According to February 2010 statistics, there are approximately 200,000 registered Burmese refugees worldwide. However, these figures do not take into account the tens of thousands of people that have fled Burma, but have yet to receive official refugee status. Thousands flee Burma every year due to the political, economic, and social instability of the state, as well as the insecurity of their livelihoods and futures. Most notably, the ethnic discrimination levied against the people in Burma plays a major role in their lives. In Burma, there are 135 different “national races” identified by the government, although there is no official census data available. To be certain, there are at least 100 different ethnic groups in Burma, making it the most ethnically diverse country in Asia. The Burmese nationality is the most prominent, with about 60% of the population being Burmans1. The vast majority of political positions are filled by Burmans, while the minorities have found themselves to be the target of harsh violence and repression by the regime.
The militarization of many states within Burma, often described as internal colonization, has led to a society of fear and distrust, where human rights abuses occur daily and the people live in fear of their survival. Each day is a struggle. The civilians are the target of violence from the military2, and their insurgency activities — even if peaceful — are met with strong and deadly counter-insurgency measures from the military. Many people have a subsistence lifestyle, and as such, some have turned to growing and selling illegal drugs in order to make money, for example.
The constant warfare and conflict in Burma has resulted in a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), largely in eastern Burma where Karen and Shan are living. It is estimated that between the years 1996 and 2006, over 1 million people became IDPs in Burma, most of who came from ethnic minorities. Those classified as IDPs in Burma receive no humanitarian aid or assistance from the international community as the military regime does not allow any humanitarian organizations — including the UN — access into these remote areas. Even worse, IDPs are the target of extreme violence by the military, and at many places soldiers have been given “shoot on sight” orders for any IDPs that they find, even if they are children or the elderly. Furthermore, vast areas in eastern Burma are full of landmines leading to many civilian victims. In the Karenni State of eastern Burma a larger percentage of the population are considered to be IDPs than even in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Uganda, or Iraq.
Forced relocations can be a part of this life, and while in the state-run villages that they have been relocated to, the people find themselves to be targets of torture, forced labor, and confiscation of their lands back home. The violence and repression aimed at ethnic minority groups in Burma forces many to flee to neighboring countries such as India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand. However, even upon fleeing Burma, these people are the targets of abuse, exploitation, and violence. Many are unable to afford a trip to the cities where UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) offices are located, so many people remain without the protection of official refugee status and can live in even more dangerous situations than the ones they faced in Burma because of this. Even those who manage to become officially recognized as refugees in the country that they have moved to can live in squalid conditions.
Burma Center Prague (BCP) has become involved with the Chin and Kachin ethnic minority groups that have fled to India. In fact, many of the items in BCP’s fair-trade shop have been handmade by women from these minority groups. Burmese refugees who have been resettled to the Czech Republic are from the Chin ethnic, which again is composed of many sub-groups with its own languages.
1 Burmans are sometimes also referred to as “ethnic Burmese”, “Burmese” or — derived from the Burmese language — “Bama”. Especially the use of merely “Burmese” by some authors blurs the important distinction between citizenship and ethnicity. In fact, both names for the country “Burma” or “Myanmar” and for its people “Burmese” or “Myanmar” are actually words from their language that have been applied to the entire country, their Burmese originals ("Bama" and "Myanma") being different only in terms of stylistic varieties. This preferential position of the Burman ethnic, which is also reflected in the choice of Burmese as official language, stems from colonial times and has since then been consolidated by the fact that all key positions of power, not least in the army, are held by Burmans.
2 Particularly by the army’s 'four-cuts strategy,' declared to be an attempt to cut off food, funds, intelligence and recruits from the rebels.
