Type of Incident

Landmine explosion

Date of Incident(s)

March 1st 2021

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

D--- place,[2] three miles [4.83 km] away from T--- village, Kheh Kah Hkoh village tract,[3] Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

Victim Information

Name

Saw[4] E---

Naw[5] M---

Age

24

19

Sex

Male

Female

Nationality

Karen

Karen

Family   

Single

Single

Occupation

Motorbike repairman

Shopkeeper

Religion

Animist

Animist

Position

Villager

Villager

Village

T--- village, Kheh Kah Hkoh village tract, Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

T--- village, Kheh Kah Hkoh village tract, Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

We interviewed the aunt of one of the victims who was killed in the landmine explosion. She gave us information about the incident.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The source is a relative of one of the victims.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On March 1st 2021, 24-year-old Saw E--- and 19-year-old Naw M--- died in a landmine explosion. Both of them were from T--- village, Kheh Kah Hkoh village tract, Ler Doh Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. They were travelling to Ler Doh Town to purchase goods for their shop when the incident happened [the two victims were in a relationship]. Saw K---, an 18-year-old villager from the same village, was accompanying them.

At 7:30 AM, the motorbike both victims were riding on hit a landmine at D--- place, three miles away from T--- village. Saw E--- and Naw M--- died on the spot. Saw K---, who was riding on another motorbike, sustained slight shrapnel-induced injuries to his lips and legs [he had fully recovered by the time of drafting]. Saw K--- immediately returned to the village and informed the victims’ families and the local authorities about the incident, after which they went to the incident location and brought back the corpses of the victims to the village.

This was not the first landmine incident in the area. In February 2021 [KHRG could not establish the exact date], a villager from T--- village sustained slight injuries to his hands and legs in a landmine explosion near D--- place. According to Naw B---, Naw M---’s aunt, the loads he was transporting on his motorbike prevented him from getting more seriously injured [by shielding him from the blast and shrapnel]. In the past, other villagers were killed or injured in landmine explosions because they had to travel through former battlefields to work for their livelihoods or buy food in town.

The Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) has been conducting regular mine risk education workshops for the local villagers from 2006 to 2020. Local households would typically send one of their members to attend these workshops so they can share what they have learned with their family. Therefore, most villagers are aware of the danger posed by landmines and unexploded ordnance; and they know how to protect themselves from it.

Local villagers were also told by the local [Karen National Union - KNU][6] authorities to avoid using the road from the western part of the village to Ler Doh Town [along which both incidents happened] due to landmine contamination. The last time they were warned was in January 2021. Although local villagers now generally avoid this particular road, some still use it to go and buy food in town [because it is faster than the alternate route]. Villagers from T--- village do not know which armed actors planted these landmines, but they think that they were planted during past rounds of fighting between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[7] and the Tatmadaw.[8]

According to Naw B---, local villagers have stopped going to certain areas and using the contaminated road since the incident: “We are now afraid to use that road because of the two [landmine] incidents that happened in the same area. We do not dare to go to the areas surrounding the village. We are so worried. Even though we were told not to use the prohibited road, we need to go to town to buy goods. If we don’t, we will have nothing left to eat. Since the last landmine incident, the villagers are afraid and they do not feel safe enough to go to the areas surrounding the village.” The villagers in T--- village rely on farming for their livelihoods, but they are now too afraid of [landmine contamination to] go to their fields.

Villagers were informed about the presence of landmines in the areas surrounding the village, but they have never heard of any authorities taking action to remove them. According to Naw B---, the local community now want the landmines to be removed so they can live without fear: “I think there are still a lot of landmines in the area. Villagers’ livestock and villagers were injured in landmine explosions. I think these landmines […] should be removed so that we can be free from the fear of landmine explosions. The villagers living in this village buy their food in town. How can we survive without being able to travel to buy food? Our lives on this earth are short. The past is the past. During this NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement][9] period, we want to work on the lands we inherited from our ancestors. In these conditions, there will be no development in our lives. That is so discouraging.”

The families of the victims now want counselling [they want to be encouraged to overcome their grief]. Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion (IB)[10] #92 is based near T--- village. Their Commander encouraged [offered his condolences to] the victims’ families. In addition, he gave them three sacks of rice and a sack of beans. The victims’ families also received [financial] support from relatives living in other countries. [The families did not express the need for further support.]

Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided.

A relative of one of the victims gave KHRG permission to use this information.