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Date: 2024-10-05 Page is: DBtxt001.php txt00002068

Country ... Myanmar
More progress ... moving into the 21st century

Burmese Government and Ethnic Rebel Group Sign Cease-Fire

COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Burmese Government and Ethnic Rebel Group Sign Cease-Fire


IMAGE Rungroj Yongrit/European Pressphoto Agency ... Karen National Union guerrillas in 2006. The ethnic Karen rebels' fight for greater autonomy has been one of the largest of the brutal civil wars in Myanmar.

BANGKOK — The government of Myanmar signed a cease-fire agreement on Thursday with ethnic Karen rebels, whose fight for greater autonomy is one of the largest of the brutal civil wars that has bedeviled the country since it gained independence from Britain more than six decades ago.

“A cease-fire agreement has been signed,” U Aung Min, a government negotiator, told reporters in the Karen capital, Pa-an.

The pact is another major step by the new civilian government as it races to open the door to improved relations with the outside world.

Since its installation in March, ending nearly 50 years of military rule, the government has held talks with the political opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, approved the registration of her political party and her candidacy in a by-election in April, and suspended plans for a huge Chinese-backed dam that drew strong opposition both from within and outside Myanmar, formerly Burma.

The deputy leader of the Karen National Union delegation, Saw David Htaw, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the appearance of political reforms added to his confidence that the government would hold to its agreement.

“We have never been more confident in our talks,” Reuters quoted him as saying. “According to the changing situation everywhere, peace talks are unavoidable now; this is something we have to pass through without fail. The people have experienced the horrors of war a long time. I’m sure they’ll be very glad to hear this news. I hope they’ll be able to fully enjoy the sweet taste of peace this time.”

The country’s majority ethnic group, the Burman, has dominated the army and held the highest posts in government since independence. Successive military governments justified repressive rule by saying strong measures were needed to hold the country together in the face of challenges from armed ethnic factions.

Western governments and Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi have insisted that ending those conflicts was a major priority. Western governments long punished Myanmar with sanctions because of its record of human rights abuses and political repression.

Now the government says it is negotiating peace pacts with the other major ethnic rebel groups — the Chin, the Mon, the Kachin and the Kayah — and is determined to achieve a permanent peace with them in three to four years.

An agreement has already been reached with the Shan ethnic group’s State Army, but fighting has intensified with the Kachin Independence Army despite an order last month by President Thein Sein for an end to military operations.

The conflicts have driven hundreds of thousands of people to take refuge in camps just across the border in Thailand. Human rights groups have documented military abuses, including rapes, forced labor and the conscription of child soldiers.

In another move, Myanmar state radio and television said 651 prisoners would be released under a new presidential pardon starting Friday, according to The Associated Press, raising hopes that those freed would be political prisoners. In the past two weeks, The A.P. said, the government gave amnesty to 6,656 prisoners and reduced the sentences of 38,964.


Google+ Dialog
John Baez John Baez - Jan 13, 2012 (edited) - Public Good news! The government of Myanmar and the rebel army of the ethnic group called the Karen have signed a ceasefire. The Karen never got an autonomous region like the other major groups in Myanmar, and a rebellion has been going on for over 60 years. The Myanmar army has been carrying out a campaign of 'ethnic cleansing', burning Karen villages, and about 160,000 have fled to refugee camps across the border in Thailand. Now maybe this will end.

I care about this more now that I've been seeing firsthand how the diverse peoples of Southeast Asia are being yanked abruptly and into the modern world. The woman who cleans our house, Phaw Phaw, is a Karen from Myanmar, now living in Singapore. In her village, they do the dance with poles shown below. We hope to visit it sometime this summer.


More photos from John Baez - Comment - Hang out - Share +11 2 shares - Pedro M. Rosario Barbosa and mazif yem 9 comments
Rick Powers - Great news! Jan 13, 2012
Peter Burgess - 21st century modernization should leave space for the deep historical culture that makes the world such an interesting place ... music, dance, religion, food, etc. Jan 14, 2012 - Edit +2
John Baez - +Peter Burgess - that's what I wish for too. Clearly modern technology has a lot to offer all these people, and they all seem to want it, so their old worlds are gone for good. But there are a lot of riches from those old worlds that don't need to be lost. Giving them some space of their own within the states they never wanted to be in - that's a start. Jan 14, 2012 (edited) +1
Hafiz Shafruddin - I've seen a similar dance in Sarawak, a Malaysian state in the Borneo island. Jan 14, 2012
John Baez - +Hafiz Shafruddin - cool. I may not get to Borneo before I leave Singapore this September, but I plan to return to Singapore as often as possible, for example in the summers, so someday I may get to visit Sarawak. I wonder if there's any connection between the Karen and people in Sarawak. It seems unlikely, but my knowledge of the culture and history around here is pathetically limited. Jan 14, 2012 +1
Hafiz Shafruddin - If I am posted to Sarawak or Sabah later this year, I may get more photos on the local dance and customs. Jan 14, 2012
Cod Codliness - I really hope this political defrosting continues in Burma. The people there have been terrorised and tyrannised for far too long Jan 14, 2012 +3
John Baez - Hear, hear, +Cod Codliness! Aung San Suu Kyi is one of my heroes - wouldn't it be great if her decades of painful work were really paying off? Time will tell. Jan 14, 2012
Peter Burgess - I did some work in Burma (as it was referred to then) in 1982 and was amazed at how little I knew about the country, its peoples, its religion and its cultures. I learned to respect the importance of 'freedom'. I agree with you +John Baez about the heroism of Aung San Suu Kyi not to mention many others who have stood firm against repression, with rather little help from the world at large. Freedom and culture are way more powerful in the long run than repression and guns! 8:16 PM - Edit

By SETH MYDANS
Published: January 12, 2012 ... A version of this article appeared in print on January 13, 2012
The text being discussed is available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/world/asia/myanmar-signs-truce-with-ethnic-rebel-group.html
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