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Monthly Overview: Attacks Persist in Southeastern Burma Amid Earthquake Relief Efforts as Junta Continues to Deploy Aerial and Ground Assaults While Weaponizing Humanitarian Aid

HURFOM April 2025
On March 28, 2025, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Burma caused the death of thousands, with many more remaining missing and others injured. The tremors were felt nationwide but were particularly catastrophic in Sagaing and Mandalay as century-old buildings and religious sites collapsed. In targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, there was considerable damage to several villages and buildings, as well as flooding due to rivers overflowing. 

In response to the earthquake, local rescue efforts quickly began to help find survivors and treat the injured. International relief efforts were also underway when the junta began imposing limitations, including allowing access to neighbouring allies such as China and India, but denying emergency assistance teams from Taiwan. Even during a harrowing natural disaster, the junta has not ceased to deploy attacks against sheltering civilians or those seeking refuge in neighbouring states and regions, after the loss of their homes. 

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Monthly Overview: Indiscriminate Attacks by the Military Junta Lead to Widespread Forced Displacement and Ongoing Fears in Southeastern Burma

Civilians are under constant attack and face serious threats to their overall well-being in targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region. The escalation of assaults by the military junta has deprived children of safe pathways to education and seriously undermined livelihood opportunities for families. In a case documented by HURFOM at the beginning of the month, the junta’s violent and unpredictable presence prevented 500 internally displaced people from returning to their villages.

Despite no active fighting around Kyone Long (Old) village in Ye Township, Mon State, junta troops remain stationed in the area, preventing 456 displaced villagers from going home. Junta soldiers set up camp at a monastery in Eye Poke village, creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity for those who fled.

“We don’t dare to return as long as the military is in the village. It’s simply not safe. Right now, going back home would mean risking our lives,” said a displaced villager.

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Monthly Overview: Targeting of Internally Displaced Persons, Including Women, Children and the Elderly, on the Rise in Southeastern Burma

Human Rights Situation in Mon State, Karen State & Tanintharyi Region, February 2025

Over the past month, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has observed a concerning escalation in attacks on women and children. The worsening instability throughout Burma indicates that the junta has vastly underestimated the resistance it would encounter in its illegal and unlawful attempt to seize power. As the regime struggles on the battlefield, it has deployed retaliatory strategies that isolate and impact the most vulnerable. Women, children, and the elderly are being targeted in unprovoked airstrikes and indiscriminate attacks, as the junta aims to use violence as a tool of terror. 

At the beginning of the month, In Ye Township, Mon State, three women, including two internally displaced persons (IDPs), were injured when junta troops indiscriminately fired heavy artillery into Wapathae Village, Baelamu Village Tract, despite no active fighting in the area. On the night of January 24, troops from the Junta’s Artillery Regiment No. 317, based in Ye Township, launched five artillery shells into Wapathae Village. The shells exploded inside the village, injuring:

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Monthly Overview: Four Years Since the Attempted Coup in Burma Marks an Ongoing Downfall of Rights & Freedoms 

HURFOM January 2024

Four years have now passed since the attempted coup in Burma on 1 February 2021. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has worked tirelessly to document the worrying escalation of violations. We have utilized established human rights defenders (HRDs) networks, trusted documentation teams, and well-trained personnel.

The ongoing conflict in southeastern Burma has led to severe human rights abuses, with widespread violence directed at civilians. The last year ended with an increase in forced displacement and a worsening humanitarian crisis, which has led to millions displaced. In HURFOM target areas of Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region, there were at least 63,000 forced to flee their homes in December 2024. This month, that number increased to 73,500.

There are life-threatening shortages in preventive treatment and care, especially for young children and expectant mothers. Educational prospects for many have been forcibly put on hold. Livelihood opportunities are virtually non-existent, particularly in rural areas. Families have suffered innumerable losses as the struggle to survive is one of endless anxiety about the future.

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Monthly Overview: A Devastating Year for Civilians in Burma as Displacement Soars amid a Worsening Humanitarian Crisis

December 2024

As 2024 ends, documentation by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) indicates an ongoing deterioration of human rights in Burma. In the target areas of Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, civilians continue to face a barrage of threats to their safety and well-being, including ongoing indiscriminate firing, where women, children, and the elderly are among those who have been killed and wounded.

Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, landmines, gender violence and destruction of properties are among the many crimes perpetrated by the military junta. Throughout the year, HURFOM released a series of reports spotlighting various areas of concern, including the impacts of the junta’s deeply flawed forced conscription enforcement, the gendered implications of the conflict through the Voice Up series as well as weekly and monthly updates that provided context on the alarming erosion of human rights in HURFOM areas.

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November 2024: Escalated Attacks Across Southeastern Burma, including Artillery Shelling, Airstrikes and Arson, Threaten Civilian Security

Monthly Overview of the Human Rights Situation

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) remains alarmed at the increase in attacks perpetrated by the military junta. In the past, HURFOM’s documentation efforts focused on ten townships in Mon State, southern Karen State, and northern Tanintharyi Region, primarily areas bordering Mon State. However, since the military coup, the need for human rights monitoring has increased dramatically as violations have surged across a wider area, such as in such as Kyainnseikyi, Hpa-an, Kawkareik, Myaingkalay, Long Lone, Thayet-Chaung, Yebyu, Palaw, Pala, Boke Pyin, Myeik, Kyun Su, Taninthayi, and Kawthaung.

Throughout the year, the junta’s increased militarization has led to the formation of militia forces, granting them privileges and empowering allied groups to strengthen their control over villages. As a result, there are more threats to personal safety, severe restrictions on livelihoods and travel, and widespread property extortion. Communities have faced ongoing artillery shelling and airstrikes by the junta, often perpetrated when there are no active armed clashes nearby. The military is deliberating, targeting innocent villagers to incite fear as many local areas have turned into battlegrounds.

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Voice Up IV: A Gendered Lens on Human Rights in Southeastern Burma (Sep-Nov 2024)

Introduction

This report is the fourth in a series of quarterly updates and analyses, combining data collected from the ground by the Women and Child Rights project of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM).

Before the attempted coup in Burma on 1 February 2021, HURFOM published similar content in a bulletin-style format under the title ‘Voice Up.’ The Women and Children’s Rights project is of utmost importance as it seeks to monitor the situation of women and children in Mon areas and southern Burma and how it relates to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Field staff collect and distribute information and data to our local and international networks.

The findings empower and educate women and children in the Mon community by providing information on their rights, according to CEDAW and CRC, and encouraging them to participate in the struggle to protect and enforce their fundamental freedoms.

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October 2024: Monthly Overview of the Human Rights Situation

Summary overview and analysis

Surveillance on the Rise in Southeastern Burma as Civilians Seek Safety and Protection from Ongoing Atrocities by the Military Junta

Human rights violations across southeastern Burma continue to cause distress and alarm among local civilians. In targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region, local people increasingly face restrictions on their ability to travel and work freely, with multiple forms of extortion imposed for permits. This extends to the epidemic of arbitrary arrests, which undermines civilian rights and freedoms.

In addition, the junta-enforced census, which began in mid-October, poses several risks to local security. For example, the census includes a controversial question about the language spoken at home instead of directly asking about ethnicity. This has led to fears that ethnic minorities who respond by saying they speak Burmese at home will automatically be classified as “Burmese” in the census, undermining their ethnic identity.

In the last census, the Mon ethnic population accounted for over one million. However, given the format of this new census, some worry that the Mon population could drop below one million because many, particularly those in urban areas or certain villages, predominantly speak Burmese at home. Critics say this concern reflects the junta’s broader political strategy of diluting ethnic representation and influence in the country.

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September 2024: Floods Devastate Communities Across Southeastern Burma, Displacing Thousands

Rising water levels and flooding across Burma devastated communities throughout September. Beginning on the 10th, rising water levels significantly impacted people in urban and rural areas, forcing thousands to flee only with what they could carry. Typhoon Yagi has affected target areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), including Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi region.

Over 16,000 people in Karen State were displaced last month, especially in townships such as Hpa-an, Hlaingbwe, and Myawaddy, as floodwaters reached critical levels. In Tanintharyi, water levels rose to over 8 meters, affecting areas around the township and forcing over 300 people to evacuate. The ongoing weather conditions and high internal displacement levels have worsened the situation for thousands across these regions.

In Mon State, further challenges have arisen in areas such as Bilin, Kyaik Hto, and territories under the administration of the Karen National Union (KNU) and the local defense groups. Heavy rains and subsequent flooding forced approximately 600 households to relocate to higher ground for safety. The severe weather conditions have also displaced residents across multiple villages in these areas, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, mainly where local governance and the KNU leaders oversee the situation. Between 12 and 16 September, approximately 48 villages along both sides of the Sittaung River in Kyaik Hto, Bilin, and Thaton townships were flooded. Landslides impacted nearly 5,000 households, affecting close to 50,000 people.

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“Voice Up Issue 3” Update: Gendered Human Rights Overview in Southeastern Burma (June-August 2024)

Introduction

This report is the third in a series of quarterly updates and analyses, combining data collected from the ground by the Women and Child Rights project of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM). Before the attempted coup in Burma on 1 February 2021, HURFOM published similar content in a bulletin-style format under the title Voice Up. The Women and Children’s Rights project is of utmost importance as it seeks to monitor the situation of women and children in Mon areas and southern Burma and how it relates to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Field staff collect and distribute information and data to our local and international networks. The findings empower and educate women and children in the Mon community by providing information on their rights, according to CEDAW and CRC, and encouraging them to participate in the struggle to protect and enforce their fundamental freedoms.

Activities under the project include:

1. A bi-annual Mon and Burmese-language journal titled: Our Rights Journal
2. Capacity building, which provides training in women’s and children’s rights and training trainers in both areas.
3. Data collection and documentation on topics such as the trafficking of women and children and violence against women and child soldiers.

The cases of human rights violations perpetrated against women presented in this briefing paper are indicative of decades of military impunity. Despite their many challenges, this report is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of the women human rights defenders leading the documentation efforts. [Please continue read this in pdf]

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