Myanmar: Peace talks may bring end to conflict and displacement closer
Publisher | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC) |
Publication Date | 22 December 2011 |
Cite as | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC), Myanmar: Peace talks may bring end to conflict and displacement closer , 22 December 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4f0edf992.html [accessed 4 November 2019] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
On 10 December, the Myanmar government published the president's order to the army to stop offensive action in Kachin State. Fighting between the Kachin Independence Organisation/Army (KIO/A) and the Myanmar army since June 2011 and human rights abuses by both sides have forced large numbers of people to flee their homes. Estimates of the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) living in camps in KIO/A-held territory went up to several tens of thousands, but could not be independently verified. Several UN agencies began providing relief to IDPs there in mid-December.
In Shan, Kayah, Kayin, and Mon States as well as Bago and Tanintharyi Regions, armed conflict led to new displacement between mid-2010 and mid-2011, according to the annual survey of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC). However, the government's ongoing peace negotiations with ethnic non-state armed groups (NSAGs) have the potential to lead to a resolution of conflict and displacement. The government has taken unprecedented steps including its proposal to hold tripartite discussions with political opposition groups and NSAGs. In early December, a national peace agreement with the Shan State Army-South followed "initial peace agreements" signed on the state level earlier in the year with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the National Democratic Alliance Army (Mongla), and the Fifth Brigade of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).