HASS Year 9 Test 3 - Myanmar Case Study

Full notes/study guide with objectives: https://peppermint-brook-af9.notion.site/Test-3-Study-Guide-6873b4a62293499da263dffb1955045a

What is the ranking of Myanmar in terms of size?

2nd in SEA, 40th in the world

What countries border Myanmar?

Laos, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, and India

What is the population of Myanmar?

60 million

What are the ethnic groups of Myanmar?

* 68% Burman


* 9% Shan
* 7% Karen
* 4% Rakhine
* 3% Chinese
* 2% Indian
* 2% Mon
* 5% Other

What are the religious groups of Myanmar?

* 87.9% Buddhist
* 6.2% Christian
* 4.3% Muslim
* 0.8% Animist
* 0.5% Hindu
* 0.2% Other
* 0.1% None

Why might have the Rohingya population significantly decreased in the past years?

the ethnic cleansing and mass movement of the Rohingya people

What are the major markets of Myanmar?

major markets include oil and gas, gemstones, renewable energy, and tourism

What is Myanmar’s current GDP, growth rate, and past GDP?

had a significant increase in GDP in the 2010s, was at 6.2 billion in 2000 and is currently at 67 billion, with a growth rate of 6.67%. ranked 71st in the world.

When was Myanmar colonised?

1886 by Britain - was part of the Indian colony, with large protests from the Myanmar people

there were large amounts of instability and violence

When did Myanmar negotiate independence?

Post WW2, Aung San negotiated independence for Myanmar, and became head of the transitional government in 1947

When did Myanmar gain independence?

After the assassination of Aung San in 1947, Myanmar gained independence in 1948

When was Myanmar’s first Coup D’Etat, and what were its details and impact?

* in 1962 was the first coup d’etat (military takeover) by a military backed party
* government became military
* new constitution was implemented
* many protests that were pressed against by the government

What sort of democratic government was first introduced in 1948?

Parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament and multi-party elections

When did the transition to democracy return?

In 1989, the democratically elected parliament returned (also, Taylor Swift was born B))

What happened at the 1990 elections?

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won the elections, but the military government refused to give up power

What happened in 2008?

The transition to democracy started to continue due to international pressure and ongoing protests

What happened in 2010?

The military backed party (Union Solidarity and Development Party) won the elections, and Aung San Suu Kyi was released from 20 years of house arrest

What happened in 2020?

* n 2020 the National League for Democracy won the elections again, but they were once again not given power due to the military claiming the elections were fraudulent
* international witnesses that acted as checks and balances stated otherwise

What happened in 2021?

in 2021 a new coup d’etat occurred, and to this day protests continue to bring democracy to Myanmar

What are some possible causes for Myanmar’s transition to democracy?

* obvious causes (summarised by it was the moral thing to do):
* helping citizens by enforcing the concept of justice
* trying to restore quality of life for citizen
* empowering citizens through voting
* creating a legitimate government
* not so obvious causes (summarised by probably not completely moral reasons to be a democracy):
* international pressure was getting annoying
* economic reasons - due to sanctions they couldn’t trade with anyone
* chaos all over the country - there had to be some control and the ony way to achieve that was through democracy

What milestone occurred in 1948?

1. 1948 - Myanmar gains independence
* freedom and justice for citizens as they can actually make decisions
* freed from the restrictions of Britain’s rule

What milestone occurred in 1962?

2. 1962 - First military coup d’etat by USPD (union solidarity and development party)
* loss of freedoms for citizens
* overtaking of democracy with a military backed party - start of a dictatorship
* new constitution introduced - significant changes to the legal system
* many large protests began

What milestone occurred in 1989 and 1990?

3. 1989 and 1990 - Return of democratically elected parliament and NLFD wins election
* seeming attempt at returning to democracy
* introduction of Aung San Suu Kyi into the political environment and she is positioned as a symbol of hope
* NLFD winning acts as proof that the citizens wanted democracy, but the government denied that as USPD remained in power

What milestone occurred in 2008?

4. 2008 - Return to transition to democracy
* shows effect of international pressures
* seems like a ray of hope for democratic parties - NLFD
* protests cease as the road to democracy opens up 18 years after it was promised

What milestone occurred in 2010?

5. 2010 - USPD wins again and Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest
* democracy is seemingly under threat as military backed party wins
* Aung San Suu Kyi being released is like a sign of hope - also shows the introduction of promotion of NLFD (?), furthermore Aung San Suu Kyi gets the opportunity to strengthen her position as a democratic leader and symbol of hope

What milestone occurred in 2020?

6. 2020 - NLFD won elections
* the opportunity for democracy to return seems imminent esp with international pressures

What was Aung San Suu Kyi’s role in Myanmar’s democracy?

* At first her primary, most significant role was that she was a symbol of hope for the Burmese citizen
* she acted as a democratic leader and a representation of a democratic Myanmar
* she was also the founder of the NLFD party - this made her even more significant
* overall, was a democratic leader and symbol of hope for citizen
* however, she then was slowly exposed in her orders for ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people
* as a result, she faced a lot of international criticism, however, she remains an icon in Myanmar

When did the discrimination within the government became prominent against the Rohingya people?

* in the past, up-to the rule of the military party, the Rohingya weren’t discriminated against and had as many rights as any other citizens
* in fact, there were members of Parliament that were Rohingya
* in the 1990, the discrimination became present

What did the 1982 citizenship law state?

1982 law stated that the Rohingya people did not count as citizen of Myanmar

What oppression did the Rohingya people start facing from the 1990s onwards?

* the Rohingya people lost
* any presence in Parliament - the group they founded was removed and its members were killed
* recognition as an ethnic group
* recognition as citizens of Myanmar
* right to work, education, etc
* Rohingya state was renamed to Arakan and citizens were killed or imprisoned
* in the 2000s, the government started actively trying the deport or kill Rohingya people
* Aung San Suu Kyi supported this
* a large amount of Rohingya people left to other countries like Bangladesh, and as a result there was an immigrant crisis

What international pressures did Myanmar face?

* international community pressured Myanmar to return to democracy
* follow human right principles
* stop with the military dictatorship
* stop the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Rohingya people
* these mainly consisted of economic sanctions
* the government denied any dictatorship, the human right law being broken, or that there was even ethnic cleansing or genocide of the Rohingya people

What are the details of the Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo case?

* n 2017, 2 journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo wrote about the killing of 10 Rohingya men by the government
* they were wrongfully convicted for the exposure of state secrets, despite them following the law and the constitution
* they actually exposed the corruption of the government, not any state secrets
* the articles they wrote were censored
* sentenced to 7 years with manual labour for the exposure of state secrets - but they were pardoned in 2019 on the 7th of May for easing of international pressures on Myanmar

What are the details of the 2021 Coup D’Etat?

* Parliamentary leaders were arrested or put on house arrest
* the USPD claimed elections were fraudulent
* the military junta took over the government and ruling of the country
* 1st of February, took over the country