from January to September 2022, in virtually every part of the country. In August 2022, antipersonnel mines manufactured by and in the possession of the Myanmar Army were captured in both the northwest and southwest of the country, indicating extensive mine use by the armed forces.[21]

An investigation by Amnesty International documented civilian casualties from MM2 and MM6 antipersonnel landmines laid by the Myanmar Armed Forces in the townships of Demoso, Hpruso, and Loikaw, in Kayah state, between February and June 2022.[22]

Examples of specific reports and allegations of new antipersonnel landmine use by the Myanmar Armed Forces since February 2021 are detailed below.

In September 2022, a local NSAG claimed that the Myanmar Armed Forces had laid antipersonnel mines around a church in Moybe, in Pekon township, Shan state.[23]

In August 2022, a local militia discovered MM6 antipersonnel landmines laid around the perimeter of Letpadaung Copper Mine in Salingyi township, Sagaing region. The copper mine is a joint venture by the Myanmar military’s Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. and China’s state-owned Norinco Industries.[24]

In July 2022:

• Two civilians returning after fleeing their village in Kawlin township, Sagaing region, were injured by a landmine allegedly emplaced by the Myanmar Armed Forces.[25]
• There were multiple incidents of people being injured by landmines near the perimeter of Myanmar Armed Forces camps in Mrauk-U township, Rakhine state.[26]
• Two Myanmar Armed Forces soldiers accompanied a villager to recover the body of his son, who had stepped on a mine in Zu Kaing village, in Ann township, Rakhine state. They removed two mines on the way which they said had been laid by a unit of the Myanmar Armed Forces.[27]
• The Myanmar Armed Forces allegedly closed a ferry service in Kyaukkyi township, Bago region, and laid mines around it to prevent KNLA fighters from using it.[28]

In June 2022, three mines were found in a church compound in Daw Nye Ku, in Demoso township, Kayah state that Myanmar Armed Forces had left earlier that day, while a fourth mine injured a boy.[29] Landmine use attributed to the Myanmar Armed Forces the previous month in Kayah state caused casualties among KNDF fighters.[30]

In May 2022, in Puangde township, Bago Region, the Myanmar Armed Forces allegedly laid mines at a Buddhist monastery that they had occupied.[31]

In April 2022:

• A police officer who had defected to PDF resistance groups stated that the Myanmar Army had ordered the laying directional and other antipersonnel mines at police posts.[32]
• A mine allegedly laid by the Myanmar Armed Forces at the base of a mobile phone tower in Mahlaing township, Mandalay region, injured a civilian.[33]
• Civilians were injured by landmines upon returning to their village in Loikaw township, Kayah state after the departure of Myanmar Armed Forces troops.[34]

In March 2022:

• Civilians in Mhan Taw village, Khin U township, Sagaing region, reported that the Myanmar Armed Forces had left mines around the bodies of people killed during a raid.[35]
• Locals alleged that the Myanmar Armed Forces had emplaced landmines at a checkpoint at the entrance to a bridge in Dawei township, Tanintharyi region.[36]

In February 2022:

• A civilian returning to Kinsanpya village, Kani township, Sagaing region was killed by a mine allegedly laid by the Myanmar Armed Forces during a raid.[37]
• A youth was injured by a mine laid by Myanmar Armed Forces Infantry Brigade 284 in Kyat Ka Chaung village tract, in Kyainseikgyi township, Kayin state.[38]

In January 2022, a man was severely injured after stepping on a landmine near Nang Khing village, in Demoso township, Kayah State. KNDF alleged that the Myanmar Armed Forces had laid the mine, as well as other mines in the area which had claimed ten victims.[39]

In December 2021, two villagers were injured by a mine when they returned home after their village in Mingin township, Sagaing region was occupied by the military.[40]

In November 2021:

• Local media reported that the Myanmar Armed Forces had laid antipersonnel mines near the base of mobile phone towers in at least 48 townships across the country, causing casualties among mobile phone company engineers.[41]
• Residents of Hsipaw township, Shan state, were warned of mines being laid by the Myanmar Armed Forces around a pumping station for an energy pipeline.[42]

In September 2021:

• A civilian was killed and two were injured in Kayah state after they returned to a village following a raid by the Myanmar Armed Forces. A local militia group said it had found 30 landmines left by the military.[43]
• An employee from a military-owned telecommunications company was seriously injured after stepping on a mine placed outside a cell phone tower near Nant Hwe village, Muse township. It was alleged that the Myanmar Armed Forces had mined the bases of mobile phone towers in response to attacks by local militia groups.[44]

In August 2021:

• A farmer was injured by a landmine outside a Myanmar Armed Forces base in Usoungtaung village, Kyauktaw township, Rakhine state. According to locals, the area was commonly used by farmers and there had been no previous mine incidents.[45]
• A child tending cows was killed by a mine laid near the perimeter of a Myanmar Armed Forces base in Myi Tung Mare village, Bhamo township, Kachin state.[46]

During 2021, residents of Ruktha village, in Kyauktaw township, Rakhine state were given warnings by the Myanmar Armed Forces not to come near their base as it was mined.[47]

It is often difficult to assign responsibility for specific incidents in Myanmar to either the Myanmar Armed Forces, or a particular NSAG. Yet villagers often report landmine casualties in areas where armed conflict had recently occurred.

On 29–30 April 2022, armed conflict between a Border Guard Force and the KNLA left at least one landmine, which injured a person the following week.[48]

In March 2022, three children were killed after playing with a landmine they found in Hko Kham village, in Lashio township, Shan state. It was allegedly left during conflict between the Myanmar Armed Forces and NSAGs affiliated to the Northern Alliance.[49]

In February 2022, in Minbya township, Rakhine state, a man was killed by a landmine at the site of recent clashes between the Myanmar Armed Forces and the Arakan Army.[50]

In January 2022:

• A villager was killed by a mine in Li Hseng village, Mongkaing township, Shan state, which was blamed on recent fighting between two local NSAGs, the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).[51]
• A villager was killed by a mine that had been recently laid near a mobile phone tower in Pauk Pin village, in Monywa township, Sagaing region.[52]

Prior to January 2022, the KNLA and the Myanmar Armed Forces had warned villagers in Meh Klaw village tract, Hpapun township, Kayin state, of landmines in the area which had caused the death of one villager.[53]

In August 2021, the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) under the RCSS, and the Myanmar Armed Forces engaged in armed conflict in Shan state with three members of the Northern Alliance: the Arakan Army, MNDAA, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). New civilian landmine casualties were reported near the conflict areas after this fighting.[54]

In July 2021, a child was injured by a landmine in Ponnagyun township, Rakhine state, in an area where the Myanmar Armed Forces and the Arakan Army had recently clashed.[55]

Atrocity/forced labor mine clearance

The Monitor has found evidence that the Myanmar Armed Forces has continued the practice of using civilians as ‘guides’ to walk in front of its units in mine-affected areas, effectively to detonate landmines. This is a grave violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.[56] There were several examples of this heinous practice during the second half of 2021.

In November 2021, Myanmar Army soldiers reportedly arrested a 16-year-old Chin boy and two adults, and forced them to walk in front of soldiers to detect landmines.[57]

In September 2021:

• Two farmers were reportedly forced to walk in front of a Myanmar Army column in Pekon, Shan state, in an area is known to be contaminated by mines.[58]
• Myanmar Armed Forces soldiers seized a woman in Paing Kalan Done village tract, in Kawkareik township, Kayin state, and forced her to walk in front of them as they entered KNLA territory.[59]

In August 2021, Myanmar Armed Forces Light Infantry Battalions 341 and 410, from Ler Toh camp in Hkaw Poo village tract, in Hpapun township, Kayin State, seized three women and forced them to carry materials and equipment, using them as human shields.[60]

In May 2021, the Mindat People’s Administrative Council told the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar that “The military…arrested ten Mindat youth and they forced them to walk in front of them as a human shield…the ten were walking ahead with the soldiers behind them.”[61] The area, in Mindat township, Chin state, was previously documented by the Monitor as being contaminated by landmines.

Bangladesh border

New mine casualties continued to occur on Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh in 2022.[62] In 2017, the Monitor published evidence of Myanmar government forces using antipersonnel mines along the border.[63] A 2018 report by the Human Rights Council said there was “reasonable grounds to conclude that landmines were planted by the Myanmar Armed Forces, both in the border regions as well as in northern Rakhine state, as part of the ‘clearance operations’ with the intended or foreseeable effect of injuring or killing Rohingya civilians fleeing to Bangladesh.”[64]

Bangladesh condemned this landmine use and urged Myanmar to “impose [a] moratorium on the use, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.”[65] In February 2021, two workers hired to repair the border fence between Bangladesh and Myanmar were injured by landmines.[66]

The Myanmar government denied using mines on the border with Bangladesh in a November 2018 statement, describing the evidence as “without merit.”[67] Myanmar again denied its involvement in mine use on the Bangladesh border in October 2020.[68]

Use by non-state armed groups

With at least 20 NSAGs fighting in Myanmar, it can be difficult to assign responsibility for use to a specific NSAG, but many have used landmines since the Monitor started reporting in 1999.

Since the military coup in February 2021, several local militia groups have been established, some of which identify as PDFs. PDF groups often declare allegiance to the NUG. Local media often report the use of “landmines” by such groups. Most of these are command-detonated roadside bombs, yet some are victim-activated landmines.[69] Pro-military militias, such as Pyusawhti, also operate in parts of the country.

The Monitor has reviewed the following incidents attributed to NSAGs since July 2021.

In August 2022:

• The PDF in Tabayin township, Sagaing region, stated that landmines laid around its camp had caused several Myanmar Armed Forces casualties.[70]
• In Hpakant township, Kachin State, the KIA allegedly laid mines which caused two Myanmar Armed Forces casualties.[71]

In June 2022:

• The Phaung Pyin PDF stated that it had laid landmines which caused several Myanmar Armed Forces casualties in Paungbyin township, Sagaing region.[72]
• An anti-military militia said that a Myanmar Armed Forces soldier they had captured was killed by mines laid around the group’s camp in Bago region as he attempted to escape.[73]
• The Jahtu Zup People’s Militia Force in Hpakant township, Kachin State, allegedly laid mines to block access to a gold mine.[74]
• Landmines laid around a Yaw PDF camp in Gangaw township, in Magway region, reportedly caused several Myanmar Armed Forces casualties during a raid.[75]

In May 2022, landmines laid on a path by a PDF reportedly caused casualties to a Myanmar Armed Forces patrol in Mingin township, Sagaing region.[76]

In March 2022, mines laid by the KNLA killed one person and injured another in Meh Klaw village tract, in Hpapun township, Kayin state.[77]

In January 2022:

• A villager was killed by a mine planted by the KNLA in Kyaukkyi, Bago region.[78]
• Armed conflict between the RCSS, SSPP, and members of the Northern Alliance in Kyaukme township, Shan state, allegedly involved the laying of mines which caused civilian injuries in February–March 2022.[79]

In December 2021, locals blamed the Border Guard Force for laying a mine which caused civilian injuries near Kyaw Kayt Kee village, in Hpaan township, Kayin state.[80]

In August 2021, a PDF group claimed that its use of landmines in Pekon township, Shan state had caused several Myanmar Armed Forces casualties.[81]

In July 2021:

• Villagers claimed the TNLA was responsible for laying mines in Lwe Kwe village tract, in Namhsan township, Shan state which denied access to agricultural lands.[82]
• A mine reportedly laid by KNLA Battalion 102 killed one person in Hpapun township, Kayin state.[83]
• A combined Katha PDF and KIA force claimed that its use of landmines had caused Myanmar Armed Forces casualties.[84]

The use of antivehicle landmines by groups opposed to the military also caused civilian casualties in 2021.[85]

The SAC claims to have recovered a variety of improvised mines during operations against armed groups opposed to the military coup.[86]

There were several incidents between May and December 2021 involved the use of bombs or booby-traps in urban areas. In most cases, the victims were engaged in the removal of rubbish, and the explosive device was contained in a black plastic bag.[87]

Previously, in 2011, Myanmar’s government announced its intent to conclude peace agreements with NSAGs. On 15 October 2015, eight ethnic armed groups signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government, committing to “end planting of mines” and “cooperate on the process of clearing all landmines.” Since the February 2021 military coup, this commitment no longer appears to be operational.

In past years, some NSAGs and former NSAGs in Myanmar unilaterally renounced antipersonnel mine use by signing the Deed of Commitment, administered by Geneva Call, a Switzerland-based non-governmental organization (NGO).[88] The Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) signed it in 2007 and its armed wing, the TNLA, has previously promised to refrain from mine use.[89] In June 2017, the TNLA denied allegations of new use and affirmed that it had not used landmines since signing the Deed of Commitment.[90] In July 2022, the Arakan Army stated that it used solely command-detonated landmines, but gave no indication as to the status of large numbers of antipersonnel mines that it has captured from the Myanmar Armed Forces.[91]

Responses to new landmine use

Previously, various Myanmar government officials have admitted or denied that government forces use antipersonnel landmines.[92]

In June 2022, an officer of the Myanmar Armed Forces told the Monitor that Myanmar does not lay antipersonnel mines.[93] In October 2020, Myanmar denied reports that the Myanmar Armed Forces had laid mines on the border with Bangladesh.[94]

In July 2019, an official at the Union Minister Office for Defence told the Monitor that landmines were still used by the Myanmar Armed Forces in border areas and around infrastructure.[95] In September 2016, the Deputy Minister of Defense, Major General Myint Nwe, told the Myanmar parliament that the army continued to use landmines in internal armed conflicts.[96]

NSAGs active in Myanmar often blame government forces, or each other, for using antipersonnel mines.[97]

In July 2022, Amnesty International condemned antipersonnel mine use by the Myanmar Armed Forces as a war crime, and documented use occurring in early 2022 in Karenni (Kayah) state.[98]

In June 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar documented casualties due to antipersonnel mines, focusing in particular on the impact on children and recommending that a future civilian government accede to the Mine Ban Treaty.[99]

In November 2021, at the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, the ICBL condemned new use of antipersonnel mines in Myanmar, and called on all governments to strongly condemn this use.[100]

In 2020, eight donors contributed US$4.1 million to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar for mine action; a 35% decrease compared to the annual level of funding received in 2019.[1]

2020 Monitor total does not include Denmark support to Danish Refugee Council (DRC) operations in Myanmar as it was part of a multisectoral humanitarian and resilience assistance programme, for which the specific amount going toward demining was not available, and as such could not be included in the Monitor support database.[2]

All international contributions went to non-technical survey, risk education, or victim assistance activities through non-governmental organizations.

International contributions: 2020[3]

Since 2016, international mine action assistance to Myanmar has totaled more than $26.5 million, representing an average of $5.3 million per year.

Summary of international contributions: 2016–2020[4]