What Happens When Protection Ends

The Making of a Manufactured Mandate

A Modern Take on Ancient Wisdom

Collective amnesia will never end a genocide.

The Practice We Kept, The History We Lost

Between Asylum and Safe Zones

Beyond the Bamboo Curtain

The Long War Against Malaria: The Border Never Sleeps

Content Warning: This audio includes material and sound effects that some listeners may find distressing. Myanmar has recorded the world’s worst casualties from landmines and explosive ordnance for the first time, with over 1,000 casualties in 2024 alone, 29% of whom are children. The inaugural episode in our “Navigating a Minefield” series kicks off with Bekim Shala, a humanitarian mine action expert whose journey in the field began in his native Kosovo, heavily contaminated by landmines during the breakup of Yugoslavia. Witnessing the human toll there, he recognized the importance of mine action. “By being exposed to people who have been injured really quickly, it became clear how important this work is,” Shala says. His work has since taken him to numerous conflict and post-conflict zones, including Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, and Vietnam before arriving in Myanmar in 2016. As a coordinator for humanitarian mine action in the country, Shala led a team contributing to explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) and secured permissions for surveys through engagement with Naypyidaw, while pushing for permission to conduct de-mining. Shala believes that “had COVID-19 not struck and the coup not unfolded, [they] would have been clearing landmines in Myanmar by now.” However, the 2021 coup worsened the situation, with landmines now pervasive across all states and regions, moving increasingly into residential zones. This shift, coupled with indiscriminate mining by less experienced parties, has led to an increasing threat to civilians that could take decades to defuse. Most landmines are factory-produced by the Myanmar military, although improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are also made by some ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs). Systematic clearance is impossible given the conflict and lack of permissions. As Myanmar is not a signatory to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, Shala’s strategy focuses on engaging all parties to reduce landmine use, especially in civilian areas, looking ahead to a future where the country can be cleared of explosive ordnance. “Even small reductions, such as refraining from use in populated areas or encouraging basic record-keeping of where landmines are laid, can shave decades from the other end,” he says.

Between Idealism and Influence

Clear and Present Sanctions – How the U.S. Decides Who’s Out and Who’s In

The People in the Middle: What Happens When No One Listens

Lives Under Construction: Lessons From a Life Interrupted

Canada’s Place in a World of Democratic Retreat

The Fog of Policy: Sanctions, Strongmen, and Silent Spheres of Influence

Denied Passage: The invisible front lines that turn ordinary ground into a daily calculation for survival. 

Myanmar Women in the Margins of the Thai Economy

The Leprosy Mission Myanmar’s holistic care for landmine and ERW survivors has contributed to the wider disability movement across the country.

A climate-conflict researcher exposes how rivers spark resistance and how peace is shaped by pressure.

How Western Eyes Misread Aung San Suu Kyi, the Generals, and the Meaning of Democracy

Facing the Legacies of a Fractured Nation

How to Get Away with Arms Dealing: The Long Goodbye to Accountability