The Burmese military presence also increased dramatically, from 26 battalions in to almost 50 in , bringing at the same time an increase in the allegations of human rights violations and atrocities such as land confiscations with little or no compensation , forced labour and sexual violence. The SPDC appeared to appoint ethnic Burmans to almost all administrative positions in towns such as Danai, leading to the virtual elimination of any use of the Kachin language in local affairs.
There were also claims of Kachin Christian parents being offered free schooling for their children at Buddhist monasteries, and of Burmese soldiers being encouraged by authorities to marry Kachin women to convert them to Buddhism. Fighting has increased since then, including full-scale land and aerial assault on the ethnic rebel strongholds, killing civilians and forcing thousands from their homes.
Approximately , people remain displaced in Kachin and northern Shan State as a result of the fighting, with many struggling to access essential services in the wake of a blockage of humanitarian assistance by the government and military. Reports of abuses against civilians by the Myanmar army in Kachin State continued, including extrajudicial killings, rape and sexual abuse, torture, indiscriminate attacks on civilians and forced labour: both the government and ethnic armies have been accused of using civilians for forced labour and as human shields.
The situation is complicated by the presence of natural resources, particularly jade, that the government is eager to exploit. Only a small proportion of the billions of dollars of jade sourced from the region, however, is accounted for. Struggles to maintain control of the resource by vested interests with links to the military have resulted in continued fighting in certain areas. In July , the government announced that no new permits would be issued nor existing ones renewed until a regulatory legal framework is settled, a significant step to reform the industry.
Profile The Kachin encompass a number of ethnic groups speaking almost a dozen distinct languages belonging to the Tibeto-Burman linguistic…. Sign up to Minority rights Group International's newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and publications. Since August, MRG has been assisting Afghan minority activists and staff from our partner organizations as their lives and their work came under threat with the return of the Taliban.
We need your help. For the last three years, we at MRG have run projects promoting freedom of religion and belief across Asia. In Afghanistan we have fostered strong partnerships with amazing local organizations representing ethnic and religious minorities. They were doing outstanding work, educating minority community members about their rights, collecting evidence of discrimination and human rights abuses, and carrying out advocacy.
Not all have been able to flee. Many had no option but to go into hiding. Some did not have a valid passport. Activists can no longer carry out the work they had embarked on. They can no longer draw a salary, which means they cannot feed their families. With a season of failed crops and a cold winter ahead, the future is bleak for too many.
We refuse to leave Afghanistan behind. We are asking you today to stand by us as we stand by them. We will also use your donations to support our Afghan partners to pay their staff until they can regroup and make new plans, to use their networks to gather and send out information when it is safe to do so, and to seek passports and travel options for those who are most vulnerable and who have no option but to flee to safety. Azadeh worked for a global organization offering family planning services.
Standing for everything the Taliban systematically reject, Azadeh had no option but to flee to Pakistan. MRG is working with our partners in Pakistan to support many brave Afghans who have escaped Afghanistan because of their humanitarian or human rights work or their faith. They are now in various secure locations established by our local partners on the ground in Pakistan. Although they are safer in Pakistan than Afghanistan, Hazara Shia and other religious minorities are also persecuted there.
We need your help, to support those who put their lives on the line for basic human rights principles we all believe in: equality, mutual respect, and freedom of belief and expression.
The situation on the ground changes daily as more people arrive and some leave. Aluminium mining in Baphlimali, India, has caused environment devastation and has wrecked the lifestyle of thousands of Adivasis. For centuries, Adivasi communities like the Paraja, Jhodia, Penga and Kondh have been living amidst the Baphlimali foothills. For generations they have lived in harmony with nature. They lived through rain fed subsistence agriculture of millet, cereals, pulses, rice and collection of non-timber forest produce, e.
With widespread mining activities and linked deforestation, they have lost access to forest products and to the much needed pasture land in the vicinity of their villages. Your help will mean that MRG can support communities like these to help decision makers listen better to get priorities right for local people and help them to protect their environment and restore what has been damaged.
The above picture is of a tribal woman forcibly displaced from her home and land by District Forest Officers in the district of Ganjam, Odisha. Her cashew plantation burned in the name of protection of forests. Please note that the picture is to illustrate the story and is not from Baphlimali. Esther is a member of the indigenous Ogiek community living in the Mau Forest in Kenya. Her family lives in one of the most isolated and inaccessible parts of the forest, with no roads, no health facilities and no government social infrastructure.
The Ogiek were evicted from some forest areas, which have since been logged. The Ogiek consider it essential to preserve their forest home; others are content to use it to make money in the short term. Esther has a year-old daughter living with a physical disability who has never attended basic school, as it is over 12 kilometres away.
Young children living in these areas face challenges such as long distances to school, fears of assault by wild animals and dangers from people they may encounter on the journey. Because the Ogiek have no legally recognised land rights, despite hundreds of years of residence in this forest, the government is refusing to provide social services or public facilities in the area. Ensuring that the Ogiek can access health services and education is essential and will mean that they can continue living on their land, protecting and conserving the environment there.
We are also advocating for equity in access to education and health by supporting OPDP to ensure that budgets for services are allocated fairly and are used well. The consequence of this wealth is that successive governments — colonial and post-colonial — have seen greater value in the land than the people.
This has led to extensive open cast mining which is doubly damaging to the climate, despite the opposition of the Khadia tribe. Archana is a rare example of an indigenous activist who is involved in UN debates; we need to support many more indigenous peoples and acknowledge their expertise.
Almost 70 per cent of these are women and children. Key results in Humanitarian aid: Integrated packages of WASH, nutrition, child protection and health services reached over 19, children in hard-to-reach areas. Learning: 10, school-aged children were supported to access learning opportunities, including our non-formal education programme.
Mine-risk education: A scheme to help communities learn how to deal with explosive ordnance left by combatants has reached 20 per cent of the 30, target population. Read more. The situation in Kachin has taken a turn for the worse since the military took control in January.
It is estimated that people have been killed and 4, arrested, charged or sentenced in five months alone.
For five long and difficult months, transport has been blocked and the banking system has collapsed which means access to money is near impossible for civilians and aid organisations to access. The colourful markets which once adorned the region are no longer in operation and prices for goods and supplies have risen to astronomical prices, way above what locals can afford.
The military is back in charge and there is no progress in Kachin Newly displaced persons in Kachin have found themselves with no permanent place to live and no food or medical supplies.
0コメント