Changing Realities, Poverty and Displacement in South East Burma/Myanmar The Border Consortium The Border Consortium 31 October 2012 CHANGING REALITIES, POVERTY AND DISPLACEMENT IN SOUTH EAST BURMA / MYANMAR With Field Assessments and Situation Updates by: Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People Karen Office of Relief and Development Karenni Social Welfare and Development Centre Mon Relief and Development Committee Shan Relief and Development Committee The Border Consortium (TBC) 12/5 Convent Road, Bangrak, Bangkok, 10500, Thailand [email protected] www.tbbc.org (www.theborderconsortium.org under construction) Front cover photos : Community on the margins, Shadaw, 2012, KSWDC Karen National Union and Government of Myanmar ceasefire negotiations, Yangon, 2012, KIC CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................................................................................... 1 1.... METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Survey Design, Data Collection and Analysis...................................................................... 6 1.2 Household Survey Sam ple..................... ............................................................................... 8 1.3 Limitations................................................................................................................................ 9 2. TRENDS IN SOUTH EAST BURMA / MYANMAR*.................................................................... 11 2.1 Conflict Transformation and Peace Building......................................................................... 12 2.2 Economic Liberalisation and the Resource Curse .............................................................. 14 2.3 Residual Displacement and Tentative Return....................................................................... 16 2.4 Chronic Poverty and Social C apital...................................................................................... 18 3. STATE AND REGIONAL DYNAMICS........................................................................................... 23 3.1 Southern Shan State............................................................................................................... 24 3.2 Karenni / Kayah state ............................................................................................................ 26 3.3 Northern Karen / Kayin A reas................................................................................................ 28 3.4 Central Karen / Kayin s ta te ................................................................................................... 30 3.5 Southern Mon A reas............................................................................................................... 32 3.6 Tenasserim/Tanintharyi Region ........................................................................................... 34 4. POVERTY PROFILE....................................................................................................................... 37 4.1 Demographic structure .......................................................................................................... 38 4.2 Water, Sanitation and Shelter................................................................................................ 40 4.3 Education and Nutrition Status of Children .......................................................................... 44 4.4 Agricultural Land and A ssets................................................................................................. 46 4.5 Household Income, Expenditures and D e b t......................................................................... 48 4.6 Food Security ..... ................................................................................................................... 52 4.7 Livelihood Shocks and Coping Strategies............................................................................ 54 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................ 59 1. Internally Displaced Population Estimates (2012)............................................................... 60 2. 2012 Survey Framework ........................................................................................................ 61 3. Acronyms and Place Names ................................................................................................. 64 * ‘Burma’ and ‘Myanmar’ are used interchangeably in this report, as are the corresponding place names for other towns, states and regions. * The ‘Tatmadaw’ is the national armed forces. CHANGING REALITIES, POVERTY AND DISPLACEMENT เท South East Burma / Myanmar MAPS Map 1 : Household Poverty Sample .................................................................................................. 7 Map 2 : Contested Areas in South East Burma/Myanmar ................................................................. 13 Map 3 : Development Projects in South East Burma/Myanmar......................................................... 15 Map 4 : Internally Displaced Persons in South East Burma/Myanmar .............................................. 17 Map 5 : Poverty Incidence ................................................................................................................ 19 Map 6 : Organisational Reach for Livelihoods Support ..................................................................... 21 Map 7 : Southern Shan state ............................................................................................................ 25 Map 8 : Karenni/Kayah sta te ............................................................................................................. 27 Map 9 : Northern Karen/Kayin Areas ................................................................................................. 29 Map 10: Central Karen/Kayin State .................................................................................................... 31 Map 11 : Southern Mon Areas ............................................................................................................. 33 Map 12 : Tenasserim/Tanintharyi Region............................................................................................. 35 Map 13 : Demographic Dependency ................................................................................................... 39 Map 14 : Access to Citizenship............................................................................................................ 41 Map 15 : Access to Safe Drinking Water ............................................................................................. 41 Map 16 : Access to Sanitary Latrines .................................................................................................. 43 Map 17 : Access to Durable Shelter .................................................................................................... 43 Map 18 : School Attendance Rates for 5-12 year olds ........................................................................ 45 Map 19 : Landlessness......................................................................................................................... 47 Map 20 : Access to Cash Income ........................................................................................................ 49 Map 21 : Household Expenditures on Food ........................................................................................ 51 Map 22 : Prevalence of Household Debt............................................................................................. 51 Map 23 : Subsistence Rice Cultivation ................................................................................................ 53 Map 24 : Insufficient Rice Stocks......................................................................................................... 53 Map 25 : Inadequate Food Consumption ............................................................................................ 55 Map 26 : Militarisation and Restrictions on Movement ........................................................................ 57 Map 27 : Extreme Coping Strategies for Food Shortages................................................................... 57 CHARTS Chart 1 : Poverty Survey Sample by state and Region....................................................................... 8 Chart 2 : Poverty Survey Sample by Sex and Religion ....................................................................... 8 Chart 3 : Poverty Survey Sample by Ethnicity..................................................................................... 9 Chart 4 : Poverty Survey Sample and Aid Beneficiaries in the Previous Year .................................... 9 Chart 5 : Rates of Displacement in South East Burma/Myanmar (2003-2012) .................................. 18 Chart 6 : Demographic structure in South East Burma/Myanmar....................................................... 38 TABLES Table 1 : Key Poverty Indicators in South East Burma/Myanmar........................................................ 19 Table 2 : Demographic structure......................................................................................................... 39 Table 3 : Identity Verification................................................................................................................