Mon, 23 Dec 2024
Photo Set: Villagers’ displacement in Southeast Burma, and reported challenges, from January to October 2024.
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This Photo Set shows photographic evidence from January 2024 to October 2024 of displaced villagers and the conditions they have to endure while internally displaced in Southeast Burma. During this period, KHRG received 1,639 photos of the situation of displacement of villagers in Southeast Burma. This Photo Set includes 57 photographs showing villagers, including children and elderly, from at least 70 villages, who fled their homes, and displays the conditions they faced while sheltering in the jungle, caves, other villages, or in temporary displacement sites. In most cases, villagers fled their homes due to State Administration Council (SAC) attacks in their villages, or in the surroundings. Such attacks in civilian areas seriously impact villagers’ security and livelihoods, as well as their education and access to medical facilities. While displaced, villagers were lacking shelter, food, medicines, proper schooling, and freedom of movement and from fear.

 

Photo Set: Villagers’ displacement in Southeast Burma, and reported challenges, from January to October 2024

The State Administration Council (SAC)[1]’s constant shelling, air strikes, and firing into and near villages in locally-defined Karen State[2] have resulted in death and injuries for villagers, damaged and destroyed villagers’ properties, and inflicted fear on villagers to live in their homes, forcing them to flee. While displaced, villagers encountered difficulties and challenges to secure their livelihood, and obtain healthcare and education. After leaving their homes, villagers live in caves, small huts, tarpaulin tents, makeshift bunkers, in plantation areas and farmlands, in the jungle, and near river sources. Their struggles increase during the rainy season (July to October). Common sicknesses in displacement areas include fever, colds, and diarrhoea; which mostly remain untreated due to a lack of sufficient medicine or healthcare professionals in remote areas where villagers hide. Villagers also encounter food scarcity during displacement as they are unable to return to their villages due to imposed travel restrictions, ongoing fighting, and risk of attacks. In displacement areas, children endure hardships and have to take risks to continue their studies in small makeshift shelters, lacking necessary materials, and constantly in fear.

Displaced villagers still experience persistent fear due to SAC aircraft conducting air reconnaissance, dropping bombs and firing bullets and shells into villages and their surrounding areas, into plantations, and even into displacement sites.[3] As of November 2024, some of the displaced communities have returned to their villages, however, many are unable to return to their village as their houses and plantations were destroyed by air strikes, drone strikes, shelling and fighting, and due to ongoing risks of SAC attacks.

This photo set includes 57 photos from six out of seven districts in locally-defined Karen State: Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton), Taw Oo (Toungoo), Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin), Mergui-Tavoy, Mu Traw (Hpapun), and Dooplaya Districts. These photos were taken between January and October 2024 by local villagers as well as community members who have been trained by KHRG to monitor the human rights situation in their local area.[4] The photographic evidence is presented below and censored where necessary for security purposes. This Photo Set illustrates villagers’ difficulties and challenges related to healthcare, livelihoods and education while being displaced in Southeast Burma.

 

 

 

Further background reading on the situation on displacement in Southeast Burma/Myanmar can be found in the following KHRG reports:

 
Mon, 23 Dec 2024

Footnotes: 

[1] The State Administration Council (SAC) is the executive governing body created in the aftermath of the February 1st 2021 military coup. It was established by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 2nd 2021, and is composed of eight military officers and eight civilians. The chairperson serves as the de facto head of government of Burma/Myanmar and leads the Military Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the government. Min Aung Hlaing assumed the role of SAC chairperson following the coup.

[2] Karen State, defined locally, includes the following areas: Kayin State, Tanintharyi Region and parts of Mon State and Bago Region. Karen State, located in Southeastern Burma, is primarily inhabited by ethnic Karen people. Most of the Karen population resides in the largely rural areas of Southeast Burma, living alongside other ethnic groups, including Bamar, Shan, Mon and Pa’Oh.

[4] KHRG operates in seven areas in Southeast Burma: Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton), Taw Oo (Toungoo), Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin), Mergui-Tavoy, Mu Traw (Hpapun) and Dooplaya and Hpa-an. When KHRG receives information from the field, it organises data according to these seven areas. These are commonly referred to as ‘districts’ and are used by the Karen National Union (KNU), as well as many local Karen organisations, both those affiliated and unaffiliated with the KNU. KHRG’s use of the district designations in reference to our research areas does not imply political affiliation; rather, it is rooted in the fact that many rural communities commonly use these designations. For clarity, the Burmese terms for these districts are provided in brackets but do not correspond with the Burma (Myanmar) government administrative divisions.

[5] A village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large village.

[6] ‘Naw’ is a female honorific title in S’Gaw Karen language used before a person’s name.

[9] ‘Saw’ is a S’gaw Karen male honorific title used before a person’s name.

[10] The People’s Defence Force (PDF) is an armed resistance established independently as local civilian militias operating across the country. Following the February 1st 2021 military coup and the ongoing brutal violence enacted by the junta, the majority of these groups began working with the National Unity Government (NUG), a body claiming to be the legitimate government of Burma (Myanmar), which then formalised the PDF on May 5th 2021 as a precursor to a federal army.

[11] An Infantry Battalion (IB) comprises 500 soldiers. However, most Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers. Yet up to date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. They are primarily used for garrison duty but are sometimes used in offensive operations.

[12] The Karen National Union (KNU) is the main Karen political organisation. It was established in 1947 and has
been in conflict with the government since 1949. The KNU wields power across large areas of Southeast
Myanmar and has been calling for the creation of a democratic federal system since 1976. Although it signed
the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015, following the 2021 coup staged by Burma Army leaders,
the KNU officially stated that the NCA has become void.

[13] In Burmese, ‘betel nut’ and ‘betel leaf’ are referred to as konywet and konthih, respectively, as if they are from the same plant. The Burmese names are also commonly used by Karen language speakers. Betel nut is the seed from an areca palm tree, Areca catechu; "betel leaf" is the leaf of the piper betel vine, belonging to the Piperaceae family.

[14] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the KNU.

[15] A Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) comprises 500 soldiers. Most Light Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw (or Burma Army) are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers, yet up-to-date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). LIBs are primarily used for offensive operations, but they are sometimes used for garrison duties.

[16] A Light Infantry Division (LID) of the Burma military is commanded by a brigadier general, and consists of ten light infantry battalions specially trained in counter-insurgency, jungle warfare, search and destroy operations against ethnic insurgents. They were first incorporated into the Burma military in 1966. LIDs are organised under three Tactical Operations Commands, commanded by a colonel, three battalions each and one reserve, one field artillery battalion, one armoured squad.

[17] ‘U’ is a Burmese title used for elder men, used before their name.

[18] The Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) is the health department of the Karen National Union. It was established in 1956 to address the lack of public healthcare resources in rural Southeast Myanmar. It currently operates a network of community-based clinics in the region, but its capabilities remain limited due to funding constraints.

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Type:
Photo Sets
Issue: Displacement, Injury, Right to education, Right to health
Location:
Karen Districts, Toungoo (Taw Oo) District, Thaton (Doo Tha Htoo) District, Nyaunglebin (Kler Lwee Htoo) District, Mergui-Tavoy District, Hpapun (Mutraw) District, Hpa-an District, Dooplaya District
Year:
2024

Related Readings

Photo Set: Villagers’ displacement in Southeast Burma, and reported challenges, from January to October 2024.