The Burmese government has committed serious abuses and blocked humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of displaced civilians since June 2011, in fighting in northern Kachin State. Some 75,000 ethnic Kachin displaced persons and refugees are in desperate need of food, medicine, and shelter. Based on more than 100 interviews with internally displaced persons, Human Rights Watch found that the Burmese army has attacked Kachin villages, razed homes, pillaged properties, and forced the displacement of tens of thousands of people. Soldiers have threatened and tortured civilians during interrogations and raped women. The army has also used antipersonnel mines and conscripted forced laborers, including children as young as 14, on the front lines.The Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) need to take effective measures to end abuses by their forces, ensure humanitarian access, and permit an independent international mechanism to investigate abuses by all sides.

Photographs by New York Times photographer Ruth Fremson of refugees that escaped on a small fishing boat from the No Fire Zone in Sri Lanka. After getting lost at sea, they were rescued nine days later from Indian waters. Of the 21 refugees that set out on the journey, ten died before they could be rescued.