[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Ethnic Groups in Burma



ERRORS-TO:INET:strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
FROM:NBH03114@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burmese Relief Center--Japan
DATE:April 8, 1995
TIME: 4:15PM JST
SUBJ:Burman, Ethnic Groups, Burmese

Another perspective on the recent discussion....
The following was taken from:

ETHNIC GROUPS IN BURMA, Development,
Democracy and Human Rights 
by Martin Smith, in collaboration with Annie Allsebrook
A Report by Anti-Slavery International, 1994

Chinese and Indians (Pp 63-65)
         Despite their numbers and economic importance, the
country's substantial Chinese and Indian populations are
usually left out of discussions on ethnic minority issues in
Burma.  Both, however, suffer very similar forms of
discrimination to other non-Burman peoples and have been
frequent targets of racist attack in times of communal tension. 
Chinese influence in Burma dates back to 1287 AD and the
fall of the ancient capital Pagan to the Mongol armies of
Kublai Khan.  In the following centuries, a steady stream of
Chinese migrants moved backwards and forwards across the
unmarked frontier, and Chinese armies several times tried to
invade.  Indian influence, by contrast, is more recent and was
largely confined to the north-west frontier and the western
seaboard.
         The picture changed dramatically with the British annexation
in the 19th century when a new wave of Chinese and Indian
labourers and migrants, from a variety of ethnic backgrounds,
flooded into Burma to look for work or set up businesses. 
This concurrence prompted many Burmans to associate both
groups with the stigma of colonial rule.  By 1931, Chinese and
Indians probably accounted for over ten per cent of the total
population.  In particular, the activities of a caste of Indian
chettyar moneylenders caused great resentment, and there
were several outbreaks of communal violence in the 1930s in
which hundreds of people, mostly Indians, lost their lives. 
Matters came to a head during the Second World War when
as many as 500,000 Indians were expelled from Burma, many
of them dying on the road in one of the country's darkest
episodes.
         Since independence there have been further pressures on
both communities.  Another 300,000 Indians and 100,000
Chinese left the country after General Ne Win seized power in
1962.  But the most terrifying incidents were the violent anti-Chinese riots w
hich broke out in towns across Burma in mid-1967.  Many observers believed tha
t these disturbances,
including an attack on the Chinese embassy in Rangoon, were
deliberately provoked by the BSPP; dozens, and possibly
hundreds of Chinese were killed or injured and many Chinese
properties looted and destroyed.   China responded by giving
heavy military backing to the insurgent CPB, support which
continued for a decade.
         Relations between the governments of China and Burma
remained tense well into the 1980s, but improved dramatically
following the collapse of the CPB in 1989.  Growing numbers
of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs are returning to Burma,
especially to Mandalay and the north-east.  Given the racial
troubles of the past, however, this leaves Burma's Chinese and
Indian populations in a very ambiguous position.
         Generally, there are estimated to be around 400,000 Chinese
and as many as one million Indians living in Burma today.
Some of the confusion over numbers can be put down to the
many Chinese and Indian families who have long since settled
and intermarried.  Such prominent national figures as General
Ne Win (whose original name was Shu Maung) and his former
deputy, Brigadier Aung Gyi, have mixed Sino-Burman
ancestries.  But undoubtedly the other main reason is that
Burma's tough citizenship rules have encouraged many ethnic
minority inhabitants to play down their true backgrounds.  In
particular, the 1982 citizenship law seems specifically targeted
against Chinese and Indians.  This technically limits the rights
of full citizenship to those who can prove ancestors resident in
Burma before the first British annexation in 1824; however
'indigenous races', such as the Shan, Karen and Burman, are
exempted.
         Despite the new economic opportunities offered by the
SLORC, many Indian and Chinese inhabitants remain very
cautious.  The once-flourishing Indian and Chinese schools
and newspapers of the 1950s were all closed down after the
1962 coup, and even today Chinese and Indian holders of
Foreign Residents Cards are barred from studying
'professional' subjects such as medicine and technology, even
if born and brought up in Burma.  Indians, in particular, still
constitute some of the poorest urban and rural workers in the
country.
         Many Chinese and Indian community leaders were especially
concerned over a series of articles published in the official
Working People's Daily in 1989 under the title 'We Fear Our
Race May Become Extinct'.  One passage was seen as
particularly threatening:

         "Many Burmese girls have become wives of Indians and
Chinese. They have given birth to impure Burmese nationals. 
Foreigners marrying Burmese girls and trying to swallow up
the whole race will contine to be a problem in the era
of'democracy in future."

         In conclusion therefore, after nearly 50 years of
independence, the political problems which Burma's ethnic
minorities now face in their quest for social justice are
complicated, reflecting their diverse and vibrant histories. 
However, all their struggles have become overshadowed by
systematic repression and human rights abuses, which have
sadly become endemic in Burma today.  Compounding these
difficulties are the worsening poverty and deprivation, which
discriminate against the weakest sectors of society and drive
many ethnic minorities, as well as women and children, into
servitude.  All these grave social issues will be examined in the
following chapters.

This book can be ordered at UK 5.95 pounds from:
Anti-Slavery International
The Stableyard
Broomgrove Rd.
London SW9 9TL
UK
Tel. 44 (0) 171-924-9555
Fax. 44 (0) 171 738-4110