Over the years of conflict in the jungle and mountains of Myanmar, ethnic groups have witnessed and been subjected to horrific atrocities, including massacres, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture, forced labor and displacement by the armed forces, and discrimination. sanctioned by the state.
Determined to fight these abuses and ensure that their distinct voices and demands are heard, the ethnic groups loudly joined the national protests, uniting in solidarity against a common enemy. Although many fear further violence and escalating conflicts from an uncontrolled military junta that operates with impunity and now has firm control over the country.
“This fight has been from the beginning of the formation of the country itself. We hope that the current fight against the military coup in the 21st century could be a new hope for our people,” said activist Chin Sang Hnin Lian.
Ethnic demands go deeper
But minority people, of whom there are 135 official groups, say the demands are largely made by the country’s majority ethnic group, Buddhist Bamar, who traditionally live in the heart of the country – which includes big cities like Yangon and Mandalay – and I say the fight goes deeper than the military verses in the NLD.
“This is a very important transition period,” said Karen Naw activist Esther Chit. Using another name for Myanmar, she added: “In Burma, ethnic people have been marginalized and their voices have been excluded … ethnic people must come together and raise a voice for our rights.”
A group called the General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN) was set up to support the protests and to be a central place for the many ethnic minorities protesting. Composed of 29 ethnic groups, the GSCN wants to end military rule, abolish the military constitution drafted in 2008, build a federal democratic union and release all those who have been unjustly detained.
“Ethnic people do not want dictatorship, we do not want to bring back the military government to lead the country, because we already know the consequences of military governance in ethnic areas,” said Chit, a GSCN member.
When Suu Kyi’s NLD won the election in 2015, it was hoped that her promise of national reconciliation would stop the abuses, strengthen the peace process and give the ethnic people a voice in the new Myanmar. But many minorities felt that Suu Kyi ruled for the majority and were excluded from consultations on issues that affected them.
Meanwhile, the peace process has shaken.
NLD has made progress in building infrastructure such as roads, construction, internet access and education, “but when it comes to political issues, nothing has changed in the last 10 years,” Sang Hnin Lian told Chin Human Rights Organization.
Located high in the mountains bordering India and Bangladesh, in the far west of Myanmar is the state of Chin. The remote and rugged state of 500,000 people is one of the poorest in the country, and in the last 20 years, a strong military presence has been built there, according to Sang Hnin Lian. His people were recently caught up in fighting in his south between ethnic Rakhine rebels and the military.
Sang Hnin Lian said that the people of Chin have been used as human shields in warfare in the past and forced to carry or guide the army.
“The behavior was one of the most serious human rights violations, forcing villagers to take (rice and equipment) and asking civilians to guide them when they left. And this is still happening in the last two years,” he said. said Lian.
And because of decades of conflict, landmines still contaminate many ethnic areas across the country. The Chin Human Rights Organization has documented more than 12 landmine deaths in the state in the past two years.
CNN contacted the military government by e-mail, but has not yet received a responsee.
If the Myanmar army manages to establish a full administration, Lian’s biggest fear is that fighting in ethnic areas will escalate.
“There will be more human rights violations, loss of life,” he said. “This will, of course, lead to a mass exodus to neighboring countries.”
Anti-coup protests have been taking place in the state capital Chin Hakha and elsewhere. Lian said one of the biggest demands was a federal democracy and the abolition of the 2008 constitution.
In the months leading up to Myanmar’s independence from the British, in 1947 an agreement was signed between some ethnic groups in the country to unify the country in exchange for federal autonomy. Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, led the interim government that negotiated the Panglong Agreement, but was soon assassinated and the promise of a federal union was never fulfilled.
Instead, successive military leaders subjected ethnic minorities to a policy of forced assimilation called “Burmese”, which restricted non-bamar religious and cultural practices, made the Burmese language compulsory in schools, and favored the dominant Buddhist religion.
Non-bamar people were oppressed, Lian said. “You could be slapped if you didn’t find out he doesn’t speak Burmese,” he added.
Since then, ethnic groups in Myanmar have fought for the self-determination of their ancestral lands, where states are ruled by ethnic groups, not by the central government of Naypyidaw.
Karen protects her lands
This long struggle is shared by Karen, an ethnic minority who live mainly in the Irrawaddy Delta and in the hilly border regions of Thailand in the east of the country.
In December, new fighting broke out between the military and the Karen National Union – one of the oldest rebel groups – despite a 2012 ceasefire that forced villagers to flee their homes.
Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian group operating on the front lines of many conflicts in Myanmar, including Karen, said the attacks were the most intense and widespread since 2012, with 6,000 displaced people taking refuge in the forest.
The group’s founder, Dave Eubanks, believes the heightened fighting is directly linked to the coup, as the military wants to “exercise full control in Burma.”
“Obviously, the coup was well planned in advance and we saw the pressure starting to build in the ethnic areas here in December last year and January and then after the coup and more,” Eubanks said. “At this time, ethnic leaders have felt not only that they are trying to protect their people and those displaced, but also that they feel solidarity with pro-democracy and the CDM in the cities and plains of Burma.”
On Tuesday, a statement from more than 2,500 Kareni from 34 villages protested against the army “occupying our land and threatening our lives and peaceful existence.” In solidarity with the anti-coup movement, they called on the army to “withdraw immediately from our territory” and to hold the regime “accountable for crimes committed against ethnic groups”.
“We practice self-determination and declare that we are the legitimate political authority on our territory. We reject all centrally imposed systems, we reject the Burmese military dictatorship and its administrative system imposed on our territory,” the group said. “As custodians of our ancestral territories, we must protect our environment and keep it free from external interference that threatens to harm our inhabitants.”
Empathy for the ethnic struggle
Although there is now an awkward ceasefire, fighting in western Rakhine State between the Arakan ethnic army and the November 2018 army has become one of the worst and most intense conflicts in the country, leading to civilian casualties, 200,000 displaced people and a prolonged internet outage. .
And while ethnic people have united in protesting the military coup, attitudes in western Rakhine state are more complex.
Khine, a rogue activist living in Yangon, said that for many in the conflict-torn northern state, there is little difference between the military and the ousted NLD government, which has backed the army’s recent campaigns in the state.
“Most (in northern Rakhine) see the two enemies, the NLD and the army, joining forces to fight the Arakan army for two years. Now they are fighting,” he said.
In March 2020, the government designated the Arakan Army and its political wing as a terrorist organization, and during the voting period in the November polls, the election commission canceled voting in many localities in Rakhine, citing security reasons.
Last month, the Arakan National Party – the state’s largest political party and fierce critics of the NLD – sent a representative to join the state military administration council, provoking widespread criticism from the Rakhine people and civil society.
Khine said the move had “totally damaged” the state’s political reputation, so he formed the Arakan Against Dictatorship in Yangon “to show that we are against the coup and the dictatorship and to stand in solidarity with the people here.” . Although he said that a result in which the NLD returned to power under the 2008 constitution would not be worth risking lives.
The Rakhine conflict followed a bloody military campaign against the Rohingya. Some Rohingya now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh have expressed solidarity with protesters, posted on social media or staged their own demonstrations.
The coup even led to the search for the soul among the Burmese population, with some apologizing on social media for not recognizing ethnic struggles.
As the Rohingya crisis unfolded, “Myanmar’s general population shared the same view with the military at the time,” Khine said. When Suu Kyi defended military actions at the ICJ, she may have grown in popularity even before the election.
“But after the coup, many shared their sympathy for them that the terror happened, but I neglected it,” Khine said.
He added to go further, “feelings and sympathy are not enough, they have to show with their action.”
Salai TZ and Angus Watson contributed to the reporting.