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Weekly Analysis: Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi Region

Landmines Pose Growing Risk to the Safety and Security of Civilians in Southeastern Burma

Landmine detonations have caused deaths and injuries for many civilians in Burma. They are hidden and are often discovered before it is too late, causing extreme pain and trauma to victims. Since the attempted coup, there has been a significant rise in landmine incidents in Burma. According to UNICEF, 32% of landmine casualties in early 2024 were children.

In target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, the presence of landmines has hindered civilian livelihoods and daily lives.

On January 1st, a displaced man from Chaung Hna Pauk village, Tenasserim Township, attempted to return home but was killed by a landmine explosion. The victim, 40-year-old U Zaw Min, and another unknown villager were walking towards their village when they stepped on a landmine.  The body of U Zaw Min was cremated on January 2nd, 2025.

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Weekly Analysis: Mon State Junta Releases Prisoners on Independence Day, But Political Detainee Numbers Remain Low

Week One January 2025

On January 4, 2025, to mark the country’s Independence Day, the junta announced the release of prisoners from various prisons across the nation. The military claimed to have released more than 600 political prisoners. However, these figures, which the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar has verified, show that only about 340 were freed, which is indicative of the thousands who remain unjustly imprisoned. The amnesty serves as a reminder of the junta’s desperate quest for legitimacy while it continues to perpetrate widespread and systematic human rights violations.

While the junta tries to mislead the international community, reports from human rights organizations are furnishing vital evidence of the regime’s human rights violations. In a report released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at least 95 civilians, including over a dozen minors, were killed by the Burma Army in December 2024 alone. Airstrikes were the primary cause of fatalities, as aerial attacks are increasingly endangering civilians.

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Weekly Analysis: Arbitrary Arrests and Enforced Disappearances on the Rise as Junta Targets Locals

HURFOM: The military junta uses arbitrary arrests as a tool to exert fear over innocent civilians. Since the attempted coup, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has documented those arrested and unlawfully detained by the junta in targeted areas of Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region. In addition to arbitrary arrests, the military is also regularly detaining villagers who are not heard from again by their families.
 
The military junta detained the owner of a six-wheeled Canter truck allegedly used by the Ye Township resistance force (Ye Balu group) during their attack on the administrator of Ayu Taung village, according to the vehicle owner’s family and close contacts.

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Weekly Analysis: Fears of Forced Evictions by the Junta Worsen Displacement Crisis

Land grabs by the military junta have been a long-standing threat to the security of local people. A decades-old tactic deployed to exert control over ethnic lands and territory in targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), civilians are concerned about the possibility of further displacement. In Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, forced evictions are frightening communities.

The military junta has ordered the demolition of over 50 homes and shops in Ye Town, Mon State, accusing the residents of illegal land encroachment.

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Weekly Analysis: Displacement Crisis Worsens in Southeastern Burma

HURFOM

Across Southeastern Burma, specifically in target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, the junta is escalating its attacks against sheltering populations who the conflict has impacted.

Renewed clashes between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied forces against the junta troops near the Anankwin strategic camp along the Thanbyuzayat-Three Pagodas Pass Road on the Mon-Karen State border have forced thousands of villagers into prolonged displacement.

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Weekly Analysis: Military Junta Seeks to Illegally Advance Conscription Efforts Through Bribery and Extortion

HURFOM: The 2010 People’s Military Service Law is now being enforced for the first time since it was passed over a decade ago. In February 2024, the military junta unjustly ordered mandatory military service, requiring all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve in the Myanmar Armed Forces for at least two years. The announcement met with immediate backlash and fear as young people felt apprehensive and uncertain. Nearly one year has passed since its implementation, and the impacts continue to be consequential.

In targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, families are devastated as they have been separated from their loved ones who have been recruited to the battlefield while being forced to pay exorbitant rates of bribery and extortion to fund the conscription bid.

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Weekly Analysis: Unprovoked Attacks by the Junta Across Southeastern Burma Spark Fear and Alarm

HURFOM: The junta has scaled up its attacks throughout Southeastern Burma, creating widespread distress and panic among communities who have been routinely displaced. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has observed that in targeted areas of Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region, the military is intentionally targeting local areas and inciting fear and lawlessness.

On November 4th, despite no active armed clashes in the area, the military dropped two 250-pound bombs on Ban Pyae village and four additional bombs on Koe Inn village, Ta Ku village tract, Tenasserim. The artillery shells struck a house in Koe Inn village and injured a man.

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Weekly Analysis: Junta-Deployed Airstirke Target Civilians

HURFOM: In the target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland, including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, civilians are repeatedly under fire from escalating military junta attacks. The increasing brutality is evident in the continued inaction of the international community, which has failed to transform its response to the multiple crises in Burma into tangible actions that would hold the terrorist regime accountable.

During the last week, the junta deliberately set homes on fire, tortured civilians in custody, and fired at individuals and their villages. Airstrikes are also being conducted at an alarming rate, particularly in the Tanintharyi region, where violence has steadily escalated over the past several months.

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Weekly Analysis: Military Junta Ramps Up Conscription Efforts in Southeastern Burma

Nearly four years have passed since the attempted coup. During that time, the military has exerted widespread force and violence against innocent civilians. In response, many pro-democracy forces have been established to challenge the regime’s unjust quest for power. There have been significant losses in territory and bases that the junta once claimed, in addition to record levels of military defections. In response, they mandated the implementation of the People’s Service Law to conscript young men and women to fight against democracy.

Across targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) in Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, families are feeling the devastating impacts of losing their sons and daughters to a war that is fought against their own interests. The junta has ramped up its conscription efforts in Mon State, initiating the sixth batch of military training by targeting young individuals across the region. This latest round of recruitment has seen an increase in financial incentives, suggesting a shift from traditional recruitment methods. Instead of relying solely on defense funds, the junta appears to be pressuring business owners across various townships in Mon State to contribute to funding military conscription efforts.

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Weekly Analysis: Social Relief Organizations Targeted by the Military Junta

Across target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region, the junta continues to deploy terror tactics to discourage support for the resistance. Since the attempted coup in Burma on 1 February 2021, the military has used violence as a retaliatory response to the widespread uprisings and condemnation of their failed power bid. Social relief organizations and humanitarian aid workers have been primarily targeted.

On October 9, the junta charged three members of the ‘Pai Shin Mae’ Emergency Rescue group in Thanbyuzayat, Mon State, under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The members, including the group’s chairman, U Ye Min Htike, along with Ko Win Kyi and Ko Too, were arrested on the night of September 18 at 9 PM and have since been prosecuted under Section 50(j) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

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