{"id":159611,"date":"2020-05-11T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T11:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=159611"},"modified":"2020-05-01T05:19:35","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T04:19:35","slug":"while-the-world-focuses-on-covid-19-indigenous-peoples-in-myanmar-are-being-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/05\/while-the-world-focuses-on-covid-19-indigenous-peoples-in-myanmar-are-being-killed\/","title":{"rendered":"While the World Focuses on COVID-19, Indigenous Peoples in Myanmar Are Being Killed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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28 Apr 2020 – <\/em>As large parts of the world\u2019s population are sitting at home in self- and authority-imposed isolation watching the development of the major public health crisis,\u00a0governments in some countries<\/a> are taking advantage of the situation and moving on with their repressive agendas cracking down on opposition groups, silencing\u00a0human rights defenders\u00a0<\/a>and independent\u00a0media<\/a>,\u00a0and subjecting entire ethnic groups to\u00a0brutal\u00a0military\u00a0campaigns.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Photo by Signe Leth \/\/ IWGIA<\/p><\/div>\n

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The trend has become so obvious that\u00a0the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0that:\u00a0\u201cEmergency declarations based on the\u00a0COVID-19 outbreak should not be used as a basis to target particular groups, minorities, or individuals. It should not function as a cover for repressive action under the guise of protecting health nor should it be used to silence the work of human rights defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>In\u00a0Myanmar, as in\u00a0some\u00a0other countries\u00a0around the world,\u00a0the government has\u00a0seemingly been\u00a0using\u00a0the\u00a0COVID-19\u00a0situation<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0step up its military campaign in\u00a0areas inhabited by\u00a0Indigenous\u00a0Peoples, while at the same time\u00a0launching an\u00a0attack on the freedom of speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the world is occupied with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Myanmar military continues to escalate its assault in Rakhine State, targeting the civilian population,\u201d Yanghee Lee, who is concluding her tenure as UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,\u00a0said in a 29 April statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No ceasefire during\u00a0COVID-19 crisis<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

On 23 March\u00a0Myanmar officially registered its first COVID-19 case and since then has been stepping up its efforts to contain the spread of the virus. However,\u00a0the country\u2019s efforts to combat the diseases\u00a0have not\u00a0altered its military operations in Indigenous and ethnic minority areas.<\/p>\n

Calls for a global ceasefire by the UN Secretary-General have been overwhelmingly supported by ethnic armed organisations, national and international civil society groups and diplomatic missions in Burma\/Myanmar; however, these calls have been completely rejected by the Burmese Army (Tatmadaw). In\u00a0fact,\u00a0the last few weeks have\u00a0even\u00a0seen an intensification of fighting in Rakhine and Chin states and aggressive incursions into ceasefire areas by the Tatmadaw.<\/p>\n

Intensified fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army \u2013 an armed opposition group fighting for the self-determination of the peoples of Rakhine that has been designated as\u00a0a\u00a0terrorist organisation by the Myanmar government \u2013 has also taken place in the last two months.<\/p>\n

In the past few weeks, fierce\u00a0fighting on an almost daily basis has resulted in the loss of more than 50 civilians, as the Tatmadaw indiscriminately shell and launch airstrikes on civilian infrastructure. UNICEF reported<\/a>\u00a0that by\u00a0the end of March the number of people displaced as a result of violence in Rakhine and Chin states reached 69,000 people, with March alone seeing 12,000 civilians abandoning their communities.<\/p>\n

Violence in Rakhine state has directly impeded humanitarian agencies assisting Myanmar in combating\u00a0COVID-19. On 20 April a marked UN World Health Organisation (WHO) vehicle transporting COVID-19 samples came under\u202fattack<\/a>, resulting in the killing of the driver and serious injury to the passenger.<\/p>\n

With the recent intensification of the confrontations in\u00a0Rakhine and Chin states<\/a>\u00a0international media and the UN are starting to give the outside world a glimpse of what has been happening in the country\u2019s Indigenous areas for decades.\u00a0The country has been the stage of arguably\u00a0the\u00a0longest civil war\u00a0in\u00a0modern history<\/a>\u00a0involving the country\u2019s military and myriad armed opposition groups which continues today.<\/p>\n

The civil war takes an especially heavy toll on Indigenous Peoples of Myanmar. The peace process launched in 2011 effectively came to\u00a0stalemate<\/a>\u00a0in 2019 due to the continued breaking of ceasefires in ethnic areas by the Tatmadaw and the reluctance of the Tatmadaw to make necessary concessions based on ethnic groups\u2019 requirements for self-determination.<\/p>\n

Today, more than\u00a0312,000 people are displaced<\/a>\u00a0by the conflict\u00a0in Myanmar\u00a0\u2013 mostly in Rakhine, Kachin, and northern Shan states, as well as in the South East region. However, there has been very limited media attention to the pleas of the affected peoples.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the country is dealing with the\u00a0COVID-19 pandemic, the military is escalating its offensives against ethnic armed groups in Rakhine, Chin, Karen and northern Shan states,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Naw Hser Hser<\/a>, general-secretary of the Women\u2019s League of Burma, said.<\/p>\n

In February, 300 villagers in Karen state were displaced amid fighting between the\u00a0Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Tatmadaw, with many more at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a list of more than 2,000 villagers \u2013 both who had fled their homes and who are on high alert, ready to flee. If further fighting takes place, these villagers will be forced to run for safety as they are in grave danger,\u201d\u00a0Saw Robin Moo<\/a>, secretary of the Karen National Union\u2019s (KNU) Mutraw District, said.<\/p>\n

In April 2020, the Karen Peace Support network raised concerns that since January, 2,000 troops have been deployed in a KNU-controlled area of Karen state and mortared villages in order to push the development of a strategic\u00a0road in\u00a0Muttraw<\/a>, as a result, thousands of people were displaced.<\/p>\n

Attacks in eastern Karen state, parts of which are under the control of the KNU, include a 31 March incident in which soldiers\u00a0killed<\/a>\u00a0a 56-year-old man returning from a shopping trip and a 5 March incident in which soldiers killed a forest ranger, according to a monitoring group.<\/p>\n

In Shan state, armed confrontations between government forces and armed opposition groups in February-April have resulted in the death of at least\u00a0one civilian<\/a>,\u00a0population displacements, forced\u00a0labour\u00a0and property loss.<\/a><\/p>\n

These examples clearly show that the Tatmadaw is not reducing or halting their programmes, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0Observers<\/a> are even suggesting that the policy of ethnic cleansing that started with\u00a0the Rohingyas<\/a>\u00a0is now moving on to Indigenous Peoples and other minority groups.<\/p>\n

Indigenous activists, whom IWGIA is in touch with directly, condemn the killings and fundamental violations of human rights that are happening, and fear that this is only the beginning: \u201cToday it is Rakhine, tomorrow it can be somewhere else. Potentially all Indigenous Peoples are at absolute risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding\u00a0on 1 April\u00a0to\u00a0calls\u00a0issued\u00a0by\u00a0a number of\u00a0ethnic armed organizations, including the Arakan Army, to halt fighting in order to focus efforts on the\u00a0COVID-19 outbreak response, the Myanmar military have made it very clear that\u00a0ceasefire\u00a0was out of the question.<\/a><\/p>\n

Moreover, there are known cases where the Tatmadaw has threatened civilians with arrests for accepting\u00a0COVID-19-related assistance offered by opposition groups. This comes directly against ceasefire provisions, namely NCA Chapter 6, Article 25 provisions on health awareness education and disease prevention in Indigenous areas.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Signe Leth \/\/ IWGIA<\/p><\/div>\n

Clampdown on freedom of speech\u00a0and information\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

While access to information, including for health promotion purposes, is especially important under the right to health, many states are using the COVID-19 pandemic to put in place heavy restrictions on basic human rights, such as freedom of movement, assembly and even freedom of speech.<\/p>\n

In Myanmar, the government used the coronavirus to grant sweeping powers to the military-dominated COVID-19 task force as a pretext to shut down\u00a0more than 200\u00a0homepages<\/a>\u00a0as a means to control the spread of \u201cfake news\u201d and \u201cdisinformation\u201d about the virus.<\/p>\n

However, several of the shut-down sites\u00a0are\u00a0Indigenous news sites featuring critical journalists who have made space for Indigenous leaders to speak up against ongoing human rights violations.<\/p>\n

The government has also been targeting\u00a0prominent journalists<\/a>\u00a0who have interviewed representatives of ethnic armed opposition groups that have recently been labelled as terrorists under national legislation, meaning that any journalist communicating with members of such groups is liable to be arrested.<\/p>\n

In light of the increasing number of\u00a0attacks on journalists<\/a>, UN human rights experts issued a\u00a0joint statement<\/a>\u00a0reminding governments that: \u201cThe right of access to information means that governments must be making exceptional efforts to protect the work of journalists. Journalism serves a crucial function at a moment of public health emergency, particularly when it aims to inform the public of critical information and monitors government actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Internet access has been\u00a0blocked<\/a>\u00a0completely in nine townships in Rakhine since June 2019, making access to information a challenge. This internet and telecommunications blackout also affects Chin and Rakhine states, and restricts Internally Displaced Person communities from having up-to-date information on government planning and understanding how to protect themselves from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

In addition to restricting access to dissenting voices, the government\u00a0has not\u00a0done much to provide vitally important information about\u00a0COVID-19 and measures to prevent its spread to Indigenous and ethnic minority communities. IWGIA\u2019s Indigenous partners report there has been little to nothing produced in ethnic languages\u00a0on the virus\u00a0from the government.<\/p>\n

Burmanisation and economic interests<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/h3>\n

Ever since independence\u00a0in 1948,\u00a0brutal\u00a0conflicts\u00a0over Indigenous territories have played out with thousands of lives lost\u00a0over the pursuit of economic, cultural,\u00a0religious,\u00a0and political control\u00a0and dominance.<\/p>\n

Continuous marginalisation, discrimination and consistent implicit\u00a0favouring\u00a0of Burmans over Indigenous Peoples1<\/sup>\u00a0fuels support from communities to the ethnic armed groups fighting for greater self-determination and autonomy for their peoples.<\/p>\n

The constant arbitrary arrests,\u00a0brutal torture, rape and killings<\/a>\u00a0that accompany operations aimed at defending national interests \u2013 meaning Burman interests \u2013\u00a0has put fuel to the\u00a0fire for generations.<\/p>\n

Examples of\u00a0discriminatory practices and policies\u00a0include:\u00a0the demolition of\u00a0Christian churches\u00a0replaced by Buddhist shrines<\/a><\/u>;\u00a0the\u00a0Vacant, Fallow and Virgin (VFV) Land Management Law<\/a>\u00a0covering\u00a0almost a third of the country\u2019s territory, most of which is located in traditional Indigenous areas\u00a0thus\u00a0disproportionately\u00a0affecting Indigenous\u00a0populations\u00a0who become trespassers on their own ancestral lands if they do not get the correct permits; Christians not receiving government benefits;\u00a0and disproportionately limited funding for education in\u00a0Indigenous\u00a0languages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The destruction of monuments<\/a>\u00a0of cultural, religious and historical significance to Indigenous Peoples is another example of how the state uses\u00a0its powers to\u00a0try to\u00a0wipe out the identity of Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n

At the core of the struggle we see a fight to control the natural resources in Indigenous territories.\u00a0The state has strong economic interests\u00a0in using the natural resources found in Indigenous territories.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0VFV\u00a0Law imposed in 2019 clearly spells out the view of the state that Indigenous territories that lie fallow should be\u00a0used for economic gains.\u00a0However, Indigenous Peoples have the right to self-determined development in their territories\u00a0according to article 3 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to which Myanmar is a signatory.<\/p>\n

In Karen state for example,\u00a0the Shwe Kokko city project\u00a0is a\u00a0massive project near the Thailand border on Indigenous Karen land. In effect, it is\u00a0a new Chinese city, built by Chinese investors, construction firms and\u00a0labour, which will include hotels, casinos, restaurants and villas.\u00a0The project has neither\u00a0sought\u00a0nor\u00a0received\u00a0free, prior and informed consent of the Karen, who will receive no benefits from the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Burma Army has no right to sell off a vast tract of contested Karen territory to foreign speculators before a peace accord has been reached and a new federal constitution actualised, granting local communities rights to decide over their own lands and resources,\u201d the Karen Peace Support Network\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lessons from the\u00a0Tatmadaw\u2019s\u00a0violent attacks, and the imposition of\u00a0\u2018development\u2019 and extractive activities in\u00a0Indigenous territories\u00a0not supported or suggested by the Indigenous inhabitants of those areas, can be learned from\u00a0Kachin State<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ceasefire period between 1994 and 2011 saw a massive rise in resource extraction, environmental destruction and subjugation\u00a0and silencing\u00a0of grassroots calls for self-determination, ethnic equality and a federal democracy in\u00a0favour\u00a0of benefitting\u00a0a few elites.<\/p>\n

This\u00a0ceasefire capitalism<\/a>\u00a0proved to be inherently unsustainable\u00a0and\u00a0renewed conflict broke out in 2011, which has continued until this day,\u00a0displacing<\/a>\u00a0over 100,000 people and facilitating an uncountable litany of human rights violations, mostly perpetrated by the Myanmar military. These violations amounted to what the UN-Mandated Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar\u00a0found\u00a0<\/a>were crimes against humanity and war crimes.<\/p>\n

The world must act to protect Indigenous Peoples and minorities <\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

IWGIA is\u00a0extremely worried about the civilian population in Myanmar caught in the middle of the dual COVID-19 and armed conflict crisis.\u00a0The Government\u00a0of Myanmar\u00a0must ensure the right to health, including access to health-related information in\u00a0all languages of the peoples of Myanmar.<\/p>\n

IWGIA\u00a0denounces\u00a0the continued attacks on Indigenous communities in Myanmar and echoes what Naw Htoo Htoo, a spokeswoman for the Karen Peace Support Network\u00a0said<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cAt a time when everyone needs to work together to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the government of Burma and the Burma Army seem to see the global focus on the pandemic as an opportunity to further crackdown on ethnic people.\u201d<\/p>\n

IWGIA calls on the government to protect Indigenous Peoples\/civil populations from atrocities\u00a0and hold perpetrators to account.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving faced no accountability, the Tatmadaw continues to operate with impunity. For decades, its tactics have intentionally maximised civilian suffering; we all know what they did to the Rohingya in 2017. They are now targeting all civilians in the conflict area, with people from Rakhine, Rohingya, Mro, Daignet and Chin communities being killed in recent months. Their alleged crimes must be investigated in accordance with international standards, with perpetrators being held accountable.\u201d\u00a0UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IWGIA\u00a0is extremely concerned about\u00a0the targeting\u00a0of those delivering relief\u00a0assistance and\u00a0calls on the\u00a0Government of Myanmar to ensure the safety and smooth operation of humanitarian agencies.<\/p>\n

IWGIA calls on the\u00a0Government of Myanmar to uphold freedom of expression\u00a0and the right to information.<\/p>\n

IWGIA urges all parties to the conflict to\u00a0re-start the peace process to find a\u00a0long-term solution\u00a0building on the right to\u00a0self-determination of all the peoples of Myanmar, including the right to choose the model of development in their territories.<\/p>\n

The horrible suffering of the Rohingyas has drawn worldwide attention;\u00a0let us\u00a0ensure that\u00a0the\u00a0pleas of\u00a0other peoples of Myanmar affected by violence\u00a0are also heard and responded to by the world.<\/p>\n

IWGIA\u00a0applauds\u00a0the\u00a0diplomatic missions<\/a>\u00a0to call for an end to the conflict \u2013 but urges them\u00a0to broaden\u00a0the appeal and keep attention to include other\u00a0Indigenous\u00a0territories.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Myanmar\u2019s diverse population encompasses over 100 different ethnic groups. The Burmans make up an estimated 68% of Myanmar\u2019s 51.5 million people. The country is divided into seven Burman-dominated regions and seven ethnic states. The Burmese government refers to those groups generally considered to be indigenous peoples as \u201cethnic nationalities\u201d. This includes the Shan, Karen, Rakhine, Karenni, Chin, Kachin and Mon. However, there are more ethnic groups that are considered or see themselves as indigenous peoples, such as the Akha, Lisu, Lahu, Mru and many others. Myanmar has been ruled by a succession of Burman-dominated military regimes since the popularly elected government was toppled in 1962. https:\/\/www.iwgia.org\/images\/documents\/indigenous-world\/IndigenousWorld2019_UK.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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IWGIA is following the situation of indigenous peoples and their rights. Get the latest updates, alerts, stories and up-to-date facts here. <\/em><\/strong>Click here for more news.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Go to Original – human-wrongs-watch.net<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

28 Apr 2020 – As large parts of the world\u2019s population are sitting at home in self- and authority-imposed isolation watching the development of the major public health crisis,\u00a0governments in some countries are taking advantage of the situation and moving on with their repressive agendas cracking down on opposition groups, silencing\u00a0human rights defenders\u00a0and independent\u00a0media, and subjecting entire ethnic groups to\u00a0brutal\u00a0military\u00a0campaigns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":159612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[677],"tags":[240,1692,1688,1198,526,101,100,1199,1782,865,260,487,1644,651,1417,103,107,527,985,99,124],"class_list":["post-159611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-updates-on-myanmar-rohingya-genocide","tag-asia","tag-aung-san-suu-kyi","tag-bangladesh","tag-buddhism","tag-burma-myanmar","tag-cultural-violence","tag-direct-violence","tag-ethnic-cleansing","tag-free-rohingya-coalition","tag-genocide","tag-history","tag-human-rights","tag-international-court-of-justice-icj","tag-justice","tag-maung-zarni","tag-racism","tag-religion","tag-rohingya","tag-social-justice","tag-structural-violence","tag-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}