Activists warn of potential shifting of landmines during rainy season

By Admin 04 Jul 2025

DMG Newsroom

4 July 2025, Kyaukphyu

Landmine awareness advocates are urging those living near conflict areas and former military bases to be vigilant, as heavy rains and landslides during the rainy season have the potential to move landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) to other locations.

"Landmines are carried by water and end up in fields. Landmines are also found on the ground. People know these as landmines, but some people ignore them and carry them around, touching them, et cetera," a man from an organisation working on landmine awareness in Arakan State. told DMG.

He added that there are often landmines and unexploded ordnance near areas where junta soldiers previously camped and near trenches, so locals near these areas need to be careful when traveling.

If any are discovered, locals are urged not to touch them, and to report them to the relevant authorities.

Landmine education experts also say that many signs or markers that previously indicated landmine danger have been lost or damaged, so locals should not travel to unfamiliar areas.

Local residents found landmines that were moved by rainwater during the 2024 rainy season in Kularbar, Pyinshae, Ohntaw and Kandi villages, and near the No. 32 police battalion in Kyaukphyu, according to a DMG investigation.

"I have seen landmines floating in roadside ditches and ponds. They are often carried by the water from the hills where the landmines are placed, and sometimes during floods they are seen floating into paddy fields," said a local woman from Pyinshae Village in Kyaukphyu Township.

Locals said that the risk of landmines during the rainy season poses many challenges for those who make a living by collecting firewood and bamboo shoots.

In recent years, there has been intense fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in rural and urban parts of Arakan State, with local residents frequently killed and injured by landmine explosions.

In Arakan State, 42 people were killed and 110 were injured due to explosions of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) from April 2024 to the end of June 2025, according to a DMG tally.

The number of deaths and injuries due to landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) was highest in Maungdaw Township, where 38 casualties were reported. Nineteen people were killed or injured in Taungup, and 15 in Gwa, with Ramree rounding out the top four townships with 13 casualties.

Despite AA efforts to clear landmines and raise awareness about landmine dangers in conflict zones and rural parts of Arakan State, deadly civilian landmine encounters continue to occur.