Regime kills nearly 230 women in Myanmar so far this year: rights group

By Admin 17 Oct 2024

DMG Newsroom
17 October 2024, Sittwe

A total of 226 women and girls were killed at the hands of Myanmar's military regime across the country, including Arakan State, from January 1 to October 16, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a report on Wednesday.

Of Myanmar's 14 regions and states, Sagaing Region ranked first with 63 deaths of women and girls, followed by 46 in Arakan State. The AAPP report said 30 of those females killed over that period were under the age of 18.

Women's rights activists say the regime, which has faced a series of consequential territorial losses over the past year, is carrying out an increasingly indiscriminate campaign of airstrikes, shootings, arrests, prosecutions, and other war-crime-qualifying killings of civilians across the country. Women and girls have been among the most vulnerable victims of the belligerence.

In the three-plus years since the military's February 2021 coup, the situation for Myanmar's people has deteriorated in almost every respect, from educational opportunity and healthcare to the economy and human rights. Women and girls have suffered disproportionately, both physically and mentally, Burmese Women's Union (BWU) General Secretary Naw Khin San Htwe told DMG in an interview in August.

In a nation awash in human rights violations of which the regime is the primary perpetrator, Arakan State has been particularly affected of late as the war between junta and Arakkha Army (AA) forces has escalated since November 2023.

Three civilians were injured on October 14 in a regime airstrike on Paukinn Village, part of Arakan State's Taungup Township - among the latest of numerous attacks appearing to deliberately target civilian populations.

"We have also left our home due to the military regime," said an internally displaced (IDP) woman in Arakan State. "Many people have died unjustly because of the regime artillery strikes. We want the international community to punish the military regime and prevent it from targeting civilians."