The US Campaign for Burma (USCB) is excited to announce the launch of the Ushahidi Crowd Map.
This Map is an archive of past articles from global newspapers and ethnic media groups that report and highlight the ongoing atrocities in Burma. The Map categorizes articles into five sections: Human Rights Violations, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Development Project, Armed Conflict, and COVID-19, and also holds a visual representation of these cases with pin drops of the location of each atrocity on a virtual map of Burma.
Articles filed under Human Rights Violations report on topics ranging from civilian casualties, internet bans, forced labor, and arbitrary arrests. Articles under IDPs will focus on the plight of internally displaced peoples in Burma as well as IDP related issues such as lack of food, shelter, and burning of homes. Development Project articles highlight the issues with foreign investment projects that displace villagers and exploit local resources for government profit. Articles filed under Armed Conflict showcase abuses committed by the Tatmadaw as well as civilian injuries and deaths caused by Tatmadaw land mines, airstrikes, gunfire, or conflict with ethnic armed organizations. Lastly, because the global pandemic of COVID-19 has allowed the Tatmadaw to continue to perpetrate atrocities as well as create hardship for civilians, business owners, and frontline workers, the USCB recently added a category to file articles under COVID-19 to highlight current struggles.
The Map also features a visual representation of these articles. The USCB has made note of where each atrocity took place and has marked these locations on a map of Burma. With this, viewers can see the areas in Burma that have large amounts of human rights violations, for instance, the 80+ cases documented in Arakan State, in addition to other epicenters of cases in almost every state in the nation.
Each case logged has the date the article was published, the article title, the category it is under, and a pinned location on the map of Burma. You can also view a quote that summarizes the article and click on the link provided to view the article in-person. The cases compiled on the Map date back to early January 2020 and will continue to be updated as the situation on the ground in Burma constantly changes and necessitates recognition in media. As the Tatmadaw continues to violate human rights in Burma, we will continue to monitor and cover those cases.
USCB’s Ushahidi Crowd Map will continue to be updated and hopes to provide visibility to the constant human rights violations taking place in Burma.
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