Half of Myanmar’s population is under the age of 30, and many of them have benefited from their country’s fragile, imperfect democratic transition over the past decade. They know the military’s return to power could reverse hard-won gains in human development and fundamental freedoms. Their future is at stake.
So are their lives. On March 27, Burmese Army Senior General Min Aung Hlaing used the occasion of Armed Forces Day to claim that the military would protect the people and promote democracy. This turned out to be the bloodiest day since the military coup on Feb. 1.
Yet, as a father clutching his dying son poignantly said: “On this day, both lives and futures are being lost.”
With their prospects vanishing before their eyes, tens of thousands of young people have taken to the streets across Myanmar. They are refusing to live without hope.
The country’s backsliding is already being felt acutely. In addition to COVID-19, Myanmar is confronting a compounding economic crisis.
A World Bank regional forecast shows that GDP is on track to shrink by 10 percent this year, compared with 6.8 percent growth in 2019 and 1.7 percent growth last year, when the country was reeling from the pandemic.
Late last year, the UN Development Programme’s household vulnerability survey signaled that poor households are being pushed further below the poverty line, while many vulnerable households are being dragged toward it. Even previously financially secure households are facing massive shocks from business closures and loss of employment.
On the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other cities, Myanmar’s citizens have come to experience these crises in the starkest of terms, with countless personal tragedies unfolding behind the data.
Young people are watching employment opportunities disappear as investment plummets. International buyers and factory owners are questioning the viability of their local operations, given the lack of worker safety and security.
Unable to guarantee continued production and reliable logistics, many businesses have halted operations entirely. With these closures, even more young people would lose their jobs and meager livelihoods.
The Internet is the lifeblood of this generation, but it has been restricted severely. The suppression of information, free speech and Internet access threatens to push Myanmar back into isolation from the rest of the world. This is happening at a time when a whole generation of young people have come to know what it is like to enjoy better jobs, freedom of speech, access to information and improved education.
These developments shaped younger cohorts’ values and aspirations, instilling them with a sense of civic consciousness.
Their expectations reflect the real possibilities that they had previously seen ahead of them: the potential of a different future than the one their parents had known.
History offers stark reminders of what the young are likely to face. In 1950, Myanmar’s per capita income was higher than that of Malaysia or Thailand. Following decades of “closed-door” policies resulted in severe under-investment in the economy and public goods and services, with deep and corrosive effects on human capital.
Military rule turned Myanmar from one of the most promising economies in Asia into one of its worst performers.
The parents and grandparents of today’s young people know what it was like back then, and their bitter experience has been recounted to their children and grandchildren. Young Myanmar does not want the clock turned back. They will not be silenced.
A 19-year-old taekwondo champion and dancer, Kyal Sin (also known as Angel), was wearing an “Everything will be OK” shirt when security forces gunned her down in Mandalay. Thousands of young people like her continue to stand on the streets each day, full of defiant optimism as they face the military and courageously demand the country they want and deserve.
As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said, there is only one way forward. The security forces must stop the violence, the generals must return Myanmar to the democratic path by respecting the results of last year’s election (which the National League for Democracy won decisively), and all political prisoners must be freed.
Only then can there be progress on reforms to deliver fair economic development and human rights — including freedom of movement, the right of safe return for refugees and citizenship — and on controlling the spread of COVID-19. Only a society that invests in its very humanity can be at peace with itself.
Achim Steiner is an administrator of the UN Development Programme and cochair of the UN Secretary-General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.