Ceasefire and ex-ceasefire Groups

Though these groups agreed ceasefires at some point in the past, the ceasefires have broken down in some cases
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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: A website related to the book of the same title edited by Mandy Sadan."This website contains some materials that are intended to illustrate or to extend some of the chapters in the book. More material will be added as time permits. You will find general information in About the Book; abstracts for each chapter, questions for further research and supporting documentation in Contents; you can Read the Introduction in full and download it; we also encourage ?Thinking about ...? how the issues raised in the book map onto bigger questions about how societies adapt themselves to war-peace transitions, with a particular emphasis on understanding history, experience, aesthetics and culture, and mobilities."
Creator/author: Mandy Sadan
Source/publisher: Mandy Sadan
Date of entry/update: 2018-01-24
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Individual Documents

Description: "After seven rounds of talks between armed ethnic groups and the Thein Sein Government, progress was finally achieved on 31 March 2015 with the signing of the Draft Nationwide Ceasefire agreement. While there is still a long way to go in securing an equal and stable Burma, the finalisation of a draft Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement text was a fundamental step in satisfying ethnic group?s demands for a genuine federal union. The signing, which took place in Rangoon, was the culmination of talks that have lasted over seventeen months and have seen armed ethnic groups through the NCCT, the Union Peace Working Committee (UPWC) led by U Aung Min, and the Myanmar Peace Centre (MPC) debate the various conditions necessary to bring about a nationwide ceasefire. While the signing, with the endorsement of the President, is the most positive step yet ? there remain a number of issues to be addressed including ongoing conflict in Kachin State, Shan State, and the Kokang region. The draft Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) is only the first stage in a lengthy process that hopes to bring peace to the country. One of the main issues that needed to be clarified prior to the signing was chapter six of the agreement, entitled the Interim period. The interim arrangement involves how both parties will act after a ceasefire has been put in place and during the political dialogue phase..."
Creator/author: Paul Keenan
Source/publisher: Burma Centre for Ethnic Studies Peace and Reconcilition (Briefing Paper No. 24,/2015)
2015-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 120.7 KB
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Description: Die Karte zeigt eine Übersicht mit befriedeten und nicht befriedeten ethnischen Minderheiten in Burma; map of ethnic minorities with /without ceasefire agreements
Source/publisher: Wikipedia / Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "As pressure mounts on the ceasefire groups to transform into Border Guard Forces, media attention has focussed on those groups, especially the Wa in Shan State and the possibility of impending conflict. While there is no doubt that the situation there is precarious, with the oncoming rainy season, it is unlikely that there will be any military action until at least November 2010. Instead, the Burma Army has increased its pressure on the New Mon State Party (NMSP), a smaller and easier target, bordering Karen State and Thailand in the South of the country. While no official statements have been made, recent reports suggest that the NMSP is already considered illegal. At a 7 May meeting with the USDA, Major General Thet Naing Win of the South-east Command reportedly told the audience that the NMSP should be considered an illegal armed group. A source within the NMSP confirmed the group?s new status.1 With the NMSP?s uncertain future, a new political party, the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMRDP), has registered its intention to contest the election. Although, at the time of writing, the new party remains to be officially approved by the election commission, it remains the only glimmer of hope of Mon representation in the near future..."
Source/publisher: Euro-Burma Office (EBO) - EBO Analysis Paper No. 1, 2010
2010-06-16
Date of entry/update: 2010-06-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: The uneasy peace in Kachin State is under constant pressure, as the Burmese junta?s border guard force scheme meets continued resistance
Creator/author: WAI MOE
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 18, No. 4
2010-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: The NMSP, one of the smaller ethnic cease-fire groups, defies the Burmese generals by rejecting their border guard force order... "It was dawn when I reached Palanjapan, a remote village near Three Pagodas Pass in Burma?s Mon State. People in every household were busy preparing for celebrations to mark the 63rd anniversary of Mon National Day. Slide Show (View) Following the rhythm of military drum beats, several columns of Mon soldiers dressed in their best green camouflage uniforms and holding aging AK-47 assault rifles marched toward the parade ground in the center of the village, where a crowd of about 1,000 Mon waited for their leaders to officially open the national day ceremony. Nai Htaw Mon, the chairman of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), delivered a speech reaffirming the party?s pledge to work for a federal union and self-determination for the Mon people. ?This year is important for our people and our political strength, based on our united nationalist spirit,? Nai Htaw Mon said in a statement. ?Until the realization of a genuine multi-party democracy and the self-determination of the Mon people, we will continue to resist and fight hand-in-hand with our allied ethnic brothers.?..."
Creator/author: Htet Aung
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 18, No. 3
2010-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-03-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: The Kachin negotiate with the regime on the border guard force issue, while recruiting and training more soldiers... "At the traditional Manau dance this year—held in Myitkyina, the capital of Burma?s northern Kachin State—Kachin soldiers were not allowed to dance in military uniforms. Earlier, the Burmese regime sent three members of the notorious Press Scrutiny and Registration Division to censor stories in the Kachin language newspaper that published articles about the festival, held annually on Kachin State Day, Jan. 10. To show their unhappiness, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which signed a cease-fire agreement with the junta in 1994, sent only 200 soldiers to the festival. Last year, about 2,000 KIA personnel joined the festivities..."
Creator/author: Yeni
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 18, No. 2
2010-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-02-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Recent clashes on the Sino-Burmese border ended almost as soon as they began, but the threat of an all-out war remains... "The fall of the Kokang capital of Laogai to Burmese government troops on Aug. 24 has put other ethnic cease-fire groups based along Burma?s border with China on the alert and raised questions about how close ties between Naypyidaw and Beijing are likely to affect the future of ethnic struggle in Burma. Although the Burmese junta?s forces managed to seize control of Laogai without firing a single shot, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the main Kokang militia, put up some resistance before retreating to the Chinese side of the border. The guns have since fallen silent, but with other armed groups now preparing for war, many people, including Chinese immigrants, are fleeing before the next outbreak of hostilities..."
Creator/author: WAI MOE
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 7
2009-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-02-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: War and refugees will remain a fact of life in Burma as long as the root causes of conflict in the country?s borderlands remain unaddressed... "The rout of the ethnic Kokang militia, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, in northern Burma in late August has brought into stark relief what millions of people live with in Burma every day: conflict between the central state and non-state armed militias. For decades, clashes between the Burmese regime?s army and its myriad enemies have been forcing people into hiding or across borders. What is different about the recent fighting is that it involved China—not usually a country that tolerates refugees from Burma or instability along its borders..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 17, No. 7
2009-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-02-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Introduction: "This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the first ceasefire agreements in Burma, which put a stop to decades of fighting between the military government and a wide range of ethnic armed opposition groups. These groups had taken up arms against the government in search of more autonomy and ethnic rights. The military government has so far failed to address the main grievances and aspirations of the cease-fire groups. The regime now wants them to disarm or become Border Guard Forces. It also wants them to form new political parties which would participate in the controversial 2010 elections. They are unlikely to do so unless some of their basic demands are met. This raises many serious questions about the future of the cease-fires. The international community has focused on the struggle of the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has become an international icon. The ethnic minority issue and the relevance of the cease-fire agreements have been almost completely ignored. Ethnic conflict needs to be resolved in order to bring about any lasting political solution. Without a political settlement that addresses ethnic minority needs and goals it is extremely unlikely there will be peace and democracy in Burma. Instead of isolating and demonising the cease-fire groups, all national and international actors concerned with peace and democracy in Burma should actively engage with them, and involve them in discussions about political change in the country. This paper explains how the cease-fire agreements came about, and analyses the goals and strategies of the ceasefire groups. It also discusses the weaknesses the groups face in implementing these goals, and the positive and negative consequences of the cease-fires, including their effect on the economy. The paper then examines the international responses to the cease-fires, and ends with an overview of the future prospects for the agreements"
Creator/author: Tom Kramer
Source/publisher: Transnational Insititute
2009-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-07-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.74 MB
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Description: Kachin State?s growing ethnic and environmental troubles... "In recent years, many political analysts in Burma and abroad have predicted growing strife in the country?s troubled ethnic regions, warning that ceasefire agreements with the ruling junta would not guarantee lasting peace. The current instability in Burma?s Kachin State bears these warnings out..."
Creator/author: Khun Sam
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 11
2005-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Junta tightens control in Monland... "As in other ethnic regions of Burma, where ceasefire agreements have been a growing source of frustration and bitterness, Monland in southern Burma has also seen its share of broken promises and the increasing likelihood that lasting peace is still a long way off. The New Mon State Party—the region?s principal ethnic opposition group—entered a ceasefire agreement with Rangoon in 1995, at the urging of the country?s military leadership as well as members of Thailand?s political and business communities, who were eager to increase investments in the region. Foreign oil companies, such as France?s Total and Unocal in the US, saw peace in the region as good for business. Each had proposed a natural gas pipeline through contested areas of Mon State—a fact that caused the regime to exert greater pressure in the interest of increasing vital foreign investment. In 1996, the NMSP received 17 industrial concessions in areas such as logging, fishing, inland transportation, trade agreements with Malaysia and Singapore, and gold mining. The regime, however, had cancelled the majority of these contracts by 1998, leaving NMSP leaders with little in terms of economic support and weakening the opposition party..."
Creator/author: Louis Reh
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 11
2005-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: The military?s attempts at ethnic reconciliation have been all show and no substance, writes Thar Nyunt Oo
Creator/author: Thar Nyunt Oo
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 7, No. 8
1999-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "A military commander from the New Mon State Army (NMSA) has severed ties with the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and resumed fighting against Rangoon, according to reliable sources on the Thai-Burma border. Col Naing Pan Nyunt, former Tactical Commander of the NMSA, and about 100 soldiers loyal to him have reportedly already begun engaging in skirmishes with Rangoon troops..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol 9. No. 7 (Intelligence section)
2001-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Rumors that Sr Gen Than Shwe may soon step down as head of Burma?s ruling junta have raised questions about the possible implications for a number of shaky ceasefire agreements with ethnic insurgent groups.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No .6
2000-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Shan sources say that the proliferation of groups "joining the legal fold" and signing ceasefire agreements with the State Peace and Development Council SPDC, Burma's ruling military junta, has done nothing to slow down the pace of militarization in northern Shan State.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No .6
2000-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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