Type of Incident

Landmine incident

Date of Incident(s)

January 9th 2022

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

M--- village, Meh Klaw village tract,[2] Bu Tho Township, Mu Traw District

Victim Information

Name

Saw[3] H---

Age

55

Sex

Male

Ethnicity

Karen

Family   

Married

Occupation

Day labourer

Religion

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Village

M--- village, Meh Klaw village tract, Bu Tho Township, Mu Traw District

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

A KHRG researcher contacted a villager living in M--- village via phone call and documented the landmine incident.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The source is a villager in M--- village who helped carry the victim back to the village following the incident, and also accompanied the victim to the hospital in Hpapun Town.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. For each incident, be sure to include 1) when the incident happened, 2) where it happened, 3) what happened, 4) how it happened, 5) who was involved, and 6) why it happened. Also describe any villager response(s) to the incident, the aftermath and the current living situation of the victims. Please use the space prepared below, and create an attachment if needed.

On January 9th 2022, a 55-year-old villager named Saw H---, living in M--- village, Meh Klaw village tract, Bu Tho Township, Mu Traw (Hpapun) District went [to the nearby forest] to pick fruit from Daw Ka Tha trees (Oroxylum indicum [commonly known as the Indian Trumpet tree]) to sell. [The fruit from the tree is often eaten as a vegetable with fish paste and rice.] He would use the money he earned [selling Daw Ka Tha] to buy rice for his family. He had been to forage in the forest three times that day. The third time, at about 2:55 pm, he stepped on a landmine.

As soon as the landmine exploded, he shouted out loud, calling for help. Hearing the sound of a man shouting, the villagers from M--- village went to find him at the location of the incident. Both his legs were badly injured due to the landmine explosion. At first, the villagers took him to his home. The villagers then sent him by car to the Military Operations Command (MOC)[4] (Byu Ha) Hospital (100-bed tactical hospital) located in Hpapun Town. He passed away immediately after arriving at the hospital, without receiving treatment.

Prior to the incident, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[5] had informed villagers from M--- village in advance that the area was contaminated with landmines. The State Adminstration Council (SAC)[6] Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[7] #434 also warned the villagers not to leave the village [because of landmine contamination in the area]. However, there were no marks or signs showing precisely where the landmines had been planted. The villagers living in M--- village believe that the exploded landmine was planted by the KNLA.

The villagers living in M--- village have never attended Mine Risk Awareness training as it has not been provided in the village. Therefore, the villagers have less knowledge of the risk of landmines. [Many also depend on foraging in the nearby forest to earn their livelihood, and thus are more vulnerable to the dangers of landmine contamination.]

The landmine victim leaves behind two family members: his wife and 15-year-old daughter. As it is hard to travel and find jobs, the family is facing difficulty earning a livelihood. Currently, no organisation is providing support to the family of the landmine victim.

M--- villagers have also reported their livestock being killed in landmine explosions. This, along with increased fighting and shelling along the road between Hpapun and K’Ma Moh (Kamarmaung) towns, has heightened villagers’ fear of travel in the area.

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

The source allowed KHRG to use the information provided.