About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (February 21, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govekqk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service lnfrming the legisi itive debate since 1914 Burma: Background and U.S. Relations February 21, 2023 Overview Burma (also known as Myanmar) is a multi-ethnic Southeast Asian nation of 57.5 million that has been under some degree of military rule since 1962 and under an authoritarian military junta since a February 2021 coup d'etat. Beginning in 2011, Burma underwent a partial transition toward a more democratic system, in which a hybrid civilian-military government led the country following parliamentary elections in 2010 and 2015. The civilian side of the government undertook some political and economic reforms, releasing thousands of political prisoners and loosening restrictions on the media, while the military (commonly known as the Tatmadaw) retained control of the country's security ministries. During this period, the military committed grievous human rights abuses, particularly against Burma's Rohingya minority in 2017 and 2018, causing over 900,000 to flee to Bangladesh. The U.S. State Department determined in 2022 that those abuses constituted crimes against humanity and genocide. Congress has taken considerable interest in Burma since a democratic movement rose there in the late 1980s. In the 117th Congress, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA 2023; P.L. 117-263) included provisions related to the coup that had been part of the Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act (BURMA Act; H.R. 5497), passed by the House of Representatives on April 6, 2022. (A companion bill, S. 2937, was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.) The NDAA states that it is U.S. policy to support the people of Burma in their struggle for democracy, freedom, human rights, and justice and authorizes additional sanctions and non-lethal, technical assistance to resistance groups, among other provisions. Congress has also appropriated resources to provide humanitarian assistance and promote democracy and human rights in Burma. The 2021 Coup D'tat Burma held a third election in November 2020, in which Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a majority of parliamentary seats, as it had in 2015. However, Burma's military undertook a February 1, 2021, coup d'6tat that halted the seating of the newly elected parliament and installed a junta, known as the State Administrative Council (SAC), led by military commander Min Aung Hlaing. The junta arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and many other NLD leaders. Protests and general strikes ensued, and the military responded with violence and thousands of arrests. Burma has been in a state of crisis since. The State Department reports that in the two years since the coup, nearly 3,000 people have been killed, nearly 17,000 detained, and more than 1.5 million displaced. Regional and international concern has mounted as the military has repeatedly used lethal force against peaceful protestors, waged offensives-including with airstrikes-against ethnic minority militias in war-riven regions, and allegedly committed a wide range of other human rights violations, including targeted killings, burning of villages, and sexual violence. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 34,000 homes have been burned or destroyed since the coup. Although the junta says it intends to hold nationwide elections at some point in 2023, it has also extended a state of emergency (martial law), and the State Department said in a January 30, 2023, statement that the elections cannot be free and fair under current conditions. Figure I: Burma Source: CIA World Factbook. Diverse Resistance The resistance to Burma's military junta is broad and diverse, and questions persist about whether its numerous elements share a common vision for the country's future. In April 2021, a group of ousted parliamentarians, most of them in exile, named a shadow National Unity Government (NUG), which included Aung San Suu Kyi as acting State Counsellor and a full cabinet of ministers, including a shadow foreign minister. Most of the NUG's membership is comprised of NLD members, but it has also named representatives of two minority groups as president and prime minister. The NUG has sought international recognition as Burma's legitimate government and in February 2023 opened an office in Washington, DC. On the ground, resistance to the junta has intensified, as ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) have stepped up their decades-long fight for greater autonomy in ethnic regions, while other opponents of the military government have formed informal militias known as People's Defense Forces (PDFs) and waged sabotage campaigns against the regime. Some analysts believe a prolonged period of heightened civil war is likely.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most