The Conflict

Rebel groups have been battling the government of Myanmar, formerly Burma. The government has been criticized for its harsh suppression of rebels and protestors.

Political

• The government of Myanmar has been criticized for denying human and civil rights and for violently suppressing protestors, including lengthy imprisonment and torture.
• Rebel groups have used kidnapping and hostage taking to protest the government.

Ethnic

• Many of the minority ethnic and religious groups in Myanmar feel marginalized and oppressed.

Myanmar, better known to the rest of the world as Burma, is a strategically important country situated in Southeast Asia. For well over a decade, especially since 1988, the country has been in the news because of the military government's ruthless suppression of the democracy movement and its disregard for basic human rights. Politics, however, is not the only source of conflict...