The United Nations is “deeply concerned” about the situation facing civilians in southern Kachin state's Mansi Township as clashes between the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) armed wing and the military continued in the area. The fighting threatens the safety of large numbers of internally displaced people (IDP) who have been sheltering in Nam Lim Pa and Mung Ding Pa villages.
According to a statement issued late on Friday, the UN estimates there are 1,200 IDP living in Nam Lim Pa with an additional 500 children sheltering in a church in Mung Din Pa. Many of the children who are currently in harm’s way were previously staying at a boarding school in the area.
“I am seriously concerned about the civilians being caught in any cross-fire, especially children and the elderly,” said Ashok Nigam, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Burma. Nigam is the highest ranking UN official permanently stationed in Burma.
According to the statement Nigam “strongly urges all parties to respect civilian’s fundamental right to freedom of movement and allow safe passage to their areas of choice.”
According to the UN the last time UN agencies were able to do a cross-line relief convoy to Mansi was in July 2012. A followup mission set for September 2013 was canceled due to “renewed fighting”. Because of the fighting “Local partners are currently unable to reach these locations, and the displaced have only food for a few days”, said the UN press release citing local sources.
UN followup on KBC's request to Nambiar remains unclear
Last week in New York the UN declined to directly respond to questions posed by Inner City Press reporter Matthew Russell Lee about the fate of civilians trapped in a village in Kachin state's Putao's district.
During a daily press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York Russell Lee asked what Nambiar and his UN colleagues were doing in response to a request from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) that Nambiar facilitate the departure of 53 civilians from Nhka Ga village.
Since mid-September residents of Nhka Ga have been blocked by the military from leaving their village, causing great concern for KBC, which has been active in arranging humanitarian relief for the Kachin refugees. It widely believed that the military won't let the villagers leave in order to force them to serve as a deterrent to Kachin rebel forces launching a counter attack on the village.
The UN responded to Russell Lee's question with the following “During his recent visits to Kachin, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, met with a number of groups representing civil society in Kachin, including with the representatives of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC). He heard directly of the grievances between the parties and the effect of the standoff between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the military on the civilian population in the area. The Special Adviser has been in touch with the authorities, as well as with the KIO, in regard to the causes underlying this tension. He strongly advised restraint by all concerned and against any action that was liable to provoke further tension as well as for the protection of the safety and security of the civilian population in the area.”
Despite repeated requests that they be allowed to leave the villagers remain trapped in Nhka Ga village according KBC officials familiar with the situation.
During another press conference at the UN headquarters in New York last week Russell Lee also asked UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma Tomas Quintana about the villagers in Nhka Ga. Quintana noted in his response that at present in Burma there exists little legal recourse for those caught up in such situations.
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