Fighting Rages Near Controversial Development Projects in Burma

Beginning September 26, the Burmese Army launched renewed attacks, dubbed Operation Storm, against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) Brigade 4 near Khutkai township  in Shan State leading to over 1,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). These attacks -- from at least 15 battalions with 120mm, 105mm and 80mm artillery fire -- are continuing as of September 30. The Burmese Army has also reportedly reinforced its troops in Myitkyina and Bhamo townships of Kachin State, increasing the likelihood of further attacks against the KIA in the area, and there were reports of limited fighting near the KIA’s headquarters in Laiza  earlier in the week.

These attacks follow earlier Burmese army offensives in March and June of this year in areas of Kachin State and Shan State against the KIA and Shan State Army (SSA) including attacks near controversial Chinese hydropower projects. These attacks have led to tens of thousands of IDPs living in makeshift camps inside Burma, and lesser numbers taking refuge across the Chinese border , according to local Burmese organizations and exiled media 

Motivation for the Attacks: Resource Projects Exacerbate Conflict

Much of the recent fighting between the Burmese Army and the KIA and SSA has occurred in areas where large-scale natural resource and infrastructure projects are under development, including the controversial Myitsone Dam in Kachin State (which, in a very important development, was just suspended today) and the multi-billion dollar Shwe Onshore Natural Gas and Burma-China Crude Oil Pipelines in northern Shan State.  

The development of these large-scale natural resource and infrastructure projects has exacerbated the decades-long conflicts between the Burmese army and ethnic non-state armed groups that seek greater autonomy and increased rights as stipulated under previous political agreements. Burma’s army is trying to gain control over these areas to ensure that these projects, and the large amounts of foreign investment they draw, proceed undisrupted.

This week’s fighting between the Burmese army and the KIA in Shan State is occurring adjacent to the planned  route for the Shwe Onshore Natural Gas and Burma-China Crude Oil Pipelines. The recent offensive has been led by Major-General Aung Kyaw Zaw, commander of Northeastern Shan State Regional Command. The offensive appears to have the goal of driving the KIA Brigade 4 out of Shan State near areas it controls along the China border.

Additionally, the KIA and SSA’s  refusal in 2009 to transform from independent armed groups into a Border Guard Force (BGF) under the control of the Burmese army likely played into these attacks which broke 17 and 22-year ceasefire agreement between the KIA and SSA (respectively) and the central authorities. 

The most recent attacks come after an initial June 9 Burmese Army offensive against KIA posts in and around Sang Gang village in Kachin State in order to secure the Chinese operated Tarpein I dam, located on the Tarpein River in Momauk Township. Tarpein I is operated by China Datang Group Co. and the majority of the power from the dam feeds China's growing electricity demands. These attacks resulted in the loss of two KIA posts. Later in August the Burmese army entered KIA ceasefire territory in Sinbo village also in Kachin State to secure the area for the development of the Chinese-financed 6,000 MW Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River  This controversial project  spawned an unprecedented national campaign inside Burma to save the Irrawaddy River and stop  the Myitsone and six other planned dams on the river. Just this past week, Burma’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), under control of the Ministry of Information, banned journalists from writing about the Myitsone Dam project and extended the ban to cover any reporting on the Irrawaddy River in general, reports the Irrawaddy news website.

China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) is the project manager for the Myitsone Dam, as well as another six dams upstream on the N’Mai Hka and Mali Hka rivers in Kachin State. These projects are proceeding within an atmosphere of growing armed conflict and with a total lack of public participation in the development of the projects. A controversial environmental impact assessment (EIA) conducted by CPI suggested that the Myitsone Dam should not be constructed because of the negative impacts it would have on the area.  Local communities and the KIA oppose the project because of expected negative environmental and social impacts on local communities, and pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her support for the campaign to save the Irrawaddy.  

The KIA raised these issues with both the Burmese government and CPI, but was left without any response.  Since then, tensions between the KIA and Burmese government have continued to escalate, culminating in the present conflict in Kachin State.  

Human Rights and Humanitarian Crisis in Kachin and Northern Shan States

Numerous human rights violations have been documented by local Burmese organizations during the attacks this week and earlier this year, including claims of rape and the murder and mutilation of civilians.

Burmese Army Using Civilians as Human Shields?

According to a villager currently trapped in Manger village, the Burmese Army took over the village on September 26, stationed heavy artillery near a local football field, and began shooting into KIA Brigade 4’s headquarters in Loikan village. The Burmese army has not allowed villagers to flee the fighting and they remain trapped as fighting continues. If the Burmese Army is preventing villagers from fleeing areas near their troops and artillery to deter retaliatory strikes from the KIA or other adversarial forces, this action qualifies as the use of civilians as human shields and is a violation of international humanitarian law. ERI has been unable to independently verify this information at this time.

Internally Displaced Persons

Local Burma organizations claim that the refusal by Burmese authorities to allow international aid to reach the growing numbers of IDPs in Kachin and northern Shan States is causing serious hardship, and are calling for the international community to provide cross-border aid.

The Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT)  has documented approximately 20,000 IDPs sheltered in 15 makeshift camps administered by Kachin civilians near the border with China, and several thousand displaced persons taking refuge in the Kachin capital of Myitkyina and the nearby town of Waimaw.

The Shan Women Action Network (SWAN) and Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) estimated the IDP numbers at around 31,700 and also cited serious human rights abuses including killings, rapes, and mutilations committed by the Burmese Army against the local ethnic nationalities living in the conflict areas.

Whatever the exact number of IDPs caused by the recent fighting, clearly there are tens of thousands of IDPs in need, and international groups, including the U.N. Office of Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs must immediately provide direct aid to all affected populations.

The most recent and still on-going attacks in northern Shan State this past week have caused an additional 1,000 IDPs, though this number may be higher. The fleeing IDPs are predominantly ethnic Kachin, Palong, Shan and Chinese, and are mainly from villages in Kutkai and Muse townships, in northern Shan State.

The Kachin News Group, relying on sources in two border towns, are reporting that refugees are fleeing to Pangsai and Mongkoe in Shan State but are being prevented from crossing into China by both Burmese police and BGF forces, as well as China’s  People’s Liberation Army soldiers stationed on the Chinese side of the border.

Future of the Oil and Gas Pipelines Called into Question

The current fighting calls into question the ability of the Chinese led Shwe Onshore Natural Gas and Burma-China Crude Oil Pipelines  to continue construction in northern Shan State. Before fighting broke out this past week, the KIA and SSA had indicated that they had no plans to disrupt the projects. SSA Major Sai Hla told the Irrawaddy Magazine in an August 2011 article that the SSA has "no plans to start attacking the pipeline project, but would do if they think it has been harming local people and the Shan community." A KIA spokesman told the Irrawaddy on September 26 that, “the government may claim that its military objective is to establish security in current conflict areas where China's pipeline will pass through. But we are not against the pipeline construction project, regarding which we talked with the government about shared security arrangements.” However, the recent fighting may have changed the KIA’S position on the pipelines. The spokesman continued, “But now, in this kind of situation, we can say that any hope for this pipeline construction has finished."

These recent attacks in Shan and Kachin States come on the heals of Burmese offensives in August 2009, when the army attacked the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in the Kokang region of northeastern Shan State after it refused to transform into a Border Guard Force, leading nearly 30,000 refugees to flee across the border to China. 

Recommendations

EarthRights International (ERI) calls on the Burmese Army to immediately cease its military offensive in northern Shan and Kachin States and stop violating the rights of people living in these conflict areas.  ERI calls on international aid and humanitarian organizations to gain access to all conflict-affected IDPs in Kachin and Shan State and provide emergency assistance as soon as possible.

Calls for international assistance are being led by local groups. On August 16, 2011, KWAT released a statement calling on Burma's government to allow international aid to reach the growing numbers of war-affected people in Kachin State and northern Shan State.  The Shan Women Action Network (SWAN) together with Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) released a joint statement on August 10, 2011 calling on the Burmese government to allow international aid to reach the growing numbers of displaced people in this conflict area.