Updated March 22, 2024
Burma: Background and Issues for Congress
Overview
reforms, released thousands of political prisoners, and
Burma (also known as Myanmar) is a multi-ethnic
loosened restrictions on the media, while the military
Southeast Asian nation of 57.5 million that has been under
retained control of the country’s security ministries. During
some degree of military rule since 1962 and under an
this period, the military committed grievous human rights
authoritarian military junta since a February 2021 coup
abuses, particularly against Burma’s Rohingya minority.
d’état. The coup ended a decade-long period of partial
democratization and ushered in a broad nationwide conflict
Burma held another election in November 2020, in which
that has killed tens of thousands of people and, according to
the NLD won a majority of parliamentary seats, as it had in
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
2015. However, the ensuing coup halted the seating of the
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), displaced 2.7 million.
newly elected parliament and installed another junta, known
as the State Administrative Council (SAC), led by military
More than three years after the coup, the military
commander Min Aung Hlaing. The junta arrested Aung San
(commonly known as the Tatmadaw) is fighting several
Suu Kyi and many other NLD leaders.
ethnic armed groups on Burma’s periphery as well as
recently formed anti-junta militias across much of the
Figure 1: Burma
country. Anti-junta activists overseas, including some
members of the ousted National League for Democracy
(NLD), the political party of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, have created a shadow government called the National
Unity Government (NUG) and are seeking diplomatic
recognition. In 2023, the NUG opened an office in
Washington DC.
Congress has taken considerable interest in Burma since a
democratic movement rose there in the late 1980s. In the
117th Congress, the James M. Inhofe National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA 2023; P.L.

117-263) included provisions related to the coup that had
Source: CIA World Factbook.
been part of the Burma Unified through Rigorous Military
The ensuing conflict has spread across much of the country.
Accountability Act (BURMA Act; H.R. 5497/S. 2937),
Regional and international concern has mounted as the
passed by the House of Representatives on April 6, 2022.
military has repeatedly used lethal force against peaceful
The NDAA states that it is U.S. policy to “support the
protestors, waged offensives—including with airstrikes—
people of Burma in their struggle for democracy, freedom,
against ethnic minority militias in war-riven regions, and
human rights, and justice” and authorizes additional
allegedly committed a wide range of other human rights
sanctions and non-lethal, technical assistance to resistance
violations, including targeted killings, burning of villages,
groups, among other provisions. Congress also has
and sexual violence. OCHA reports that as of March 2024,
appropriated resources to provide humanitarian assistance
more than 18 million people are in humanitarian need. It
and promote democracy and human rights in Burma.
cites active fighting, administrative restrictions imposed by
all sides, and violence and harassment of humanitarian
Background
personnel as barriers to providing assistance.
Burma gained independence from the U.K. in 1948, and in
its early years, some political leaders including Aung San
According to the World Bank, Burma’s gross domestic
Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San, sought to develop some form
product shrank 10% between 2019 and 2023, making it the
of federalism in the multi-ethnic nation. A 1962 coup
only East Asian country that has not returned to pre-
installed a military junta, initiating a decades-long period of
pandemic levels of economic activity. Observers report
military rule. The junta, then known as the State Law and
sharply rising food prices and persistent fuel shortages.
Order Restoration Council (SLORC), ignored the results of
a 1990 general election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD.
Diverse Resistance

The resistance to Burma’s military junta is broad and
Beginning in 2010, Burma underwent a partial transition
diverse, and it is unclear whether its numerous elements
toward a more democratic system, in which a hybrid
share a common vision for the country’s future. In April
civilian-military government led the country following
2021, a group of ousted parliamentarians, most of them in
parliamentary elections in 2010 and 2015. The civilian side
exile, named a “shadow” cabinet, the NUG, which included
of the government undertook some political and economic
Aung San Suu Kyi as “acting State Counsellor” and a full
cabinet of ministers, including a shadow foreign minister.
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Burma: Background and Issues for Congress
Most of the NUG’s membership is comprised of NLD
In December 2022, UNSC Resolution 2668 called for an
members, but it also has named representatives of two
immediate cessation of violence, unhindered access for the
minority groups as president and prime minister.
provision of humanitarian assistance, and the protection of
all civilians. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the
Numerous Ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) exert
Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar issued a report in
varying levels of administrative control in minority-
January 2023, reiterating that the junta is “illegal and
dominated regions and have stepped up their decades-long
illegitimate” and stating that the “unrelenting violence that
fight for greater autonomy in ethnic regions. In late 2023,
[the SAC] unleashed on the people of Myanmar has created
three ethnic armed organizations overran dozens of military
a widespread human rights, humanitarian, and economic
posts near the Chinese border. Other opponents of the
crisis and galvanised nationwide opposition.”
military government have formed informal militias known
as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and waged sabotage
Burma’s neighbors in ASEAN have pressured the junta to
campaigns against the regime. Analysts say there is some
lessen violence and engage with resistance groups. In April
level of communication and tactical coordination among the
2021, ASEAN’s leaders agreed on a “Five-Point
various forces, but broad agreement on political goals
Consensus”: an immediate end to violence in the country,
remains elusive. The NUG issued a Federal Democracy
dialogue among all parties, the appointment of an ASEAN
Charter in 2021, seeking to outline a roadmap to a post-
special envoy, humanitarian assistance from ASEAN to
conflict Burma, but disagreements remain, particularly with
Burma, and agreements that the special envoy could visit
ethnic minority organizations, over the ultimate levels of
Myanmar to meet with all parties. In an expression of
regional autonomy the resistance seeks.
disappointment at Burma’s resistance to those goals,
ASEAN subsequently did not invite Min Aung Hlaing to its
U.S. Policy
annual summits in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
The Biden Administration has responded to the crisis with
actions to restrict U.S. entities’ interaction with the military
Plight of the Rohingya
government. Under Executive Order 14014, the
The Rohingya, a predominantly Sunni Muslim ethnic
Administration imposed a range of sanctions on the regime,
minority in Burma, have been subjected to systematic and
its backers, and numerous military-linked companies
pervasive discrimination and abuse by the Burmese military
including the state oil and gas monopoly, “to disrupt the
since a 1962 coup that initiated five decades of military
regime’s access to the U.S. financial system and curtail its
rule. Unlike most other ethnic groups in Burma, the
ability to perpetrate atrocities.”
Rohingya are not recognized by the government or most
ethnic-Burman citizens as an “official” ethnic minority. In
The Administration also has withheld U.S. foreign
1982, the ruling military junta promulgated a citizenship
assistance from Burma’s government, as required by law,
law that stripped the Rohingya of citizenship. A 2014
while continuing to fund non-governmental organization
census done by the Burmese government excluded
(NGO) projects to promote democracy and human rights
Rohingya from its count, but nongovernmental
and provide humanitarian assistance. For FY2022 and
organizations and the U.S. government estimated the
FY2023, it provided $136 million annually in democracy,
Rohingya population at 1.1 million prior to October 2016.
human rights, and governance programs as well as
humanitarian assistance related to Burma. It has imposed
In 2017-2018, systematic violence by the military and
travel restrictions against the coup’s leaders and their
others in Rakhine state, home to most of Burma’s
family members, strengthened export controls against
Rohingya, killed over 9,000 Rohingya and resulted in the
military-linked holding companies, and restricted the
exodus of over 900,000 people into neighboring
military’s ability to transfer central bank assets held in the
Bangladesh. The vast majority still reside in refugee camps
United States. It also made Burmese citizens who can
in Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch estimates that another
demonstrate continuous residence in the United States as of
130,000 Muslims, overwhelmingly Rohingya, live in
March 11, 2021, eligible for Temporary Protected Status.
internal displacement camps in western Burma, having been
settled there during earlier periods of violence.
The United States also has sought to coordinate a
multilateral response, including through the United Nations
The United States has designated several military leaders,
Security Council (UNSC), the G-7, and other fora. It has
including Min Aung Hlaing, for sanctions and visa bans
encouraged efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian
related to the violence in Rakhine. In 2019, the Gambia
Nations (ASEAN), of which Burma is a member, to
filed an application at the International Court of Justice,
pressure the junta to lessen violence and take part in
arguing that Burma had violated the 1948 U.N. Convention
dialogue with opposition actors. Several U.S. sanctions-
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
designation announcements have been timed to coincide
Genocide. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in
with announcements by other nations, including the U.K.
March 2022 that the United States had determined that
and Canada.
members of the Tatmadaw had committed genocide and
crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.
International Actions
The U.N. Security Council has passed a series of
Ben Dolven, Specialist in Asian Affairs
resolutions condemning the coup and calling for a cessation
IF12331
of violence and dialogue among all stakeholders in Burma.


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Burma: Background and Issues for Congress


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