By Kanbawza Win | January 19, 2012
Looking at my beloved country I recollect Mikhail Sergeyevich
Gorbachev, the last Komissar of the Soviet Union
who tried his level best to save the Communist system through long-necessary
reforms, as what the Burmese regime is doing now in releasing hundreds of
political prisoners. It also catches two birds with a stone in placating the maximum impression on European and American diplomats
and "human rights" organizations to lift their punitive sanctions
which they so crave in order to legalize their personal wealth. Not that I am predicting that Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi will be the Boris Yektsin of Burma as she has famously put it:
"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts
those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are
subject to It." but because the system of the dictatorial regime is
rotting beyond repair and is crumbling.
Cease fires with the ethnic nationalities must be followed up by stopping
the ethnic cleansing policies because in modern Burma is that
the ethnic nationalities have been residing in their specific area long before
the Myanmar race came into Burma.[1]
The Generals using their pocket army the Tatmadaw is endeavoring these “undesirable"
population due to religious or ethnic discrimination, political, strategic or
ideological considerations, or a combination of these to satisfy their grip on
powers will soon come to an abrupt end. This forcible deportation of a
population - is defined as a crime against humanity under the statutes of the International Criminal Court which "constitute
crimes against humanity and can be assimilated to specific war crimes.[2] Furthermore such acts could also fall within
the meaning of the Genocide Convention." The UN General Assembly
condemned "ethnic cleansing" and racial hatred in a 1992
resolution.
In 1985 Anti Slavery International (ASI) was
the first Non Burmese organization to raise the issue of concern at the United
Nations. In March 1987 in response to growing reports of an alarming catalogue
of human rights abuses by the BSPP (Burmese Socialist Programme Party), ASI
sponsored a visit to Europe of a delegation
from the Karen National Union. This was the first time since Burma gain
independence in Jan 1948 the ethnic
nationality delegation from one of “Asia most war torn countries” had entered
such an international forum where its delegation speak to the UN Commission on
Human Rights in Geneva.
The ethnic cleansing of the Burmese regime has
become a worldwide international concern and experiences of other multi ethnic
countries, such as Afghanistan,
Yugoslavia, Burundi, and Rwanda. It shows how desperate
these conflicts can become if left unresolved. It could easily become an all
out civil war. Human rights
abuses in ethnic nationality areas are the single most important cause of
conflict-induced internal displacement in Burma
and the scale of atrocities committed by the Burmese army is unparalleled
within Asia. Surges of attacks by the Burmese
army since autumn 2005 have compelled thousands to flee, especially in the
Karen state where 11,000 people have been reported displaced during the months
of March and April 2006 alone.
While an increasing number of people in the country face a
deteriorating humanitarian situation, Burma’s internally displaced like
the Kachins are particularly vulnerable and face acute humanitarian problems in
health, nutrition and education. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium
(TBBC) has carried out the most reliable existing survey of internal
displacement in eastern Burma.
According to this study, which covers 37 townships in the Tenasserim and
eastern Pegu divisions and the Mon, Karen, Karenni and Southern Shan States,
the total number of people who have been forced or obliged to flee their homes
over the past decade and have not been able to return, resettle or reintegrate
into society is estimated to be at least to be half a million There are no
similar surveys from other parts of the country, but other studies conducted by
human rights groups have estimated that 650,000 are internally displaced in the
border areas and at least one million countrywide.[3] Between 700,000 and one million people are
also believed to have fled Burma
to Thailand, India, Bangladesh,
Malaysia
and other countries to escape human rights violations.[4] The large majority of the internally
displaced, 340,000 people, are in temporary settlements in ceasefire areas
controlled by ethnic minority groups, while at least 92,000 civilians remain in
hiding and another 108,000 are in relocation sites after being forcibly evicted
from their homes by the army. [5]
Army attacks to increase control over areas in eastern Karen state, close to
the Thai border, have displaced at least 11,000 people and over 15,000 people
have fled to refugee camps in Thailand.[6]
Human rights violations are the
single most important reason for displacement than fighting between the Burmese
and the resistance armies. In conflict areas, the army has for decades
implemented a so-called “Four Cuts Policy” which aims to consolidate
control in ethnic nationalities areas by eliminating the access of armed
opposition groups to new recruits, information, supplies and financial support.
In implementing this strategy, the Burmese army is accused of widespread human
rights abuses such as forced relocation, expropriation of land and livestock,
extortion, forced labour, threats and intimidations, sexual abuse and other
forms of violence.[7]
As the Burmese Tatmadaw substantially expanded its control over ethnic nationalities areas during the late 1990s, more than 2,800 villages have been destroyed and about one million people forcibly relocated to government-controlled areas.[8] In Shan state, approximately two thirds of the villages situated in the hills were relocated to lowland areas from 1996 onwards, and villages are still being destroyed.[9] People forcibly relocated by the Tatmadaw are commonly given about one week’s notice to leave their village and move to poorly equipped relocation sites, after which government troops loot any remaining belongings and destroy buildings and food crops to discourage return.
A development program, launched in 1989 to promote infrastructure in the border areas, have primarily served to consolidate military control over the ethnic nationalities population. Road building and natural resources extraction has led to easier access for the military and an increased threat of human rights abuses against the local population. A large hydro-electric project which will lead to the building of four dams along the Salween river in Karen and Shan states, has already led to forced evictions of 60 villages along the river and threatens to displace thousands of people when implementation starts in 2007. [10]
In Western Burma, particularly in Arakan, the Muslim Rohingya and other ethnic groups have been displaced as a result of brutal discrimination policies, including the construction of "new villages" for trans-migrants from central and northern Burma. Many of those displaced have fled to Bangladesh, where conditions of asylum are very harsh, and where they face the prospect of forced repatriation.[11] The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma has repeatedly expressed concern about the situation. The Na Sa Ka (e p u), a border task force believed to be under the direct command of the regime is said to be the main perpetrator of abuses against the Rohingya population. Although UNHCR is present on the ground after a mass repatriation in 1994-1995 of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, abuses go on unabated.[12]
In urban areas, whole neighborhoods, mainly in poor areas, have been forced to move due to “security reasons” or to make way for infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges and “urban development programs”. Hundreds of thousands of residents of Rangoon and other towns and cities have been moved to “satellite towns” that have been established in recent years.[13] A sudden move of key government ministries from Rangoon to Naypyidaw reportedly also led to the forced relocation of surrounding villages and forced labor. [14]
Anti-personnel mines are a major risk in Burma, affecting nine out of 14 states. The concentration of landmines is especially dense along the border with Thailand and Bangladesh. Most of the land mines were laid by the Tatmadaw and they lay mines close to areas of civilian activity to prevent relocated villagers from returning to their native villages. There is no systematic collection of information about mine casualties, but there is evidence that Burma is among the countries with the highest number of casualties each year. The mine threat has been identified as one of the main impediments to any future return of IDPs and refugees.[15]
While the general humanitarian situation in the country has deteriorated over the past years, the situation is particularly critical for internally displaced in eastern Burma. The TBBC documented the extreme vulnerability of the displaced populations, among other in terms of mortality and malnutrition rates which are significantly higher than for the rest of the population. Tens of thousands are in urgent need of basic medical assistance, food aid, shelter and education, but no assistance is reaching them and surely this is but one way of ethnic cleansing.
The large majority of people needing assistance in Burma are cut off from international relief. The Burmese government generally refuses to permit any external involvement in its border areas and does not allow international organizations[16] access to war-affected populations.
After a period of expanded humanitarian space to some areas in eastern Burma, access has again been curtailed, that further restrict assistance by international organizations.[17] The tight surveillance imposed by the regime has led the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to terminate grants and Médecins Sans Frontières – France to cease its activities inside Burma. [18] Even the ICRC, which has a long-standing presence in Burma, has recently been restricted in carrying out its work, including prison visits. [19] Cooperation with the government has been complicated further by the sudden relocation of key ministries to Pyinmana in southern Mandalay division.[20]In ceasefire areas, relocation sites and in areas of mixed administration, the main method of minimizing threats is to comply with extortion and follow orders. [21]
The impending collapse of the Burmese military dictatorship system are political and economic because of the result of the Burmese military culture and totalitarian system The poor Burmese consumers turned to imports and black market to satisfy their needs because all the needs were swallowed up by military and there were no quality goods to balance imports except in extractive economy. These economic factors were linked to political and psychological factors. "the gloomy background of the worsening market situation ... has a depressing effect on people." Their gloom deepened as a result of policy failures such as the war against the ethnic nationalities and democracy movement.
Another factor was the lack of
honest information, the secrecy and propaganda that is central to the culture
of dictatorship. As contradictions mounted as the people of Burma became
more and more cynical about the propaganda of government-controlled media. It
was common to hear an average Burmese say that you could find truth anywhere
except in government news. This was exacerbated by the free press of the
dissidents, the BBC, VOA and Radio Free Asia.
Secrecy and
distortion of information have disastrous economic as well as political
effects. Secrecy and restricted movement, the hallmarks of militarism and
bureaucracy, pervaded the Burmese society as all levels of the system, from
institutes to ministries, were isolated from each other, both by barriers to
communication and by an attitude that one should mind one's own business. Economic indicators were routinely
suppressed or falsified to the point that when the final economic collapse was
imminent there were no published figures to indicate the points of weakness.
All of these factors accumulated on top of a
profound alienation of the Burmese people that had grown up over the years as
the country remained in the grips of the culture of war. Information was
controlled in the form of propaganda and dissidents were sent to jail. People
did not feel free to discuss this, resulting that most people did not
participate in governance. In the Burmese military dictatorships
all citizens were deprived of the basic rights and freedoms of organization,
speech, thought, press, movement, residence, conscience and religion; full
trade union rights for all workers including the right to strike, and one
person one vote in free and democratic elections were in non existence. There
is no free flow of honest information. Which is against the principles of a
culture of peace and development?
The Generals are desperately
gasping and no Western country should be in a hurry to reward the vehemently
hated Burmese Generals. I would agreed with David Steinberg’s comment “We
foreigners should remember how marginal we are in helping the downfall of the
Burmese military dictatorship, the real heroes are the people of Burma f all
ethnicities” [22]
[1] The
Mon has been in Burma much
earlier than the Burman/Myanmar
[2] Established pursuant to Security
Council Resolution 780
[3] see Human
Rights Watch, June 2005
[4] UNNS, 28
October 2005
[5] Thai Burma Border
Council , October 2005, pp. 2, 24
[7] Amnesty
International, Sept. 2005 and UNGA, 12 August 2005, par. 65
[8] Thai
Burma Border Consortium, October 2005, p.22
[9] SRDC,
2006, p.3; S.H.A.N., 7 March 2006 SRDC, 2006, p.3; S.H.A.N., 7 March 2006
[10] KDRG,
2006, p.2; TBBC, October 2005, p.20; HRW, June 2005, p. 42
[11] Forum
Asia, June 2003; FIDH, 9 March 2004; AI,
19 May 2004
[12] Amnesty
International , 29-9- 2005; IPS, 6-12- 2005; Kaladan News, 16-3-
2006
[13] USDOS,
8 March 2006; KWN, September-October 2003
[14] UN
Human Right Commission , 7 Feb. 2006, para. 36
[15] Human
Rights Watch, June 2005, p.13
[16] Human
Rights Watch, June 2005, p. 60
[17] Mizzima
News, 13 February 2006
[18] COE-DMHA,
20 December 2005; MSF, 20 March 2006
[19] Mizzima
News, 24 February 2006
[20] UN
Commission for Human Rights , 27 February 2006, para 7
[21] TBBC,
October 2005, pp.55-56
[22] Steinber;
David J Myanmar: On Claiming Success in The Irrawaddy
18-1-2012
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