History & Current Events

The Opposition

Important Issues

The Golden Land

Burma - a Southeast Asian nation bordering China, Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Laos - has a rich history and culture going back thousands of years. Its 54-60 million people (the last census was taken in 1983 so exact figures are unknown) are extremely diverse, belonging to hundreds of different ethnic groups and practicing various religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and animism (although Buddhism is practiced by the vast majority of the people - close to 90%). 

The majority Burman ethnic group makes up about two-thirds of the population and controls the military and the government. The minority ethnic nationalities, making up the remaining one-third, live mainly in the resource-rich border areas and hills of Burma, although many have been forcibly removed from their homes by the military-backed government as it confiscates land for development projects and resource exploitation. As a result, millions of people from these minority groups have become IDPs within Burma, or refugees in neighbouring countries. The violent conflict between the Burmese Army and ethnic armed rebel groups is the longest ongoing civil war in the world.

Burma was ruled by a military regime from 1962 until November 2010, when it held its first elections in two decades and transitioned into a civilian-led government, headed by President Thein Sein. However, these elections were widely criticised for being neither free nor fair, and the 'civilians' who came to power were simply the same generals who had been ruling for decades, though no longer in uniform. 

Furthermore, the 2008 Constitution reserves 25% of the seats in Parliament for the military, so the institution still essentially yields  all the power. The Constitution also fails to address the underlying ethnic tensions within Burma which perpetuate the ongoing violent conflict, and it provides no real protection for the rights of the minority ethnic nationalities (or any of Burma's people, for that matter).

The regime/government has been condemned as one of the worst human rights abusers in the world. In addition to committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians in regions where there is active fighting, the government deprives all the people of Burma of basic human rights and freedoms through a number of oppressive laws and a complete disregard for the rule of law.

Statistics About Burma

PLEASE NOTE: It is impossible to gain fully accurate statistics on indicators in Burma as data collection is non-systematic and tends to be unreliable even from the most credible of sources.

Education is suffering—last reliable statistics looking at education in 2004 stated that only 85% of Burmese children are enrolled in primary school, even though primary education is compulsory. This is down from 97.8% in 1991. Perhaps what’s worse is that only 34% of children were enrolled in secondary schools in 2004. (Source: United Nations Development Programme - UNDP)

Over 200,000 women and girls have been trafficked from Burma to other countries in the region, particularly China, according to the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). (Source: Women of Burma report to the International Tribunal for Crimes Against Women in Burma, 2010)

The average adult in Burma receives only 2.8 years of schooling, and only 36.5% of eligible students enroll in secondary education. (Source: UNESCO)

In 2009 alone, Burma had 591,492 cases of Malaria, 180,000 cases of Tuberculosis reported in the country, alongside and 240,000 people (adults and children) living with HIV. (Source: Global Health Facts)

In 2009, less than 1% per 100 inhabitants had mobile-phone subscriptions and less than 2% had fixed telephone lines (Source: Freedom House)

Burma’s Gross National Product (including foreign remittances) is estimated to be US$386, similar to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Rwanda. (Source: UN, 2007)

Burma’s military regime has destroyed more than 3,500 ethnic minority villages. More than one million people of Burma have fled the violence and oppression, becoming refugees in neighbouring countries. An additional 600,000 villagers are struggling to survive as internally displaced persons (IDPs). They are often forced to live for long periods of time in the jungle or makeshift camps with few protections and no basic opportunities or rights. (Source: Women of Burma report to the International Tribunal for Crimes Against Women in Burma, 2010)

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that the military regime has compelled more than 800,000 civilians to perform forced labour including as sexual slaves, building roads and other construction projects, and as porters of heavy loads of munitions and military supplies. (Source: Women of Burma report to the International Tribunal for Crimes Against Women in Burma, 2010)

Infant Mortality Rate: In 2010, 48 out of every 1000 babies under age 1 died in Burma. (Source: UNESCAP, 2010)

Statistics looking at babies between 2000-2009 show that about 15% of Burmese babies are born undernourished – position number 14 in the world for underweight babies.(Source: Unescap, 2010)

According to Burma military experts, 40 to 60 % of the national budget is allocated to the military. In contrast, according to a report released in 2007 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank based in London, 0.4% is spent on healthcare, while 0.5% is spent on education. (Source: The Irrawaddy, 4 June 2010)

An estimated 50% of Burma lives in extreme poverty. Some NGOs estimate that the figure is closer to 80%. (Source: DFID UK Aid in Burma Report, 2010)

Narcotics and Burma

Myanmar remains South-East Asia's largest opium poppy growing country and the world's second largest after Afghanistan, with an estimated 43,600 ha under opium cultivation in 2011. (Source: UNDOC, 2011)

There was a 14 per cent rise in opium poppy cultivation in 2011 from 2010 increasing in Myanmar for the fifth year in a row, effectively doubling since 2006. (Source: UNDOC, 2011)

Opium prices in Myanmar have significantly increased in 2011. The average farm-gate price of opium (weighted by the estimated area under cultivation) was US$ 450/kg in 2011, up some 48% from US$ 305/kg in 2010. (Source: UNDOC, 2011)

The average annual cash income of opium-producing households increased by almost 24% in the Shan State, from US$ 830 in 2010 to US$ 1,030 in 2011. However, opium farmers in Myanmar generally remain poorer than non-opium growing farmers. (Source: UNDOC, 2011)

The high (and rising) price of opium in Myanmar is making opium production more attractive. This has made the issue of food security even harder to address.(Source: UNDOC, 2011)