The Burma Conflict

A Presentation By:

Carly Jones

Erin Smith

Auden Steane

Emma Wedekind

The Burma Conflict1. History and Mapping

• Conflict History• Key Locations

2. Four Key Individuals and Groups• Conflict Roles• Conflict Views

3. Four Key Events• Outline• Timeline

4. Conflict Today• Conclusion

Conflict History

1886: British completed colonization of Burma Division between ethnic minorities caused by the British

favouring certain groups 1920: protests against British rule began Aung San emerged as a potential leader of the

movement for independence During WWII: the Aung San gathered 29 others to

participate in military training in Japan January 1947: Aung Sun negotiated with the British

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Conflict History (Part 2)

July 1947: Assassination of Aung Sun and cabinet members 1948: U Nu becomes Prime Minister 1962: Military gains control over government 1982: Burmese Citizenship Law

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Key Locations

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Map of Burma

Four Key Individual and Groups

Karen National Union

Leading political organisation representing the aspirations of the Karen people

Formed in 1949 Fighting for Karen people in

Burma to have their own independent state

January 2012: the KNU have signed a ceasefire with Burma’s government

State Peace and Development Council

First known as State Law and Restoration Council

SPDC was a military regime and gained control of Burma in 1988 - 2011

Accused of abusing human rights and were not popular with the citizens of Burma

They rejected an election result that would take away their control of Burma in 1990

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Four Key Individual and Groups

National League for Democracy

A political party founded in 1988

Formed from the aftermath of the 8-8-88 uprising

Won the majority of parliament in the 1990 elections but the SPDC refused to give away their power

The NLD leader is Aung San Suu Kyi

2012 elections: NLD won 43 out of 46 for parliament

Aung San Suu Kyi

Formed the National League for Democracy

Put under house arrest by the SPDC after the 1990 council

Served 21 years of house arrest but only served 15, she was released in 2010

Has a chair in parliament after the 2012 elections

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Four Key Events

8-8-88 Uprising March 1988 university

students demonstrated over abuse of power and corruption

August 8th 1988 civilians took the street to demand democracy

Estimated that 10 000 died Mobs murdered suspected

military intelligence agents, soldiers and bureaucrats

Burma Myanmar

Name changed in 1989 to further show political power and oppress civilians

Depending on which name other countries use shows where their sympathies lie

Myanmar = country is soft on the regime

Burma = country supports the civilians human rights

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Four Key Events

2007 Protests 2nd largest protest Regime raised fuel prices up

by 500% Monks joined the protest-

100 000 September 26th regime

soldiers raided 52 monasteries, 6000 people arrested, 1400 were monks

October 11th UN security council releases formal statement urging regime to release political prisoners

2008 Constitution

3rd constitution of the country

Drafted for 14 years and 11 months ( January 1993- December 2007)

Favoured defence forces Deprived the ethnic

minorities of their aspirations by providing limited autonomy

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Conflict Today

Despite promises of reform the civil war has yet to come to an end  Dominated Central governments were unable to reach a politcal

agreement An estimated 500 000 people are currently displaced by an armed forced

relocation of villages  Another 800 000 Muslims are also suffering and lacking most basic

human rights This is due to violence of the Rakhine community towards the Rohingya

community on June 3rd 2012

Rohingya community protesting 10

Rohingya community protesting

Karen National Union (KNU) soldiers

Conflict Today

Today, the government has signed ceasefire agreements with most rebel groups however the army has yet to gain the trust of the population.

A number of conflicts with other rebel groups also persist, causing approximately 3 million Burmese to flee to neighboring countries.

After more than 5 decades of military rule, the Burma government is doing their best to change things in order to get themselves out of international isolation

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Burma on a World Map

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Thank you for Listening!