COUNTRY PROFILE Myanmar, previously known as Burma, is a parliamentary republic with high military influence located in southeast Asia. The current president is Htin Kyaw for the National League for Democracy, a social-democratic and liberal party (“Myanmar Country Profile”). Despite the leading party being the NDL, only 75% of the House of Nationalists in Myanmar are democratically elected. Instead, the constitution forces 25% to be military appointed representatives, allowing the military to retain a level of control over the nation (Tarabay). Currently, Myanmar is undergoing much political and religious tension.
The country borders with China to the north, Laos to the east, Thailand to the east and south, and Bangladesh and India to the west. Myanmar is abundant in natural resources with arable land, forests, gems, metals, oil, natural gas, and marine resources. The major economic activity of the country is agriculture and farming which constitutes 36% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 60-70% of employment (ADB) (MIMU, 2016). Myanmar is also one of the world’s most diverse nations that is composed of 135 different ethnic groups. Bamar is the largest group, and the country’s official language is Myanmar.
The Muslim’s crisis in Burma Historical background on Burma Burma s a sovereign state in Southeast Asia, and officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. It was colonized by the British empire till 1948 when it gained its independence. Burma’s population is around 51 million with 4% of it Muslims, which means that Muslims in Burma are 1.33 million. Sunni Muslims is Burma are called the Rohingya, they are and Indo- Aryan people from Rakhine state and lives in the northern part of Burma, “the etymological root of the word is disputed, the most widely accepted origin is that Rohang is a derivation of the word Arakan in the Rohingya dialect and the ga or gya means from”. The Rohingya are considered to be the third of the Rakhine
Rape and forced labour are fairly common for Rohingya ethnic in Myanmar. Myanmar’s soldiers are often demand money from them and when they cannot able to pay, they will be detained and tortured. Rohingya community also experienced the torture religion. Almost all the Rohingya ethnics are Muslims. In the last three year, at least twelve mosques in north Arakan destroyed and no new mosques are built.
During this time, Buddhism became a major religion in Burma. The kings of the Pagan Dynasty built many Buddhist shrines and pagodas. This period of time lasted for around 150 years until the Mongol invaders arrived. The culture of Myanmar is heavily influenced by the culture India. This includes the food that we eat (which is mostly curry), they style of cloth and the religion (Buddhist and Hinduism).
Many immigrants in this country have left their homeland to come to this country because of persecution. In my own family, my parents had to leave their hometown because of persecution in Myanmar. The persecution of ethnicity groups that live in Myanmar had been living there for a long time but things start happening where they live. The Myanmar military start hurting the ethnic groups to make them disappear. Although Myanmar is home to many ethnic groups, the minority living in Myanmar continuously suffers persecution and discrimination from the Myanmar government.
This is despite ethnolinguistic research to the contrary showing that Rohingyas were living in Burma in the eighteenth century. Prejudice and ethnic animosity make the people of Myanmar even today unwilling to change the law. Other legal actions compound the misery inflicted by this law. For example, the Emergency Immigration Act requires the possession of National Registration Certificates by all citizens. The Rohingya are allowed only to have Foreign Registration Cards.
The Rohingyas and some historians do claim that they are native to the Rakhine State, while other scholars claim that the group represents a combination of pre-colonial and colonial immigrations. The Myanmar government’s official stance, nonetheless, has
CONCEPT PAPER How much does practice of dominant “Myanmar” media influence Ta'ang minority culture in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar? Nowai Linn 7580301799 Bangkok University of International College Abstract Regardless of The Republic of the Union of Myanmar’s rich diverse ethnic groups, dislike rate of Ta’ang minorities over influential manner of majority “Myanmar” culture have been hot issues in ethnic society. Dominance of “Myanmar” culture overwhelms Ta’ang ethnic young people through its “one-nation” policy, oppressing mother language, culture and history as well as forcefully practicing “Myanmar” media which ranges from publishing to broadcasting amidst Ta’ang self-administered towns. This research examines the impact of practices
Case Study: The Rohingyas Myanmar is home to many ethnic groups, of which the Burmans are the majority. Civil conflicts began when key non-Burman ethnic groups began demanding for equality with the Burmans. Tension was exacerbated with policies that were concentrated on the majority and the government’s attempts to make Buddhism the state religion (Rebel groups in Myanmar, n.d.). The Rohingyas are one of the minorities in Myanmar. As a Muslim ethnic minority of one million people, they have been facing systematic religious and ethnic discrimination due to the lack of status recognition by both Myanmar and Bangladesh.