Mixed News from Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar)

Recent Internal Refugees in Burma

A recent Al Jazeera article entitled, "Winds of change in Myanmar" reports that the political and economic situation in Burma seems to be improving.  That nation has long suffered under a brutally repressive military regime that has now been replaced with a civilian government, which seems genuinely committed to reform.  The political repression has eased up, and the economy is growing after decades of stagnation and poverty.  This is good news because while it never received the press attention of other repressive states such as North Korea Burma has been one of the quiet tragedies of the planet.

Sadly, however, other recent reports indicate that the new Burmese government is pursuing its war on Burma's ethnic groups with, if anything, renewed vigor.  The AP, for example, reports in an article entitled, "AP Enterprise: In Myanmar, living in fear of army," that the Burmese army has taken the offensive against rebel groups with which it has had long-standing cease fire agreements.  As it has in the past, the army evidently continues to pursue its military aims at the expense of civilian populations and has forced still more ethnic refugees over the border into Thailand.

In Thailand, we frequently heard stories of the atrocities practiced by the Burmese government and army.  Some of the worst forms of violence people experience living under a repressive government are not physical so much as psychological and spiritual.  Life is grim, drab, and unjust in a myriad of small ways.  People must be cautious about what they say, guarded in who they trust.  It is good that things are changing for the ethnic Burmese who dominate the nation.  We can only pray that the government will soon extend its more open approach to the people in the hills who have been in rebellion for some six decades.  There can't be true peace and reconciliation in Burma until they receive justice.