Monthly meeting of Shan State JMC cancelled
This month’s meeting of the Shan State Joint Monitoring Committee
(JMC-S) is to be cancelled due to time and budget restraints, according to an
official from the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA).
Major Sai Oo,
the RCSS/SSA spokesperson, said that his group had not received any information
or briefing to the monthly JMC-S meeting for February. He said that a Viber group
account had been set up to help facilitate communications, however no
information had been circulated relating to the monthly meeting.
“We have received
no contact from each other recently,” he said. “If we can hold regular meetings,
I believe it will help support the peace process.”
He added: “The
main reason that the JMC-S meeting cannot be scheduled this month is because of
budgets. Each group also has to work to ensure that they can allot time for
these meetings.”
National and
regional Joint Monitoring Committees were formed after eight ethnic armed
groups – the RCSS/SSA; the Karen National Union
(KNU); the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA); the Karen National
Union/Karen National Liberation Party-Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC); the Arakan
Liberation Party (ALP); the Chin National Front (CNF); the Pa-O National
Liberation Organization (PNLO); and the All Burma Students Democratic Front
(ABSDF) – signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the Burmese
government on 15 October 2015.
The Shan State JMC
was established on January 1, 2016. However, to date only four meetings have
been held. The first meeting took place on January 9, 2016, in southern Shan
State’s Kholam Township, where the headquarters of the Burmese military Central
Eastern Command is based.
“We setup the
JMC-S for both sides [ethnic ceasefire groups and Burmese military] to discuss mutual
problems and to find solutions,” Maj Sai Oo explained.
As per the
terms of the peace process, the JMCs were established to monitor military
matters between the Tatmadaw (Burma armed forces) and the troops of the
NCA signatories. If hostilities were to break out between groups from within
the network, then the regional JMC was given the responsibility to mediate the
case. Over the last year, several clashes have occurred between government
forces, NCA signatories and non-signatories. Significantly, the RCSS/SSA has
been involved in armed fighting against government units, most recently in the southern Shan State township of
Mong Pawn.
Currently, five
regional JMCs are in place: Tanintharyi Region, Shan State, Karen State, Mon
State and Bago Region. There is also a plan to form another JMC in Chin State.
According to the Burmese military commander in Tanintharyi, Maj-Gen Lin Aung, shareholders in that
region hold regular monthly meetings. He said that they also have an online
network where they can discuss issues.
“There has been
no fighting since we setup the JMC in Tanintharyi,” he said. “We regularly
contact each other via Viber. Sometimes, there are some difficulties with the mobile
signal, but that is not a big problem for us.”
By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: News, Politics
