INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT IN
Submitted by:
Burma Ethnic Research Group [BERG]
July 1999
Internally
displaced populations, defined as:
‘Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border'—
...is
certainly not a new phenomenon in
In
recent years displacements in
The
internal conditions of conflict and coercion within
From
a humanitarian angle there is great concern being expressed for the victims of
these displacements, especially in the
Whilst
the needs are manifold and the total affected population is large, spread over
a wide area, the problems of delivery of assistance in such a complex
environment are not to be under-rated. Without an understanding of the issues
causing the displacement, it is difficult to deliver assistance to the affected
population, as well as provide what may be truly essential. International
experience (most recently in the Balkans) has confirmed that this is not a
unique problem of
As
a result of this complexity evidence-based policies
based on active data assessments by agencies need to be developed. Such data
assessments should, wherever possible, involve the
local communities themselves. Routes to deliver assistance to the displaced
communities both from inside and from outside the country should be explored.
In
the case of
According
to a 1994 report of the US State Department, an estimated half million
residents in
Considered
by UNCHS/Habitat in their 1990 report as unprecedented internationally, for
both the scale and the time period involved, these urban relocations or
resettlements were undertaken by the government for purposes of land
development planning and other urban works. These included development of:
housing for civil servants; road, rail and pedestrian passageways; parks and
gardens; commercial and residential use; clean up and beautification; and
drainage systems and water bodies. An additional cause for much concern, was the accelerated forced relocation of poor
communities to new, ill-prepared relocation sites, which was combined with a
heavy handedness on the part of the military government to impose law and order
standards in newly resettled areas.
Urban
displaced people, particularly those- poorest households, have frequently been
described in government documents as squatters, although some of them were
previously renters or owners of permanent houses. They were often evicted at
their own expense to new resettlement sites where conditions were difficult and
where social services were lacking or scarce. Some such squatter clearance
projects in
The
most controversial of these urban displacements were those which concerned the
relocation of urban communities to schemes designed as new rural communities.
Throughout the early 1990s the government moved squatter communities and other
urban populations from urban to border areas where people were to inhabit low
population density areas and provide labor for construction and other
infrastructure or development activities. Examples of this have been reported
in the Kabaw Valley of Sagaing
Division and in the Dimosoe area of
Rural
populations in
At
war since 1949, the Karen have been much divided by
warfare and forcible relocations. Particularly pronounced in the
In
This strategy, known as the 'Four Cuts' programme, is undoubtedly based on
the anti-communist programme carried out by the
British in Malaysia after the Second World War, as well as the 'Strategic Hamlets Programme'
of the Americans fighting in Vietnam (Smith 1991). Relocations may also be
connected to economic interests in the area.
In
Mon State, the Mon have suffered serious displacements after Mon nationalists,
under the New Mon State Party (NMSP) took up arms against the military
government after the 1962 military coup. Reported to be more urbanized than
either Karen or Karenni state to the north, where
most inhabitants are mainly rural dwellers, forcible or compulsory
displacements have occurred largely in urban areas such as in the environs of Moulemein [Mawlamyaing] city.
Whilst displacements in rural areas have taken place, this situation has
decreased somewhat, since, following the cease-fire between the government and
NMSP, in mid-1995, there is no longer any active fighting in Mon state, except
in areas overlapping with Karen-insurgent held areas.
Regarding
urban displacements between 1995-96, the government
announced a plan to construct a new road to circle the city of
Similarly,
in 1990 the military government evicted some 3000 families living in Kyettan,
Massive
internal displacements have occurred in
Since
March 1996 internal displacement has again accelerated, despite cease-fires
between the government and minority forces in a number of regional areas. 1400
villages spread over an area of 7,000 square miles in central Shan state,
affecting an estimated 300,000 people, are reported to have been evicted from
their homes and made to move to strategic relocation sites. During 1997 and
1998 it is even said that some of the resettled people were then relocated a
second time to yet another site. At no time was any compensation given for loss
of property or agricultural livelihood (Shan Human Rights Foundation,
1996/1998).
Fig. 1: Total number of villages in Shan state forced to move, since 1996, and since remaining relocated
|
Township |
No. villages |
No. households |
|
Kun
Hing |
185 |
9551 |
|
|
181 |
7296 |
|
Lai
Kha |
201 |
8796 |
|
Ke See |
364 |
11663 |
|
Murng Kerng |
186 |
8681 |
|
Murng Nai |
99 |
3870 |
|
Larng Kher |
31 |
1157 |
|
Murng Pan |
61 |
2031 |
|
Murng Paeng |
24 |
285 |
|
Loi Lem |
129 |
2445 |
|
Ho
Pong |
17 |
243 |
|
TOTAL |
1478 |
55957 |
[Source:
Dispossessed: Forced relocation and extrajudicial killings in
The
situation of the Rohingyas, Muslim inhabitants of
this state, has been particularly grim. From December 1991 to March 1992, some
250,000 people left and fled to
Human
Rights Watch-Asia reported that Muslims were being forcibly moved into two
townships of the state (Maungdaw and Buthidaung), and that Burman and Arakanese ethnic families (the latter of which constitute
the majority population in the state) were simultaneously being moved into
'model villages' in the wealthier parts of these same two townships. Many of
the new families who are moving in to the area are reported to be military
families and their relatives. This process of moving in a new population from
outside the area and the confiscation of Muslim-owned land is, along with a
prevailing background of human rights abuses, a prime factor for Rohingyas fleeing to
The
Rohingyas face another hurdle in that they are not
considered citizens of the country. They have no ID cards and have to seek
permission even to travel outside their own village. Thus, having had their
land or property confiscated, they are not even free to travel and settle
elsewhere—difficult though even that would be in
The
situation in
Many
such border area 'development' programs, entailing resettlement of populations
are carried out under the auspices of the Ministry for the Development of
Border Areas and National Races, set up in May 1989. Initiated in the border
states where successive central governments have been involved in long–standing
conflicts with ethnic insurgent armies, its objectives amongst others, are
carrying out ‘all round development’, promoting national unity and termination
of poppy cultivation. This program was to extend to 19 distinct border zones
with an estimated population of 4,000,000 (MPBANRDA, 1994). In these zones two groups were eligible for
resettlement-- former insurgents who laid down their arms in so called
‘welcome’ sites and populations displaced by military action between the army
and insurgents.
In
the seven largely Burman-inhabited divisions [with
the exception of Tenasserim Division], the situation is little better as
regards displacements despite the absence of an insurgency war in these areas.
Evictions for reasons of city beautification, urban development and infrastructure
construction (particularly roads, railways and dams) are likely to be the same
as in the seven ethnic-majority states. The construction of the Kalay – Gangaw railway line in Sagaing Division illustrates clearly that the problem of
forced displacement are not confined to the war-affected zones. The line
crosses mostly flat farmland and paddy fields—these were destroyed without any
compensation being paid by the government (Images Asia/KHRG/ Open Society Institute,
1998).
|
State and Divisions |
No. villages |
No. households |
No. persons affected |
Date of data |
Source |
|
|
423 |
21,039 |
108,280 |
Dec. 1997 |
1 |
|
|
1,478 |
55,957 |
>300,000 |
April
1998 |
3 |
|
|
? |
? |
>20,000 |
Sept.
1998 |
4 |
|
|
161 |
? |
31,620 |
Dec. 1998 |
5 |
|
|
? |
? |
40-50,000 |
- |
6 |
|
|
? |
? |
67,000 |
Jan.1994 |
7 |
|
|
? |
? |
>250,000 |
Aug.
1997 |
12 |
|
|
? |
84,017 |
504,000 |
Oct.1994 |
20 |
|
|
? |
25,000 |
150,000 |
May
1990 |
21 |
|
Bago |
? |
6,000 |
36,000 |
May
1990 |
21 |
|
Magwe |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Sagaing |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Ayeyarwaddy |
? |
? |
18,000 |
May
1990 |
21 |
|
Tanintharyi |
? |
? |
37,000 |
May
1990 |
21 |
A
preoccupation with the insurgency problem by military dominated governments in
the capital has allowed security issues to come to dominate all aspects of
government policy making. With state coffers devoid of cash, and a huge army to
feed and accommodate, the on-going civil strife needs to be funded by economic
activities. The exportation of primary products, such as timber, mining and
illicit drugs generate quick cash and are principally located in the border
areas. On the side of the insurgents too, cash is required to continue on with
insurgency campaigns, which are in some cases, now a half-century old. Hence,
winning the war could become equated, for all sides in the conflict, with
gaining control over strategic resources.
A
further concern about the link between strategic resources and warfare which
has had a crucial impact on many populations displaced in border states, is
that the counter-insurgency campaigns and continued turmoil have led to the
confiscation of traditional and ancestral lands from many ethnic minority
populations. Even armed groups operating under actual or defacto
cease-fires, such as groups of Mon, Pao,
Lack of
Independent Judiciary.
In
Myanmar today there is little or no rule of law, hence economic projects—be
they logging, mining, fishing, road building, construction, or beautification
of sites for tourists—offer opportunities to make money for anyone involved.
The land laws offer little protection to the rural farmer who in any case would
be frightened to take any case against the military for fear of reprisals.
The
arbitrariness of the confiscation of farmland without compensation of any kind
has been detailed by the Mon Information Service (Mon Information Service,
1998).
'...confiscation of land, of either
agricultural land or 'real estate' has become common and widespread. There are
no instances of the authorities' provision of compensation for any confiscation
of farmland or real estate'
'...according to the 1954
Offensives
and counter-insurgency operations that contravene the 1949
Forcible
displacement continues throughout
Burma Ethnic Research GroupThe Burma
Ethnic Research Group was formed in 1997 to research, amongst others,
displacement amidst ethnic communities in
|
Sources:
1.
Forgotten Victims of a Hidden War: Internally Displaced
Karen in
2.
Uprooting the Shan: Shan Human Rights Foundation.
December 1996.
3.
Dispossessed: Forced relocation and extrajudicial
killings in Shan state: Shan Human Rights Foundation. April 1998.
4.
Forced relocation in Mon state,
5.
Unpublished data from Karenni
state
6.
Unpublished data from Chin state
7.
Unpublished data from Kachin
state
8.
Logging
9.
Forced Evictions and Housing Right Abuses in
10. TOTAL Denial:
EarthRights International. July 1996.
11.
12. Rohingya Refugees in
13. Abuses
against peasant farmers in
14. All Quiet on
the Western Front? Images
15. Resettlement
& Social characteristics of New Villages in Laos PDR: An Orstrom Survey. Vol. 1 & 2. UNDP/UNESCO 1997.
16. The
Development Crisis in
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National Races. Ministry for Progress of Border Areas and National Races and
Development Affairs 1994.
18. Internally
Displaced People: A Global Survey. Global IDP Survey 1998
19. Guiding
Principles on Internal Displacement. E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2 UNCHR. Ferbuary 1998
20. A Report of
Construction. Vol. 1. Department of
Human Settlement and Housing Development 1988-1994 Ministry of Construction.
21. Human
Settlement Sector Review. UNDP
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in
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