The Burma Issue

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world, headed by General Than Shwe. The military junta, called the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), refuse to hand power to the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Since the election in 1990, key NLD party members and supporters have been either imprisoned or exiled. Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, and over 2,100 political prisoners are in jail being subjected to the worst forms of torture.

Since democratic rule ended in Burma in 1962 the military regime has waged a violent and inhumane war on over 100 ethnic groups within Burma. Ethnic groups particularly targeted include: the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Mon in eastern Burma, the Chin, Arakan and Rohingya in western Burma, and the Kachin in northern Burma.

The Burmese military is guilty of committing crimes against humanity towards these ethnic groups including: the widespread and systematic use of rape, forced labour, forced relocation of villages, use of human minesweepers, torture and killings. Burma also has the highest number of forcibly conscripted child soldiers in the world, estimated to be 70,000.

During its rule by dictatorship the military has destroyed twice as many villages as Darfur, Sudan, forcing millions of innocent villagers to flee into the jungles of Burma as internally displaced people (IDPs) or to neighbouring countries as refugees, legal and illegal migrants.