Landmines have been a major obstacle to the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes in Kayin State, according to a report published last week by the Karen Human Rights Group. 

The report said there are some 5610 people living in the Myaing Gyi Ngu special area because of fighting that started between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and Kayin Border Guard Forces in 2016. 

It said that about 82 percent of those living in Myaing Gyi Ngu do not want to go home because they are afraid their farms have been sewn with landmines. 

"We have to understand why the peace process has not been implemented as promised. The Myanmar government and Karen armed groups are responsible for peace and for the return of IDPs to their homes," said Saw Wai Lay, the group's spokesperson. 

"The Myanmar government must set up practical procedures to fulfil the needs of the refugees. Their dignity must be respected," he said. 

The refugees do not have access to sufficient food, water, clean and safe waste disposal, basic necessities and livelihoods. They are also injured by landmines near where they harvest vegetables, the report said. 

The armed conflicts in the region are impeding the refugees in Myaing Gyi Ngu from returning home, according to the report. 

As the clashes have subsided, it is hoped that landmines are cleared near the villages where battles took place, said U Saw Sein Pan, who lives in Myaing Gyi Ngu. 

"We are all ready to return home, but last December when we set fire to our paddy fields to clear them for planting, landmines exploded,"  he said. 

The human rights group said landmines killed four villagers from 2016 to 2018. 

"We met with state government officials in May. They said they will clear the mines, but they have not done it," U Saw Sein Pan said. 

Although the Karen National Union, DKBA and Karen Peace Council signed the government-initiated Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement last October, landmines have not yet been cleared. 

Myanmar is not a signatory to the international landmine ban treaty. Although the International Coalition to Ban Landmines worked with the Myanmar government to sign a treaty not to use landmines, the government has yet to follow through on its pledge. 

"I don't dare to return to my village because a landmine injured a person recently. He stepped on the mine when he went to look for vegetables," said a refugee from Kan Nyi Naung village.