Research Notes on Burma

I've been doing research on the current political situation of Burma for an assignment my internship supervisors. These are the notes that have ensued. I've learned so much in the last few days compiling these notes, and I thought some of you might be interested in reading the fruits of my labours.

Feel free to gorge yourselves on the unbelievable history of this broken nation.

Burma

Officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (named as part of the 2008 Constitution, only one of many renaming events in the history of Burma)

Introduction

·         Diversity in ethnicities have defined politics, religion, history, and characterize much of the struggle still today

·         In 1962, General Ne Win led a coup to overthrow the government of U Nu

·         Despite the human rights defying nature of the current government, Burma is a member of the United Nations (UN)

·         Burma is led by a military junta; the majority of ministry and cabinet posts are held by military officers, with the exceptions being the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of National Planning & Economic Development

·         Military reign has been in power and led by General Than Shwe since 1992, who is still in power today

·         In 1990 the People’s Assembly election formed the NCGUB (National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma), a government in exile with the mission of restoring democracy based in Rockville, Maryland, USA

Etymology

·         The name of the country refers to the majority of Burmese people within the population

·         The renaming of the country to Myanmar represents the power of the military being exercised to name cities, towns, and areas after ethnicities (primarily the Burmese) rather than the place itself

·         There is division among other nations and organizations about the validity of the name change

Political History – Colonization of Burma

·         The first Anglo-Burmese war was from 1824 to 1826

·         This was the first of three wars fought between British & Burmese Empires over the control of northeastern India

·         The British Empire won, requiring that Burma pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling (roughly 18.5 to 48 million US dollars in 2006) and sign a commercial treaty

·         This was the longest and most expensive war in British Indian history and the beginning of the end of the independence of Burma

·         This first war weakened the economy and entire nation of Burma, when the British Empire declared war upon Burma twice more, giving control of Burma to the British in 1885

·         Burma was known as a province of British India until 1937

·         During the colonial era, there was much disrespect for Burmese culture by the British “invaders” creating violent riots, often paralyzing Yangon, until the 1930s

·         The vote for keeping Burma within India divided the populace, setting the scene for future insurgencies

From Democracy to Military Empowerment

·         Democratic rule ended in 1962 with a coup d’etat led by General Ne Win

·         Democracy, as well as the NCGUB, has been outlawed by the military government

·         There are currently over 2,000 political prisoners in Burma

·         Ne Win ruled for 26 years leading the nation under the Burmese Way to Socialism

·         Every aspect of society came under government control during this time

·         To consolidate power, Ne Win and other top military generals resigned from the military taking civilian positions

·         They started the one-party election system in 1974 (Burma Socialist Programme Party – the only party from 1964-1988)

·         During this time Burma became one of the world’s most impoverished countries

·         Ne Win’s rise to power included his persecution of “resident aliens,” immigrants living in Burma who were not recognized as citizens of Burma (including but not exclusively Indian Burmese and Indo-European people groups)

·         From the beginning there were protests and demonstrations held by students across the nation, and were almost always broken up violently by the military rule

·         In 1988, martial law was imposed when the military opened fire on demonstrators in what is known as the 8888 Uprising

·         In their first election in nearly 30 years (in 1990), the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won over 60% of the vote and 80% of the parliamentary seats

·         The military-backed National Unity Party won only 2%

·         Although the NLD won the election, the military refused to step down, falsifying the election

·         In response to her democratic politics, she has been under house arrest for 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010, until November 13, 2010 when she was finally released

Government & Military Corruption

·         Along with Afghanistan, Burma ranks 176^th of 180 nations on the Corruption Perceptions Index

·         There is international consensus that the military regime of Burma is one of the world’s most repressive and abusive regimes

·         There is national internet restriction, similar to the Great Fire Wall in China

·         Forced labor, human trafficking, and child labor are common practices

·         The military is known for using dishonest propaganda and advertising techniques to convince new generations to view the Burmese soldiers as heroes

·         Unlike the KNU, who appeals only to their own Karen people, the Burmese army is happy to accept anyone regardless of their ethnicity

·         Young boys being forced to serve and fight with the Burmese army, regardless of their ethnic background, is common

·         It has been argued that Burma has the highest number of child soldiers in the world

·         The military is also known for using sexual violence as a means of control, even taking sex slaves along as porters

·         There is absolutely no freedom of speech, assembly or association

·         The government has placed a restriction on the humanitarian aid and work of international organizations, including restrictions on the work and movement of international staff within Burma

·         The work and philosophies of these organizations must always “enhance and safeguard national interest”

·         The UN has declared these restrictions to be unacceptable

Economy

·         Burma spends the least percentage of its GDP on healthcare than any other nation in the world

·         In 2007, Doctors Without Borders reported there were 25,000 deaths due to AIDS in Burma, which could have been prevented with Anti Retroviral Treatment drugs and treatment

·         The Burmese military receives most of its weapons from Russia, Ukraine, China & India, all nations of which still trade with and economically support Burma despite the military regime

·         Burma is a corner of the Golden Triangle of opium production

·         The Golden Triangle is currently second in global opium production to Afghanistan

·         Under British administration, Burma was the second wealthiest nation of Southeast Asia, second only to Philippines

·         Currently, Burma is one of the poorest nations of the world, with an economy suffering from decades of stagnation, mismanagement, and isolation

·         In 1987 Burma admitted to the UN given status of the Least Developed Country (but not before dropping their literacy rate from 78.6% to 18.7% to qualify for debt relief from the UN), highlighting their economic bankruptcy

·         The economy of Burma is rated the second Least Free Economy of Asia, one down from North Korea

The Karen People & Current Situation

The History of a Cultural Genocide

·         There are 135 recognized ethnic groups in Burma, with at least 108 ethno-linguistic people groups

·         The Karen make up 7% of the approximate 50 million people of Burma – the second largest ethnic group next to Burmese

·         1950 the Karen became the largest people group to stand against the military government, leading to their persecution by the Burmese army

·         Tensions between the Karen and the Burmese had long existed prior to the open fighting that happened in WWII

·         Burmese army has been accused of “ethnic cleansing,” also known as cultural genocide, but has not been recognized by the international community as the targeting of the Karen has been more subtle and indirect than the killings in places like Rwanda

·         Up to 200,000 Karen people have been forced out of their homes and villages, with an additional 120,000 refugees living on the Thai-Burma border in camps

·         More than 2 million people have fled Burma to Thailand as a result of this ongoing war

Political & Military History

·         In 1917, the KNA (Karen National Associations, founded in 1881) argued that Burma was not yet in a state fit for self governance

·         In 1938, the British colonial administration recognized Karen New Year as a public holiday

·         The Karen desired to have the areas where they were the majority ethnic group formed into a subdivision or state but in 1946 the British did not encourage any separatist movements by the Karen people

·         Political meetings with the British government in the late 1940s almost always excluded the ethnic minority groups, giving precedence to the needs and demands of the Burmese

·         The British made promises to further examine the situation of the Karen following the war, but the Karen people group was not acknowledged again until the British left Burma

·         The Karen were not represented in the drawing of the Constitution in 1947 because of their boycott of the elections to the Constituent Assembly

·         The formation of the Karen National Union (KNU) was formed a month following this event

·         The initial goal of the KNU was to gain independence, but since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State

·         When independence was granted to Burma after the war in 1948, the Karen attempted to live peacefully with the Burmese

·         Karen people held high positions in both government and military

·         In the fall of 1948 the Burmese government of U Nu began raising and arming irregular political militias known as the Sitwundan, which were under the command of General Ne Win, a fanatic Burmese nationalist and the future leader of the military regime in Burma

·         In January 1949 some of these militias went on a rampage through some Karen communities

·         Following this event the Army Chief of Staff, General Smith Dun, a Karen, was removed from office and imprisoned, and was replaced by Ne Win

·         The Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO, formed in 1947) then rose up in an insurgency against the government

·         Later, the Karen were the largest of 20 people groups participating in an insurgency against the military dictatorship in Rangoon

·         In the 1980s, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA, which is the armed wing of the KNU) was fighting with a force of about 20,000, but by 2006 they were fighting with less 4,000 opposite a 400,000 strong Burmese army

·         In 1994, 5 dissenters from the Buddhist minority of the KNLA created a split group against the KNU known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and joined to the side of the military junta, which is believed to have led to the fall of the KNU headquarters in 1995