The recent government handle Myanmar

Perhaps somewhere in the news you have read or heard about the coup d'état that took place on February 1, 2021 in Myanmar. On that day, head of government Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested by the army of that country, along with other key members of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Aung San Suu Kyi is a Myanmar politician, leader of the movement for human rights and democracy in the country. In addition, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and received several other international awards. After the coup d'état, power in Myanmar was transferred to commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing. But what do we really know about this South Asian country?

Facts about Myanmar
• Myanmar (formerly Burma) is officially referred to as the Republic of Myanmar and has a population of 56,590,071 (in 2020).

• The population of the country consists of a lot of ethnic groups, such as
- the Bamar (68 percent),
- the Shan (9 percent),
- the Karen (6 percent),
- the Rakhine (5 percent),
- the Chinese (3 percent),
- the Rohingya (2.5 percent),
- the Mon (2 percent),
- the Kachin (1 percent).

• Burmese is the official language in Myanmar (written in Burmese), although several ethnic groups also speak their own languages and English is limited in use.

• Myanmar can be divided into several administrative subdivisions:
- 7 states,
- 7 regions,
- 1 Union Territory,
- 5 zones with their own administration,
- 1 division with its own administration.

• The land is between 10 and 28 degrees north latitude and 92 and 101 degrees east longitude and the land area is 676,577 km² of which 3 percent is water. The country therefore has a tropical or monsoon climate. However, rainfall can vary greatly in the different parts of the country, for example, there is a very dry central area.

• In Myanmar there are three seasons:
- the rainy season (which runs from the end of May to mid-October),
- the cool, dry season (from mid-October to mid-February),
- the dry, hot season (from mid-February to the end of May).

• The main religions in Myanmar are:
- Buddhism (89 percent),
- Christianity (4 percent),
- Islam (4 percent).
A small part of the country's population is a supporter of the animistic faith (1 percent. But also among the Buddhist part of the population the animistic faith is popular, while the mountain peoples have various shamanic tribal religions.

• The currency in Myanmar is the Kyat (abbreviated to MMK), One kyat is one hundred pya. Although officially coins are in use of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 pya and 1 kyat, these are almost observed in daily payments. However, this does not apply to 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10,000 kyat notes.

• Since 7 November 2005, the official capital of Myanmar has been centrally located Naypyidaw (although the move really started on that day). The old capital Rangoon, the largest city in the country, is still considered capital by several countries, including Belgium and the United States, but the Netherlands recognizes the new capital.
• The country borders the countries:
- Bangladeshen,
- India,
- People's Republic of China,
- Laos,
- Thailand.
Furthermore, Myanmar is bounded by:
- the Gulf of Bengal,
- the Andaman Sea,
- the Indian Ocean.
Other borders are formed by mountains in the east and west (these are foothills of the Himalayas). The highest mountain: Hkakabo Razi with a height of 5881 meters is located in the northern tip of the country.

• Geographical classification of Myanmar:
- The plain, formed by the Irrawaddy River and other rivers, lies between the mountains of Myanmar.
- Central in Myanmar is a dry area with little precipitation,
- In the east of the country lies the Shanplateau.
- Another land strip called the Tenasserim Strip, is located in the southeast on the Malacca Peninsula,
- Besides, there are a lot of islands off the coast.
- About 50 percent of Myanmar is covered with forests: mangrove forests are found on the coast, while the higher areas are covered with oak and pine forests. The vegetation in the central part of Myanmar (where it is relatively dry) grows shrubs, grasses and cacti.

• Agriculture in Myanmar employs 64 percent of the population, especially rice maize and sugar cane are important agricultural crops.

• In Myanmar there is a lot of natural resources, but these cannot be exploited due to a break of capital. This can be thought of:
- many different gemstones (but especially rubies because of its high purity).
- logging (mainly the teak).
A large number of companies export their products via Thailand in order to avoid sanctions.
- natural gas extraction, although domestic gas consumption is low and most of the gas is exported to Thailand and China.
- oil originating in the Middle East is discharged via an oil import terminal in Myanmar and then pumped to China, thereby reducing its dependence on oil supplies via the Straits of Malacca.

• The industry in Myanmar produces mainly for the small-scale market in their own country. About 7% of the population is employed in industry.

• Myanmar is often described as a country where the army is a giant producer and exporter of LSD and opium, although this is denied by the government. These products are often sold to Thai and Chinese traders and then sold in Asia and Europe. By the way, the government claims to have to deal with smugglers of the products. Apparently the Myanmar army plays an important role in this because it has been shown that the plantations are always falcon near military camps.

Myanmar through the centuries

Long before the era, the migration of the Mon started from today's China or Northeast India, followed by the Pyu, the Karen, the Chin, the Burmese, the Shan and the Kachin.
The Mon settled in the Irrawaddy river area, where they founded the city of Pegu. The Pyu, on the other hand, populated the central part of Burma, with its capital Sri Kshetra (now called Prome). In the year 832, however, the Thai defeated the Pyu after which the people were taken away. The Burmese were also from China and these people lived in northern Burma. After 832, however, they would gradually take over the place of the Pyu and expelled even the Mon. In the year 849 an empire was founded by the Burmese, with Pagan as capital. This town was located on the River Irrawaddy. When King Anawrahta took the throne in 1044, the First Burmese kingdom (1044-1287) was a fact.

The first period Burma knew of unity and great flowering was therefore reached among the kings of the Pagan dynasty. Anawrahta managed to subdue the Mon with the result that for the first time the entire area (which today is called Myanmar) was truly united. In Pagan, hundreds of temples were built. However, the Mongols, led by Kublai Khan, managed to invade the country in 1287 and put an end to the Burmese Empire.

The dismembered empire remained divided into several smaller states for several centuries. In northern Burma, the Shan ruled. The capital was first Sagaing, then in the year 1364 Ava (or Inwa), both cities were located near the city that is nowadays called Mandalay. On the Irrawaddy River, the Mon Kingdom of Pegu arose, which for a long time waged wars against both the Thai and Shan.

In Toungoo, located between Ava and Pegu, a small Burmese state was founded, which benefited greatly from the wars between the Shan and the Mon. This state even conquered both states by conquering Pegu in 1539 and Ava in 1555. With these conquests King Bayinnaung founded the Second Burmese kingdom (1539-1752) with Pegu as its capital. This king also fought wars against Siam (present-day Thailand) and managed to take the capital Ayutthaya in 1569. However, the conquests did not last long. Therefore, already in 1635 the capital Ava instead of Pegu. In the year 1740, the Mon rebelled and managed to drive the Burmese out of the river delta. This happened, in the year 1752, also with Ava so that the Second Burmese kingdom also ended.

After a short time, however, the Bimans managed to defeat the Mon. This took place under the leadership of Alaungpaya, who then proclaimed himself king and was thus the founder of the Third Burmese kingdom (1752-1885). This king was able to forcibly unite the Burmese peoples into one empire. King Hsinbyushin, in turn, managed to stop a Chinese invasion and even in 1767 to conquer Siam for a short time. In this conquest Ayutthaya was completely destroyed. Under King Bodawpaya, Assam and Arakan were also subjected to tensions with the British Empire in India.. During the Third Burmese Kingdom, the capital would be moved regularly:
- in 1783 from Ava to Amarapura,
- in 1813 from Amarapura to Ava,
- in 1841 (after a devastating earthquake three years earlier) from Ava to Amarapura,
- in 1861 from Amarapura to Mandalay.

The border and trade conflicts with the British Empire in India resulted in three Anglo-Burmese wars: in the years 1824, 1852 and 1885. In the end, the English managed to conquer the whole of Burma and from 1885 the country was part of the British Empire. Thus, the Third Burmese Kingdom had come to an end.. The last king of Burma, Thibaw, was then exiled to India.

Japan managed to conquer Burma in 1942 and wanted to invade India along this road. For this purpose, the infamous Burma railway was built. This railway line was built by forced labour carried out by Allied, Burmese, Thai, Indian and Malaysian prisoners of war. Of this group, more than 100,000 people would die as a result of exhaustion, illness and malnutrition. In the period from 1943 to 1945 Burma was officially an independent country under the name of the State of Burma, but in practice it was a so-called vassal state of Japan. The Allies managed to expel the Japanese from Burma in 1945.

Independence of Burma

In 1948, the Union of Burma was declared independent, but from the very beginning it was very unstable due to various rebellious mountain peoples and nationalities seeking self-government. Communist uprisings in China were also taking place in response to attacks by Kuomintang soldiers supported by the United States and Taiwan.


When a military coup was committed in 1962, the junta needed all democratic administrative bodies and resources.. Burma turned into a military dictatorship. The constitution was also wiped off the table and the Burma Socialist Programme Party was given all political and administrative power. All the means of production present were nationalized by this party and economic policy-making would take place centrally and a ban on all independent forms of reporting.. In 1974, the country turned into a one-party state. In 1989, the name was also changed from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar.

A new coup took place in Burma (after the August 1988 uprisings) and this time by a group of soldiers who first called themselves SLORC, and from 1997 SPDC (State Peace and Development Council). Although elections were held in May 1990, the result was rejected by the new junta. After all, the winner was the National League for Democracy.

The Burmese government, led by Thein Sein, implemented democratic reforms in the period 2008-2012 and demilitarised the state to a large extent, thereby increasing freedom. However, this also resulted in the expression of oppressed tensions between the various religious groups of Myanmar that have been dormant for years. In June 2012, violence broke out in the west of the country between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhists, causing massive riots. The government declared the state of emergency for Rakhine. During the unrest, 88 fatalities were killed and the riots at the end of October claimed another 80 deaths. Certainly 100,000 people, mainly Rohingya, have been displaced as a result.

In March 2013, violence resurrected in the city of Meiktila in the middle of Burma. Several Muslim districts were destroyed by furious Buddhists after a Muslim killed a monk. Just before that there had also been an incident between a Buddhist family and an Islamic jeweller, after which a state of emergency had also to be declared in several cities. The root cause of these outbursts of violence was that local Mandalayse Muslims had shown sympathy for the months previously persecuted Rohingya. This fact was difficult for the Buddhists to accept.

Despite the fact that the riots have until then been dismissed as an ethnic conflict, they now had to be classified under the heading of religious violence.. The government feared that the turmoil would reach the capital Rangoon, but no one, not even Aung San Suu Kyi, seemed to want to take sides for the Muslims, especially the Rohingya. On the night of 2 to 3 April 2013 a fire broke out in a Koranic school in a district of Yangon. 13 children between the ages of 10 and 15 were killed. The government's statement that the fire was the result of a short circuit was believed by virtually no Muslim. Muslims suspected that there was no accident, but that the Buddhists had this arson on their conscience.

In August of the year 2017, the Myanmar army carried out purification operations in which a large number of villages of the Rohingya were set on fire and the women present were raped. Thousands of Rohingya fled the border with Bangladesh. In just a few months, about 700,000 Rohingiya were expelled from Myanmar. Despite the imposition of an arms embargo by the United States and the European Union in 2015, it appeared that Israel has been supplying weapons to the military junta since that time and also provided military training. The United Nations stated that there might be an intention of genocide and the International Criminal Court decided on 18 September 2018 to carry out an exploratory investigation.

The current situation in Myanmar

Regardless of what name the government of the country bears, the administration of Burma can generally be described as a dictatorship since the arrival of juntas.. The rulers do not accept any form of political dissension and will only pursue their own (personal) economic and financial interests.. Openly, (in some cases even massively set up) protest and resistance of the population is therefore always knocked down. Typically, this is done with harsh measures and physical violence.

The ruler pursues an international isolation policy. This means, among other things, denying access to the media and human rights organisations and simply ignoring disapprovals and sanctions from the international community. Only a few neighbouring countries, such as China, India and Thailand, are allowed to interfere a little in the country, but only because there are mutual economic interests.

Resistance against the power in Myanmar

Although the ruler often tries to keep the reins tight with a huge show of power, there really is a lot of resistance. As a rule, it concerns underground resistance, but in some cases it is also more explicit. Especially in the border region with Thailand, civil war has been going on for a long time: guerrilla movements consisting mainly of local ethnic groups (the Mon and the Karen) are fighting against the Burmese army. Since 1980 there is already a huge flow of refugees to Thailand: where the more than 40,000 refugees are housed in large camps/ The Thai government does not recognize these people officially refugee.

At the end of September 2007 there was a protest movement in Myanmar, from an ever-increasing group of Buddhist monks. With their non-violent parades, they clearly showed that they were keen for democratic governance in their country. After a few days, an ever-increasing number of citizens would join them. These people not only stood side by side with the monks to support their call, but also to protect them from possible violence by the military of the junta. Sometimes tens of thousands of people participated in such protests. The government thus faced a huge dilemma because monks in the country have a very high, almost sacred status and their authority is great when it comes to moral values. Without the intervention of the junta, however, the action could potentially lead to enormous, perhaps uncontrollable, unrest throughout Myanmar. But even the precipitation of the movement, with a hard hand, could have a similar effect.

However, the government did not know how to conduct deliberations in a moderate manner, possibly leading to compromises.. However, on 26 September, when the protesting mass attempted to reach the Sule Pagoda in Yangon, the army nevertheless intervened. The number of fatalities affected by this is not clear. However, the government then spoke of only one fatal victim. It is known, however, that on that day some 200 monks and civilians were caught in Yangon.

On 27 September 2007, two monasteries in Rangoon were stormed by security forces at night and an estimated 200 monks were arrested. In the afternoon there were nine deaths to be regretted, among them was the Japanese journalist Nagai Kenji who worked for the press agency AFP.

On October 1, it was reported that there were thousands of deaths in Myanmar and that the army had carried out mass executions. According to fleeing, defected officers, a large number of monks were forced into trucks, to be executed in the jungle, but also that other monks were imprisoned in their monasteries and that the University of Rangoon had been converted into a prison. Certain reports report that 200 prisoners were released on 5 October. Myanmar Ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Tint Swe, declared to the Security Council that further releases were under way. This statement was perhaps intended to prevent intervention by the Security Council.

The oppositional National League for Democracy has also resisted since the party came out in 1990 as the winner of the “free" elections. When the victory was not recognized by the military rulers, a large number of members of the National League for Democracy were captured. For example, their leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who fought fiercely for freedom in her country, has been placed on house arrest for twenty years. This house arrest was lifted on 13 November 2010.

End of military administration in Myanmar

On 31 January 2011, a new constitution was put into effect in Myanmar, which should formally put an end to military administration in the country. On this day, the first meeting of the newly established parliament took place. It involved a so-called two-chamber parliament with a House of Commons (440 seats) and a House of Lords (224 seats). On February 4, 2011, Thein Sein was elected President of Myanmar, which would be the first civilian head of state of Myanmar in a period of almost half a century.

Observers, however, quickly note that although there was no formal military administration, a large number of members of parliament, like the new president, are ex-military. They had left the army before the elections in order to take the 'civilian' government. The international community therefore questions the impact of the political changes.

However, around and after the change of administration, certain developments have been initiated which appear to indicate an increase in civil and political rights. Thus, in November 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was released, several political prisoners amnesty were discovered as of 2011 and a truce came into force between the Burmese government and the KNU (a Karen rebel group) in January 2012.. Positive events of this kind have been greeted with some caution as a step in the right direction, with the result that, among other things, the European Union suspended a large part of the sanctions against Myanmar for one year. In this way, democratic reforms in Myanmar could be stimulated. The arms embargo on Myanmar remained in force after that time.

On 9 November 2015, opposition party NLD won the election and elected the parliament in March 2016 Htin Kyaw as president. However, in March 2018, this president resigned for health reasons.

The recent takeover in Myanmar

On the night of January 31 to February 1, 2021, the military Junta took over power in Myanmar. Head of Government Aung San Suu Kyi and some cabinet members were also arrested. The military commander-in-chief announced on television that the army will take over power in the country for a minimum of one year. According to the army, there is an electoral fraud allegedly committed by the party of Aung San Suu Kyi in November 2020. In this election, the NLD won 396 out of 476 seats. The most important opposition party USDP (which enjoys support from the army), managed to win only 25 seats. According to international observers, however, the progress to the ballot box in Myanmar has been correct and that is contrary to the position of the army.. The army demanded that the election results could be seen and verified, but the NLD did not allow it.

The army says that the takeover of power took place in accordance with a component in the Constitution of Myanmar. This section would allow the army to take over power in the event of an emergency. For this reason, the army argues that there can be no talk of coup d'état at all. Obviously, the NLD disputes this explanation and for that reason the party called on the people to protest via Facebook.

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