Understanding Myanmar

A likely cause for the latest unrest is frustration that the junta has failed to deliver basic services. According to the CFR Task Force report, in 2000, the government spent less than 0.5 percent of GDP on education, leaving 57 percent of the households without access to basic education. Spending on health is even more negligible. Even with hundreds of thousands of people living with HIV in Myanmar, (making it one of the highest HIV- infected countries in Asia) the junta spent only 0.17 percent of GDP on health in 2000. According to the World Health Organization, Myanmar's health system is the world's second worst. UNICEF says the country is facing a health crisis of epidemic proportions; HIV/AIDS is spreading rapidly, and malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, maternal mortality and malnutrition are pervasive.

Human-rights monitors report abuses by the military junta are commonplace, including the following:

Labor: Forced labor is widespread and systematic, according to the International Labor Organization, and is targeted particularly at the ethnic minorities living in the border regions such as Karen, Mon, Shan, and Karenni. The International Committee of the Red Cross says there are about ninety prisons and labor camps in the country.

Population flight: Refugees International estimates that around one million people have fled due to military excesses and fear of persecution and around five hundred thousand are internally displaced in the eastern part of the country.

Sexual Violence: The military's use of sexual violence against women has dramatically escalated in recent years, especially in dissident ethnic areas. Refugees International says rape is systematically used by the military as a weapon to suppress ethnic communities.

Child soldiers: Myanmar has the world's largest number of child soldiers (under the age of 18) and the number is growing. Human Rights Watch said there were about seventy thousand child soldiers as of 2002, most of them forcibly recruited by the country's army.

The junta has repeatedly denied any human-rights violations and condemns efforts by the United Nations to place it on the discussion agenda of the Security Council. Myanmar's foreign minister called the latest efforts by the international community to pressure his government as an attempt by some powerful states "to impose their will on developing countries in pursuit of their political agenda." (Myanmar Times)

The Role of Buddhist Monks

Monks in Myanmar have had a history of political activism dating back to colonial times. Monks enjoy the highest moral authority in Myanmar and monasteries play a prominent role in society, filling the gap in social services created by the government. Many poor families enlist their sons into monasteries where they are provided free food and education. In Buddhist tradition, laymen earn spiritual credit by offering alms to the monks and it is their route towards achieving Nirvana--freedom from the cycle of rebirth.

Monks participated in the 1988 protests; in the 2007 demonstrations, they came to symbolize the voice of dissent against the junta. Htun says the political consciousness of the monks is in keeping with Buddha's teachings. "Buddha lays down a code of conduct for the rulers," says Htun, "and if the rulers fail to follow it, it is then the responsibility of the monks to bring them back to the right path."

The Troubled Way Forward

News reports (NPR) frequently note the broad support for Suu Kyi--who won the 1990 elections with an overwhelming majority--as the legitimate leader of the country. Experts and pro-democracy activists hope that through international pressure and multilateral diplomatic approaches (such as the approach taken with North Korea on its nuclear program), Myanmar's junta can be brought to the table to talk to other stakeholders, including political parties and various ethnic groups, and to embark on a path towards national reconciliation.

Many civil society activists also hope that the monks' dissent may lead to resistance within the army, forcing the junta to rethink its ways. A Foreign Affairs article notes that potential chinks are appearing in the junta's armor. If it were faced with an offer of new economic and political opportunities, write Michael Green and Derek Mitchell of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "some of its members might eventually feel compelled to seek a different course for themselves and their country."