Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlmyanmar



Myanmar <![CDATA[Landmines in Myanmar are concentrated on its borders with Bangladesh, India and Thailand, and in eastern parts of the country marked by decades-old struggles for autonomy by ethnic minorities. However, 10 of Myanmar’s 14 states and divisions suffer from some degree of mine contamination, primarily from antipersonnel mines.

Ethnic minority communities in eastern states bordering Thailand reported that government troops continued to use mines in 2007 and 2008 as part of an offensive against minority anti-government armies, adding to the problem in what was already the most mine-affected part of the country. Human rights organizations allege that the army and allied armed groups laid large numbers of mines in order to separate armed groups from their civilian populations and as part of a “concerted policy denying people their livelihoods and food.” Military wings of ethnic groups and ordinary villagers also emplaced mines to hinder the movement of government troops.

Mine contamination was reported in eastern Shan state around Kalaw, the area from Mong-Pan to Mongton, and east of Lashio. In northern and central Karen state, the roadsides of new roads built into areas of ethnic minority insurgency are frequently mined to prevent unauthorized population movements.

Mine contamination has prevented proposed development projects in some border areas, including near gem mining sites and on land earmarked for infrastructure projects such as the Baluchaung hydroelectric power station in central Karenni state.

In 2007, at least 438 new mine/ERW casualties were reported in Myanmar (47 killed, 338 injured, and 53 unknown), based on media reports and information provided by NGOs and other organizations. All but nine were civilians; two were Thai nationals. For most of the casualties gender and age details were unknown (298). However, among casualties with such details most were males (124) including nine soldiers and five boys; 16 were females (three girls). Antipersonnel mines caused 407 casualties, antivehicle mines caused two, and unknown or unconfirmed devices caused 29. For 147, the activity at the time of the incident was known. Most common were: foraging for forest and jungle produce or collecting wood (46), traveling (22), agriculture (19), portering (18), and forced labor (16). At least five people were injured during “atrocity” demining.

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