What's happening in Myanmar?

Over the past few weeks, a huge political shift has occurred in Myanmar. On the 1st February, the country’s leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi was detained by the military for possession of illegally imported walkie talkies. Whilst not the first time that she has been imprisoned by the military, famously spending years under house arrest, the arrest prompted huge protests and outrage from much of the country. There have been calls for her release and widespread condemnation of the power that the military holds.

The start of this conflict goes back to November 2020 when Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a huge victory in national elections, with the military proxy party performing poorly. The result was then declared fraudulent by the army, despite observers rejecting this claim. After it seemed the country had formed a democracy, albeit a fragile one, over recent years, the military seized power again, appointing General Min Aung Hlaing as leader. The military tendency towards repression and violence, as evidenced by the Rohingya Genocide we have seen in recent years, combined with the huge amounts of civil unrest and protests have thrust the future of the country into utter disarray.

The turbulence that Myanmar has experienced over the past several years has been devastating for the country, thousands have fallen victims to the callous cruelty of the military. And whilst there are countless criticisms that should be voiced about Aung Sun Suu Kyi, with her tenure as leader being widely condemned by human rights organisations, her removal from power is a deeply troubling development in the region and one that can only worsen the conditions for those in Myanmar.