browseBurma: Darkness in the Golden Land
Dean Chapman (Photographer)
Original Exhibition Text, 2002:
I
On January 4th, 1948, the Union of Burma became an independent republic and left the British Commonwealth. Britain had incorporated Burma into British India after the third Anglo-Burma war of 1885. The birth and unity of the Union of Burma faced immediate problems with separate armed communist and ethnic rebellions against the government of Prime Minister U Nu. Following political turmoil in 1962, a group of Army officers led by commander-in-chief Ne Win abolished parliament and assumed power. Thus began Ne Win’s ‘The Burmese Road to Socialism’, an economic strategy that would lead the resources-rich nation to being classified as one of the world’s ten most impoverished nations.
During British colonial rule students had been at the forefront of the nationalist movement and the struggle for change. It was again from the universities that dissent and protest against successive military regimes erupted in 1974, 1988 and 1996. The 1988 anti-junta demonstrations were different, however. Led by students, the popular nation-wide uprising spread like a tide of infectious hope, born out of years of stagnation and poverty. Mass demonstrations on the 8th day of the 8th month were brutally crushed and martial law proclaimed. At least 3000, possibly as many as 10,000, students, pupils, doctors, nurses, monks, teachers, farmers - ordinary people - were murdered by the Army in the brutal clampdown that followed.
As the dictatorship formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), many students involved in the uprising fled to the areas controlled by ethnic organisations opposed to Rangoon's authority, and established the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF). SLORC changed the country's official name to the Union of Myanmar, and promised to hold democratic National Assembly elections. In preparation the opposition formed the National League for Democracy (NLD). Even though most of its leadership were under house arrest, the NLD took 392 of the 485 contested seats, more than 80% of the constituencies, in the 27th May, 1990 election. The dictatorship refused to relinquish power. Further arrests of elected MPs, party supporters and political opponents followed, resulting in lengthy prison sentences and deaths in detention. Dozens of elected MPs fled abroad, forming the National Coalition Government for the Union of Burma in December 1990.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the General Secretary of the NLD and daughter of the assassinated national hero Aung San, received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while under house arrest. She would remain incarcerated for six years and “There were times when she had barely enough to eat, and was so weak she could barely walk or get out of bed,” recalls former NLD Deputy Chairman U Kyi Maung. Suu Kyi was again placed under house arrest in September 2000. The following month unexpected talks with the latest junta incarnation, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) commenced. They were the first official talks since 1994.
The on-going talks remain top secret with very few details leaking out but speculation and rumours claim both progress and stalemate. The only positive outcome thus far has been the release of at least 186 members of the NLD, among them 21 elected MPs. The NCGUB claims that 22 elected MPs remain incarcerated, along with around 3000 known political prisoners. Many political prisoners are detained without charge, kept in solitary confinement for years and held beyond the duration of their sentence.
II
In August 1996 Burma became a member of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The endorsement provided by its regional neighbours, recognising the military as the government of Burma, came just months after a report by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights revealing the widespread existence of torture and forced labour in Burma, perpetrated by the military. In November 2000, the governing body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) called on its members (unions, companies & countries) to review their ties with Burma after a committee of inquiry found forced labour to be “widespread and systematic.” The junta appeared to address this issue by making the requisitioning of forced labour an offence punishable by a maximum of one year in jail and a fine. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), however, gathered further evidence of the continued widespread use of forced labour. The ICFTU found “The military frequently forces men, women and children from ethnic minorities to carry heavy loads over tough terrain for days or weeks at a time or to work on construction projects,” claiming, “Hundreds have died from exhaustion and beatings.”
In September 2001, the ILO sent a team of experts to Burma for three weeks, with the assistance of the military, to investigate the use of forced labour. It found, “Despite new legislation, forced labour still exists in Burma.” “Forced labour in most of the forms previously identified seemed still to prevail, particularly in villages which were close to a military camp,” the report said. “All too often, it was accompanied by acts of cruelty.”
III
In Burma there is little hope, only darkness. One child in three fails to enrol at primary school and only one child in five manages to progress beyond year four. Teachers are abandoning the State educational system, choosing instead to tutor privately or seek alternative work, as their salaries don't meet the costs of buying rice to feed their families. Students are perceived as a potential threat by the military, which has closed the universities for the majority of the years since the 1988 uprising. Generations of children in Burma are growing up without any formal education, in a country that was once the envy of Asia for its standards of learning and literacy.
It is estimated that 175,000 under-5s die every year in Burma, mostly from treatable or preventable diseases. At least one child in ten dies at birth, while a quarter are born with low birth weight. Malnutrition of under-3s has been put as high as 40%, which amounts to a million children, with a third of those suffering severe malnutrition. According to David Chandler, former Burma country director for World Vision International, “Thirty percent of the country has significant [health service] coverage. Another 30% probably has coverage by somebody, a para-professional, coming every two or three months, and then 40% doesn't have any health coverage,” a situation he describes as “disastrous”.
In the war zones along Burma's borders the only health care provided is by backpack health workers, supported by local medical and ethnic organisations. Crossing from Thailand into dangerous areas that are often heavily mined, fifty workers are currently attempting to provide basic health care services to a population of 100,000 persons. Some health workers have died after stepping on mines, while the Burma Army has executed others. Resources are limited to what they can carry on their backs, so they concentrate on treating the most common disorders, malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory infections.
In a country that produces a significant percentage of the world's opium and heroin, it is cheaper to buy the drug than to purchase a new syringe. The sharing of needles by drug addicts is endemic, and is intensifying the spread of the HIV virus. The findings of the United Nations AIDS experts estimate that 48,000 people died of AIDS in 1999. The response of the junta, as one researcher put it, has been “ominous silence”. It is believed that 1 in 29 adults in Burma is infected with the HIV virus.
IV
According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, the single largest number of child soldiers found in any country is in Burma. A report this year claimed 50,000 under 18s are involved in conflict between the Burma Army and the non-Burman ethnic nationalities. Children say that they join for various reasons: for revenge, to protect their family and communities or to get food for themselves or their families. Young teenagers are often forced to join the Burma Army.
Although the dictatorship has signed ceasefire agreements with 18 different armed organisations, fighting continues with the Shan, Karen, and Karenni armies. For 53 years, the Burma Army has been unable to pacify these resilient fighters in the remote jungle and hills close to the Thai frontier. Instead, it has used its ‘four cuts’ strategy to great effect against the armed opposition, aimed at cutting food, finance, intelligence and recruits. Communities are targeted, uprooted, relocated to areas directly under the control of the Burma Army. Villages and the means to sustain life are destroyed. The cleared areas become Free-Fire Zones. There is no infrastructure left to support the insurgents or civilians.
There are now 136,000 official refugees from Burma living in refugee camps in Thailand. Another 800,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are eking out a living in remote ethnic areas after fleeing forced relocation. It is estimated that there are up to a million more people from Burma working and hiding in Thailand. They are regarded as economic migrants, but many have fled brutality at the hands of the authorities in Burma. They work in dirty, dangerous and insecure jobs for low pay. They would rather work for pennies in Thailand than for nothing for the Burma Army.
Burma: The Land & Its Peoples
Burma is the largest mainland nation in South East Asia, with Tibet to the far north, India and Bangladesh to the north-west and China, Laos and Thailand to the east. The coastline of the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Martaban form a natural boundary to the south-west. Burma is around three times the size of Great Britain. The main river of Burma is the Irrawaddy, which follows a southerly course for more than a thousand miles, flowing from the far north through the centre of the country before emptying into the Gulf of Martaban. Two other rivers of significance are the Chindwin and the Salween.
In the north of Burma are mountains that could be described as the tail-end of the eastern Himalayas. Along the north-west frontier run the Paktai and Naga Hills, while in the west the Chin Hills trail south to the Arakan mountains. The Shan plateau lies in the eastern part of the country, averaging between 900 and 1,200 metres above sea level. The plains areas of Burma are roughly divided into the dry zone in the heart of the country, the fertile Irrawaddy Delta and the coastal lands of Arakan and Tenasserim. The union is divided into seven states and seven divisions. The seven states, Chin, Kachin, Shan, Karen, Karenni, Mon and Arakan, represent regions where non-Burman ethnic nationalities constitute the majority population. The divisions are areas of Burman predominance. The population of Burma can only be estimated, as the dictatorship does not control the whole of the union. A census has not been possible since colonial times. Estimates range from 45 to 52 million Burmese. There are 135 distinct ethnic groups, and over a hundred languages spoken, Burmese being the most widespread. In the absence of any census, an accurate ethnic breakdown of the union is unavailable.
Burma’s climate is hot and tropical, although in the Shan plateau temperatures can drop to near zero. There are three seasons, the hot, cold and rainy seasons. The monsoon winds bring rains from May till mid-October. The weather then turns cold until the latter half of February when temperatures rise, and the heat and humidity become intense. Prior to the Second World War, Burma was the world's largest exporter of rice, but the British reaped the profits of the farmers’ labour. During the war the nation was devastated as it became a battlefield, bitterly fought over by the Japanese Imperial Army and the Allies.
Burma remains a largely agricultural nation and is once again exporting significant amounts of rice. Again the farmers in the fields fail to profit from this trade as the military now reaps the rewards. The bitter irony is that increasing numbers of poor or endangered people, especially in the war zones, are facing life-threatening food scarcity and insecurity. Burma’s other principal crops include sugar cane, groundnuts, pulses, maize and sesame. An incredible array of fruits and vegetables grow in abundance, providing mangoes, bananas, durians, custard apples, mangosteens, melons, oranges, pineapples, strawberries and avocados. Tea is grown in the northern part of Shan State.
Burma is a land abundant in natural resources and different types of forests make timber a major export, with teak being the most sought after. The country’s lengthy coastline provides a wealth of saltwater fisheries, with shrimp harvests producing huge yields. Pearls are also harvested. Burmese rubies from Shan State are considered the best in the world, and its sapphires are also highly valued. Jade from Kachin State is usually exported to China where it held in great reverence.
The other major export from Burma is narcotics. Sourced mainly from the infamous Golden Triangle, Burma is second only to Afghanistan in its production of opium and heroin, but the difference is that the quality of Burmese heroin is far superior and more valuable. Over recent years the narco-warlords, with the assistance of the Burma Army, have diversified into methamphetamine production. Intended for regional consumption, it is estimated that up to a billion pills will be produced in 2001.
Since 1990, the military dictatorship has moved towards economic interaction with the outside world. Singapore is the largest inward investor in Burma. Companies involved in oil and gas exploration have been the largest private investors in Burma, including Unocal, TotalFinaElf and Premier Oil. The Burma Army is using recent revenues from sales of gas to Thailand to upgrade its largely ineffective air force. Since the popular pro-democracy uprising of 1988, the ranks of the Burma Army have swollen to over 400,000 men and boys under arms. The junta uses a significant amount of the nation's resources to pay for the billions of dollars worth of arms it receives from China. The heavy burden of feeding the soldiers is often born by a civilian population that is barely able to feed itself.
Note:
Dean Chapman, a member of Side Photography Group since the late 1990s, has developed a long-term engagement with Burma and the plight of its peoples. His book Karenni (Dewi Lewis), looking at one of the peoples struggling against the Burmese regime, won the European Photography Publishers Award in 1998.