Myanmar: the Agony of a People

Myanmar: the Agony of a People

The Conflict

Rebel groups have been battling the government of Myanmar, formerly Burma. The government has been criticized for its harsh suppression of rebels and protestors.

Political

• The government of Myanmar has been criticized for denying human and civil rights and for violently suppressing protestors, including lengthy imprisonment and torture.
• Rebel groups have used kidnapping and hostage taking to protest the government.

Ethnic

• Many of the minority ethnic and religious groups in Myanmar feel marginalized and oppressed.

Myanmar, better known to the rest of the world as Burma, is a strategically important country situated in Southeast Asia. For well over a decade, especially since 1988, the country has been in the news because of the military government's ruthless suppression of the democracy movement and its disregard for basic human rights. Politics, however, is not the only source of conflict in this land of Buddhist pagodas. Ethnic, linguistic, racial, economic, religious, and, perhaps, ideological reasons complicate the political situation there. Trafficking in illicit drugs through what is called the Golden Triangle—an area where the borders of three southeast Asian countries, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet—adds another dimension to the Burmese problem. As a result, Myanmar, once a prosperous, agriculturally self-sufficient country, has become one of the poorest countries in the world today.

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