Myanmar Civil War: No End in Sight

During the past two years, Myanmar, located in Southeastern Asia, has experienced a dramatic social upheaval. Since the beginning of this decade, the situation in that country can only be described as civil war. This tragic event has already cost the lives of over six thousand civilians, yet the exact toll of this conflict, including refugees and wounded, alone is more than two thousand. Although this may not seem like very much, there has been no formal declaration of war, which means the events of the past year are only formally recognized as a military coup.

Myanmar formally gained independence from the British Commonwealth in early 1948, and although this step was a very positive forward motion for a democratic system in the country, unfortunately, it did not stay like this for long. From about 1948 to 1962, the country’s parliamentary democratic system enjoyed some modest successes, but in 1962, the military, led by General Ne Win, staged a coup, which brought the country under military rule for the rest of the century. Under the military junta(a government run by the military), the country experienced many periods of severe economic hardship, due to the government’s isolationist foreign policy, and many poor financial decisions internally.

Finally, in 2007, during the Saffron Revolution, named after the saffron-colored robes worn by participating Buddhist monks, the government began to loosen its control on the country, as it believed that giving its citizens more freedom would allow them to remain in power for longer. In 2011, Myanmar began the transition away from a military government to a more democratic government but faced backlash from the ruling military, who saw it as a threat to their power. In 2021, after a short spurt of democracy, the military, led by Min Aung Hlaing, staged a coup on the government after they lost their country’s 2020 elections to the NUG, the democratic party in Myanmar. Through a successful coup, the State Administration Council, the government the Junta set up, has been able to maintain power through a loyal government military.

Throughout the past few years, fighting has intensified within Myanmar. Earlier on, much of the ‘resistance’ to the Junta was not much more than large-scale protesting. Soon after the protests, Win Myint, head of the pro-democracy government in exile, began to formally start an organized campaign against the Junta, and in September 2021, officially declared war on the current government. By 2022, armed conflict was occurring in most parts of the country.

Since then, over twenty-three thousand people have died as a result of this conflict. Within this, six thousand civilians have also perished, but the true number of innocent deaths is likely much higher. In addition, two million people have already been evacuated from the nationwide fighting. As there is very little end in sight, the tragedy of this conflict is only bound to grow as the months drag on.

Works Cited:

“Counting Myanmar’s Dead: Reported Civilian Casualties since the 2021 Military Coup – Myanmar.” ReliefWeb, 13 June 2023, reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/counting-myanmars-dead-reported-civilian-casualties-2021-military-coup.

Dinyar GodrejDinyar Godrej has been associated with New Internationalist since 1989, et al. “A Short History of Burma.” New Internationalist, 5 July 2017, newint.org/features/2008/04/18/history.

“Military-Ruled Myanmar Marks 75 Years Independent of Britain.” Independence News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 4 Jan. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/4/military-ruled-myanmar-marks-75-years-independent-of-britain#:~:text=Myanmar%20declared%20independence%20from%20British,of%20Aung%20San%20Suu%20Kyi.

“Myanmar’s Troubled History: Coups, Military Rule, and Ethnic Conflict.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/myanmar-history-coup-military-rule-ethnic-conflict-rohingya. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.

Soe Win, Ko Ko Aung and Nassos Stylianou. “The Deadly Battles That Tipped Myanmar into Civil War.” BBC News, BBC, 1 Feb. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60144957.

Soe Win, Ko Ko Aung and Nassos Stylianou. “The Deadly Battles That Tipped Myanmar into Civil War.” BBC News, BBC, 1 Feb. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60144957.

Yang, John, and Andrew Corkery. “Humanitarian Crisis Worsens as Fighting in Myanmar’s Civil War Ramps Up.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 27 May 2023, www.pbs.org/newshour/show/humanitarian-crisis-worsens-as-fighting-in-myanmars-civil-war-ramps-up.

Šumit Ganguly, Dinshaw Mistry, et al. “The Civil War in Myanmar: No End in Sight.” Brookings, 13 Feb. 2023, www.brookings.edu/articles/the-civil-war-in-myanmar-no-end-in-sight/.

Image Source: Council of Foreign Relations