This week, the coup d’etat reminded the world of the Burmese military’s true colors. Though some held the naive belief that democratic reform would heal Burma’s wounds, the country’s ethnic minorities knew that these reforms were merely a facade of democracy. They have been the victims of the military’s abuse for decades, and saw that the 2008 constitution was going to change very little. The people in Arakan, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon and Shan states know from experience that a leopard cannot change its spots.
Yet, despite low expectations, 2021 proved itself to be especially abysmal-even before the coup.
Credit: NB via Wah Ku Shee
As always, the first to suffer in Burma are its ethnic minorities. Just as 2021 began, the military made an aggressive move. They began to leave their bases in Karen state and move into villages in the Muthraw district. They lobbed mortar shells into the villages and fired their guns in the air like thugs. This forced the terrified populace to seek refuge in the dense forests surrounding their homes. Since late December, over five thousand villagers had become internally displaced people (IDPs). In the villagers’ absence, the military has even burned at least one home in Mae Lai village. This is not the first time this tragedy has played out, and it certainly won’t be the last. Year after year, the military carries out similar campaigns in Karen state. They depopulate an area in order to build new bases or requisition land. Using these brutal tactics, the military has built eight new bases in the Muthraw district since 2015, bringing the total number of bases in the district to 80. Neighboring districts are experiencing similar issues as well, with one thousand villagers displaced in Nyaunglaypin District alone.
In Arakan state (the epicenter of the Rohingya genocide), the military has been undertaking a cruel campaign against students and villagers. Last year, fighting around Marlar village forced hundreds to flee. Now, over two months after the fighting has stopped, villagers still cannot return to their homes. The army has militarized the area, setting up stations all around the village. Villagers are afraid that if they return, they will be killed or the village will be destroyed. Those who protest this aggression face arrest or interrogation by the military. Students who protest this travesty are thrown in jail. Many of these activists have waited months for a trial and waste away in COVID-infested prisons.
This complicates ongoing peace talks between the Arakan Army (AA) and the national government. The AA has not been involved in any conflict since before the general election, yet the army insists they must construct new outposts. This has essentially given the military a strategic victory against innocent villagers and an inactive armed organization. Additionally, the state legislature has removed the AA from its list of terrorist organizations. It did so without any objection, even from the twelve mandated military representatives. Despite this, the army still maintains that the AA could attack at any moment, that civilian leaders should be ignored, and that preemptive military aggression is necessary for the region.
Arakan’s regional neighbor, Chin state, has not escaped abuse either. It is currently home to 100,000 IDPs and remains chronically underdeveloped. Internet restrictions and outages make it difficult to understand the exact situation in Chin state. Some IDPs, having given up on returning home, have settled across the country outside of Yangon. They are frustrated with violence spilling over from Arakan state and attacks on aid workers.
Punitive action against civilians has occurred in Shan state as well. There, the military has abused vague laws to confiscate land from farmers. The Farmland Law and the Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin Lands Management Law have been used to assert military ownership of wide swaths of land. The army claims that this land is unused and should be reverted to military ownership, despite the fact that it had been cultivated by locals for decades. Adding insult to injury, the military cordons off the land and begins to farm it. Family farms that were once used for sustenance become castor oil plantations overnight with little to no compensation-all this in a region that has already been plagued with violence between the army and armed organizations. Hundreds of people in northern Shan state have had to seek refuge in monasteries to escape the fighting.
Though the fighting has died down in Kachin state, the scars still show. Just six years ago, two school teachers were raped and murdered by the military; an injustice that still rocks this community. Meanwhile, there are still nearly 100,000 IDPs and numerous checkpoints deny villagers access to their homes. All of these injustices demonstrate that locals have no power in the face of the military, whose leaders enrich themselves with the natural wealth of the state. Citizens cannot call on the civilian government for help, seeing as Kachin state parliament has refused to debate IDP issues and grants tenders to local companies at woefully low rates. All of this amounts to a perception that all of the suffering that has occurred in Kachin state for years was simply a cynical grab for contracts and natural resources.
Since 2015, the army has been emboldened to commit all manners of crimes due to a lack of accountability. Military men have been grafted into the politics of the country, causing headaches for anyone who wants to see progress. Civilian politicians either cannot or will not restrain them. The international community has attempted to chastise the army and drag them into court, but this cannot prevent future atrocities in the country.
Once upon a time, the United States’ entire policy regarding Burma was to hold the military accountable. The USA used sanctions and international condemnation to bring the junta to its knees. However, under the Trump administration, America’s Burma policy has been on autopilot. Many economic restrictions (such as the JADE Act) that were terminated by Obama were not reinstated by Trump following the 2017 Arakan state clearances. For their part, the Trump administration has targeted generals under the Global Maginsky Act, but many are still able to flourish due to their shady business dealings. Unfortunately, there is a perception in Burma that though these sanctions are in place, the USA is disinterested in abiding by them. Just last year, the US embassy in Yangon partnered with a company that is owned by the daughter of Burma’s top general. Though the embassy distanced themselves from the business and is now run by a new ambassador, the damage has already been done.
The arrival of Biden to the White House promises to shake up the US’ Burma policy because, unlike Trump, Biden is known for being tough on human rights abusers. He famously called out Slobodan Milosevic for his crimes in 1993. Already, his administration has floated the idea of classifying the Arakan clearances as a genocide. But, one can only hope that Biden does not repeat the mistakes of the Obama administration. He has filled his cabinet with Obama era all-stars, which begs the question, can these old dogs learn new tricks when it comes to Burma?
If America and the international community want to rein in Burma’s out-of-control military, it must:
- Immediately establish a comprehensive response. This response must include the reinstatement of targeted sanctions and other forms of diplomatic pressure against the military and its affiliates.
- Work in concert with other nations to impose a global arms embargo.
- Refer the situation in Burma to the ICJ and ICC to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.
- Provide immediate direct cross-border assistance to adequately address humanitarian needs of all IDPs and refugees suffering from ongoing militarization and offensives at the hands of the Burmese military.
The recent coup stresses the need for these changes. If there is any hope for redress in Burma, it must come now while there is attention on the country. If the international community and grassroots organizations do not strike while the iron is hot, they risk having the country slip back into decades of ethnic cleansing and military rule.
Feature photo credit: NB via Wah Ku Shee
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