Myanmar is not a country known for its progressive stance when it comes to justice or freedom. Although things have gotten somewhat better since the transition from military rule, it still falls far behind the majority of countries in the world. This last week, they’ve shown again that they haven’t left their roots behind when it was decided that the majority of the tiny Muslim population in the country should be forbidden from having more than two children.
The law is not, like Chinese birth limits, an attempt at curbing rampant population growth. It was enacted only in two regions, both of them centers of Muslim settlement. In a country that has only a 4% Muslim population, these two areas are both around 95% Muslim. Myanmar is primarily Buddhist and has fallen victim to much sectarian violence. The child limitation is a backwards attempt to solve this problem.
The rise of the Muslim population is being cited by the government as one of the primary reasons for violence between Muslims and Buddhists. To make matters even worse, they’re also looking into doubling the amount of government security forces in the Muslim regions. The dual attack of discriminatory laws and massive policing makes the Myanmar government’s opinion on their Muslim inhabitants plain to see. This is in addition to the many accusations of ethnic cleansing and numerous accounts of police standing aside and doing nothing when they see Muslims being attacked.
And in the middle of all this, Japan is visiting the country in order to secure better trade relations. They, like other countries in Asia, see the chance to take advantage of Myanmar’s extremely low wages. But will this help the country with their social problems or make things worse? If the population of Myanmar has guaranteed food and the chance at luxuries such as electricity, will the sectarian violence ease up? Or will the ruling party see Japan’s willingness to do business despite their horrid laws as a sign that they need not seriously address the Muslim issues in their country?
Muslims in Myanmar photo courtesy of Michael Coghlan
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