Burma/Myanmar

Ongoing conflict has serious consequences for children, who are among the 83,700 civilians who remained displaced and hiding from attacks. The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict reported that the Myanmar Armed Forces have occupied educational facilities for military purposes, recruited teachers and students for forced labour, and planted landmines close to or on the paths to schools. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has reportedly set fire to schools as part of a policy of burning whole villages to prevent people from returning to them. [Between 2009 and 2013], regular school and clinic closures in Kayin, Kachin and, to a lesser extent, Shan States owing to conflict were documented. With the resurgence of conflict in Kachin State in 2011 and 2012, there were reports of schools being closed for long periods and schools damaged by shelling and mortar fire. In Burma/Myanmar in May 2011, the Karen Human Rights Group reported that the army used village schools as barracks for a period of two weeks, and several students left school as a result. When the army concluded their occupancy, some students failed to return to school. In [August 2011], the Tatmadaw had laid mines near a school in a village in Myitkyina Township in order to prevent KIA from using the school as a base. As conflict escalated in late 2012 between the Tatmadaw and KIA, several schools in conflict-affected areas of Kachin such as Hpakan, Laiza, Myitkina, Bhamo, Injanyang and Waingmaw remained closed through January 2013 owing to fear for student safety and danger caused by shelling, air strikes and mortar fire. For more than a decade, armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) has continued; there has been no change in the relationship between the Tatmadaw and KNLA or the posture of the two groups. Though ceasefire discussions between representatives of Burma’s central government and the Karen National Union and KNLA occurred in November 2011, no formal agreement has been reached.

Report: Attacks on Health and Education: Trends and incidents from eastern Burma, Attacks on Health and Education: Trends and incidents from eastern Burma, Report: Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in MyanmarReport of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Myanmar Report: Lessons In War: Military Use of Schools and Other Education Institutions During ConflictLessons In War: Military Use of Schools and Other Education Institutions During Conflict Report: Education Under Attack Education Under Attack Burma/Myanmar Resources