Crisis on the Burma Border

Abstract

The brutal and ongoing suppression of the 'saffron revolution' has refocused international attention on the appalling human rights and political situation in Burma. Civilized people have been shocked by the images of Buddhist monks and other civilians being arrested and killed on the streets of Yangon and other cities.

Understandably, revulsion at the actions of the SPDC military regime has led to calls for firm action to be taken against the generals who have mismanaged Burma for nearly half a century (since the military takeover of 1962). The challenge facing the international community is how to persuade the junta to better respect the human, civil and political rights of citizens. Whether this requires reform of the military government - and some kind of gradual transition to democracy - or a more abrupt form of ‘regime change’ is debatable. What is clear, however, is that Burma needs change - and soon.

In the meantime, for people living in rural areas, not much has changed in recent months. Communities continue to be subject to a range of abuses committed by the Burmese military and government, and sometimes by armed nonstate groups. The situation is especially difficult for ethnic nationality people living in areas affected by armed conflict, or who are threatened by the construction of large-scale infrastructure projects, such as hydropower dams, and whose livelihoods have been undermined by natural resource extraction (logging and mining), or because their land has been confiscated by the army or other powerful actors.