Myanmar forces Burman culture on minorities, erases identity

From the age of 5, when she entered a government school in Myanmar, Stella Naw learned about the triumphs of Burman kings and heroes, recited Burman poems and performed Burman dances at school ceremonies.

Without realizing it, she was being torn from her ethnic roots and assimilated into the Southeast Asian country's dominant majority.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018, file photo, the moon rises behind the Uppatasanti Pagoda in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Despite hopes that Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government would bring change, Myanmar continues to force Burman culture on its ethnic minorities through education, religious proselytization and often coercion. Despite close to 90 percent adherence to Christianity in the northern outlying regions, state-sanctioned Buddhist pagodas dominate the landscape. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

"What was missing from my childhood was a chance to learn the culture and history of my own people, the Kachin," says the political analyst and writer. "I was ashamed to speak my own language. I didn't like the sound of my own name."

Naw's experience is shared by many of Myanmar's ethnic minorities, a multitude of more than 130 different groups with their own cultures, histories and languages who make up some 40 percent of the country's population. For decades the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and other minority groups have been put through a process they call Burmanization — an informal system in which education, repressive laws, religious proselytization, economic exploitation and often brutal force are used to wash away their own identity.

The recent violent expulsion from the country of nearly 700,000 Muslim Rohingya can be seen as an extreme example of the drive by central authorities to expunge any perceived threat to their dominance and stamp a Burman imprint on vast areas where minorities live. The United Nations calls it a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

This Burmanization dashes hopes that the end of direct military rule and election of Myanmar's first civilian government, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, would usher in a new era of relations with minority groups. On taking power in early 2016, Suu Kyi declared that national reconciliation and a federal constitution would be high priorities.

Instead, the transition to democratic rule and its greater freedoms has come with a rise in nationalism and radical Buddhism. Suu Kyi has not condemned continuing military atrocities against the Kachin and others, and her stock with ethnic minorities has plummeted. Many say she is first and foremost a Burman.

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2013, file photo, ethnic Chin women of Muun sub-tribe, one with a traditional tattooed face and others with thanaka, a distinctive cosmetic face-paste widely used by Burmese women for a smoother skin, gather in Kyar Do village in Chin State, Myanmar. For decades the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and other minority groups have been put through a process they call Burmanization _ an informal system in which education, repressive laws, religious proselytization, economic exploitation and often brutal force are used to wash away their own identity. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

The military — which is constitutionally shielded from civilian oversight of all security matters — has long portrayed itself as Myanmar's savior, the only institution that could keep together a nation at risk of splitting into numerous parts.

It continues to battle the Kachin and groups in northern Shan State, working off the same playbook it has since independence from Britain in 1948 of violently suppressing ethnic insurgencies demanding greater autonomy. Those conflicts have been marked by human rights violations, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of rural people and the entrenchment of the military within ethnic communities.

Less obvious are what ethnic minorities insist are calculated efforts at Burmanization that focus on religion, language, heritage and other aspects of self-identity.

The government denies that it is pursuing such a policy.

Ko Ko Naing, a deputy director in the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, says the government allows ethnic minorities to study their languages outside public schools even though it is not legally obligated to do so.

"That's why I don't see that the majority is Burmanizing the ethnic minority groups," he tells The Associated Press.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, file photo, a large boat carrying Buddha images during the annual pagoda festival tours across the Inlay Lake, southern Shan State, Myanmar. Despite hopes that Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government would bring change, Myanmar continues to force Burman culture on its ethnic minorities through education, religious proselytization and often coercion. Despite close to 90 percent adherence to Christianity in the northern outlying regions, state-sanctioned Buddhist pagodas dominate the landscape. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw, File)

It was also the duty of the government, the official says, to promote Buddhism and build Buddhist pagodas everywhere in the country lest "our religion and country disappear."

In Chin State, where 90 percent of Chin adhere to Christianity, crosses have been destroyed, pastors are intimidated and there is state-sponsored pressure to convert to Buddhism. Kachin State, where more than 90 percent of the Kachin people adhere to Christianity, has among the highest concentrations of pagodas in the country.

The government continues to pursue "a forced assimilation and indoctrination program" through boarding schools run by the military-controlled Ministry of Border Affairs, said Salai Za Uk Ling of the U.S.-based Chin Human Rights Organization. Education is offered free and is of a higher standard than in normal government schools, but activists say school authorities try to coerce students into converting to Buddhism.

Even the predominantly Buddhist Shan, the country's largest ethnic minority, are highly critical of pagodas built in a Burman rather than distinctive Shan style. A local saying sums it up: "When the Chinese conquer they build moats. When the Burmans conquer, they build pagodas."

In this Nov. 8, 2017, photo, ethnic Karen school girls attend class at the headquarters of the 2nd Brigade of the Karen insurgents in the Taungoo area at Hto Lwe Wah, in Bago Region, Myanmar. The school includes a dormitory for over 200 students including these Karen young women where education is in Karen, English and Burmese languages. For decades the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and other minority groups have been put through a process they call Burmanization _ an informal system in which education, repressive laws, religious proselytization, economic exploitation and often brutal force are used to wash away their own identity. (AP Photo/Denis Grey)

Still seared in the collective memory is the 1991 demolition of the Kengtung Palace, the grandest among those built by the former rulers of Shan State. In what Shan activists term a case of "cultural sabotage," rubble from the palace was scattered on roads around a military base.

Under the previous military-backed government of President Thein Sein, the regime eased earlier restrictions on teaching non-Burman languages but only allowed it after regular school hours, a policy that continues. Saw True Blood, a member of the Karen Development Network, says that about half of the 2,000 children living in his area of Taungoo in Karen State do not attend the after-school language classes because they are too tired, want to play or take extra tuition in other subjects.

Most Karen children, he says, can speak but not read or write their language. "When I hear my nieces and grandchildren speaking Burmese while they are playing, I tell them to speak Karen and ask, 'Are you Karen or Burman?"

The community leader says authorities tell the Karen that if they want to preserve their culture and identity they have to do it on their own, but at the same time place barriers to achieving this. He quotes a regional military commander as lecturing locals to "forget your ethnic identity, your territory. Just think about the Union."

"This is Burmanization," Saw True Blood says.

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2013, file photo, an ethnic Chin women of Muun sub-tribe with traditional tattooed face smokes a pipe with tobacco in Kyar Do village during a soccer tournament for villagers in Chin State, Myanmar. For decades the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and other minority groups have been put through a process they call Burmanization _ an informal system in which education, repressive laws, religious proselytization, economic exploitation and often brutal force are used to wash away their own identity. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

In recent years, the central government has Burmanized place names across the country, often making them unrecognizable to local people.

Last year, the naming of a new bridge across the Salween River in Mon State sparked demonstrations by the Mon. The bridge was named after General Aung San, the Burman hero of the independence struggle and Suu Kyi's father.

Mon activists say the name bears no relevance to their region, some likening it to a younger sibling being bullied by an older one. "The change of name made people feel a lot of pain in their heart. In spirit it means that the Burmans occupy the Mon," Min Soe Lin, a Mon member of parliament, told Australian researcher Cecile Medall late last year.

There has been some success in recent years at reaching cease-fire deals with ethnic rebel groups, including the Karen, who under the Karen National Union banner fought the world's longest running insurgency until 2012. But even the Karen leaders who signed the pact, which allowed them to keep their arms, have made it clear they have little trust in the truce, and clashes have broken out in recent weeks.

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2013, file photo, ethnic Chin man Htang Ling Kaw, foreground, leaves the house of neighbor Laing Awi, background, at the Kyar Do village, Chin State, Myanmar. For decades the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and other minority groups have been put through a process they call Burmanization _ an informal system in which education, repressive laws, religious proselytization, economic exploitation and often brutal force are used to wash away their own identity. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

In the hills outside Taungoo, senior leaders of the KNU agree the only way ethnic minorities will gain an equal voice in Myanmar is through a constitution that fully enshrines their rights under a genuine federal system. The current charter is highly centralized and was enacted by the military.

"Our grandfathers, fathers had to use military means to defend our culture and identity," says Padoh Eh Wah, a member of KNU Central Standing Committee. "Now we have to fight to have these guaranteed through political means."

Before World War II Myanmar's outer regions were largely left alone as they were not regarded as valuable, a sharp contrast to the ongoing scramble to exploit their forests, minerals and hydro-power by the military and its cronies, says political scientist James C. Scott, author of "The Art of Not Being Governed." Scott says a lack of opportunities in ethnic enclaves has sparked an exodus of minorities seeking a better chance elsewhere, leaving a vacuum that Burmans are filling.

"Is there an impulse to Burmanization? Absolutely," he says. "But I am doubtful how centralized and coordinated it is. I would be surprised if it is closely coordinated across ministries, since nothing much else is."

Ethnic leaders disagree. Naw, the Kachin political analyst, believes that "an organized, systematic, structural campaign by central institutions to Burmanize the country" is being carried out.

Saw True Blood, the Karen community leader, says beyond the threat of armed resistance, there is little stopping Burmans from taking all of his people's land.

"The Burmans have the power, government support, money, education," he says. "So they can get what they want."

THE HAGUE (AP) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor asked judges on Wednesday to issue an arrest warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime for crimes committed against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, is accused of crimes against humanity for the deportation and persecution of the Rohingya.

Nearly a million people were forced into neighboring Bangladesh to escape what has been called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, killings and the torching of homes.

From a refugee camp in Bangladesh, the court’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in a statement that he intended to request more warrants for Myanmar's leaders soon.

“In doing so, we will be demonstrating, together with all of our partners, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people around the world, are entitled to the protection of the law,” the British barrister said.

The allegations stem from a counterinsurgency campaign that Myanmar’s military began in August 2017 in response to an insurgent attack. Hlaing, who heads the Myanmar Defense Services, is said to have directed the armed forces of Myanmar, known as the Tatmadaw, as well as the national police to attack Rohingya civilians.

Khan was in Bangladesh where he met with members of the displaced Rohingya population. About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar, including about 740,000 who fled in 2017.

Rohingyas face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, with most denied citizenship. Myanmar's government refuses to recognize the Rohingya as one of the country’s 135 lawful ethnic minorities, instead calling them Bengalis, with the implication that their native land is in Bangladesh and they are illegally settled in Myanmar.

Human rights groups applauded the decision to seek a warrant. The dire situation of the Rohingya has received less attention as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have grabbed headlines. “The ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek a warrant against Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing comes amid renewed atrocities against Rohingya civilians that echo those suffered seven years ago. The ICC’s action is an important step toward breaking the cycle of abuses and impunity,” said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch.

Zin Mar Aung, foreign minister for Myanmar’s opposition National Unity Government, established by elected lawmakers barred from taking their seats in 2021, said on X that ICC judges should “swiftly issue the warrant” and that governments should “act and enforce this warrant to uphold justice and international law.” She posted that the ICC action "represents a critical moment in Myanmar history.”

Myanmar’s military regime issued a short statement, rejecting the proceedings, noting it was not party to the ICC and insisting the country's leadership practiced a policy of “peaceful coexistence.”

Khan’s request now goes to a panel of three judges who will weigh the evidence provided and determine if a warrant should be issued. There is no deadline for a decision. A request for an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin took less than three weeks in 2023. However, warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief took more than six months to be issued.

Rohingya refugees in sprawling camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district welcomed the news.

“We, all the Rohingyas, are very delighted, and I am personally very happy to hear about the application sent to the judges because the Myanmar military government has been torturing us for about 75 years, forcing us to leave our native land —Arakan," said Zahid Hossain, 53.

Yahiya Khan, a 32-year-old human rights activist, also was optimistic: “The military has been persecuting us for decades. Thousands of women were raped, thousands of people were killed, children were thrown to the burning fire by the brutal military regime. So, as a Rohingya, we are happy to hear that the chief (prosecutor) of the ICC requested the judges to issue arrest warrants."

Myanmar does not belong to the global court, but Bangladesh does. In 2018, judges at the court ruled the prosecutor could look into crimes that were “completed” on the territory of a member state, such as forcible deportation.

In 2019, Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, formally requested to open an investigation into the situation and judges gave the green light for investigations into “any crime, including any future crime” committed at least partly in Bangladesh or another court member state and linked to the Rohingya.

The move paved the way for Khan to pursue crimes beyond forcing men, women and children over the border and into refugee camps.

The request comes days after a powerful rebel group seized a key trading town in northeastern Myanmar on the Chinese border, taking control of a lucrative rare earth mining hub in another setback for the military-led government.

The military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's government in February 2021, triggering intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups in its border regions which have struggled for decades for more autonomy.

In 2022, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest court, advanced a separate case against Myanmar brought by Gambia alleging the Southeast Asian nation is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya. Five European countries and Canada have asked the court to back Gambia in the proceedings.

FILE - Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court looks up prior to a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, July 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

FILE - Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military council, inspects officers during a parade to commemorate Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

FILE - Exterior view of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)