fallstuff
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I don't think there will be sanctions unless the plight of the Rohinga takes a turn for the worst. I think it will be more about positive motivation.
No Excuse for Violence: Obama Tells Burma
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I don't think there will be sanctions unless the plight of the Rohinga takes a turn for the worst. I think it will be more about positive motivation.
alaungphaya
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You're right. There is a much bigger game afoot in the Asia-Pacific and you're not invited. The US is pushing ahead with its renewed friendliness towards us because they are desperate (along with Japan) to get SE Asia onside against China. The last the thing the UN did was to ask you to open your borders to allow the Rohingyas back. If and when they wish to return to BD, the UN will lean on you even further.
p.s. hilarious to hear talk of sanctions on the week they were lifted. All thanks to the work of inept Aung San Suu Kyi.
alaungphaya
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You think there's integrity in politics? It's all a big game.
Zabaniyah
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There's a whole bigger ball game going up there.
If ye know what I mean
I don't think you understood the point here. And frankly, we don't care about all those "fun & games" going up there. In fact, we don't give a damn. I mean, why should we?
The point is that there aren't any international laws that determine which third countries that refugees, or persecuted people would settle in. None whatsoever. To say otherwise is pure fantasy.
As sovereign nation, it is Bangladesh's right to deny any persons entering illegally. We are not violating any international law by doing so.
What Myanmar's leaders are implying is not based on anything. In fact, their statements merely sustains lawlessness.
As I said, the ball is ultimately in Myanmar's court in regards to the Rohingya problem.
It would be very interesting to see Myanmar quickly shifting from a pro-China stance to a pro-US and anti-China stance.
Hammer-fist
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1. Rohingyas were Burmese citizens until 1982 when their citizenship was illegally removed by an undemocratic military junta.
The reason for this was racial, in the same way Burma had earlier ethnically cleansed Indians of the Hindu faith as they were Indic and not Mongoloid.
2. The Rohingyas are not:
a: Calling for an independent state as the people of South Sudan, Kosova or East Timor did.
b: They are not calling for autonomy.
c: They are merely calling for a very minimal demand of the restoration of their citizenship.
3. The Burmese regime including the fascist here are calling for their mass expulsion from the country.
4. To realize this agenda of ethnically cleansing Rohingyas the Burmese regime instigated pogroms earlier this year, as part of a long history of pogroms and ethnically cleansing. They felt as before there would be no major reaction.
5. The whole Islamic world went on fire.
- Turkey condemned the pogroms and sent their foreign minister, the wife of their prime minister and his daughter to Arakan (Burma) to support the Rohingyas.
- Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah and his cabinet expressed outrage.
- Indonesia wanted a UN discussion on this and was very active diplomatically. Some Indonesian Muslims called for war against Burma, others called for the closing of the Burmese embassy. Muslim Indonesia will always support Muslim Bangladesh against the anti-Muslim and anti-Christian Burmese.
- Many other Muslim countries declared outrage including Pakistan, Iran, Tunisia, UAE, Qatar, Egypt etc
6. The Burmese "bent" and met with Islamic leaders including Turkey's foreign minister who went to Burma for the Rohingya issue (note Turkey has no border with Rohingyas or Burmas but due to them being Muslim supports them), as well as an OIC delegation.
7. Thein Sein who had earlier called for the mass expulsion of Rohingyas to a 3rd country a month or two later changed his tone and spoke about providing education for Rohingyas, i.e. using the budget and resources of the Burmese state to serve Rohingyas, an implicit acceptance of:
a - Their de facto status as actual Burmans
b - The recognition of their permanent status in their indigenous motherland, Arakan
So the Burmese military junta changed its tune and was scared of global Muslim reaction.
8. Bangladesh has consistently maintained the same policy through out the current crisis which is that Rohingyas are Burmese citizens and Burma must ensure stability in Arakan. This has been the same policy from day 1 till now.
The American regime though calling for the re-location (i.e. realizing the Burmese goal of ethnic cleansing of Muslims) has no material power to enforce this against an increasingly more nationalistic Bangladesh, so the Burmese can do nothing.
The Burmese have succeeded in kicking out Indic Hindus and thought they could do the same with Indic Muslims (Rohingyas) but have failed.
9. The other Burmese (Bamar) failure in the Rohingya crisis has been forming a pan-Buddhist anti-Muslim/Rohingya coalition of Bamars (the race that rules Burma) and Rakhines.
Rakhine guerillas are actually fighting and killing Burmese troops even now.
So Burma is clearly losing.
10. The Kachins in the north have killed over 1,000 Burmese soldiers in a war that has lasted for over one year now. If the Burmese regime does not manage to please the other 4-5 main rebel groups they may decide to follow the path of the Kachins (Christians) and Rakhines (Buddhists) and resume military operations.
11. In the long run the racially-obsessed Bamars are concerned over the Chinese becoming an overly powerful ethnic group in Burma. This may be too late anyway and democracy might ultimately make China the biggest winner in the Burma crisis. Why?
a: In 2014 or later there will be the much awaited national census of Burma which will show the exact percentage of each ethnic group in Burma. Some claim that non-Bamar "minorities" in Burma are almost half the population.
If the census does show this then Burma will have to be a multi-ethnic Switzerland style state.
b: Democratic politics could lead to a Bulgaria-style scenario. In Bulgaria the ethnic Turkish party is often the kingmaker in government and decides which coalition which rule. If the millions of Chinese in Burma create their own political party to represent their interests they may become de facto kingmakers of who rules Naypywidaw (or Yangon, if in the future the democratic Burmese government decides to relocate the capital away from the military-created city of Naypywidaw).
The Chinese in Burma would be so strong that Burma would fall even further under the Chinese orbit.
This is a possibility but not guaranteed.
Is a de facto Chinese satellite state of Burma good for Bangladesh?
The answer is totally, absolutley and completely.
i: China will ensure connectivity of China (including its Yunnan province) to Bangladesh via Burma.
ii: China will rein in Bamar racial supremacism (the current ideology of the junta, Aung San Su Kyi and the troll on this forum).
The fact is historians will say that by 2012 serious analysts should have realized that Bamar racial supremacism (which included a desire to realize the mass expulsion of 1 million Muslims) was a fundamentally doomed ideology.
The reason for this was racial, in the same way Burma had earlier ethnically cleansed Indians of the Hindu faith as they were Indic and not Mongoloid.
2. The Rohingyas are not:
a: Calling for an independent state as the people of South Sudan, Kosova or East Timor did.
b: They are not calling for autonomy.
c: They are merely calling for a very minimal demand of the restoration of their citizenship.
3. The Burmese regime including the fascist here are calling for their mass expulsion from the country.
4. To realize this agenda of ethnically cleansing Rohingyas the Burmese regime instigated pogroms earlier this year, as part of a long history of pogroms and ethnically cleansing. They felt as before there would be no major reaction.
5. The whole Islamic world went on fire.
- Turkey condemned the pogroms and sent their foreign minister, the wife of their prime minister and his daughter to Arakan (Burma) to support the Rohingyas.
- Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah and his cabinet expressed outrage.
- Indonesia wanted a UN discussion on this and was very active diplomatically. Some Indonesian Muslims called for war against Burma, others called for the closing of the Burmese embassy. Muslim Indonesia will always support Muslim Bangladesh against the anti-Muslim and anti-Christian Burmese.
- Many other Muslim countries declared outrage including Pakistan, Iran, Tunisia, UAE, Qatar, Egypt etc
6. The Burmese "bent" and met with Islamic leaders including Turkey's foreign minister who went to Burma for the Rohingya issue (note Turkey has no border with Rohingyas or Burmas but due to them being Muslim supports them), as well as an OIC delegation.
7. Thein Sein who had earlier called for the mass expulsion of Rohingyas to a 3rd country a month or two later changed his tone and spoke about providing education for Rohingyas, i.e. using the budget and resources of the Burmese state to serve Rohingyas, an implicit acceptance of:
a - Their de facto status as actual Burmans
b - The recognition of their permanent status in their indigenous motherland, Arakan
So the Burmese military junta changed its tune and was scared of global Muslim reaction.
8. Bangladesh has consistently maintained the same policy through out the current crisis which is that Rohingyas are Burmese citizens and Burma must ensure stability in Arakan. This has been the same policy from day 1 till now.
The American regime though calling for the re-location (i.e. realizing the Burmese goal of ethnic cleansing of Muslims) has no material power to enforce this against an increasingly more nationalistic Bangladesh, so the Burmese can do nothing.
The Burmese have succeeded in kicking out Indic Hindus and thought they could do the same with Indic Muslims (Rohingyas) but have failed.
9. The other Burmese (Bamar) failure in the Rohingya crisis has been forming a pan-Buddhist anti-Muslim/Rohingya coalition of Bamars (the race that rules Burma) and Rakhines.
Rakhine guerillas are actually fighting and killing Burmese troops even now.
So Burma is clearly losing.
10. The Kachins in the north have killed over 1,000 Burmese soldiers in a war that has lasted for over one year now. If the Burmese regime does not manage to please the other 4-5 main rebel groups they may decide to follow the path of the Kachins (Christians) and Rakhines (Buddhists) and resume military operations.
11. In the long run the racially-obsessed Bamars are concerned over the Chinese becoming an overly powerful ethnic group in Burma. This may be too late anyway and democracy might ultimately make China the biggest winner in the Burma crisis. Why?
a: In 2014 or later there will be the much awaited national census of Burma which will show the exact percentage of each ethnic group in Burma. Some claim that non-Bamar "minorities" in Burma are almost half the population.
If the census does show this then Burma will have to be a multi-ethnic Switzerland style state.
b: Democratic politics could lead to a Bulgaria-style scenario. In Bulgaria the ethnic Turkish party is often the kingmaker in government and decides which coalition which rule. If the millions of Chinese in Burma create their own political party to represent their interests they may become de facto kingmakers of who rules Naypywidaw (or Yangon, if in the future the democratic Burmese government decides to relocate the capital away from the military-created city of Naypywidaw).
The Chinese in Burma would be so strong that Burma would fall even further under the Chinese orbit.
This is a possibility but not guaranteed.
Is a de facto Chinese satellite state of Burma good for Bangladesh?
The answer is totally, absolutley and completely.
i: China will ensure connectivity of China (including its Yunnan province) to Bangladesh via Burma.
ii: China will rein in Bamar racial supremacism (the current ideology of the junta, Aung San Su Kyi and the troll on this forum).
The fact is historians will say that by 2012 serious analysts should have realized that Bamar racial supremacism (which included a desire to realize the mass expulsion of 1 million Muslims) was a fundamentally doomed ideology.
Hammer-fist
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Hammer-fist
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Ethnic tensions grow in Myanmar
Sarah Birke
Jul 3, 2010
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BHAMO, Myanmar // Tensions between locals and the growing Chinese community in Myanmar are rising, as Beijing's influence in its southern neighbour expands. Some analysts are warning that widespread race riots - which broke out in the 1960s - could occur again. People in Myanmar, particularly in the northern part of the country where the majority of Chinese immigrants have settled, are increasingly vocal in their criticism of the newcomers, as well as of China's policies towards their country.
Most of those moving to Myanmar from China are businesspeople in search of new markets, and bring with them their own workers from China. Locals complain that the Chinese businesses are of little benefit to them economically while the people make little or no attempt to integrate. "The Chinese get rich whilst we get poor," said Soe San, who is from a small village on the Irrawaddy Delta, south of Bhamo. "All the opportunities are taken by them."
The widespread Sinophobia is aimed at the "New Chinese", recent immigrants from China, as opposed to the second and third generations of Sino-Myanmarese, who are well-integrated, speak Burmese and practise Buddhism - Myanmar's dominant religion. "Recent migrants, mainly from the [south-western] Yunnan province, have little attachment to the country and keep their language and culture intact," said a Sino-Myanmarese analyst in Yangon, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Exact numbers of Chinese immigrants to Myanmar are unknown - especially as acquiring Myanmar citizenship is a fairly simple process that many have undertaken. Estimates run anywhere between one to three million. Whatever the true figure, Mandalay, Myanmar's second biggest city, is 30 per cent to 40 per cent Chinese, according to statistics from Global Witness, a London-based human-rights monitor; Lashio, the capital of Shan state, is dubbed "Chinatown", and Mandarin is the language of choice in Kachin state.
Denied permission to work in professional positions, many of the Chinese immigrants entered business with large firms bringing in Chinese workers. They dominate Myanmar's economy and have a disproportionately large presence in the country's higher education. Myanmarese industry is underdeveloped as China supplies cheap goods from Yunnan province. Imports from China to Myanmar have reached unprecendented levels, rising in value from US$546 million (Dh2 billion) in 2000 to $2bn in 2008, according to the Internatonal Monetary Fund.
The real value of exports is likely far higher given the considerable black market trade. Underlying much of the tension between the Myanmarese and Chinese immigrants are Beijing's policies in Myanmar. Political support from Beijing, which has a veto in the United Nations Security Council, is seen as a major reason for the stability of Myanmar's junta, a source of resentment among many in Myanmar who long for democracy.
China is also pushing to extract more of Myanmar's resources, including hydropower, oil and gas. "The Burmese population believe that China's exploitations have caused environmental degradation and undermined Myanmar's democratic aspirations," said the analyst in Rangoon. China has rapidly expanded its foreign direct investment in Myanmar in recent years, mostly in the field of resource extraction, and now boasts $1.85bn in official direct investment in the country; the real figure is believed to be higher as not all such investment has to be channelled officially.
According to a 2008 report by Earth Rights International, there are at least 69 Chinese corporations investing in over 90 hydropower, mining, oil and natural gas projects in Myanmar. Two Chinese pipelines running through Myanmar are due to go online within the next two years. One will bring oil from the Middle East, while the other will have the capacity to bring 12 billion cubic metres of Myanmarese gas to China every year.
Apart from concerns about the fact that Myanmar - where electricity is intermittent - is selling off gas it needs itself, critics accuse China of brutally exploiting both people and the environment in its quest for resources. "Imagine your home has been bulldozed for a dam construction project, your farm, which is your livelihood, has been seized without compensation, and you and your family are forcibly relocated," said Ko Ko Thett, a commentator for The Irrawaddy, a Yangon-based daily.
"Then the Chinese immigrants come to work the land where your farm used to exist. This is the source of tensions." In the past two months there have been protests by villagers in Kachin against the Myitsone Dam being built by the state-owned Chinese Power Investments Company which is causing the relocation of up to 15,000 people. In April unclaimed bomb blasts killed 300 Chinese workers. In addition, a conflict between the Myanmarese army and the Kokang, a largely Chinese minority, has intensified in the border region.
"Repressed anger against the New Chinese has been seething for years and could easily build up to a communal clash," said Ko Ko. "There is also potential for the destruction of Chinese projects as long as there are groups which can exploit the justifiable grievance of the local people who have been displaced by such projects."
Read more: Ethnic tensions grow in Myanmar - The National
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook
Hammer: Beijing and Dhaka should work together to essentially ensure a Burma under Chinese control but co-operative with Bangladesh and respecting Burma's Muslims and Christians.
We Chinese and Bangladeshis should also make this a win-win for everybody (except the racist Bamars) by making the Americans get a good healthy chunk of the Burmese pie including business deals, so that China, Bangladesh and America all benefit.
Thailand is welcome to join the party too.
LONG LIVE CHINA-BANGLADESH FRIENDSHIP.
Sarah Birke
Jul 3, 2010
Save this article
BHAMO, Myanmar // Tensions between locals and the growing Chinese community in Myanmar are rising, as Beijing's influence in its southern neighbour expands. Some analysts are warning that widespread race riots - which broke out in the 1960s - could occur again. People in Myanmar, particularly in the northern part of the country where the majority of Chinese immigrants have settled, are increasingly vocal in their criticism of the newcomers, as well as of China's policies towards their country.
Most of those moving to Myanmar from China are businesspeople in search of new markets, and bring with them their own workers from China. Locals complain that the Chinese businesses are of little benefit to them economically while the people make little or no attempt to integrate. "The Chinese get rich whilst we get poor," said Soe San, who is from a small village on the Irrawaddy Delta, south of Bhamo. "All the opportunities are taken by them."
The widespread Sinophobia is aimed at the "New Chinese", recent immigrants from China, as opposed to the second and third generations of Sino-Myanmarese, who are well-integrated, speak Burmese and practise Buddhism - Myanmar's dominant religion. "Recent migrants, mainly from the [south-western] Yunnan province, have little attachment to the country and keep their language and culture intact," said a Sino-Myanmarese analyst in Yangon, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Exact numbers of Chinese immigrants to Myanmar are unknown - especially as acquiring Myanmar citizenship is a fairly simple process that many have undertaken. Estimates run anywhere between one to three million. Whatever the true figure, Mandalay, Myanmar's second biggest city, is 30 per cent to 40 per cent Chinese, according to statistics from Global Witness, a London-based human-rights monitor; Lashio, the capital of Shan state, is dubbed "Chinatown", and Mandarin is the language of choice in Kachin state.
Denied permission to work in professional positions, many of the Chinese immigrants entered business with large firms bringing in Chinese workers. They dominate Myanmar's economy and have a disproportionately large presence in the country's higher education. Myanmarese industry is underdeveloped as China supplies cheap goods from Yunnan province. Imports from China to Myanmar have reached unprecendented levels, rising in value from US$546 million (Dh2 billion) in 2000 to $2bn in 2008, according to the Internatonal Monetary Fund.
The real value of exports is likely far higher given the considerable black market trade. Underlying much of the tension between the Myanmarese and Chinese immigrants are Beijing's policies in Myanmar. Political support from Beijing, which has a veto in the United Nations Security Council, is seen as a major reason for the stability of Myanmar's junta, a source of resentment among many in Myanmar who long for democracy.
China is also pushing to extract more of Myanmar's resources, including hydropower, oil and gas. "The Burmese population believe that China's exploitations have caused environmental degradation and undermined Myanmar's democratic aspirations," said the analyst in Rangoon. China has rapidly expanded its foreign direct investment in Myanmar in recent years, mostly in the field of resource extraction, and now boasts $1.85bn in official direct investment in the country; the real figure is believed to be higher as not all such investment has to be channelled officially.
According to a 2008 report by Earth Rights International, there are at least 69 Chinese corporations investing in over 90 hydropower, mining, oil and natural gas projects in Myanmar. Two Chinese pipelines running through Myanmar are due to go online within the next two years. One will bring oil from the Middle East, while the other will have the capacity to bring 12 billion cubic metres of Myanmarese gas to China every year.
Apart from concerns about the fact that Myanmar - where electricity is intermittent - is selling off gas it needs itself, critics accuse China of brutally exploiting both people and the environment in its quest for resources. "Imagine your home has been bulldozed for a dam construction project, your farm, which is your livelihood, has been seized without compensation, and you and your family are forcibly relocated," said Ko Ko Thett, a commentator for The Irrawaddy, a Yangon-based daily.
"Then the Chinese immigrants come to work the land where your farm used to exist. This is the source of tensions." In the past two months there have been protests by villagers in Kachin against the Myitsone Dam being built by the state-owned Chinese Power Investments Company which is causing the relocation of up to 15,000 people. In April unclaimed bomb blasts killed 300 Chinese workers. In addition, a conflict between the Myanmarese army and the Kokang, a largely Chinese minority, has intensified in the border region.
"Repressed anger against the New Chinese has been seething for years and could easily build up to a communal clash," said Ko Ko. "There is also potential for the destruction of Chinese projects as long as there are groups which can exploit the justifiable grievance of the local people who have been displaced by such projects."
Read more: Ethnic tensions grow in Myanmar - The National
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook
Hammer: Beijing and Dhaka should work together to essentially ensure a Burma under Chinese control but co-operative with Bangladesh and respecting Burma's Muslims and Christians.
We Chinese and Bangladeshis should also make this a win-win for everybody (except the racist Bamars) by making the Americans get a good healthy chunk of the Burmese pie including business deals, so that China, Bangladesh and America all benefit.
Thailand is welcome to join the party too.
LONG LIVE CHINA-BANGLADESH FRIENDSHIP.
animelive
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There's a whole bigger ball game going up there.
If ye know what I mean
I don't think you understood the point here. And frankly, we don't care about all those "fun & games" going up there. In fact, we don't give a damn. I mean, why should we?
The point is that there aren't any international laws that determine which third countries that refugees, or persecuted people would settle in. None whatsoever. To say otherwise is pure fantasy.
As sovereign nation, it is Bangladesh's right to deny any persons entering illegally. We are not violating any international law by doing so.
What Myanmar's leaders are implying is not based on anything. In fact, their statements merely sustains lawlessness.
As I said, the ball is ultimately in Myanmar's court in regards to the Rohingya problem.
It would be very interesting to see Myanmar quickly shifting from a pro-China stance to a pro-US and anti-China stance.
Good for us
they won't get much protection from our closest ally anymore then
Hammer-fist
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We Bangladeshis should start becoming regular tourists to China's Yunnan province and flood China's south-east with our hard earned currency.
It's a win-win.
Bangladeshis see China's beautiful south-east. China gets richer and our money.
Official from China's Yunnan province in Bangladesh with the Bangladeshi prime minister.
Natural beauty of China's Yunnan province.
Lake in Kunming, capital of Yunnan.
Kunming at night.
If tomorrow China's PLA crossed the border and invaded Burma and even annexed it, I for one would celebrate and regard it as much of a Bangladeshi victory as a Chinese one since
a: We would have a border with our allies China (just as Pakistan does).
b: China unlike Burma does not burn churches, rape Christians, ethnically cleanse people and ban marriage for minorities (Muslim minorities in China are actually free from the one child rule).
Go PLA, please make Bangladesh happy and send the 1 million + PLA soldiers in to Burma to stop the killing of Christians, Muslims and ethnic Chinese.
It's a win-win.
Bangladeshis see China's beautiful south-east. China gets richer and our money.
Official from China's Yunnan province in Bangladesh with the Bangladeshi prime minister.
Natural beauty of China's Yunnan province.
Lake in Kunming, capital of Yunnan.
Kunming at night.
If tomorrow China's PLA crossed the border and invaded Burma and even annexed it, I for one would celebrate and regard it as much of a Bangladeshi victory as a Chinese one since
a: We would have a border with our allies China (just as Pakistan does).
b: China unlike Burma does not burn churches, rape Christians, ethnically cleanse people and ban marriage for minorities (Muslim minorities in China are actually free from the one child rule).
Go PLA, please make Bangladesh happy and send the 1 million + PLA soldiers in to Burma to stop the killing of Christians, Muslims and ethnic Chinese.
Hammer-fist
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Can Kobiraz or someone please create a new map of China with Burma included as a new province of the People's Republic of China.
My IT skills aren't great.
Will be a very nice map.
You post a one-liner with a red emoticon, while I provide detailed commentary, explanation, articles and analysis, yet you call my posts "trolling"?
Please comment on the topic and stop it with the personal attacks.
Thanks for your co-operation
My IT skills aren't great.
Will be a very nice map.
dude stop trollingyou know that burma is a better ally to China than us right now, right?
You post a one-liner with a red emoticon, while I provide detailed commentary, explanation, articles and analysis, yet you call my posts "trolling"?
Please comment on the topic and stop it with the personal attacks.
Thanks for your co-operation
alaungphaya
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your China love is hilarious
alaungphaya
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There's a whole bigger ball game going up there.
If ye know what I mean
I don't think you understood the point here. And frankly, we don't care about all those "fun & games" going up there. In fact, we don't give a damn. I mean, why should we?
The point is that there aren't any international laws that determine which third countries that refugees, or persecuted people would settle in. None whatsoever. To say otherwise is pure fantasy.
As sovereign nation, it is Bangladesh's right to deny any persons entering illegally. We are not violating any international law by doing so.
What Myanmar's leaders are implying is not based on anything. In fact, their statements merely sustains lawlessness.
As I said, the ball is ultimately in Myanmar's court in regards to the Rohingya problem.
It would be very interesting to see Myanmar quickly shifting from a pro-China stance to a pro-US and anti-China stance.
Now who's getting all fearful and defensive of the inevitable. BD will do what the ruling foreign powers will tell it to because it is too weak to stand up on its own. I'm not saying you're a basket case but of the UN or America or China pressure you into finding a bi-lateral solution, you have no choice but to acquiesce.
Hammer-fist
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Obama's Burma visit overshadows army's continued war crimes in Kachin state
President Barack Obama's visit to Burma on Monday, the first ever trip by a sitting US president, has been hailed by numerous western commentators as further proof that the country long ruled by military dictatorship has undergone real democratic change.
Despite the series of reforms that have taken place under President Thein Sein's nominally civilian government Burma's army continues to yield a huge amount power. In June 2011, some three months after Thein Sein officially took office the military launched a full scale offensive against the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the country's second largest armed ethnic group.
Given that the Obama administration has been relatively quiet about the army's actions in Kachin state over the past 18 months, it’s unlikely that Obama will say much if anything about the Kachin conflict during his brief visit to the country. If President Obama is really interested in assisting Burma make a true democratic transition he must speak out against the army's abuses and its continued stranglehold over the country.
Although most of the world has ignored the Kachin conflict, the impact on civilians of the army's nearly 18 month long campaign has been devastating. An estimated 100,000 people have been forced from their homes across Kachin state and parts of neighboring north western Shan state since the army chose to unilaterally end a 17-year ceasefire with the KIO.
Despite claims that things have changed because Aung San San Suu Kyi and her colleagues have been elected to parliament the army's methods have been no different from those it employed during the Than Shwe and Ne Win era. Troops deployed in Kachin state have carried out horrible war crimes against civilians including rape, summary execution and forced portering, as detailed in a report released earlier this year by Human Rights Watch.
The generals apparent belief that they would easily crush KIO, with an armed wing larger than some European nations, has proven to be folly. Many young Burma army conscripts have needlessly died after being forced to charge up mountainsides well defended by seasoned Kachin fighters. Unofficial estimates reveal that the army has lost thousands of troops in the state, the actual figure remain unknown and even leading opposition figures like Aung San Suu Kyi don't appear to be interested in forcing the army to reveal what remains a national secret.
With alarming regularity the army has responded to the heavy losses it has incurred by killing and sexually abusing unarmed Kachin civilians, actions that are not just war crimes but endless motivation for more young Kachin men and women to the resistance, as many have since the conflict began.
President Thein Sein has responded to the costly Kachin conflict by twice issuing orders that the army halt its offensive. The army continues however to attack, leaving one to conclude that either Thein Sein wasn't serious about bringing an end to the conflict or he doesn't control the army currently headed by a Than Shwe protege.
Even if Thein Sein, himself a former general, actually wanted to reign in the army this would be very difficult thanks to the pro military constitution currently in place. The constitution that Burma had during its brief democratic era in the 1950s, while far from perfect, was far better than what was forced upon Burma during a sham referendum held in the wake of the 2008 cyclone. General Than Shwe's parting to gift to the country he so seriously misruled is a document that enshrines the right of the army to seize power at any time, essentially legalizing any future military coup.
The army however doesn't need to launch a coup because it’s still largely controls all government decision making, something that hasn't changed for five decades. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, the largest party in parliament is overwhelmingly dominated by Than Shwe loyalists who only recently retired from the army.
If Burma is going to make a true democratic transition the army must be put under actual civilian control and its size reduced significantly. The country which remains one of the world's poorest needs health and education spending, not tanks and fighter jets.
Obama's Burma visit overshadows army's continued war crimes in Kachin state - Kachin News Group
President Barack Obama's visit to Burma on Monday, the first ever trip by a sitting US president, has been hailed by numerous western commentators as further proof that the country long ruled by military dictatorship has undergone real democratic change.
Despite the series of reforms that have taken place under President Thein Sein's nominally civilian government Burma's army continues to yield a huge amount power. In June 2011, some three months after Thein Sein officially took office the military launched a full scale offensive against the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the country's second largest armed ethnic group.
Given that the Obama administration has been relatively quiet about the army's actions in Kachin state over the past 18 months, it’s unlikely that Obama will say much if anything about the Kachin conflict during his brief visit to the country. If President Obama is really interested in assisting Burma make a true democratic transition he must speak out against the army's abuses and its continued stranglehold over the country.
Although most of the world has ignored the Kachin conflict, the impact on civilians of the army's nearly 18 month long campaign has been devastating. An estimated 100,000 people have been forced from their homes across Kachin state and parts of neighboring north western Shan state since the army chose to unilaterally end a 17-year ceasefire with the KIO.
Despite claims that things have changed because Aung San San Suu Kyi and her colleagues have been elected to parliament the army's methods have been no different from those it employed during the Than Shwe and Ne Win era. Troops deployed in Kachin state have carried out horrible war crimes against civilians including rape, summary execution and forced portering, as detailed in a report released earlier this year by Human Rights Watch.
The generals apparent belief that they would easily crush KIO, with an armed wing larger than some European nations, has proven to be folly. Many young Burma army conscripts have needlessly died after being forced to charge up mountainsides well defended by seasoned Kachin fighters. Unofficial estimates reveal that the army has lost thousands of troops in the state, the actual figure remain unknown and even leading opposition figures like Aung San Suu Kyi don't appear to be interested in forcing the army to reveal what remains a national secret.
With alarming regularity the army has responded to the heavy losses it has incurred by killing and sexually abusing unarmed Kachin civilians, actions that are not just war crimes but endless motivation for more young Kachin men and women to the resistance, as many have since the conflict began.
President Thein Sein has responded to the costly Kachin conflict by twice issuing orders that the army halt its offensive. The army continues however to attack, leaving one to conclude that either Thein Sein wasn't serious about bringing an end to the conflict or he doesn't control the army currently headed by a Than Shwe protege.
Even if Thein Sein, himself a former general, actually wanted to reign in the army this would be very difficult thanks to the pro military constitution currently in place. The constitution that Burma had during its brief democratic era in the 1950s, while far from perfect, was far better than what was forced upon Burma during a sham referendum held in the wake of the 2008 cyclone. General Than Shwe's parting to gift to the country he so seriously misruled is a document that enshrines the right of the army to seize power at any time, essentially legalizing any future military coup.
The army however doesn't need to launch a coup because it’s still largely controls all government decision making, something that hasn't changed for five decades. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, the largest party in parliament is overwhelmingly dominated by Than Shwe loyalists who only recently retired from the army.
If Burma is going to make a true democratic transition the army must be put under actual civilian control and its size reduced significantly. The country which remains one of the world's poorest needs health and education spending, not tanks and fighter jets.
Obama's Burma visit overshadows army's continued war crimes in Kachin state - Kachin News Group
