About Burma
Burma has suffered under military rule since 1962. The current incarnation of military rulers, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is one of the most brutal, corrupt and repressive regimes in the world. Torture, rape, summary execution, political imprisonment and forced labour are common, freedom of expression and association are non-existent. Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel laureate and leader of Burma’s democracy movement, is presently under house arrest, where she has spent much of the last 15 years.
Conditions for Burma’s ethnic minorities, who comprise 30% of Burma’s population, are of particular concern. An ongoing debate on whether the junta’s treatment of the Karen legally constitutes ‘genocide’ or not, is illustrative of this. Along Burma’s borders, some ethnic groups continue to wage armed resistance, some have signed shaky ceasefire agreements, and others choose a political forum for their effort. In 1988 the ethnic resistance groups were joined by young Burmese university and high school students fleeing the brutal military crackdown on the fledgling democracy movement.
Burma produces a constant outflow of exiles – refugees fleeing fighting and forced relocation, migrant workers trying to feed their families, political activists avoiding imprisonment and torture. Countries bordering Burma have – willingly and unwillingly – provided temporary shelter for these communities. Some of these exiles seek asylum in third countries, some attempt to make a living in these host countries, and many are trying to affect change so they can go home.