28 Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis • The local NGOs are genuinely focused on effective humanitarian work, and DFID needs to empower them to undertake compliance, such as accounting, project monitoring and records keeping. At the same time, many Kachin local NGOs are already equipped with such knowledge, as they have been working in such fields with international NGOs. The DFID contractors are expensive and do not speak local languages–this hinders the work DFID is investing in and wastes UK taxpayers’ money. • Although the Kachin Relief Fund is a small charity based in the UK, by using our networks we have access to anywhere in the Kachin State. Our charity may be small but we use every penny of our donations for relief efforts. Similarly, our local partners are well qualified to work with DFID. We urge DFID and other UK policy makers to work with Kachin local NGOs and Church based humanitarian departments. These groups have a well-coordinated body, called the Joint Strategy Team (JST), through which DFID could have a space to listen to their concerns, and those of the people they represent and work with, and to engage in strategic, longer-term partnership.82 53. Burma Campaign UK have found that as far as they are aware from their contacts in Burma: • support for Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) was ended (after conditions for funding were imposed which SWAN, as a small NGO, could not meet). • Support for Mae Tao (medicines) has ended.83 • Funding for refugees in camps has been reduced (refugee numbers are down but other donors have cut funding or switched away from food, shelter etc, so people are on reduced rations and say they are being starved back to Burma before its safe). • Funding for the cross-border backpack health workers will end in June 2018. • IDPs in Karen State and Shan State no longer receive DFID support as The Border Consortium stopped supporting them due to budget cuts. Violence and sexual violence 54. The Shan Human Rights Foundation highlighted that there are six camps along the Shan-Thai border sheltering over 6,200 particularly vulnerable refugees such as mothers, children, the old and disabled. They are all from active conflict areas where Burmese military forces continue to conduct violent human rights violations. The Foundation asserted that, even after a ceasefire was signed in 2015, fighting has continued; intensifying since 2017 with gross human rights violations against civilians in the ceasefire areas including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence.84 The Shan Woman’s Action Network (SWAN) have been documenting rapes and other forms of sexual violence; their report, Licence to Rape, documented rape of 625 women by personnel from 52 different Burmese Army battalions. The head of the UN’s international fact-finding mission in Burma, Marzuki Darusman, 82 83 84 Kachin Relief Fund (DBB021) Karenaid (DBB018) Shan Human Rights Foundation (DBB022)