Burma is a Southeast Asian country that has faced democratic and ethnic conflict for decades. Burma was originally a British colony after the Anglo-Burmese wars in the early 1800 's. Since biblical times, there have been ethnic-related tensions between the citizens in Burma. Burma 's internal conflict has continued for such a long time that it is regarded as one of the longest standing civil wars in history (Winn 2012).
Ethnicities in Burma (As derived fromMinority International 2014)
Bamar 68%
Shan 9%
Kayin 7%
Rakhine 3.5%
Chinese 2.5%
Other 10%
After Burma gained its independence in 1948, it changed its name to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (however, international media continues to refer to the country as Burma)
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After a coup in 1962, Burma was run under a military dictatorship. Following the Burmese Constitutional Referendum in 2008, the dictatorship was dissolved, the country was renamed to simply the Union of Myanmar, and many reforms were made, including holding general elections in 2011 in order to establish a more democratic country. Burma has a bicameral legislature, called the Assembly of the Union. The upper house, known as the House of Nationalities contains 224 members, while the lower house, known as the House of Representatives contains 440 members (Freedom House 2015). However, the country has not yet achieved a liberal democracy. For example, although the elections were not chaotic, there were many reports of polling irregularities. Burmese citizens that are 18 or older are all given the right to vote through a secret ballot. The electoral system adopts a first-past-the-post system where the candidate that receives the majority of the votes is declared the winner. Voting is not mandatory, …show more content…
Much of Burma 's conflict can be attributed to its similarities to a central government. Although there is some regional representation, the representatives have little power due to the lack of checks on the national power. As a result of this minority groups are largely underrepresented because many times their voices get lost. However, with a federalist government, regional governments would allow for more minority groups to have the opportunity to voice their concerns. Another recommendation would be to extend all civil liberties to its people. This would include, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and little limitation by the government or any third party groups, other than to protect the public (i.e. no ethnic-slurs, nobody may harm another individual, etc...). The advent of a more legitimate form of federalism would also allow regional governments to provide checks and balances on its federal
This bold sentence serves as an attention grabber as it challenges a common dogma once stated by John Dalberg, “ Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” By making this brief but, powerful statement, Aung Sang Suu Kyi surprises her audience by blaming them for the corruption of the government making her audience more keen to understand her point of view. Aung Sang Suu Kyi then directs her words towards her Burmese people as she alludes to specific words such as “ Chanda- gati”, “Dosa-gati”, “Bhaya-gati” and “ Chanda-gati” (Kyi, 1) to explain the corruption of her land in the words of her people. This builds ethos as she can connect to her people and clearly explain how “chanda-gati” or the corruption built by fear is the most dangerous form of corruption. She can then further explain how the only way to root out the corruption of the Burmese Army and gain freedom is to first eradicate the people's fear of the government and instill confidence in the basic human rights of the Burmese
In Burma, she found violence and the military dictatorship in power. The military regime perpetrated various human rights, jailing and murdering thousands of anti-government protectors and opposition supporters. Based on the family background, Suu Kyi thought she had a duty to help people, so she joined the protest movements and co-found the National League for Democracy(NLD). The league espoused human rights, most importantly the people’s right to choose their own government(Ashby& Ohrn 1995). she traveled throughout Burma making hundreds of speeches calling for reform. In May 1989, the NLD won most seats in government in the election, but the military regime denied the results of the election. She was put under house arrest without charges for fifteen
"Myanmar National Gun Acts of 1984." The Assembly of the Union. http://www.amyothahluttaw.gov.mm/ (accessed April 18, 2014).
In 1988, she returned to back to her home city, Burma, to take care of her dying mother. The country, Myanmar was going through a rough time in politics. Students, office workers and monks started demanding for a democratic reform. In August 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi gave a speech that inspired others. This speech made her the leader of the revolt against the dictator, General Ne
Happening on August 8, 1988, 8888 uprising, known as People Uprising,was a historical severe and bloody protest with approximate one million people in Burma, including a number of students, who were cracked down by military led by Ne Win, who ruled the country dictatorially. In response to the dictatorship, the protestors carried out the demonstration against the leadership of Ne Win aimed at claiming political rights and democracy, leaving 3,000 to 10,000 people dead. The following part will describe more detail about the main root causes of 8888 uprising.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel laureate and de-facto leader of Myanmar’s civilian government, has long been hailed as a protector of human rights in her native country. It has thus, been incredibly surprising to witness her reaction to the recent forced exodus of nearly half a million minority Rohingya from within her regional borders. Despite being championed as the great savior of her country, she failed to condemn the atrocities for nearly a month; and, when she did finally speak up against the human rights abuses, she refused to address the United Nations accusations of ethnic cleansing. The Rohingya have been stateless since Myanmar’s 1974 Constitution and 1982 Citizenship Act excluded the minority Muslim group as a ‘national race’ . In The Origins of Totalitarianism , Hannah Arendt explores the idea that the interests of the nation state infringe upon the Universal Rights of Man. The
The first two paragraphs establishes that in Lower Burma, it’s divided. It’s anti-European in the first paragraph “I was sub-divisional police officer...anti-European feeling was very bitter”. Also in paragraph one “No one had the guts….betel juice over her dress” The people of Burma would see European women and spit at them for simply being European. George being European was
Fenichel, Allen, and Gregg Huff. “Colonialism and the economic system of an independent Burma.” Modern Asian Studies. 5 Dec. 2009.
In the current state of the world, refugees have always been a “problem”. Refugee’s have never really had a safe place in any country. As of 2015, over 1.6 billion people were considered Muslim but no matter where the refugee goes, they are seen as a terrorist (Lipka 2017). Almost half of these Muslims are children. Feliz Solomon wrote an article about the Rohingya refugees. In the article “Rohingya Children Are in Desperate Need of Aid, the U.N. says” the author Solomon was able to explain the trouble the Rohingya children were facing by using the elements ethos, logos, and pathos.
... the government that have been ousted by a coup that has been encouraged by the country’s elite, and supported by the Southern half of the country. A conflict that was initially purely political has transformed the country in a battlefield where the rural and the urban worlds are battling each other without mercy. A general election was scheduled in February 2014 in order to remedy to this situation in vain. The different parties are still in conflict, bringing up bad blood between Thain people and enhancing the socio-economic divisions between them. Consequentally, the political crisis is taking a tall on the Thai economy as the baht has dropped, and the number of tourist for 2013 and 2014 has dicreased. This time the core values in Thai countries that used to bring people together may not be enough to ensure the unity of the nation during those difficult times.
This war was known as the First Anglo-Burmese war, ending in the February of 1826 with the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo. Burma relinquished the region of Arakan (now known as the Rakhine State). A second war between British and Burmese people was fought in 1852, and again Britain won, this time claiming the lower part of Burma. By the third of the Anglo-Burmese wars, Burma became a province of British India. In 1937, it was separated from India by the British and turned into a crown colony. Five years later, Burma would be invaded by Japan, which occupied the region with the assistance of the Burma Independence Army. Japan would later be resisted by this same group after it converted into the Anti-Fascist People 's Freedom League. In 1945, Aung San of Burma led
Daughter of General Aung San (who is known as Father of Nation for leading the Burmese people to independence) -- Aung San Suu Kyi, is not an ordinary woman like you and I. The eagerness to improve her mother country is in her blood. She is a woman who dreamt of having a democratic Burma. She did everything within her power to ensure that her dreams will one day come true. She became the voice of the Burmese people to fight against the military rule through non-violent activism and peaceful resistance. In the process of doing so, she had to endure house arrest and separation from
The Kingdom of Thailand formerly known as Siam, is found in South East Asia. This country is renowned for having the most recorded reigns in the world. (1) About 64 million people live in Thailand and its largest city is Bangkok which is also its capital city. Thailand experienced rapid economic growth between 1985 and 1995, (2) and today, it is a newly industrialised country well renowned with tourists.
Thailand was originally named Siam, however in 1949 it got renamed to Thailand. The name “Thailand" comes from the word thai, meaning "free". So Thailand directly translates into “Free land” or “Land of free”. Coincidentally Thailand is actually the only country in Asia that was never colonized by Europe! Thailand has a very rich cultural diversity throughout the country. Their population is a mixture of ethnicities from different parts of Asia. The majority of these individuals are Thai and speak Malay and follow the Muslim Religion. The rest of the population is a mixture of...
Before we proceed about the reasons or causes that brought to this ethnic issue and how the human security respond to this issue, let we introduce who is Rohingya first. According to (Chan, 2005), “The people who call themselves Rohingyas are the Muslims of Mayu Frontier area, present-day Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships of Arakan (Rakhine) State, an isolated province in the western part of the country across Naaf River as boundary from Bangladesh. They were indeed the direct descendants of immigrants from the Chittagong District of East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh), who had migrated into Arakan after the province was ceded to British India under the terms of the Treaty of Yandabo, an event that concluded the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826)”. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority population living mainly in the state of Arakan, in Burma that has not being accepted by their own country which is Myanmar. This is because, according to the Myanmar’s government, the Royingya ethnic is not their citizens but they are belongs to Bangladesh. Unfortunately, the Bangladesh’s government do not recognize them as well. So, starting from this rejection, the issue has persisted Rohingya up to this moment, with no solution yet.