State building and policy implementation are central processes for the legitimacy of governments worldwide. These critical facets of government institutions have been thoroughly challenged throughout Myanmar’s history, a country with an awful human rights record. In this essay, I will focus on the last decade in particular, during which Myanmar’s state capacity and political institutions have been challenged immeasurably. This essay will focus on the implications that pose a challenge to Myanmar’s state capacity and development. First, I will discuss the military coup d’état, which was followed by a military junta heading the Burmese state for several decades. I will then examine the issue of internally displaced people and the resulting ethnic and religious conflict. Lastly, I will investigate the issue of drug trafficking and slave labor in Myanmar. State capacity is an enduring and central process for state autonomy. The state is famously defined by sociologist Max Weber as the “human community that claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” Therefore, state capacity is the rule of enforcement: “the ability of states to plan and execute policies, therefore being able to enforce laws cleanly and transparently.” The capacity of the state is central to the legitimacy of the state, which can be challenged and measured by a country's internal coherence, stability, collection of tax, and security of the state of the enforcement law. O’Neil continues to say a state is weakly institutionalized if it must exercise force to ensure compliance. A military junta has been in power in Myanmar since the coup d’état in 1962, which overthrew the government and opened the “Burmese road to socialism.” The military junta has been accused of numerous human rights violations, including the suppression of political opposition, media censorship, and the use of forced labor. Internally displaced people (IDPs) are individuals who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, or natural disasters. Myanmar has one of the largest IDP populations in the world, with an estimated 350,000 people displaced. The majority of IDPs are from ethnic minority groups, such as the Rohingya, Kachin, and Shan. The displacement of these groups has resulted in ethnic and religious conflict, with reports of violence, rape, and murder. The government has been accused of exacerbating the situation by failing to protect IDPs and by restricting access to humanitarian aid. Drug trafficking and slave labor are also significant challenges to Myanmar’s state capacity and development. Myanmar is one of the largest producers of opium in the world, with an estimated 420,000 hectares of opium poppy cultivation in 2010. The drug trade has been linked to corruption, organized crime, and the funding of armed groups. Additionally, Myanmar has been accused of using forced labor, particularly in the production of goods such as jade and textiles. The use of forced labor has been linked to human trafficking and other human rights abuses. In conclusion, Myanmar’s state capacity and political institutions have been challenged immeasurably over the last decade. The military junta, internally displaced people, drug trafficking, and slave labor are significant challenges to Myanmar’s state capacity and development. The government must take steps to address these issues and work towards building a more legitimate and effective state.
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
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 lack of nationalism also proved to be a conflict for the people of Burma or Myanmar. The militaristic government’s philosophy of ruling isolated left people to live in absolute poverty and is a major human rights concern.
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
Burma has suffered through one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. The Karen, a minority ethnic group in the eastern mountainous region of Burma, has been fighting for a federal system instead of a dictatorship. In the late 1940s, the Karen created the Karen National Union (KNU) to fight for an independent Karen state but switched to fight for a federal system for peoples’ freedom from oppression in the 1970s. After the failure of peaceful negotiations, the KNU waged war against the central government. Undaunted by Zoya Phan is an autobiography about the challenges and injustices Zoya faced and continues to face as an ethnically Karen person. At fourteen years old, Zoya and her family had to flee their village through the jungle to a refugee camp. As a refugee herself, Zoya raises in her book the many challenges the Karen faced in regard to their collective sense of identity and security. In contrast to the Karen’s struggles as refugees, Thailand as the refugee accepting state, also faces immigration challenges with the tens of thousands of people flooding into the country. In order to address the challenges both the Karen refugees and Thailand face, a collaborative summit needs to take place between the United Nations, NGOs, political organizations (KNU), and the participating governments to set clearly defined roles to ensure the safety and basic needs of refugees, while effectively addressing Thailand’s concerns.
Through this we see that the author’s point of view is someone who understands that the events that took place that morning in Burma, were not humane and degrading.
To understand how complicated the ethnic conflict in Burma is, it is important to take a look at the back round of this conflict. Burma is located in Southeast Asia. Its boarders Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. It populates sixty million people, and has one of the largest populations in one country. Because there are so many people, there also are many religions. The country is made up of Buddhist, Muslims and Shiats. However, the route of the problem, is that fact that each religion lives in a certain area, and these areas do not get along with each other. This cau...
Aung San Suu Kyi’s political career demonstrates how she enlightens and voices the issues of her country and how she stood up against the military dictatorship. In 1988, she returned back to Burma to care for her terminally ill mother from years of living and studying abroad where she was only to find widespread slaughter of protestors rallying against the barbaric rule of dictator U Ne Win. Suu Kyi began speaking out criticizing him where she had democracy and fundamental human rights as a priority for Burma in her campaign. She had the audacity to voice and stand opposing the military dictatorship’s rule where she could have easily been slaughtered due to the corruptive nature of the military government. This displays that she was willingly to sacrifice herself for the benefit of
In the short essay “A Hanging” written by George Orwell, he discusses an instance where an Indian man is hung, Orwell recalls this experience as an eye opener, something that showed him the ‘wrongness in cutting a life short’ (Orwell, page 2). Orwell paints a picture of British Colonization in India, the power the British Empire held, and it’s impact on the Burmese population; showing the reader that the minority in Burma- the British, still played the oppressive role in the lives of the majority- the Burmese.
Pugh, C.L. (2013) 'Is Citizenship the Answer? Constructions of belonging and exclusion for the stateless Rohingya of Burma.', p. 3.
In southeastern Asia, there is a country called Myanmar, or Burma. The country have enough natural resources and educated public to make one good economy. After the national democratic election happened in April 2012, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi 's party formed a new administration, Myanmar has embarked on an ambitious program of sweeping reforms to integrate its economy with the global system, as well as solving internal economic problems, there should be no doubt that this administration intends to improve the well-being of Myanmar’s population.
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.
Myanmar has suffered under the military junta rule for most of its independent political existence. Despite growing local pressure and international criticism of the military government in Myanmar, the military junta remains in control by denying all basic freedoms including the media, public protest and civil society. The poor governance in Myanmar has brought about poverty, poor health care, low educational standards and systematic human rights abuses. The reason this essay only focus on children’s right violation is because the researcher look children as the most vulnerable members of society have been disproportionately affected by all these factors.
The presents situations in Myanmar are calm at the time. I can only speculate what will happen in the future. I can only hope for the brighter future. I now live in the United States. I thank my dad to brought me here. Back in my native country, life was pretty rough. I never though of coming to America. If I was still in my country, I will be in the military or working, no doubt. I’m very lucky to be here in America. Even in America, the problems don’t go away. I have to work ten times harder and think harder in order to make a living and do it again and again until my brain explode. All I ever wanted is the quiet comfortable life and I can ask no more than that.
Mere days later, thousands of people took part in assemblies in Rangoon, including Buddhist monks. The protests expanded into general advocacy for democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi was met by protesters in public, the first sighting outside her home since 2003. Nearly 100,000 people protested in Rangoon, the largest march against government since 1988. Shortly after, troops that had been raiding monasteries and arresting protesters began a violent act to stop the protests, shooting several people. United Nations ambassador Ibrahim Gambari saw Than Shwe and Aung San Suu Kyi, then encouraged their government to consult with opposing leaders. The same month, discussions took place without any apparent breakthrough. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis destroyed large parts of Myanmar, killing an estimated 130,000 people. Many nations worldwide criticize the junta after the refusal of permission for aid agencies from other countries to assist the millions of people harmed by the storm. Despite the global pressure on Myanmar, many people thought that Aung San Suu Kyi would be released when her house arrest order expired. However, the junta extended this order just before the deadline