U.S. Relations with Burma: Key Issues for 2015 (Update)
Updated October 22, 2015
U.S. Relations with Burma: Key Issues for 2015 (Update)
U.S. relations with Burma (Myanmar) in 2015 have
The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International
continued to present challenges. Burma is scheduled to hold
Development (USAID) are working with the Thein Sein
nationwide parliamentary elections on November 8, 2015,
government, the Union Parliament, and the UEC in hopes
which the Administration has called “an important
that the 2015 elections will be “credible, transparent, and
milestone in Burma’s political transition.” As detailed
inclusive.” U.S. election assistance to Burma has in part
below, efforts to conclude a nationwide ceasefire agreement
been allocated by USAID to the International Republican
(CA) to end nearly six decades of low-grade civil war have
Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
yielded mixed results. Ethnic crisis in Rakhine State
continues. The upcoming elections have heightened the
Ceasefire Negotiations and Ongoing
sensitivity of issues at the heart of the crisis, including, for
Low-Intensity Conflict
example, the citizenship status of ethnic Rohingya. Other
The Thein Sein government, the Burmese military
pressing issues include the rise of Ma Ba Tha, a nationalist
(Tatmadaw), and representatives of eight ethnic groups
Buddhist group, and its anti-Islam rhetoric; the continued
signed a ceasefire agreement (CA) on October 15.
arrest and detention of political prisoners; and the
However, many larger ethnic groups, including the Kachin
incomplete fulfillment of President Thein Sein’s “11
Independence Army (KIA), refused to sign unless three
commitments” made during President Obama’s 2012 visit.
other ethnic groups—the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar
Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and
During his visit to Burma in November 2014, President
the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—also sign
Obama stated that the democratization process in Burma
the agreement.
was both “real” and “incomplete.” In a letter to President
Obama, 41 Members of the House questioned
The Tatmadaw, which has sustained substantial casualties
Administration decisions to undertake new initiatives in
in fighting with the three groups, opposes the AA,
Burma while reforms appear to have stalled or even
MNDAA, and TNLA signing the CA until each group
reversed.
negotiates a separate ceasefire agreement. The Thein Sein
government also is opposed to three non-combatant ethnic
The 113th Congress authorized new military-to-military
groups—the Arakan National Council, the Lahu
programs in Burma that are likely to begin after the
Democratic Union, and Wa National Organization—signing
parliamentary elections, depending on how the elections are
the CA. President Thein Sein had made concluding the
conducted and their results.
ceasefire agreement before the November parliamentary
election a priority, in part to improve the USDP’s prospects.
Parliamentary Elections and
The CA does not address some controversial issues, such as
Constitutional Reform
the terms of post-ceasefire political dialogue, the status of
Many observers anticipate that Aung San Suu Kyi’s
the ethnic militias, and the ceasefire’s code of conduct for
National League for Democracy (NLD) party will emerge
the Tatmadaw and the ethnic militias. Meanwhile, low-
from the November elections as the largest party in the new
intensity conflict continues in Kachin, Mon, and Shan
parliament. However, it is unclear if it will have sufficient
states. Fighting between the Burmese Army and the
support to form a new government. By contrast, because
MNDAA in the Kokang region of Shan State has been
25% of seats are reserved for active military officers likely
particularly intense.
to support the pro-military Union Solidarity and
Development Party (USDP), the USDP only needs to win
The Plight of the Rohingyas
just over another 25% of the seats to form a government.
The Rohingya are one of two ethnic minorities living in
Burma’s Rakhine State. The Thein Sein government insists
Proposed changes to Burma’s 2008 constitution that are
that the Rohingyas be called “Bengalis” because the
backed by the NLD and other opposition parties—including
government considers most of them to be illegal immigrants
one that would allow Aung San Suu Kyi to be eligible to
from Bangladesh, even though many of them have lived in
become president—were rejected by the Union Parliament
Burma for generations. On February 11, 2015, President
in July. In addition, Burma’s Union Election Commission
Thein Sein announced that Temporary Registration
(UEC), which runs the elections, has placed some
Certificates, known as “white cards,” would expire on
restrictions on campaigning that may hinder the prospects
March 31, 2015, eliminating the official document that
of the opposition parties and favor the ruling Union
allowed most Rohingya formally to reside in Burma. In
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Although it did
addition the expiration of the “white cards” also
not do so during the 2010 parliamentary elections, Burma
disenfranchised the Rohingyas for the 2015 parliamentary
has said it will allow international observers in 2015.
elections. Moreover, the UEC initially barred 124
candidates (11 have been reinstated) from running in the
November election, with a disproportionate number of
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U.S. Relations with Burma: Key Issues for 2015 (Update)
Muslims among them, including one Rohingya currently a
Office in Burma; establishing a ceasefire in Kachin State
member of the Union Parliament.
and a sustainable political solution of differences with
ethnic minorities; addressing the ethnic problems in
During the first quarter of 2015, an estimated 25,000
Rakhine State; allowing international humanitarian
Rohingyas and Bangladeshis boarded boats in the Andaman
assistance into conflict-affected areas; and combating
Sea, heading primarily to Indonesia and Malaysia to escape
human trafficking.
persecution by the Thein Sein government. The Thein Sein
government initially denied these people were from Burma.
New Initiatives
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand refused to allow them to
The White House announced two new initiatives during the
disembark in their territories. In response to international
President’s November 2014 visit to Burma—the opening of
pressure, however, all four nations then offered to provide
a Peace Corps program in Burma and a joint program
temporary assistance to address the crisis.
involving Denmark, Japan, and the International Labour
Organization (ILO), to improve Burma’s system of labor
In 2012, hundreds of Arakans (or Rakhines), a
administration and improve worker-management relations.
predominately Buddhist minority in Burma’s western
Rakhine State, attacked Rohnigyas, resulting in the deaths
Military-to-Military Relations
of hundreds of Arakans and Rohingyas and the internal
The Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National
displacement of an estimated 140,000 people, mostly
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (P.L. 113-
Rohingyas. More than two years later, over 100,000
291) authorized Defense Department funding for
displaced people remain in camps, with limited access to
“consultation, education, and training” in Burma on the
international assistance, education, or employment. In
laws of armed conflict, civilian control of the military,
addition, Burma’s Union Parliament has passed legislation
defense institution reform, humanitarian and disaster
that restricts the marriage and child-bearing rights of the
assistance, and improvements in medical and health
Rohingyas.
standards. The Consolidated and Further Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235) prohibits use of
The Rise of Ma Ba Tha and Anti-Islam
State Department funding for certain forms of military
Attitudes
assistance to Burma, including International Military
In January 2014, a group of Buddhist monks established the
Education and Training (IMET) and the Foreign Military
Patriotic Association of Myanmar, or Ma Ba Tha, to defend
Finance (FMF) program. The Continuing Appropriations
Theravada Buddhism in Burma from a perceived threat
Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-53) extended the authorization and
from Islam. Ma Ba Tha and its leader Wirathu were the
restrictions on relations with Burma’s military into FY2016.
main supporters of the four, so-called “race and religion
protection laws” that were approved by Burma’s parliament
President Thein Sein has reportedly pressed the United
and President Thein Sein. The four laws restrict interfaith
States to enhance its engagement with the Tatmadaw. On
marriage, religious conversion, and the reproductive rights
June 25, 2014, the United Nationalities Federal Council of
of women. Ma Ba Tha has also been actively campaigning
Burma (UNFC), a coalition of ethnic organizations with
for the USDP and against the NLD, saying the NLD is
armed militias, wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry and
supported by “Islamists and foreign countries.”
then-Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel opposing any
military-to-military training programs in Burma. Aung San
Political Prisoners
Suu Kyi reportedly also urged President Obama not to
When Burma’s ruling military junta handed power to the
pursue greater military engagement until after the 2015
Thein Sein government in April 2011, approximately 2,000
parliamentary elections. U.S. engagement with the
political prisoners were imprisoned in Burma. Between
Tatmadaw is also controversial in part because of ongoing
April 2011 and December 2013, President Thein Sein
reports of serious human rights abuses by the Tatmadaw.
pardoned over 1,100 political prisoners to fulfill a pledge to
release all political prisoners by the end of 2013. However,
Implications for Congress
the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)
Within 180 days of the enactment of the NDAA, the
asserts that as of September 30, 2015, at least 96 political
Secretary of Defense was to have provided Congress with a
prisoners remain in jail, along with 466 activists currently
“report on military-to-military engagement between the
awaiting trial for political actions. The termination of some
United States Armed Forces and the Burmese military.”
U.S. sanctions on Burma is contingent on the unconditional
P.L. 113-235 required that the Secretary of State provide a
release of all political prisoners in Burma.
report to Congress within 90 days of enactment “detailing
steps taken by the United States and other international
Thein Sein’s “11 Commitments”
donors to protect human rights and address conflict in
During President Obama’s first visit to Burma in November
Rakhine State.” Congress may also choose to press the
2012, President Thein Sein made “11 commitments.” A
Obama Administration for progress reports on Thein Sein’s
September 2014 State Department Fact Sheet said: “In a
“11 commitments,” the status of political prisoners, and the
May 2013 visit to the United States, President Thein Sein
prospects for free and fair parliamentary elections in 2015.
and his senior ministers reaffirmed their intention to uphold
these commitments, though as of August 2014, many of
Michael F. Martin, Specialist in Asian Affairs
them remain only partially fulfilled.” The commitments
most frequently described by observers as unfulfilled are:
IF10235
establishing a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
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U.S. Relations with Burma: Key Issues for 2015 (Update)
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