The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) released a report titled: “We Dare Not Return,” Displacement and the Denial of Human Rights in Southeastern Myanmar.

The report analyses what happened in southeast Myanmar during 2022, it covers Mon and Karen states and Tanintharyi Region.

It draws on interviews with emergency response teams, survivors, and witnesses of the attacks to document the crimes committed by the junta army. It shows that abuses are widespread, systematic and indicative of a worsening pattern of violence.

Between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022, HURFOM reported that at least 146 people were killed in southeast Myanmar, including 26 women and children. In addition, more than 480 were injured, and nearly 1500 were arbitrarily arrested and detained.

The junta army continued to target opposition forces, including members of pro-democracy groups. This subsequently led to over 85 cases of enforced disappearances. Dozens of human rights defenders remain in exile for their safety.

HURFOM also documented 750 houses burned, including 58 villages. The humanitarian crisis caused by the junta’s destruction has led to over 150,000 people being forcibly displaced in Southeastern Burma.

Throughout the reporting period of 2022, the conditions on the ground caused civilians to feel unsafe. Many villagers that HURFOM spoke to said they ‘dare not return ’to their homes out of fear that they would be arrested, tortured or even killed by the military junta.

There are economic and social struggles as villagers cannot work, study or support their families because the presence of the regime has deterred them. On multiple occasions, HURFOM documented Burma Army soldiers indiscriminately firing into villages.

The situation in the third year since the failed coup has not improved. HURFOM said that the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in southeastern Burma requires urgent and immediate attention as more lives are caught in the crossfire daily.

It calls on international actors and UN bodies to support and enact a no-fly zone in Myanmar, a global arms embargo, and an urgent and immediate referral of the situation in Burma to the International Criminal

Court. the international community must use its diplomatic tools and resources to engage meaningfully with civil society organizations and the National Unity Government.