Myanmar’s independence is like ‘body without soul,’ rights activist says

LONDON

Myanmar’s independence is like “a body without a soul,” according to a prominent member of the diaspora who spoke on the anniversary of the Southeast Asian country’s independence from British rule 75 years ago.

“And when you look at the history after independence … especially the minorities have been fighting for their own freedoms,” Kyaw Win, the founder and executive director of UK-based Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN), told Anadolu Agency.

He said the military has ruled the country since 1962 and the country looks like it is “exactly what I said earlier: It is a body that we have freedom but we don't have any meaningful freedoms.”

“People are very strongly determined to remove the military from power and that is why… you can see the whole country, the youth are now in the forefront, fighting against the military, the oppressions of the military.”

2 million displaced

“You can see hundreds of villages around the country being burned down and destroyed and nearly 2 million IDPs (internally displaced people) we have right now, Kyaw Win said.

The human rights activist also said that Myanmar’s people “are very determined to fight back against the military and to remove them from power forever.”

Underlining that the struggle against the military junta was not easy, Kyaw Win said: “we need a lot of support from the international community.”

He said: “Burma (Myanmar) is a very important place for democracy and democratic values. We cannot allow Burma to surrender to the oppressive and barbaric military.”

Admitting that the victory against the army will not come easily, he said: “the peoples are very determined and they are struggling and they are fighting back against those operations.”

“But another point here is the international community, (which) always try to help their best … but the point is, look at China, Russia and India, they always taking the side of the military,” he added.

He said: “Burmese expatriates who are around the world are supporting (the struggle) very strongly and they have been financing and supporting it.”

“So … 80- 90% of the support coming from the Burmese people around the globe.”

Asked about whether the war in Ukraine which is close to completing the first year has shifted the focus from the democracy struggle in Myanmar, Kyaw Win said the interest was “shifting back again to Burma right now.”

Arguing that the military junta would never let the power go, Kyaw Win said the country will need the international community, adding that the failure will create a “failed state.”

“Once it becomes a failed state, there'll be lots of problems for the neighboring countries.

“The revolution will drag Burma into a failed state but …the people’s authority will definitely determine and they will overcome, they will definitely take over the positions and the country will be then stable.”

“And that is definitely going to happen in a couple of years or maybe in coming years.”

'Bitterness of military operations'

Kyaw Win said the public understands very well “the bitterness of the military operations, and especially the other minorities, those who are in Kachine, in Rakhine and change all these minority areas.”

However, “the political elites like those who are nationalists among the democratic movement, still try to undermine the interests of the Muslims and right for the Muslims,” he added.

“So that means that we, Muslims, need to struggle more than anyone else. We have to be stronger, we have to be united, we need to do the best,” Kyaw Win said.

He added that the Rohingya have been “facing the slow-burning genocide they paid, but the other Muslims are also going to be in that position very soon if we don't do anything. So, we have to come up with some kind of solution. The solution shouldn't only be talking and dialogue with the military… one of the solutions is helping the minorities to become stronger, to aim to be able to protect their lives.”

“But what is the most important thing here is to save human lives. This should be the priority when it comes to the Rohingya situation.”