Two-Minute Take: Burmese Military Coup

Refugees crossing a river.

Yesterday, Burmese military detained civilian government leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, state and regional authorities, ethnic leaders, writers, and democracy activists. Jieun Pyun, the Bush Institute's Human Freedom Initiative Senior Program Manager, discusses the current situation and what this means for democracy in Burma.

Yesterday, Burmese military detained civilian government leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, state and regional authorities, ethnic leaders, writers, and democracy activists. Jieun Pyun, the Bush Institute’s  Human Freedom Initiative Senior Program, discusses the current situation and what this means for democracy in Burma.

 

Video Transcript 

 

It’s dark day in Burma. Burma is a country in Southeast Asia transitioning to democracy ending half a century of military rule.

 

Yesterday, Burmese military detained civilian government leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, state and regional authorities, ethnic leaders, writers, and democracy activists. Then the military declared the state of emergency seizing power over the country, cutting off the broadcast, phone, internet, and flights. The military stated the coup is constitutional and it is due to the government’s failure to act on the military’s claims of voter fraud in the last election which gave a land slide victory to civilian government.

 

Now the country is under the military control once again. This shows how fragile Burma’s democracy is. People in Burma have fought for freedom and democracy for many decades and made meaningful progress in recent years. But what we are witnessing now is that under the current constitution drafted by the military, they can take over power at any time for any reasons, putting the country back to the dark days.

 

The current situation in Burma requires strong and immediate response from the international community, not just from the West but also from the countries in the region. The world should condemn the military, imposing broader and stronger sanctions, call for safe release of those unlawfully held and take strong and coordinated actions to hold military accountable.

 

People in Burma are holding the line of fragile democracy and they need United States and the international community’s strong support now.