Myanmar is back to civilian government, after half century

While Thailand moved from civilian to military government, Myanmar moved from military (for more than half century) to civilian government. Congrats Myanmar people.

A friend suggested that Myanmar will be back to military dictatorship in 6 months and noted that Su Kyi refuses to acknowledge the persecuted Rohingya crisis.

Being a "rational optimist", I believe that if ever Myanmar will go back to a military dictatorship, it will be a 2 steps forward, 1 step backward, and hence, the civilian government -- with all its warts and imperfections -- will prevail. Meanwhile, it is true that Su Kyi is silent on the Rohingya issue. Now that her buddy is in power, let us see how they will deal with this issue.

There should be some credit to the ASEAN efforts at promoting human rights. Myanmar's generals and dictators dislike human rights protection. But being with the ASEAN for many years and seeing other countries in the region that are under civilian leadership and things are fine, no frequent riots or demonstrations when there is civilian supremacy over the military, the military softened and allowed elections and they were defeated.

Compare the state of human rights respect or violation, South East Asia vs South Asia or Middle East or Africa or S. America, SE Asia is better. Here in the PH for instance, things are not exactly heavenly but freedom of speech is more protected, almost anyone can curse the President or legislators or the Supreme Court, etc. without going to jail.

There are still remnants of the military dictatorship, but there are changes. From nearly 100% to 25% military presence in the Parliament, that is still an improvement.

"A key challenge for Suu Kyi's administration will be maintaining smooth relations with a military that locked her and many of her colleagues up for years.

The charter ring fences a quarter of parliamentary seats to unelected soldiers and gives the army chief control over the home affairs, border and defense ministries -- and with it sweeping powers over the civil service." http://interaksyon.com/.../suu-kyi-aide-htin-kyaw-sworn...

A good and brief timeline. The military dictatorship was in power from 1962-2015, 53 years. http://interaksyon.com/.../new-dawn-for-myanmar--timeline...

Meanwhile,  here's one proof of economic liberalization in Myanmar, coinciding with political liberalization that allowed elections. Myanmar made the biggest reduction in total tax rate among the 10 ASEAN countries, from the PWC "Paying Taxes 2016" report, in just one year. There is momentum in economic and political liberalization in that country.

From my article in BusinessWorld today.

Finally, I believe that the Thai military dictatorship won't last long. They should be gone from power within two years or less.

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See also: 
On Myanmar, Letter to Sec. Romulo, October 05, 2007 
Migration 24: Rohingya Boat People to SE Asia, May 12, 2015

Migration 24: Rohingya Boat People to SE Asia

I noticed today a big number of  news reports about the boat people from Bangladesh and Myanmar, the Rohingya people, landing or detained or turned away, by Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Tens of thousands of people are taking the dangerous trip.

People will not leave in huge number if they are not prosecuted, physically and militarily. Either by a government, or by rival clans or religious groups that are backed or tolerated by government.

We have to reiterate for the nth time: the main purpose of government, its raison  d' etre, is to promulgate the rule of law, the law/s that protect the people's right to life against aggression, right to private property, and right to liberty and expression. If there is  government  failure in  this basic function, expect government failure in many other sectors and functions.

Here are some of the troubling news reports the past two days.
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(1) Interaksyon, May 12

The International Organization for Migration called on Southeast Asian governments Tuesday to find and rescue thousands of migrants who are believed to be stranded at sea and at risk of death.

Campaigners fear as many as 8,000 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar -- among them many from the Rohingya minority -- are being held at sea with dwindling supplies after a Thai crackdown on trafficking curbed smuggling routes.

(2) The Guardian, May 12

International groups worry that boats will soon land with dead bodies on board as Rohingyas and Bangladeshis flee poverty and discrimination.

In the past three years attacks on the religious minority, numbering about 1.3m, have left up to 280 people dead and forced 140,000 from their homes. They live in crowded camps just outside the Rakhine state capital, Sittwe, where they have little access to school or adequate health care....

(3) Yahoo news, May 11

Nearly 2,000 boat people from Myanmar and Bangladesh have been rescued or swum to shore in Malaysia and Indonesia, authorities said Monday, warning that yet more desperate migrants could be in peril at sea.

The spate of arrivals comes as Thailand, a key stop on a Southeast Asian people-smuggling route, cracks down following the discovery of mass graves that has laid bare the extent of the thriving trade.

(4) Interaksyon, May 12

We gave them fuel and asked them to proceed. We are not forcing them to go to Malaysia nor Australia. That is not our business. Our business is they don't enter Indonesia because Indonesia is not the destination."

Another boat carrying an estimated 600 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh arrived in the north of Aceh, the westernmost province of Indonesia, at the weekend.

(5) BBC, May 11

Nearly 600 people believed to be Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have been rescued from boats drifting in Indonesian waters.

At least two overcrowded boats - with many women and children on board - were towed by local fishermen to the shores of Aceh province on Sunday.

Myanmar - also known as Burma - refuses to recognise Rohingya as citizens. Hundreds of thousands have fled persecution in recent years, often through Thailand but also by sea.

(6) Yahoo news, May 10

According to the migrant, five boats had departed from Myanmar last week to escape the conflict in their country, Darsa said.

"He said the Muslims were beaten and had hot water poured on them and they just wanted to get out of Myanmar as soon as possible, to anywhere where they could seek refuge," he said.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, and they have been targeted in outbreaks of sectarian violence there in recent years, prompting many to flee.

(7) The Straits Times, May 11

Thousands of impoverished Muslim Rohingya – a minority unwanted by Myanmar’s government – and Bangladeshis have been braving a perilous sea and land trafficking route through Thailand and into Malaysia, Indonesia and beyond every year.

Malaysian police said people-smugglers had dumped more than 1,000 hungry migrants in shallow waters off the coast of the resort island of Langkawi since Sunday. “We think there were three boats that ferried 1,018 migrants,” said Langkawi deputy police chief Jamil Ahmed.

(8) The Straits Times, May 11

Why are they fleeing?

Fierce communal violence between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine in 2012, which left some 200 dead and tens of thousands trapped in squalid camps - mainly Rohingya - catalysed the latest exodus.

The Rohingya have long been treated as "foreigners" by Myanmar's Buddhist majority.

"How many have left?

The UN refugee agency says well over 120,000 have fled since the 2012 violence, an exodus that is gathering pace.

The agency estimates 25,000 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh have taken to boats headed south in the first three months of this year alone.

An estimated 53,000 left in 2014, braving the sea crossing to southern Thailand with many headed for Malaysia and beyond. Hundreds die at sea every year.

One civil society, non-govt. response from our free marketer friends in Kuala Lumpur. Posted in fb two days ago by Wan Saiful Wan Jan of IDEAS:

We are building a private school for stateless and refugee kids. I am looking for volunteers with expertise in either similar kind of educational environment, or relevant expertise such as legal, HR, fundraising an financial admin to help at Board level. Anyone interested?

2 comments:

1. Haris Alimudin. Please come to Sabah, we are facing massive problem with stateless childs with no basic education, if the problem is unattended, soon we will face massive threat.

2. Wan Saiful Wan Jan. Thank you all for the overwhelming support. The location is in Pudu and you can see the preliminary work that we have done here www.ideasacademy.org.my . We now have 24 students. But we are moving into a new premise that can take up to 300 students so this is an ambitious project.

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See also:
Migration and Freedom 19: PH Immigration Bureaucracy, September 08, 2012
Migration 20: Overseas Employment, Positives Outweigh the Negatives?, October 09, 2013
Demography 22: Japan's Depopulation and Migration Policy, May 11, 2014
Migration 23: Why Do Many Filipinos Work Abroad? January 14, 2015

ASEAN 3: On Myanmar, Letter to Sec. Romulo

This is the letter I sent to the DFA.
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October 2, 2007

Hon. Alberto G. Romulo
Secretary
Department of Foreign Affairs
Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City

Dear Sec. Romulo,

We applaud you and other Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN member-countries for issuing a strong statement urging Myanmar leaders to exercise restraint and to release political prisoners like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We have also read and support your press release, “No let up on Philippine Advocacy on Myanmar Democracy”, dated September 27, 2007.

The Philippine government has hosted many ASEAN meetings in the past. For this year alone, our country hosted the ASEAN Summit in Cebu last January, the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila last July, and the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Makati last August.

As Filipino taxpayers that finance those expensive meetings, and as ordinary motorists that suffer heavy traffic whenever police escorts block our way to allow those officials of ASEAN and other participating governments have their way, we feel bad that part of our hard-earned money were spent on those Myanmar generals and bureaucrats whose definition of “public service” is to suppress their citizens’ economic and civil rights, then truncheon, imprison, or shoot them to death when they find courage to stand up to more than 4 decades of military dictatorship.

As taxpayers that finance the DFA budget, we urge you to take certain penalties on the Myanmar government should it continue its political and military repression of its citizens, in particular the continued detention of political dissenters like Ms. Suu Kyi. Please consider urging other ASEAN member-countries that they bar and exclude Myanmar’s leaders, even temporarily, from attending future ASEAN meetings. They have isolated themselves from their citizens, they have disregarded diplomatic requests from governments of other countries, let ASEAN isolate them, until at least they have followed your demands in the recent joint ASEAN statement issued last month. Please spare our tax money from pleasing those Myanmar leaders until they have learned to reform themselves and democratize their country.

Sincerely yours,



Bienvenido Oplas, Jr.
President, Minimal Government, Philippines
minimalgovernment@gmail.com, 0915-8204616
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On another note, our network of liberty-oriented think tanks, research institutes and other political organizations issued the following online campaign:

Solidarity with the People of Myanmar

2 October 2007

148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

We, who are united by common principles and values of individual liberty, declare our steadfast support for the freedom of expression and freedom of association of the people of Myanmar to exercise these rights peacefully. In particular, we declare our solidarity with the people of Myanmar in their present hour of crisis, the people who have bravely faced the brutal force unleashed by the military junta against its own people. By its action on peaceful protestors the military regime in Myanmar has not only underscored its own illegitimacy, but also exposed its own vulnerability.

We call on the military regime in Myanmar to respect the popular sentiment of the Burmese people against authoritarian rule. We also call on the military to release from detention all political prisoners, initiate an honest dialogue aimed at reconciliation, and respect the ideal of political pluralism.

We, also call on the international community to support the democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar to exercise their sovereign right to live in peace, with freedom and dignity.

Signatories, Institute or organizational representatives, as of Oct. 3, 2007:

· Khalil Ahmad, Alternate Solutions Institute, Pakistan

· Ozlem Caglar-Yilmaz, Association for Liberal Thinking, Turkey

· Melinda de Jesus, Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility, Philippines

· Trupti Parekh, Ambrish Mehta, Anil Patel, Action Research in Community Health and Development (ARCH), India

· Barun Mitra, Liberty Institute, India

· Todd Myers, Asia Institute for Social, Philosophical, and Economic Research, USA

· Krishna Neupane, Limited Government, Nepal

· Nonoy Oplas, Minimal Government, Philippines

· Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, Point Pedro Institute of Development, Sri Lanka

· Mohit Satyanand, Liberty Institute, India · Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Malaysia Think Tank, UK

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See also:

ASEAN 1: Asian regional bureaucracies, November 08, 2006

ASEAN 2: Regional Meetings, Indonesia's Military Businessmen, September 13, 2007