In February 1999 Amnesty International interviewed recently-arrived Shan refugees in Thailand in order to obtain an update on the human rights situation in the central Shan State. The pattern of violations has remained the same, including forced labour and portering, extrajudicial killings, and ill-treatment of villagers. Troops also routinely stole villagers’ rice supplies, cattle, and … Continue reading Myanmar: update on the Shan State
In February 1999 Amnesty International delegates interviewed dozens of Karen refugees in Thailand who had fled mostly from Papun, Hpa’an, and Nyaunglebin Districts in the Kayin State in late 1998 and early 1999.
During February 1999 Amnesty International interviewed dozens of Karenni civilians who had escaped to Thailand in late 1998 and early 1999. They reported recent widespread incidents of forced labour and portering, arbitrary arrests and torture, and extrajudicial killings by the military, which occurred in the context of the internal displacement of civilians in the Kayah … Continue reading Myanmar: aftermath: three years of dislocation in the Kayah state
Although official statistics are not available, it is widely believed that in the past few years thousands of women, including some girls, from FSU countries have been trafficked to Israel to work in the sex industry. Under Israeli laws, virtually all these women are illegal aliens. They are in Israel without work permits or with … Continue reading Israel: human rights abuses of women trafficked from countries of the former Soviet Union into Israel’s sex industry
Civilians in the central Shan State are suffering the enormous consequences of internal armed conflict, as fighting between the tatmadaw, or Myanmar army, and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South) continues. The vast majority of affected people are rice farmers who have been deprived of their lands and their livelihoods as a result of the State … Continue reading Myanmar: exodus from the Shan State
This report focuses on human rights violations against members of ethnic minority groups. These abuses, including extrajudicial executions; ill-treatment in the context of forced portering and labour; and intimidation during forcible relocations occur both in the context of counter-insurgency operations, and in areas where cease-fires hold.
Thousands of Burmese Muslims from the Rakhine (Arakan) State in Myanmar, known as Rohingyas, fled into southeastern Bangladesh during the first half of 1997. Unlike more than 250, 000 Rohingya refugees who came to Bangladesh in 1991 and 1992, these new arrivals are largely living in local villages rather than in designated refugee camps. The … Continue reading Myanmar/Bangladesh Rohingyas: the search for safety