Myanmar
A majority of Burma's people are ethnic Burmans. Shans, Karens,
Rohingya, Arakanese, Kachins, Chins, Mons, and many other smaller
indigenous ethnic groups form about 30% of the population. Indians
and Chinese are the largest non-indigenous groups.
Although Burmese is the most widely spoken language (approx. 32
million speakers), other ethnic groups have retained their own
identities and languages. Some of the most prominent are Shan;
various Karen, Karenni and Chin languages; Arakanese; Jingpaw; Mon;
Palaung; Parauk; Wa; and Yangbye. English is spoken in many areas
frequented by tourists. The Indian and Chinese residents speak
various languages and dialects of their homelands: Hindi, Urdu,
Tamil, Bengali, Mandarin, Fujian, and Cantonese.
An estimated 89% of the population practices Buddhism. Other
religions--Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%,
and animist 1%--are less prevalent, although Christian and Muslim
groups claim the regime significantly underestimates their number of
adherents.
According to the UN Development Programme's 2007 Human Development
Report, public health expenditure equaled only 0.3% of Burma's GDP.
High infant mortality rates and short life expectancies further
highlight poor health and living conditions. Tuberculosis, diarrheal
disease, malaria, and HIV/AIDS pose serious threats to the Burmese
population, . In 2007, the UNDP's Human Development Index, which
measures achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational
attainment, and adjusted real income, ranked Burma 132 out of 177
countries.
There are numerous documented human rights violations, and internal
displacement of ethnic minorities is prevalent. Over a million
Burmese, many of them ethnic minorities, have fled for economic and
political reasons to Thailand, Bangladesh, India, China, and
Malaysia, to seek work and asylum. Approximately 150,000 Burmese
live in nine refugee camps in Thailand along the border with Burma
and approximately 28,000 are registered as living in two camps in
Bangladesh. Roughly 40,000 Burmese (mostly Chin and Rohingya) are
registered people of concern by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia. |
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Burma was unified by Burman dynasties three times during the past
millennium. The first such unification came with the rise of the
Bagan (Pagan) Dynasty in 1044 AD, which is considered the "Golden
Age" in Burmese history. During this period, Theravada Buddhism
first made its appearance in Burma, and the Bagan kings built a
massive city with thousands of pagodas and monasteries along the
Irrawaddy River. The Bagan Dynasty lasted until 1287 when Mongol
invaders destroyed the city. Ethnic Shan rulers, who established a
political center at Ava (near Mandalay), filled the ensuing
political vacuum for a short time.
In the 15th century, the Taungoo Dynasty succeeded again in unifying
under Burman rule a large, multi-ethnic kingdom. This dynasty, which
lasted from 1486 until 1752, left little cultural legacy, but
expanded the kingdom through conquest of the Shans. Internal power
struggles, and the cost of protracted warfare, led to the eventual
decline of the Taungoo Dynasty.
The final Burman royal dynasty, the Konbaung, was established in
1752 under the rule of King Alaungpaya and lasted until the fall of
King Thibaw to Britain in 1885. Like the Taungoo Kings, the Konbaung
rulers focused on warfare and conquest. Wars were fought with the
ethnic Mons and Arakanese, and with the Siamese. The Burmese sacked
the Siamese capital of Ayuthaya in 1767. This period also saw four
invasions by the Chinese and three devastating wars with the
British.
The British began their conquest of Burma in 1824, expanding their
holdings after each of the three wars. At the end of the third war
in 1885, the British gained complete control of Burma, annexing it
to British India. Under British control, which lasted until 1948,
Burma underwent enormous change. The British established
administrative institutions and reorganized the economy from
subsistence farming to a large-scale export economy. By 1939, Burma
had become the world's leading exporter of rice.
A group of Burmese nationalists known as the “30 Comrades”, led by
General Aung San joined the Japanese forces in driving out the
British at the outbreak of World War II. However, the Burmese Army
switched sides in mid-1945 and aided U.S. and British forces in
their drive to Rangoon against the Japanese. After the war, the
Burmese, with General Aung San at the helm, demanded complete
political and economic independence from Britain. The British
Government acceded to these demands. A constitution was completed in
1947 and independence granted in January 1948. General Aung San was
assassinated with most of his cabinet before the constitution went
into effect.
During the constitutional period from 1948 to 1962, Burma had a
democratic, parliamentary government. However, the country suffered
widespread conflict and internal struggle. Constitutional disputes
and persistent division among political and ethnic groups
contributed to the democratic government's weak hold on power. In
1958, Prime Minister U Nu invited the military to rule temporarily
to restore political order. The military stepped down after 18
months; however, in 1962 General Ne Win led a military coup,
abolishing the constitution and establishing a xenophobic military
government with socialist economic policies. These policies had
devastating effects on the country's economy and business climate.
In March 1988, student-led demonstrations broke out in Rangoon in
response to the worsening economic situation and evolved into a call
for regime change. Despite repeated violent crackdowns by the
military and police, the demonstrations increased in size as many in
the general public joined the students. During mass demonstrations
on August 8, 1988, military forces killed more than 1,000
demonstrators. At a rally following this massacre Aung San Suu Kyi,
the daughter of General Aung San, made her first political speech
and assumed the role of opposition leader.
In September 1988, a military coup deposed Ne Win's Burmese
Socialist Program Party (BSPP), suspended the constitution, and
established a new ruling junta called the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC). In an effort to "restore order," the
SLORC sent the army into the streets to suppress the ongoing public
demonstrations. An estimated additional 3,000 were killed, and more
than 10,000 students fled into the hills and border areas. Many left
the country.
The SLORC ruled by martial law until national parliamentary
elections were held in May 1990. These elections were generally
judged to be free and fair. Many assumed that voters were not
intimidated because the military incorrectly assumed that their
candidates would win. The results were an overwhelming victory for
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which
won 392 of the 485 seats, even though she was under house arrest.
However, the SLORC refused to honor the results or call the
parliament into session. The SLORC instead imprisoned many political
activists and maintained its grip on power.
The ruling junta changed its name to the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) in 1997, but did not change its policy of autocratic
control and repression of the democratic opposition. It continued to
subject Aung San Suu Kyi to varying forms of detention and other
restrictions on her movement, which it periodically lifted only to
reinstate later. In 2000, the SPDC began talks with the political
opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi. These talks were followed by the
release of political prisoners and some increase in political
freedoms for the NLD. In May 2002, Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to
leave her home, and she subsequently new-world-traveled widely throughout the
country, where she was greeted by large crowds. On May 30, 2003,
Aung San Suu Kyi and a convoy of her supporters were attacked by a
group of regime-affiliated thugs. Many members of the convoy were
killed or injured, and others disappeared. Aung San Suu Kyi and
other members of her party were detained, and the military
government forcibly closed the offices of the NLD. Today, only the
NLD headquarters in Rangoon is open, all the party's other offices
remain closed, and Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
In October 2004, hard-line members of the senior leadership
consolidated their power by ousting Prime Minister General Khin
Nyunt and removing him and his allies from control of the government
and military intelligence apparatus. In late November 2004, the
junta announced it would release approximately 9,000 prisoners it
claimed had been improperly jailed by Khin Nyunt's National
Intelligence Bureau. Approximately 86 of those released had been
imprisoned for their political beliefs, including Min Ko Naing and
Ko Ko Gyi, both key figures in the 1988 demonstrations. On July 6,
2005, authorities released 323 additional political prisoners and on
January 3, 2007, the authorities released over 2,800 prisoners, of
whom over 40 were political prisoners. Following their release, some
of these activists began to reorganize and slowly resume their
political activities.Following a sharp increase in fuel prices on
August 15, 2007, pro-democracy groups began a series of peaceful
marches and demonstrations to protest the deteriorating economic
situation in Burma. The regime responded by arbitrarily detaining
over 150 pro-democracy activists between August 15 and September 11,
including re-arresting Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi. On August 28, as
popular dissatisfaction spread, Buddhist monks began leading
peaceful marches. On September 5, security forces violently broke up
demonstrations by monks resulting in injuries and triggering calls
for a nationwide response and a government apology. Beginning on
September 18, monks resumed their peaceful protests in several
cities throughout the country. These marches grew quickly to include
ordinary citizens, culminating in a gathering of approximately
10,000 protestors in Rangoon on September 24. On September 25, the
regime tried to stop the protests by imposing a curfew and banning
public gatherings. On September 26 and 27, the regime renewed its
violent crackdown, shooting, beating, and arbitrarily detaining
thousands of monks, pro-democracy activists, and onlookers. The
regime confirmed the deaths of only 10 protestors, but some
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) estimated the number of
casualties to be much higher, and in his December 7, 2007 report to
the UN General Assembly, Special Rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
stated that there were over 30 fatalities in Rangoon associated with
the September 2007 protests. In retribution for leading protest
marches, monks were beaten and arrested, many monks were disrobed,
and several monasteries were raided, ransacked, and closed. In
addition to the more than 1,100 political prisoners whose arrests
predate the September 2007 crackdown, another thousand or more were
detained due to their participation in the recent protests.
Activists continued to be arrested through December 2008.
In February 2008 the government announced that it had completed its
draft of a new constitution and would hold a referendum in May to be
followed by multi-party elections in 2010. While the referendum law
provided for a secret ballot, free debate was not permitted and
activities considered "interfering with the referendum" carried a
three-year prison sentence. Despite the devastation from by Cyclone
Nargis,, the regime insisted on carrying out the referendum, and
voting took place on May 10 in most of the country and on May 24 in
areas affected by the cyclone. The referendum was rife with
irregularities; voters arriving at polling stations were advised
that their ballots had already been cast; officials distributed
ballots that had previously been completed; vote counts in most
areas were conducted in secret; and voters were intimidated by
officials to vote in support of the constitution. On May 27, the
government announced that 92.5% of voters approved the constitution,
with a 98% voter turnout. Observers do not consider those figures to
be credible.
Cyclone Nargis hit Irrawaddy and Rangoon Divisions on the evening of
May 2 and morning of May 3, 2008. The storm devastated a huge swath
of the Irrawaddy Delta region, wiping out entire villages and
leaving an estimated 138,000 Burmese dead or missing (Source: UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)) and
approximately 2.4 million people affected by the storm. The regime
was criticized for its initial reluctance to grant access to the
affected region by international donors.
Starting in November 2008 the government imposed harsh sentences on
large numbers of political prisoners it had arrested over the course
of the previous year, including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi. These
trials were closed and did not meet minimum standards of due
process. Some attorneys who attempted to vigorously represent their
clients were harassed by the regime and at least four were detained
themselves. The imprisoned activists were convicted, mainly in
closed-door hearings, of unlawful association, illegally
distributing print and video media, or generally destabilizing
public security and the security of the state and were given lengthy
sentences, some as long as 68 years. |
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