On 28 December 2023 a hybrid Press Briefing was organized by Mine Free Myanmar in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which allowed for in-person attendance at a closed event in a secure location.
An audio recording of the 2 hour press conference can be found here. The press conference was presented in English with Burmese translation.
The major findings of this year’s country report by the
2023 Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor for Myanmar Burma were:
Landmine use and contamination jumped significantly since the February 2021 coup, when compared to previous years. For the first time Landmine Monitor has reported landmine casualties in every State and Region of Myanmar, except Naypyitaw. Overall landmine contamination exists in over half the townships of the country and during the previous calendar year, landmine casualties were recorded in 62 townships of the country.
As of mid-December 2023, antipersonnel landmines manufactured by the Myanmar Army, have been found in photographic images among captured weapons from the Myanmar Armed Forces during every month so far since January 2022.
In addition to new landmine use, for the first time, air dropped cluster bombs have been used in atleast four states of the country. This is also the first time cluster munitions have been used in a Southeast Asian country since the close of the Indochina War almost fifty years ago.
Soft copies (PDF) of the report in Burmese and English are available here.
Media reports from press conference in Burmese:
??????????????? ???????? ???????????????? ?????????????, the Irrawaddy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCikN7rRak
RFA ?????????????????????????????? (???? ??????? ?? ??? ???????), Radio Free Asia – Burmese between 07:00 – 15:30 minutes in the news report. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2p2RLTF5Q